Jared Ferrie

The News PK

April 11, 2013

A Response to Mr. Bilal Raschid 

On the webpage of “democracy for Burma” on 10th April, there appeared an article mentioning “Rohingya old name, new label” by Dr. Jacques P. Leider a specialist on Rakhine history and who until the recent Historical conference on Arakan history, in Bangkok on Febuary 9, 2013, denied the identity of Rohingya. Now he says Rohingya is the old name which indicates he recognized Rohingya’s existence in Arakan. He further clarified the historicity of Rohingya in his article. The term Rohingya reached every nook and corner of the world. U.N has also recognized it. UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur, Ojea Quintana recognized Rohingya too. Even President Obama, in his address to Myanmar audience in convocation Hall of Yangon University on 19th November 2012 asked Myanmar government to offer Rohingya their due rights. He said Rohingya has also dignity as we all have. 

To my surprise Mr. Bilal Raschid who is said to be the President of Burmese Muslim Association (BMA), either does not know or pretend not to know Rohingya due to ulterior motive of his own. His remark in a recent interview with RFA is ruinous and injurious to Rohingya people. He called them Bengali and said they should have the right of citizenship but their claim of ethnicity is not so right. It is a big insult. Even today dignitaries in Myanmar government use the term “community” instead of calling Bengali. Let me ask him; “are you only comfortable only when you can say something against the interest of Rohingya? Are you aware of your remark how much it destroys the image of Rohingya in this critical juncture of their national life?” I want to request Mr. Bilal Raschid to do his own business. The question of our citizenship and ethnicity is not his business. 

Mr. Bilal, if you can’t help us do not disturb us. Leave us alone. I am writing this note out of my sense of responsibility. I was an elected MP from this Rohingya community and presently leading a political party of the same community whom you opted to call Bengali. 

Thank you.

U Kyaw Min

PRESS RELEASE 

BRCA Strongly Condemns the Reckless Action of Burning Photos in a Rally in Bangkok 

A small group of people’s reckless action do not represent whole Rohingya community and we would like to remind to every individuals/group that this kind of actions do not serve for anyone’s good. We, Rohingya people always wholeheartedly admire our independence leader Bogyoke Aung San and we do not accept any disgraceful action/misbehaviour conduct against him at any cost. 

AFP

April 11, 2013

TOKYO - Members of Myanmar's Muslim minority Rohingya community said Thursday they have been barred from a gathering to welcome democracy hero Aung San Suu Kyi when she visits Japan.

Suu Kyi is expected from Saturday in her first visit to the country for nearly three decades, after time spent as a researcher at Kyoto University in 1985-6.

During her six-day trip, she is expected to have meetings with some of the approximately 10,000 Burmese who live in Japan, as well as with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.

But Zaw Min Htut, 42, the leader of some 200 Rohingya Muslims who live in Japan, said his people had been told they were not wanted at events to welcome Suu Kyi.

"Because some Buddhist minorities are against our participation, even though I've been in Japan for decades and have helped other Myanmar nationals here, I was told by compatriot event organisers I won't be able to see Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," he told AFP, using a term of respect.

The apparent tensions between groupings within the expatriate Myanmar community underline growing problems between Muslims and Buddhists at home that have cast a shadow over much-vaunted political reforms of recent years.

At least 43 people were killed in March as mosques and Muslim homes were destroyed in central Myanmar, in a wave of communal violence that witnesses say appeared to have been well organised.

The recent disorder was the worst since an eruption of violence between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the western state of Rakhine last year that left scores dead and tens of thousands -- mainly Muslims -- displaced.

The Rohingya have been described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.

Activists have expressed disappointment that Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate who was locked up for 15 years by the former junta, has remained largely silent about several episodes of communal bloodshed.

"I would really like to meet her in person, but I don't want there to be any quarrels," Zaw Min Htut said.

An official from Japan's foreign ministry said decisions on participation at the event were taken by organisers and were nothing to do with the ministry.

