Andy Rowell

The Price of Oil

March 18, 2013

Human rights campaigners are warning that further ethnic cleansing in Burma, which is being exacerbated by land clearances due to economic developments surrounding the Shwe Oil/Gas pipeline, could be imminent. 

The Shwe pipeline, which ironically means Golden in Burmese, is due to open later this year. It will allow oil from the Gulf states and Africa to be pumped to China, bypassing a slower shipping route through the Strait of Malacca. It will also ship gas from off shore western Burma’s Arakan State, to southwest China. 

Last year there were two massacres against the Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim-minority population who inhabit Arakan state, including the strategic port of Sittwe, which is the start of the pipeline on the Burmese coast. There are credible reports that the Burmese military is involved in the ethnic cleansing. 

Banktrack has repeatedly called on international banks such as Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland to stop financing the pipeline or the companies involved in it, until the protection of community rights along the route could be guaranteed, but this has not happened. 

Described by the UN as being amongst the most persecuted people in the world, the Rohingya have been described as the “world’s most forgotten people“. The massacres against them occurred in June and then again in October, with over 120000 now living as displaced people in camps in the state of Arakan, and many more having left for Bangladesh and further afield. 

After the first massacre in June, Human Rights Watch argued that “Burmese security forces committed killings, rape, and mass arrests against Rohingya Muslims after failing to protect both them and Arakan Buddhists”. At the time, they estimated that “many of the over 100,000 people displaced and in dire need of food, shelter, and medical care.” 

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said last year that “recent events in Arakan State demonstrate that state-sponsored persecution and discrimination persist.” 

Events worsened last October when another massacre took place. Again Human Rights Watch argued that “attacks and arson” in late October “against Rohingya Muslims in Burma’s Arakan State “were at times carried out with the support of state security forces and local government officials.” 

Last week the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission warned that “We are extremely concerned about the increase in propaganda against the minority Rohingya in Burma. It suggests that there is a high possibility of a third massacre against the Muslim minority”. 

The Chair of IHRC, Massoud Shadjareh said, “There is a hidden genocide taking place in Burma, and we must speak out before even more of the Rohingya are murdered. The international community need to come together and stop a third wave of violence taking place.” 

Speaking to Oil Change International this morning, leading human rights campaigner Jamila Hanan, who is based in the UK and is founder of Save the Rohingya, said: “We are anticipating a third massacre of the Rohingya on the same scale which took place in Rwanda. We have been informed that this will take place sometime between now and mid-April.” 

Hanan continued: ““There is a definite link between the oil development and the elimination of the Rohingya. The Rohingya are being cleared out of Sittwe which is being developed as a deep sea port to take oil tankers from the Middle East. There is huge number of economic developments around the port of Sittwe as a result of the new pipeline.” 

The strategic port of Sittwe, where many Rohingya are based, and where the pipeline starts, is just one factor. Another are lucrative oil blocks which have previously been off limits due to sanctions. Next month, Burma plans to launch a much anticipated bidding for 30 offshore oil and gas blocks April, which is likely to receive bids from oil majors such as Chevron, Total and ConocoPhillips, amongst others. 

“Our politicians must put their own economic interests aside and act urgently to prevent this imminent human disaster, “says Hanan. “Never before has the public been so informed through social media that a massacre was about to happen – our governments must not be allowed to sit back and do nothing.”

10 year old Rohingya IDP girl's story of why she had to leave her home in early June. Her drawing includes many Buddhist monks carrying swords, attacking and destroying houses.

via Nora Rowley

BRCA Team

RB News

March 17, 2013

BRCA delegates together with special guest Mr. Htay Lwin Oo, Rakhine and Rohingya history researcher from USA and U Maung Ba from Singapore attended to the forum “Debating Democratisation in Myanmar/Burma” held on Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia in 15-16 March 2013. 

BRCA contacted to ANU a day prior to the forum and raised the concern over RNDP party participation in the forum and informed that BRCA delegates would be joining to the forum. Upon arrival to ANU forum, ANU gave a chance to BRCA to present our statement in the forum to audience for three minutes. 

The forum had discussion of different topics and aspects such as Political & Economic, Democratisation in big picture, Launch of “Exiled to Nowhere: Burma’s Rohingya” and Ethnic politics in transition etc. On second day (16.03.2013), U Oo Hla Saw from extremist Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) gave speech on how Rakhine state has numerous natural resources and Rakhines had their own dynasty in the history and now it is all controlled by central government and Rakhines people do not get any benefit from it etc. In his last speech, he focused on Rohingyas and said that “there were small Muslim community in Rakhine state in last dynasty and majority of Muslim population arrived during British colonial time were Chittagonian Bengalis. Rohingyas are the descendent of those Bengalis and Rohingya term is appeared after 1950s and whole Rakhine community initially supported to President Thein Sein’s words to deport Rohingya people to a third country.” However in his last speech, he clearly mentioned that Rakhines people like Rohingyas to get citizenship, move freely and settle down anywhere in Myanmar. It is noticeable point that he used Chittagonian Bengalis term to explain the initial history but used Rohingya Muslim term in the following speech. 

After U Oo Hla Saw finished his speech, Mr. Htay Lwin Oo was invited to give speech for three minutes on behalf of Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia (BRCA). Mr. Htay Lwin Oo explained to the audience that Rohingyas are the native of Rakhine state by showing the ancient stone script, the evidence before and after colonial time and the family censorship evidence etc. Some of the points made during his speech are “At the beginning of British colonial time, Rohingyas were one third of the population which was 30000 and with high birth rate as the Burmese government mentioned, it should be in millions. I am also a Rakhine ethnic but a Rakhine Muslim. Rakhine leaders are lack of historical knowledge and giving wrong information to the public, media and international communities. When I challenged to Rakhine historian Dr. Aye Chan in a conference in Thailand organized by Rakhines, he had to accept finally Rohingya term existence and but tried to deceive the audience by saying Rohingya name was used for Rakhines. When asked to Dr. Aye Chan whether he is a Mohammedans (Muslims), he could not answer.” During his speech, Mr. Htay Lwin Oo also requested to audiences to take the copies of historical evidences of Rohingya existence and BRCA distributed it everyone in the room. 

After Mr.Htay Lwin Oo speech, the questions and answers program was started and from BRCA, Mr. Mohammed Anwar (President), Mr. Tin Maung, Mr. Maung Hla, Dr. Hla Myint and Mr. Thein Moe Win (Burmese Muslim) asked various questions in regard to Rohingya existence in Burma throughout history, violence committed by Rakhine extremists, police forces and security forces etc. and who is responsible for violence against Rohingyas and what RNDP did to prevent the violence against Rohingyas if RNDP respect human rights and sympathize Rohingyas etc. 

U Oo Hla Saw answered that the current Rakhine conflict issue is very complicated and RNDP do not have any power in Rakhine state and therefore Central Government is responsible for all the chaos, committed crimes and creating conflicts between Rohingyas and Rakhines. He also mentioned that he respect and sympathize all Muslims including Rohingya Muslims and do not like any oppression against these people. 

It is quite remarkable that U Oo Hla Saw only used the term Rohingya and Rohingya Muslims during his answers in front of all Burmese and international communities. He also mentioned that Rakhines want to live peacefully with Rohingyas Muslims. 

After the questions and answers section finished, BRCA delegates team took a picture together with U Oo Hla Saw as per above photo to send the message to everyone that Rohingyas and Rakhines can live together peacefully again as before in Rakhine State. 

After the forum section, Rohingya delegates visited to the photo exhibition “Exile to Nowhere: Burma’s Rohingya".

It is reported that there were around 150 audiences in the forum. 

Young men who have found refuge in Malaysia after fleeing violence in Myanmar are covertly getting brides from home.

Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh - Shamsul Alam, has dabbled as a tailor's assistant and construction worker since fleeing to Malaysia from his native Rakhine State in Myanmar. 

He recalls bitterly his gruelling 12-14 hour work days on construction sites before grabbing a quick meal and dashing off to the highlands in the hopes of evading the authorities.

But when he speaks about his intentions to marry, the 30-some year old Rohingya becomes much more poetic: "If a man wants to live, he must have a woman…People need companions to live on this earth." 

However, his dream to marry has been difficult. As young Rohingya men like Alam have settled into life in Malaysia, to which a steady trickle of Rohingya refugees has been fleeing, they've been presented with a unique twist on a common dilemma: where to find a suitable bride.

Their perceived low social status has made it particularly difficult to secure brides. 

"There's a big gap socially between a Rohingya man and a Malay woman," says Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, an advocacy organisation for the Rohingya community. "The father of a Malay woman would not want to give his daughter to a stateless groom."

As a result, the demand for brides is creating a new phenomenon: the Rohingya version of the mail-order bride. 

Sending back for a bride

The stateless Rohingya, described by the UN Refugee Agency as the most persecuted minority in the world, face restrictions in their native Myanmar on where they can travel, who they can marry, and how many children they can have. 

Of the 30,000 refugees who have fled ethnic violence in their home state for Malaysia, the majority of those braving the treacherous boat journey have been young, single men. 

"In the past many Rohingya men in Malaysia married undocumented Indonesian or Burmese Muslim women," Lewa says. "But from 2009 it became more common to send a Rohingya bride from their village by air."

Activists and refuges estimate that hundreds of Rohingya brides have been sent over since 2009, with 67 making the trip last year.

"In our camp there has been many men who went over [to Malaysia] who have since been in touch to say ‘hey, send me a woman to marry'," says Deen Mohammed, a refugee living in Leda camp in Cox's Bazaar in southeast Bangladesh.

So-called brokers and family members back in Myanmar and the refugee camps in Bangladesh look out for potential female mates. Once the right woman is found, several deals are struck.

The suitor - or often his parents - then come to an agreement with the bride-to-be's parents, which can involve monthly payments or a lump-sum figure. The girl herself is rarely consulted. 

Arrangements must then be made with the brokers - who then arrange the fake passports, tickets, and other documentation for the girl and her companion who often pose as her husband to get her through the scrutiny of immigration officials. 

From sea to the sky

One factor spurring the growth of the number of brides being flown over is the change in Thailand's attitude towards refugee boats. 

Having previously turned a blind eye, In 2009, Thailand - a key passage for onward travel to Malaysia - began to push refugee boats back to sea, leaving their passengers vulnerable to risks of dehydration and death. This shift coincided with a boom in low-cost air travel in Asia, with airlines like AirAsia adding hundreds of routes in 2008.

Parents unwilling to risk their daughter's lives by sending them on a small boat seem to be more receptive to the notion of dispatching them by air, opening the door for lonely men like Alam to spend his savings on a bride, a broker, and their plane tickets.

Somewhat ironically, the cost of bringing a bride to Malaysia by boat is now more expensive than by air, according to Deen Mohammed.

"For the boat, the brokers charge more for the women than they do for the men, about $2,280", he says. "The plane ticket costs about $1,500, getting a fake passport and other documents costs about $250."

He explained, however, that many refugees don't have the luxury of choice. 

"Many of the refugees aren't able to make the arrangements to go by plane…Not everyone is able to get a passport and other documents." 

Uncertain future 

Syed Karim, a refugee in Bangladesh who is preparing to send his daughter by boat to get married in Malaysia, is realistic about the situation.

"I just know that I'm supposed send the money I get [from the groom] to a specific place, and then someone will come take her. I don't know who he is, but I know his name," Karim says.