Zaw Min Htut said he had met officials Wednesday and handed over a letter to Kishida, asking the minister to convey his wish that Suu Kyi play a leading role in ending inter-communal violence.

"I want her to become a mediator in ethnic conflicts, because without settlement of the issue, Myanmar will not become a truly peaceful nation, even if it becomes a democracy," he told AFP.

Suu Kyi's connection to Japan stems from her father, General Aung San, who led the independence movement in the country then known as Burma against British colonial rule.

From late 1940 he spent several months in Japan, whose Imperial Army -- then involved in a brutal campaign of conquest across Asia -- had offered succour, including cash, weaponry and manpower.Two years later he established a Japanese-backed government, but by 1945 had enlisted the help of the British to liberate Burma from Tokyo's colonial rule.

April 10, 2013

Hanna Hindstrom 

April 10, 2013

A recent riot at an Indonesian detention centre, in which eight Burmese Buddhists were killed by a mob of Muslims, was sparked by the rape and sexual assault of three Rohingya women, a new police investigation has revealed. 

According to a police report obtained by DVB, the Indonesian prison brawl, which broke out on 5 April killing eight Buddhists and injuring 15 Rohingya men, was not caused by an argument over religious violence in Burma as previously reported. 

Instead the report pins the blame on “several incidents” of sexual violence perpetrated by Burmese Buddhists against Rohingya women, including two brutal gang rapes, which the authorities failed to investigate. A third woman was sexually assaulted by two men after taking a bath next to her room at the Belawan detention centre in Medan, Sumatra island. 

Although a Rohingya leader quickly reported the incidents to officers at the detention centre, the perpetrators were “only reprimanded and slapped” on the cheek, according to the police report. 

A gang of eight Buddhists, identified as “illegal fishermen”, then threatened the Rohingyas and “an unequal quarrel broke out”, in which knives, wooden rods and screwdrivers were used by the two groups to attack each other. All five men, implicated in the three cases of rape and sexual assault, were killed in the brawl. 

The new report contradicts previous accounts, which suggested that the Rohingyas launched an attack against the Buddhists after seeing images of recent anti-Muslim violence, which swept through central Burma in late March, claiming over 40 lives. 

It follows two bouts of vicious clashes between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists Arakanese in western Burma last year, in which over 125,000 people were displaced. 

The Rohingyas detained on Sumatra Island in Indonesia were described by police as “asylum seekers” with “long-standing resentment against Buddhist citizens of Myanmar [Burma] as a result of atrocities against Rohingya people committed by other Myanmar citizens.”

Rohingyas are denied citizenship and basic rights by the Burmese government and are considered one of the world’s most persecuted minorities by the UN. 

Since last year’s violence in western Burma, which primarily targeted Muslim villages, more than 15,000 Rohingyas have fled the country. The refugees, including women and children, often makes the perilous journey by sea on rickety boats, in the hopes of reaching other Muslim countries, such as Indonesia or Malaysia. 

The Burmese government has demanded a full investigation into the violence and called on the Indonesian authorities “to pay special attention” to the protection of its citizens. 

Police forces have named 20 Rohingya asylum seekers as suspects in the violence, including five 16-year-olds and one 15-year-old. According to the Jakarta Post, the suspects are accused of “conducting collective assault and torturing” and face a maximum sentence of 12 years imprisonment if convicted. 

The report also called for an increase in security at Indonesian detention centres, as well as the segregation of Muslims and Buddhists from Burma. 

However questions remain over the future of the remaining Rohingya detainees, who may be returned to Burma unless they are granted asylum in Indonesia or a third country. The police report also reveals that the detention centre was crammed with over twice as many inmates as its capacity allowed. 

The UN Refugee Agency has appealed for calm and urged the Indonesian authorities “to take action to prevent further violence, including moving individuals into community housing as soon as possible”.

This news report is originally published here.