"Of course I'm scared about what might happen to her. She's a single girl by herself, she's 21 years old. She's worried about how she is going to reach her fiancé." 

Such trips can end in tragedy. Just a few days earlier, two Rohingya brides en route to Malaysia by boat from Cox's Bazaar drowned in choppy waters, Mohammed says. 

But uncertainty is a hallmark not just of the travel, but also of the life after it.

Mohammed recounted the story of a girl who went to marry a man in Malaysia who it turned out already had a wife and two children. The marriage was called off and the girl was stranded.

"For a month her parents heard nothing from her at all, had no idea how she was surviving, until finally she was able to call them to let them know that she had managed to find another husband."

Lewa also voices fears about the future of the girls, many of whom she says are underage.

"The women are there at the mercy of their husband. It's hard to talk to them - the husband is afraid to allow her out because he is afraid she could be arrested. 

"NGOs have raised concerns about high levels of domestic violence in the Rohingya community. At least in a village in Burma you have relatives or village elders to turn to," Lewa says. "Stateless young brides in an alien country are particularly vulnerable to abuses by state authorities and locals, but also by their own refugee community."

Soe Raza

RB Poem

March 17, 2013

The Open Prisoners In Modern Age

Every white and dark passed by tears and fears; 

Every single brunt has to bear! 

Because of a being Muslim and ethnic Rohingya; 

Killing and attacking me by Buddhists of Rakhingha. 

Even the rights of me being a Human; 

Being snatched away before my legal birth, 

This is a corner of the earth. 

Every breath I take in return of a tax and bribery; 

Why do I not call it Modern Slavery? 

I was born free and equal in dignity and rights; 

As I have two hands and legs with a human face, 

Never, I’ve been entitled for my race. 

Was there no 1952 Universal Declaration? 

As I been treated as worse as had possible; 

I couldn’t move and sigh though I able; 

Alas! It is me neither U Thein Sein nor U Rakhine! 

Whose blind-eyes dreamt of with deaf ears to shine! 

I am an Open Prisoner of this 21st; 

Who has no right to talk, hear and die with a peace at least! 

Round the clock, NaSaKa and Police with some racist Rakhines; 

Oppressing me all day and night! 

Showing a Carrot by U Thein Sein a side, 

Opening Naypyidaw was the reason to Hide; 

It is an Open Secret avoided by Daw Suu Kyi to other side; 

Saying nothing knowing everything flowing by the tide. 

How easy to carry Rohingya Genocide is! 

I am dying with deep sorrows and pains! 

In the Open Prison of U Thein Sein! 

Oh! My dear Lady, did I forget your life of House No. 54? 

I’m a friend of you within the same boundary; 

Why are you silent to my pain? 

Though my love and admiration for you remains. 

We didn’t come forever in this world to sustain. 

Let Rohingya be the citizens of Myanmar! 

To build a country of equality with transparency; 

With no code of colour and creed dependency, 

What I want is that Democracy, 

Whatever all I need is against this Bureaucracy. 

Soe Raza is a social activist for Rohingyas’ citizenship rights & student at International Islamic University Malaysia pursuing a degree in Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacology). 

Author’s note: The aim of this poem was to express a little dire condition of the camps inside Arakan, Myanmar where Internally Displaced Rohingyas (IDR) were forced to encamp unconditionally while Daw Suu Kyi avoided answering about them on her Europe and India trips. This poem was not copied and it is originally come from my feelings and thoughts about my community and country. The situation I described here is maybe less than 10%. ‘Every human being is born free and equal in dignity and rights; thus, every Rohingya Muslim within the boundary of Myanmar should have the same dignity and rights with fully recognized citizenship by Naypyidaw.”

RB News 

March 17, 2013 

(Translated by M.S. Anwar) 

Minbya, Arakan- Rohingyas in Arakan state are having hardships to their daily livelihoods due to the blockage of Rakhine extremists post the violence against them (Rohingyas) in June and October last year respectively. 

On Thursday, 14th March 2013, from the village of Singyi Pyin (Sang-Gri Fara), Baabu-Taung Village Tract in Minbya Township- a village that has been under severe food shortage for months, three Rohingyas left by an engine-boat for Lin-Baw Shor (La-Macchay Rua), Nagara village tract to buy some food stuffs. 

They were inhumanely and brutally slaughtered by the Rakhine terrorists waiting standby on their way. Their dead bodies were found at the bridge of Myaung-Bwa-Chaung nearby the village of Bu-Talloon, Mrauk-U Township on Saturday, March 16, 2013. 

Some military personnel, responsible for security, from Kha-Ma-Ra-380 encamped in Mrauk-U Township, were also present at the time when the dead bodies were found. There were several sword-hacked injuries on their bodies. They were slaughtered and their noses, ears and penises were cut off. 

They, who were brutally killed by Rakhine terrorists, were from the village of Singyi Pyin and their profiles are: 

(1) Mohammed Ullah S/o Aminullah (38) 

(2) Manzoor Alam S/o Noor Alam (37) 

(3) Mohammed Ayub S/o U Rashid (20)

Soe Raza
RB Poem

March 15, 2013

The Hatred In The Light Of Civilization

Civilization is a Symbol of good Nation, 

What the beauty prevails of multi-ethnic fashion; 

My country by born Myanmar that need to reunion 

Hatred is not a good passion. 

Civilization from cradle taught me to be gentle, 

And a good Citizen after all; 

Thus my blood corpuscles in the vessels! 

Simmering & murmuring begging to you all. 

To leave the hatred between, 

Let us be civilized citizens the world to win! 

As equal rights was there I’ve seen, 

No minority or majority it means. 

We lagged beyond & locked in deadly, 

I found no countrymen to oppose hatred sadly; 

Hatred results in bloodshed and arson ultimately, 

But civilization I believe in tolerance certainly. 