Joint statement on the burning of photos in Bangkok Protest

Date: April 10, 2013

We, undersigned organizations are deeply disappointed on the unexpected incident of burning photos of the Burma’s independent leader General Aung San, the father of the country’s democracy icon and opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on April 9, 2013, which was reportedly organized by a part of Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT).

We feel depressed over the misconducts in peaceful assembly, which cannot be accepted for the ethnic Rohingya people at all.

Demonstration of misconducts does not represent the Rohingya people’s views and concern as the Rohingya people are entirely deserved for peaceful co-existences within Burmese society, while Rohingya refugees and activists in Malaysia have been struggling for urgent democratic reforms in Burma through freeing all political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the past.

In these regards, we call upon all peace loving people of the world and world leaders to understand the stance of Rohingya ethnic minority for peaceful co-existence and harmonious lives.

We request all the Rohingya Arakanese activists to be on right path and guard against such unsocial and unexpected incidents.

1. Rohingya Concern International (RCI), USA

2. Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association (BRAFA), USA

3. Rohingya Muslim Organization (RMO), Bangladesh

4. Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYDF) Arakan-Burma

5. Arakan Rohingya Organization-Japan (JARO)

6. Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee (RARC), Malaysia

7. Burmese Rohingya Association in Queensland-Australia (BRAQA), Australia

For further information, please contact:

1. Mr. Mohammad Sadek Tel: +60163094599

2. Mr. Kyaw Soe Aung Tel: +14147364273

3. Mr. Hossain Juhar Tel: +61401064927

PRESS RELEASE 

Rohingya People Unequivocally Condemns the Grossly Irrational Behavior of the Protesters in the Rally in Bangkok 

Date: April 10, 2013

On behalf of the Rohingya community worldwide, the Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) denounces, in its strongest terms, the burning of the images of the Burmese independence leader and father of the nation Bogyoke Aung San and the NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at a rally reportedly organized by the Burmese Rohingya Association of Thailand (BRAT) on April 9, 2013. 

ARU makes it clear that a gross misconduct by a small group of misguided individuals on a street of Bangkok does not represent the view of the Rohingya people by any means, and it does not reflect the ideals of the Rohingya community in Burma and around the world. Such utterly irrational and abominable behavior of a small group of stray individuals on the street of Bangkok must not be acceptable by any standard of social norm. 

ARU calls on all the Rohingya people worldwide to take every precaution not to be misguided by any unruly or irrational group that embraces such behaviors and actions that do not serve any purpose whatsoever. 

Prof. Dr. Wakar Uddin 

Director General 

Arakan Rohingya Union

Press Release: Rohingya People Unequivocally Condemns the Grossly Irrational Behavior of the Protesters in...

ARAKAN ROHINGYA NATIONAL ORGANISATION 

ARAKAN, BURMA 

PRESS RELEASE 

Date: April 9, 2013

ARNO condemns the burning of photos in protest rally in Bangkok 

We at Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) have strongly denounced the burning of the pictures of the Burma’s independent hero and father of the nation General Aung San and opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at a protest rally organized by Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT) today, the 9th April 2013, in front of the Burmese/Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok. 

We feel depressed and miserable over it and express that it cannot be accepted for the Rohingya people, no matter who they offenders are. 

Meanwhile, we caution all Rohingya activists to be on guard against such untoward activities. 

For more information, please contact: 

Nurul Islam: + 44-7947854652 

Email: info@rohingya.org 

www.rohingya.org

The Jakarta Post

April 9, 2013

A number of Rohingya refugees currently living in the Pasar III temporary shelter on Jl.Jamin Ginting, Medan, North Sumatra, have asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to immediately resettle them in a third country. 

M.Habib, 43, one of Rohingya refugees in Medan, said on Monday that he had never made a problem out of which third country they would be resettled to. This issue would fully depend on the UNHCR’s policy because it was the only institution that had been dealing with issues concerning the Rohingya refugees so far, he added. 