Hatred is more dangerous than a fire, 

Thought it has no attire; 

Do we feel any when we meet a pyre? 

Yes, we do as we care & share to admire. 

Could hatred go not against our will, 

If we could change the desire of the Devil; 

I surely believe in peace for the next April, 

And wish to last until January a peace deal! 

In ‘Rakhine’ & ‘Rohingya’ I found five Similarities! 

From where remixed we could start for a community, 

Let us build a Nation with full of peace and prosperity, 

No looking at the past when we had enmity. 

Soe Raza is a social activist for Rohingyas’ citizenship rights & student at International Islamic University Malaysia pursuing a degree in Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacology). 

Author's Note:

This poem was aimed to bring a cessation of communal hatred & violence against Rohingya, & again peace, prosperity with communal harmony between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims of Arakan, Myanmar through full recognition of Rohingyas’ citizenship right by Naypyitaw & Rakhine state government as well. 

RB News 

March 15, 2013 

The Arakan History Forum was held in Bangkok, Thailand on March 9, 2013 under supervision of Historian Dr. Aye Chan. And another seminar was held yesterday in MICT Park, Yangon, Myanmar. Three Rohingya political parties based in Yangon requested to answer some questions relating to Arakan history. The questions were sent in Burmese language on March 13, 2013. 

The questions of three Rohingya political parties were translated into English by RB Team. 

The questions sent by Democracy and Human Rights Party (DHRP): 

1. Are there any records in Arakan chronicle that, with the help of Muslim troops under Gen. Sandi Khan dispatched by Bengal Sultan, Min Saw Mon (a) Narameikhla conquered Mrauk-Oo and reined the kingdom? 
2. Based on the above historical records, can it be denied that Muslims have been living in Arakan since 1430? 
3. Can Arakan chronicles that mention the reign of Muslim kings assuming the titles of Sultan or Raja be denied? 
4. Would you reject the evidences that coins were issued in Arakan in Islamic scripts? 
5. Is it true that, during parliamentary period, with the cabinet decision, the second independence hero Prime Minister U Nu had recognized “Rohingya” as a distinct ethnic race and Rohingya language programme was relayed from government’s Burma Broadcasting Service (BSS)? 
6. Do you deny the statement of the Chief of Staff Gen. Aung Gyi who, on behalf of the government, promised that the rights and privileges of the Rohingya people would be guaranteed as an ethnic group on par with other nationalities of the country? 

The questions sent by National Development and Democratic Party (NDPD)

1. Is monument or stone tablet inscription primary source or secondary source? 
2. Are the words or vocabularies found in Ananda Stone Pillar inscription Rakhine or Burmese language? 
3. Do you know the words or vocabularies found in Ananda Stone Piller inscription (Kyaukza) are on the whole similar to the language spoken by Rohingyas today? 
4. Do you know, according to purapaik (writings on thin and folded substances) preserved during the time of Burmese King Bodawpaya, the language of Wethali period has utmost similarity with the language spoken by Rohingyas today? 
5. Do you know there were Pathi Kala Muslims in Arakan during the reign of Bodawpaya and had appointed Qazis in 4 wadis (regions) or in the whole of Arakan by imperial orders for the administration of justice? 

The questions sent by National Development and Unity Party (NDUP) 

1. Do you know, in 1799 the British envoy Francis Buchannan in his research work recorded that there were ethnic Rohingyas, who were natives and had long settled in Arakan? 
2. Do you know, Francis Buchanan recorded the Rohingya language is a separate language different from the Bengali? 
3. Do you know, according to the report of the British Commissioner Mr. Charles Paton, the population of Arakan before British’s entry or 1823 was 100,000 consisting of 60,000 Maghs, 30,000 Muslim Arakanese and Burman 10,000? 
4. Do you accept the report of Mr. Charles Paton as primary source? If you accept it, do you want to reject those Muslim Rohingya Arakanese who formed one-third of the total population of Arakan before 1823 as second largest community and citizens by birth? 
5. Do you know, according to that report, Muslim Arakanese (Rohingyas) were appointed or had served the Burmese kings as commissioners, administrators, police officers, Kyun Ouk (Circle officers) Zamindars or landlords , Kyedangyis (village officers) ? 
6. It has been accused that during colonial rule the British had brought people to Arakan from Bangladesh. Would you mention the number of foreigners living in the townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Akyab, Kyaukpyu and Sandoway who were paying alien taxes?

RB News 

March 15, 2013 

Free Burma Campaign South Africa and Protect the Rohingya group hosted BROUK delegation from 3rd March until 9th March 2012. BROUK delegation raised the plight of the Rohingya in Johannesburg and Cape Town. 

According to Organisers, BROUK President was interviewed by South Africa National Radio Station. Now more than more than 5 million listeners aware about the plight of Rohingya after a week of Campaign, interviews and news clips. Radio 786 and Islam radio also interviewed BROUK delegation daily during Rohingya awareness week of South Africa. 

BROUK President Tun Khin gave a Jummah talk during Friday Jummah prayer at the Al Jaamia Mosque in Claremont Cape Town. The mosque was strategically selected as Muslims from that area are also victims of force removals under the Apartheid Era. In September 1969 the Imam of the mosque Ashaheed Imam Abdullah Haroon was killed by security police for speaking out against the regime of his time. 

BROUK delegation was also received by the PAGAD centre, in memory of all the oppressed, as well as the Cape Town community, to lift the morale of all oppressed, showing we are one Ummah (Nation) in the struggle towards social justice and freedom. 

Within the same time, BROUK was invited by Christian Solidarity worldwide (CSW) to give briefing on latest situation of Rohingyas in Arakan State Burma during CSW Prayer event for the people of Burma who were suffering Human Right violation. BROUK’s general secretary Ahamed Hussein Jarmal gave a 15mins briefing specifically on last year attacks against Rohingya and ongoing humanitarian crisis in Arakan state Burma and boatpeople who were suffering in middle of the ocean and sea.