“The most important thing for us is how we can find a way to not live in the temporary shelter anymore,” said Habib as quoted by Antara news agency. 

He said the Rohingya refugees in Medan had been living in the city’s temporary shelter for about two to four years. “It’s very boring living in the shelters for such a long period of time,” said Habib. 

He said the Rohingya refugees wanted a clearer status and a country that could give them a security guarantee. “It has nothing to do with money,” said Habib. 

No countries were willing to accept the Rohingya refugees, he said. “But going back to Myanmar is also not an option because our mothers, brothers, sisters and other family members have all died due to the conflict,” he went on. 

Previously, dozens of Rohingya refugees visited the UNHCR representative office on Jl.Babura Lama, Medan, to protest against the agency’s slow actions in resettling them in a third country.

Maung Zarni
Asia Times

April 9, 2013

Burma/Myanmar's radical "969 movement" has been central in the recent brutal pogroms against minority Muslims that have left at least 40 dead and 12,000 displaced. The Buddhist monk-led group, however, cannot be understood outside of the interface between President Thein Sein's government and the country's racist society at large. 

Nor can it be explained without examining the respective roles of a) the State, which in effect offers the country's neo-Nazi Buddhists impunity, b) Thein Sein's inaction, even amid indications of ethnic cleansing against minority Muslims, and c) the Aung San Suu Kyi-led opposition's moral bankruptcy throughout the crisis. The orgy of violence has raised several important questions about the country's direction and hopes for reform. 

How popular and widespread is the 969 movement and how likely is it to spread throughout the country? 

As a new nationalist movement with a clear message of ''racial and religious purity'', a false sense of Buddhist victimhood, and cultural and economic nationalism - not dissimilar to Germany's Nazism in the 1930s - 969 is gaining popularity for three main reasons. 

First, some of the militant Buddhist preachers from nationally well-connected Buddhist teaching colleges (such as 969 leader Wirathu) effectively scapegoat the country's Muslims for the general economic hardships and cultural decay in society, portraying the ethnic Burmese as victims at the hands of organized Muslim commercial leeches and parasites. Second, 969 preys on the historical and popular anti-Muslim racism among the majority Buddhists. Last but not least, virtually all state institutions at all levels - including the police, intelligence agencies, the army, local civil administration and even fire departments - under Thein Sein's management have offered this Buddhist neo-Nazi movement both impunity and passive cooperation. 

What is the Naypyidaw government doing to crack down on the radical movement? 

Thein Sein's official report to parliament on the anti-Muslim violence against ethnic Rohingyas last year in western Burma/Myanmar's Rakhine State blamed political parties and Buddhist monks for spreading ''ethnic hatred''. Yet his administration has not taken a single action against anyone who openly incited anti-Muslim hatred or ethnic hatred towards the Rohingyas. Nor has his government detained or even deterred a single Buddhist preacher of hate for acts of spreading anti-Muslim hatred in society and inciting blatant calls for phase-by-phase elimination of Muslims and their influence in society. 

"Political parties, some monks and some individuals are increasing the ethnic hatred. They even approach and lobby both the domestic and overseas [Arakan] community," Thein Sein's report, submitted to parliament last August, said. There is thus an unbridgeable gap between Thein Sein's messages of coexistence and tolerance, to which the Western mainstream media has given wide coverage, and his government's inaction, which the same media has failed to report beyond the observation that local police have stood by idly when organized mob violence unfolded before them. 

All over Burma/Myanmar one can easily find numerous publications, DVDs, CDs and other anti-Muslim propaganda materials. It is not illegal to spread anti-Muslim misinformation and hateful views in the country's more open environment. Instead, the government sued the Voice Weekly newspaper for printing a single article about corruption at the ministry of mines. 

But it has left untouched various publications that have printed rumors, slander and misinformation about the country's Muslims. Thein Sein's government is thus evidently more concerned about being correctly described as highly corrupt than stopping the sustained and open calls in various media to turn the country into a ''graveyard of Muslim leeches''. 

Unless Thein Sein's government systematically cracks down on those who promote and organize Islamophobic violence and hate speech and effectively ends its long-standing policy of impunity for those who commit crimes against Muslims (and other ethnic minorities), it will run the risk of 969 morphing into a full-blown genocidal movement. Despite its pretensions towards democracy, Thein Sein's military-propped regime has over 50 years of proven experience in suppressing organized opposition movements. For decades, the military was effectively able to censor and stop any news or messages it didn't want disseminated in society. 

In his article "Challenging the Authoritarian State: Buddhist Monks and Peaceful Protests in Burma, Issues and Policy", published in the Fletcher Forum of World Affairs in 2008, Kyaw Yin Hlaing, a Burmese academic from the City University of Hong Kong and now a top Thein Sein adviser who directs the government's Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), observed the military's central role in inciting anti-Muslim riots in the past: 

As recently as March 30, Professor Donald Seekin, the author of The Disorder in Order: the Army-State in Burma since 1962, wrote, in a response to a New York Times op-ed on March 29 entitled "Kristallnacht in Myanmar": 

In light of the fact that Burma/Myanmar's military rulers have a well-documented history of exploiting religious and ethnic prejudices in the multi-ethnic society for their own political and strategic ends, it is not necessarily conspiratorial to suggest that Thein Sein's government may want such anti-Muslim sentiment spread in society for its own political ends, including the notion that the public is unsafe without the steady dictatorial hand of top generals and their military in politics. 

In spite of Thein Sein's softly-softly official messages of religious harmony and coexistence in society, he has so far done virtually noting to nip the neo-Nazi Buddhist movement of 969. Nor has the military suddenly embraced unconditional free speech after overseeing decades of harsh media censorship. Rather, the impunity and inaction are more likely anchored in Naypyidaw's strategic calculation to create a general climate of fear and uncertainty, consistent with the divide-and-rule tactics it has always used to exert unrivaled control and influence over the state and economy. 

What is Aung San Suu Kyi, the global icon of non-violence, doing to stem the tide of violent racism among her main Buddhist supporters? 

Incomprehensibly, Suu Kyi herself is complicit in the spread of Islamophobic hatred and fear, both by her silence over the violence perpetuated against Muslims and by spreading moral responsibility for the death and destruction across both Muslim and Buddhist communities. For whatever reason, she has ignored blatant facts, including: 1) the violence and hate campaigns are one-directional in that they target only Muslims and are organized by Buddhist mobs which are made up of both out-of-towners and local community members; 2) the Muslims (and other minorities such as the Kachins) bear the brunt of the violence, death and devastation; and 3) the military and security forces have 50 years of experience in crowd control. 

To be sure, Suu Kyi has not been entirely quiet on the anti-Muslim violence. After the three days of attacks against Muslims in the central town of Meikhtila, she spoke out in defense of the way the local security forces handled the situation, despite widespread evidence security forces sat on their hands while organized mobs went on sprees of slaughter and arson. For three days, security forces let roaming gangs of armed Buddhists burn down nearly 1,000 buildings, including mosques, Muslim-owned businesses and houses. In her Burmese language press interviews, Suu Kyi defended the deliberate inaction of the local security forces, offering the excuse that they weren't experienced in riot control in the country's new democratic context. 

Despite serving as chairwoman of an inquiry of commission into protests and violence at a Chinese and Myanmar military-invested copper mine in central Burma/Myanmar, Suu Kyi's comment overlooked security forces' recent use of firebombs laden white phosphorous to crack down on protesters who lost their land and Buddhist monks who lent their demonstration moral support. Rather than visiting Muslim victims of the recent violence in Meikhtila, Suu Kyi instead attended the annual military parade on March 27, where she shared intimate moments with highly decorated generals. 