Santilla Chingaipe, SBS

World News Australia

March 15, 2013

The Federal Government is being urged to raise human rights issues during a visit next week by Burma's President Thein Sein.

(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)

The Federal Government is being urged to raise human rights issues during a visit next week by Burma's President Thein Sein.

The calls follow a United Nations report expressing concern over how Burma is making the transition from military rule to democracy.

Recently, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Burma released a report highlighting developments in Burma after decades of military rule.

Tomas Ojea Quintana says despite progress, Burma still needs to tackle serious human rights challenges.

Mr Quintana says only then can democratic transition and national reconciliation succeed.

"It requires ensuring that new legislation such as the proposed Printing and Publishing Law does not claw back advances in freedom of expression. It includes repealing legislation that remains a legacy from previous military governments such as the 1908 Unlawful Association Act and it requires capacity for the police and army personnel so that people are no longer beaten for the acts of peacefully expressing their views. This reform process must address these shortfalls now."

Activist group, Burma Campaign Australia, says President Thein Sein's visit to Australia provides an opportunity to raise concerns about fundamental freedoms.

Spokeswoman Zetty Brake says all ethnic groups should be able to enjoy the same freedoms in Burma.

"We want to see equality given to those ethnic nationalities and for different religions to be respected as well. This means we want to see ethnic groups having self determination and being able to have control over their lands and their resources. This is very much not the case at the moment, where we're seeing conflict happening to get control over resources. People should be respected for their different ethnic nationalities and that really is something that needs to change in Burma and its something the Australian government can raise and push further the Burmese government on."

One such group are the ethnic Rohingya Muslims.

Estimated to number about 800,000, the United Nations have called the Rohingya one of the most persecuted minority groups in the world.

Unrest between the Muslim Rohingya and Buddhists since June last year has left almost 200 people dead and about 120,000 displaced.

The UN says this has led thousands of Rohingya to seek refuge in Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries.

Mohammed Anwar is from the Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia.

Mr Anwar says Australia is in a strong position to help end discrimination against Rohingya in Burma.

"Australia should show off its human rights capabilities to Burma otherwise, I believe that because Australia has got its security post on the UN [Security] Council, Australia has a big role to bring justice for the people or to bring rights for the abused people."

Mr Anwar says the plight of the Rohingya - and those fleeing as refugees - needs to be recognised.

"If the international community leaves it as an internal matter of Burma, the Rohingya issue, then it will not be solved maybe even in 100 years because the majority of the Burmese people do not like the Rohingya, and they are against them. That [hate] has been created by the media and also some respected political figures. They all use different terms for Rohingya and they are all claiming that these people are illegal immigrants. That's why we need international support, we need international help."

In addition to talks with government officials while in Australia, President Thein Sein will also meet business leaders.

However, Zetty Brake from Burma Campaign Australia says it's too soon to be holding business talks with Burma.

"What we haven't seen in Burma is significant reforms to the business environment and what we do know is that foreign investment often has been linked to human rights abuses, to the displacement of tens of thousands of people in Burma and to the loss of livelihood for many of those people. Many local communities do not benefit from foreign investment and meeting with business leaders is premature."

President Thein Sein will visit between Sunday and Wednesday, and is expected to make a trip to Canberra.

It will be the first visit to Australia by a Burmese head of state since 1974.

Chutima Sidasathian and Alan Morison

South China Morning Post

March 14, 2013

More damning evidence has emerged of what villagers describe as the "slaughter" of Rohingya refugees by members of the Thai military near the holiday island of Phuket, with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pledging to investigate the incident. 

A fisherman said he and others saw 15 to 20 corpses floating off the coast close to Hinlad village, near the port of Kuraburi, where four Rohingya survivors and villagers say shootings took place on February 22. 

The four survivors, who were among about 130 boat people who arrived in the area from Myanmar on February 21, said last week that the shooting occurred as members of the Thai military tried to separate the refugees between two boats. 

Some Rohingya refused. When the troops fired a warning shot, about 20 jumped overboard. The troops then opened fire on those in the water, survivors and villagers claimed. 

"I saw three bodies, one of the bodies was a woman," fisherman Yutdana Sangtong said yesterday. "But my friends on the other side of the bay said they saw about 15 to 20 bodies all together."

Sangtong said a friend described the bodies as being in a decomposed state. He believes the currents have since carried the dead out to sea. 

Red Cross Rescue Service leader Manat Aree said that he recovered two bloated bodies from the area on February 26 and 27, after being told their location by fishermen. 

The South China Morning Post saw photographs of the two male corpses, one of which clearly bore a wound to the head. 

"We would have liked to fetch the other bodies but we could not because we had no money for fuel for our boat," Manat said. 

The bodies were taken to Kuraburi hospital, then reclaimed by villagers for a swift burial according to Muslim custom. Villagers showed the graves to reporters. 

Hinlad's deputy chief Aduwat Ahamad works in a paramilitary role for Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command, which oversees border security and has been linked to previous mistreatment of the Rohingya. 

"In the past, we closed one eye to the people-trafficking that has been going on in secret all along the coast. But I cannot stay silent with the deaths of innocent Muslims. My heart is broken by this slaughter," he said. 

Aduwat was among eight villagers who support the account of the incident provided by the four Rohingya who made it to shore. They said a military patrol boat arrived on the scene soon after the refugee boat arrived and towed the Rohingya vessel. The next morning, villagers reported hearing gunfire. 

A video shot by locals shows the Rohingya boat under tow by a patrol boat with the hull designation 214. 

The four survivors disappeared at the weekend from the village where they were being sheltered. They have since telephoned their former protectors in Hinlad to say they are safe and in Malaysia. 