Will recent rumors and violence persuade more people to participate in anti-Muslim actions? And from where do these rumors claiming expansionary designs of Islam in Burma/Myanmar originate? 

Rumors have been the lifeblood of cultural and political life in Burma/Myanmar for the past half-century, ever since the generals came to power in the absence of elections and without a free and professional press. The Burmese/Myanmar public soaks up rumors, slander and racist narratives perpetuated by the military like a sponge. Even in the new ''reformist'' age, the free media is often jingoistic and has played a key role in fomenting anti-Muslim hatred and nationalist fears. 

Frighteningly for the country's Muslims - who make up about 4% of the total 60 million population - one of President Thein Sein's own spokespersons, ex-Major Zaw Htay, or Hmu Zaw, has served as a major source of anti-Muslim rumors and slanders since the first wave of violence against the Rohingya last June. On his Facebook page, the spokesman for the President's Office has posted several one-liners designed to stoke popular anti-Muslim hatred and fear. One example: "We have just received information about a group of armed Muslim terrorists who are crossing the Burmese-Bangladesh borders. Stay tune." 

The state media, meanwhile, has published several articles with anti-Muslim slants and used the word ''kalar'', the Burmese language equivalent of "nigger", in referring to Muslims and people of Indian subcontinental origin. With state security and propaganda agencies, as well as culturally and ideologically influential figures, working in unison to stoke anti-Muslim hatred and fear, public opinion naturally follows. 

Culturally, Buddhist monks are very influential in Burmese society - more so than dissidents and generals. Ideologically, the racist public tends to swallow the government's anti-Muslim rumors and narratives, in spite of the fact that in most other cases they distrust government-issued news and narratives. 

It is extremely difficult to draw a line between the government's anti-Muslim activities and propaganda and those carried out by influential skinhead monks. Anti-Muslim postings on Facebook, including those with images of the recent deaths and destruction in Meikhtila, have been "liked" by thousands and solicit approving howls from Burmese netizens who show no restraint in expressing their neo-Nazi views in public on-line domains. 

In recent interviews, Buddhist monk and 969 movement leader Wirathu has seemed to condemn the violence and even claimed in cases he had stopped rampaging, anti-Muslim rioters. Does this indicate he is toning down his movement's rhetoric, or is the 969 movement still calling for the elimination of Muslim influence in Burma/Myanmar? 

In his Burmese language Facebook pages, Wirathu has posted several irreconcilable messages. On certain mornings he has posted messages of religious tolerance and compassion, while in the afternoon of the same day he has written provocatively anti-Muslim statements, including warnings against the "forced conversion of Burmese women who marry into Muslim families" and are coerced into changing their names from Burmese to Muslim and Indian ones. 

It seems unlikely that a preacher like Wirathu, who was jailed for his public incitement which resulted in the death of an entire Muslim family in an arson attack in the small town called Kyauk Hse in 2003, would suddenly feel repentance for his inflammatory rhetoric. To date he has shown no sign of remorse or regret about his role in recent anti-Muslim violence. 

Ten years ago, Wirathu was a fringe figure, perceived as having fringe anti-Muslim views. Now, with the rise of state-tolerated neo-Nazism, he has emerged as a cultist hate-monger, and a must-meet for visiting international media. The popularity of this neo-Nazi Buddhist preacher does not augur well for the country's "democratic" future, and most certainly not for its minority Muslims and Rohingyas. 

Critical-minded locals have long been suspicious of Wirathu's reputed close association with some of the previous regime's dodgiest officials and ex-officials, including ex-chief of military intelligence Khin Nyunt and the current leader of the ruling, military-linked Union Solidarity and Development Party, ex-Brigadier General Aung Thaung. Those personal ties would go a long way in explaining why Thein Sein's government has failed to act while Buddhists lay waste to the country's minority Muslims. 

Maung Zarni is a Burmese activist blogger (www.maungzarni.com) and visiting fellow of Civil Society and Human Security Research at the London School of Economics.