The village imam, Alit Damchor, said many Rohingya had come ashore around the Kuraburi district because word had spread that people there were tolerant and generous. Hinlad and other villages nearby are predominantly Muslim. 

"Our direction and the government's direction are totally different," Alit said. "Our concept of how to treat the Rohingya is also very different." 

The Thai navy has denied reports of the February 22 incident, without elaborating. However, on Monday night Yingluck pledged to investigate. 

"Our government has a policy to take care of the Rohingya on humanitarian grounds, so they won't be pushed back," she said. "We will investigate this." 

In a statement issued yesterday, US-based Human Rights Watch said the Thai navy had shot at the Rohingya and caused at least two deaths. The group called for an immediate government investigation. 

"Rohingya fleeing Burma should be given protection, not shot at," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director. "The Thai government should urgently investigate why sailors opened fire on boat people helpless in the sea, and prosecute all those found responsible." 

The rights group also called on Thai authorities to reveal the whereabouts of the remaining 100-plus Rohingya, who it said were last seen in navy custody. 

Thai authorities have adopted a policy of "helping on" Rohingya boats which are apprehended in Thai waters, providing them with fuel, food and water on condition they do not land in Thailand. Thai security forces also co-ordinated a secret policy of towing the Rohingya out to sea in unpowered boats and casting them adrift. 

Hundreds died in 2008 and 2009 before the policy was exposed and repudiated.

RB News 

March 14, 2013 

Amsterdam: Burmese Rohingya Community in Netherlands (BRCNL) had meeting with Jan Waltmans, Director for Asia of Minister for Foreign Affairs of Netherlands in Amsterdam on March 13, 2013. 

Chairman of BRCNL, Sazaat Ahammed along with three other members of BRCNL joined the meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Den Haag on March 13 from 2 to 3 pm. 

In the meeting, Sazaat Ahammed, Chairman of BRCNL handed over a letter along with a document that contained 52 graphic photos of the victims of genocide on Rohingya. 

Sazaat expressed the brief history Rohingya existence in Arakan State of Burma and recent genocide began on June 8, 2012. He also discussed about current situation of Rohingya IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and the situation of the Rohingyas in Northern Arakan State. 

In the meeting with Director for Asia of Minister for Foreign Affairs Jan Waltmans, Chairman of BRCNL, Sazaat Ahammed has pointed the proposal to deport the Rohingya from Arakan to third countries, the intention of not to revise 1982 citizenship law and awkward example of a Rohingya family has more than 70 family members by Burma President Thein Sein.

Letter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Netherlands by BRCNL

To:

President Barack H. Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

Date: March 14, 2013

Sub: An Urgent Appeal to save the Rohingyas of Arakan-Burma

Dear Mr. President,

First of all, we, the members of the Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association (BRAFA) would like to thank you for your historic visit to Burma (Myanmar) on November 19, 2012 and your great speech in Yangon University Convocation Hall in which you brought the issue of the suffering Rohingya people to the audience of the people of Burma.

The Rohingya community of Arakan, Burma (Myanmar) is one of the most down-trodden ethnic minorities of the world. They are victims of political, racial and religious oppression, economic exploitation and cultural slavery in their ancestral homeland-Arakan where they have been living for many centuries.

In this regard, we would like to bring to your kind attention that after your visit and the advocacy of solution of the Rohingya people nothing was changed. Moreover, the situation of the suffering Rohingya people has been more worsen and still today going on as following.

(1) No any kind of appropriate action and concrete plan has been taken yet by the Burmese quasi-civilian Government to solve the problems of the Rohingyas, to resettle them in their original villages which were burned down and destroyed by the Buddhist Rakhine people and Burmese security forces during the year 2012 in June and October and including the restoration of Rohingyas citizenship rights;

(2) The lives of the Muslim Rohingyas become so miserable with the artificial creation of starvation and unbearable hardship that Rohingyas are risking their lives escaping in small wooden boat by sea in search of safety and shelter unaware of where they are going, most of them were drown and died whereas some of them were able to reach floating to Indian Andaman island, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and etc…;

(3) The Arakan State Government officials and its supported Rakhine ruling political party (RNDP) leaders and members are blocking the humanitarian relief goods and medical supplies to the segregated camps where more than 120,000 Rohingyas are passing their days in subhuman condition. So, the situation of the Rohingyas in the camp is very bad as there is not enough food, clean water, hygiene and medical facilities for which hundreds of people comprising pregnant women, elder people and children have died due to severe starvation;

(4) The Immigration authority of the Arakan State Government with the direction of central government administration officials has been inflicting physical and psychological trauma by forcing the Rohingyas to confess Bengali ethnicity instead of Rohingya identity in the family data-checkup;

(5) More than 1,100 Muslim Rohingyas comprising scholars, religious and community leaders, students and youths are being arrested on fabricated charges and false accusations who are severely tortured in the prison some of whom were found dead due to excessing use of force and inhuman treatment by the Burmese prison security officials on the basis of reliable witnesses who came out from the prison paying a large amount of bribe to the government officials and security forces;

(6) Bangladeshi citizens Buddhist Rakhine families are brought into the Arakan by the local Arakan State Government and resettle them in the confiscated lands owned by the Rohingya people. The current Arakan State Government also has replaced Rohingya Holy places, historical monument and relics by building monasteries, pagodas and other Buddhist structures;

(7) The one sided violence against the innocent Rohingya people still today not mitigated and the President Thein Sein led Burmese Government authority has been subjecting them to severe persecutions including torture, looting, extortion, arbitrary arrest, summary executions, serious restriction on movement, restriction on employment, trade and business, seizure and confiscation of land and property, raping of Muslim women and young girls have become common practice, forced relocation and eviction, restriction to pursue higher education, prohibition of marriage of Rohingya couples, forced birth control and restriction on daily religious practices etc. rendering them to the status of modern-day slaves;

Considering the above mentioned major factors of the extreme suffering and worsening condition of the Rohingya people of Arakan State-Burma, we, the members of the Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association (BRAFA) would like to urgently appeal our President of Great America to help and save the Rohingyas of Arakan on humanitarian ground.

Thanking you very much in advance and we greatly appreciate your kind attention to this very important matter of the suffering Rohingya people of Arakan.

Respectfully,

The Executive Committee Members

Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association (BRAFA)

Milwaukee

Wisconsin.

Ibrahim Shah

RB Poem

March 13, 2013

Let’s struggle for liberty of Rohingya 

The native of Arakan, Rohingya you , 

Come nearer hastily where are you . 

Storm is hitting on nation but we are sitting lazily, 

Come whatever abilities you have to protect the nation. 

And don’t sleep you, 

Once they spoil the dignity of our mother and sister 

Come awakening with the might of heart, 

For resistance we against the racist 

And how many days would watch putting hand over chest, 

Suffering we the atrocities of mogh and Burmans and, 

Would die without movement any limbs we. 

Not anymore not anymore we would loosen against Mogh and Burman 

The native of Arakan, Rohingya you 

Come nearer hastily where are you. 

There is neither dread nor worry Rohingya for you, 

in Quran has witness about getting victory title or die as martyr we. 

Oh impudent Rohingya, pondered this ever have you? 

We have to be imprisoned once our nation seek political asylum, 

In turn of other nation they are granted costly shelter, 

Of made put bouquet over neck with better treatment. 

Come congregationally all of you, 

To protect the dignity of parents and siblings. 

We are struggling this time 

To set free the entire Rohingya nation forever 

From Mogh and Burman racists.

RB Poem

March 13, 2013

Patrick Boehler

Irrawaddy 

March 13, 2013

RANGOON — A member of Parliament for Burma’s ruling Union and Solidarity Party (USDP) has warned that simmering tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in Arakan State could lead to another outbreak of communal violence. 

“If the government doesn’t take any action, I fear for further violence in the very near future,” Shwe Maung, the USDP Lower House lawmaker for Buthidaung Township, said. “I’m not saying this emotionally. After proper analysis I am telling you that we need to control it, not let it happen.” 

At the same time, however, the Muslim lawmaker warned that “ ethnic hatred will become more and more” if the media focuses too much attention on crimes committed in the strife-torn state. 

“We can see a lack of the rule of law. Action taken by the local government is very unfair.” 

Shwe Maung joined the USDP a month ahead of the November 2010 parliamentary elections, and has since been a vocal supporter of an amendment to Burma’s 1982 citizenship law, which bars the Muslim Rohingya population mostly living in his state from being recognized as Burmese citizens. 

“In my personal view, it must be amended,” he said of the controversial law, which was introduced under former dictator Ne Win. 

Several clashes between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Arakanese Buddhists left 115,000 displaced and more than 100 dead last year, according to United Nations estimates. Some 13,000 Rohingya fled the country on boats in 2012, and around 500 people are believed to have died at sea as a result. 

The lawmaker, also known as Abdul Razak, said he was concerned that the government’s failure to bring security to his state could lessen his party’s chances of being re-elected to power. 

“It will reflect especially in my constituency,” he said. “We need to explain to the people that [the failure] is not party policy, this is the responsibility of the government.” 

“Of course, the government is from the USDP, but they are working separately,” he said in his Rangoon office. 

“It will be difficult to stay in power” if the ethnic tensions in his state and in Kachin State aren’t solved before the 2015 elections, the lawmaker said. 

“But even other parties are not bringing any solutions. Especially the NLD has no solution,” he added, referring to Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi. 

Shwe Maung positioned himself as a supporter of Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann, calling the former armed forces joint chief of staff “intelligent, calm and professional,” amid reports that he would be taking over the ruling party’s chairmanship, a position currently occupied by President Thein Sein. 

“Although Thein Sein is the chairman, according to the Constitution he cannot fulfill the duties of the party,” said Shwe Maung, explaining why the president is stepping down as USDP chairman. 

Shwe Mann, who is currently the deputy chairman of the USDP, is ideally suited to assume the chairmanship, and stands a good chance of becoming Burma’s next president, believes Shwe Maung. 

“I believe he could be president in 2015, because when I look at him in Parliament, I see him accepted by all the parties,” he said. 

The lawmaker added that Shwe Mann had a better chance of becoming president that NLD leader Suu Kyi. 

“It doesn’t mean that she could not be president—she is highly qualified,” he said. “But becoming a president not only depends on qualifications, it also depends on the support of MPs.”

New Straits Times

March 13, 2013

ILLEGAL ENTRY: The 184 foreigners, including 68 children, had arrived in a cramped fishing vessel 

ALOR STAR: A TOTAL of 184 Rohingya, including 68 children, from Myanmar were detained for illegal entry at Pantai Kuala Jerlun in Jerlun, near here, early yesterday. 

The foreigners had earlier arrived in a cramped fishing vessel, manned by several Myanmar nationals, before they were forced to swim to the shore about 7am. 

They had were also forced to wade through a muddy patch before reaching the shore. 

Most of the Rohingya foreigners, especially the children, appeared pale and weak when they landed on the beach. 

It was learnt that the foreigners had been on the boat for about 12 days before they arrived here. 

Villagers, who tipped off the presence of the foreigners to the authorities, took pity on the Rohingya refugees and offered them food and drinks. 

The foreigners were picked up by 50 enforcement and security personnel comprising policemen, Immigration Department enforcement officers, Rela volunteers and members of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. 

Shamsuddin Shafie, 38, said he was returning home from his fishing trip when he saw the refugees swimming to the shore. 

“My heart sank when I saw them trying to make it through the muddy beach.” 

State Immigration Department enforcement division chief Nar Aza man Ibrahim said the refugees would be placed at several immigration depots in the country. 

“However, two of the children would be sent to a protection house in Bukit Jalil since we could not locate their parents,” he said.

Ramzy Baroud

Gulf News

March 13, 2013

More voices must join those who are speaking out in support of the rights of the Muslims of Myanmar and their perpetual suffering must end

“Transparency is the most important word”. That was the pledge made by a Burmese official, Aung Kyaw Htoo on March 4, during a press conference in the capital Rangoon. It was aimed at wooing foreign companies to invest in his country’s energy sector. Largely untapped oil, gas and other industries in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, promise to magnify the country’s economic potential and reap huge profits for everyone involved — regional and western companies, and, of course, the Burmese government. 

Kyaw Htoo, like other Burmese officials, knows how to iterate the needed key phrases that would tickle the soft spots of western media and governments. In fact, a whole democracy whitewash has been underway for quite some time now, taking the military junta in Rangoon through a most fascinating journey — from being perceived as an oppressive regime with a disconcerting human rights record to one managing a budding democracy. The official “promised international standards would be upheld in auctions for the rights to explore and exploit lucrative energy reserves,” Germany’s Deutsche Welle reported on March 5. 

Reality, however, is much too removed from official newspeak. When such words as ‘lucrative energy reserves’ and ‘exploit’ appear in the same sentence, ‘international standards’ become much more malleable and open for interpretation. International human rights standards seem completely absent regarding the immense suffering and humiliation of the Rohingya people, who according to the United Nations, as reported in Reuters, are “virtually friendless” in the face of a relentless ethnic cleansing campaign threatening their very existence. 

On February 26, fishermen discovered a rickety wooden boat floating randomly at sea, nearly 25km off the coast of Indonesia’s northern province of Aceh. The Associated Press reported there were 121 people on board including children who were extremely weak, dehydrated and nearly starved. They were Rohingya refugees who preferred to take their chances at sea rather than stay in Myanmar.

This is hardly an isolated event. Such deadly journeys are reported daily, although each with a traumatic twist of its own. Another large rescue took place off the coast of India’s eastern Andaman archipelago, the Andaman Sheekha website reported, where 108 Rohingyas in dismal conditions were rescued on February 28. 

A week earlier, a group of Rohingya refugees were not so lucky. Writing from Phuket, Chutima Sidasathian and Alan Morison reported on the killing of at least two and the wounding of as many as 15 Rohingyas by Thai security forces. “The killings, which are said to have occurred on February 21, came during a botched attempt by the military to transfer about 20 would-be refugees from the large boat on which they arrived from Burma with 110 others, to a much smaller vessel,” the Phuket Wan reported. Stricken by fear that they will be separated from their families, witnesses said some of the refugees jumped into the sea, only to come under a barrage of bullets. 

The stories are too many to count and the details are as frightening as ever, yet the plight of the “world’s most persecuted people” — another UN designation — remains a mere irritant to Myanmar’s supposed democracy transformation, which is hailed as a success story by western media, companies and political elites. 

But who are the Rohingya people? Most Rohingya Muslims are native to the state of “Rohang” (originally a kingdom of its own), officially known as Rakhine or Arakan. Over the years, especially in the late 19th century and early 20th century, the original inhabitants of Arakan were joined by cheap or forced labour from Bengal and India, who permanently settled there. For decades, tension brewed between Buddhists and Muslims in the region. Eventually, a majority backed by a military junta prevailed over a minority without any serious regional or international backers. 

Without much balance of power to be mentioned, the Rohingya population of Arakan, estimated at nearly 800,000, subsisted between the nightmare of having no legal status (as they are still denied citizenship), little or no rights and the occasional ethnic purges carried out by their neighbours. The worst of such violence in recent years took place between June and October. Buddhists also paid a heavy price for the clashes, but the stateless Rohingyas, being isolated and defenceless, were the ones to carry the heaviest death toll and destruction. 

Reporting for Voice of America from Jakarta, Kate Lamb cited a moderate estimate of the outcome of communal violence in the Arakan state, which left hundreds of Rohingya Muslims dead, thousands of homes burnt and nearly 115,000 displaced. The number is likely to be higher at all fronts. Many fleeing Rohingya perished at sea or disappeared to never be seen again. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported that nearly 13,000 Rohingya refugees attempted to leave Myanmar on smugglers’ boats in the Bay of Bengal in 2012. At least five hundred drowned. 

Meanwhile, western countries, led by the United States are clamouring to divide the large Myanmar economic cake amongst themselves, and are saying next to nothing about the current human rights records of Rangoon. As Rohangya boats were floating (or sinking) in various waters, Myanmar’s President Sein met in Oslo, on February 26, with Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in a ‘landmark’ visit. Regarding the conflict in Arakan, Jens Stoltenberg unambiguously declared it to be an internal Myanmar affair, reducing it to most belittling statements. In regards to ‘disagreements’ over citizenship, he said, “we have encouraged dialogue, but we will not demand that [Myanmar’s] government give citizenship to the Rohingyas.” 

Moreover, to reward Sein for his supposedly bold democratic reforms, Norway took the lead by waving off nearly half of its debt and other countries followed suit, including Japan which dropped $3 billion last year. 

The perpetual suffering of the Rohingya people must end. They are deserving of rights and dignity. They are weary of crossing unforgiving seas and walking harsh terrains seeking mere survival. More voices must join those who are speaking out in support of their rights. Southeast Asian countries must break away from their silence and tediously guarded policies and western countries must be confronted by their own civil societies: there should not be normalisation with Rangoon when innocent men, women and children are being burnt alive in their own homes and mosques. This injustice needs to be known to the world and serious, organised and determined efforts must follow to bring the persecution of the Rohingya people to an end. 

Ramzy Baroud is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is: My Father was A Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto Press).