This analysis report firstly published by Asia Times.

MS Anwar 

RB Analysis 

April 8, 2013

The news of the clash between illegal Burmese fisherman and Rohingya Refugees in an Indonesian detention centre last week is drawing the concerns of many people from all the concerned quarters. The clash left 8 Burmese dead and 21 injured, whereas three Burmese escaped alive. They used sticks, stones, knives and whatever they found in their front to attack one another. 

According to the report of Associated Press (AP) on 5th April 2013, the brawl started between a Rohingya Muslim cleric and Burmese fishermen over a heated debate on the violence against Muslims in Meikhtila as they saw the photos of destruction caused by the violence. And in accordance with a report of The Jakarta Post quoting the police investigations, Rohingya refugees were angered when a Female Refugee was sexually harassed by the fishermen. 

Regarding the deadly incident, Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister, U Than Kyaw, called on Indonesian Ambassador to Myanmar, Mr. Sebastianus Sumarsono, to investigate the matter and reveal the truth, to punish those who committed crimes and to give protection to Myanmar citizens in Indonesia in his Aide Memoire to the ambassador during the meeting on 6th April 2013. Indonesian authorities are, too, reported to be on their way to investigate the matter and taking proper actions. However, still, there are abusive languages used, comments posted and hatred shown against the innocent Muslims in Myanmar on social networking sites. Doing so will not solve the problems but will exaggerate them. 

Rohingyas, Kamans and other Muslims in central Myanmar have been subjected to mass murders, rapes, arbitrary arrests and tortures. Their properties are being looted and their religious properties vandalized. But hardly have we seen the sympathy from these so-called followers of Buddha or Buddhism even when 13 innocent Muslim children were burnt alive in cold blood. When the people of their own kind or from their own race were harmed, they are hurt and raging on social networking sites and abusing Muslims in general. We, hereby, are not, at all, trying to justify the killings and wrongdoings happened in the Indonesian prison but to make those racists realize that Minority Muslims in Burma, too, are the equal human beings with the same humane feelings and holds, within themselves, the same dignity as the other Burmese do. 

Hereby, we have to realize that the brawl or the fight took place within the premise of a detention centre. We have to wonder how the people got the photos of the Meikhtila Violence to see and the knives to attack one another. There are responsible authorities in the detention centre. So, we have to expect an unbiased investigation and wait with patience for its final reports. Similarly, we call upon all the Indonesian authority to punish anyone who is proven guilty according to the Indonesian Laws irrespective to who he/she is.

RB News

April 8, 2013

Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union, Prof. Dr. Wakar Uddin, addressed the audience at the launching ceremony of Ambassador Dr. Akbar Ahmed’s new book at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The book, containing a wealth of information on the world’s tribes and ethnic minorities, was published in April 2013 by the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. A number of dignitaries and journalists from CNN, BBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, Al-Jazeera, Washington Post, New York Times, and others from international print and broadcast media were among the audience. Ambassador Dr. Ahmed’s book unveiled issues of modern day warfare and its impacts on tribes, ethnic minorities, and indigenous population in various regions of the world. There were a significant portion of Rohingya issues, which was detailed in the book. Further, the contemporary issues and the most recent violence against the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma were presented by the author. During the ceremony in the National Press Club, Dr. Uddin was honored by Ambassador Dr. Ahmed with presentation of the book. 

In his speech, Dr. Uddin provided a brief historical perspective on Rohingya ethnicity in Arakan state in Burma, the contemporary Rohingya issues, and the on-going violence against Rohingya and Myanmar Muslim population by Burmese Buddhist radical elements and monks as a result of newly emerging radical Buddhist terror network in Burma. Dr. Uddin’s emphasis on the indigenity of Rohingya population in Arakan clearly resonated the narration of Rohingya issue by Dr. Ahmed in his book. Dr. Uddin explained the audience the deeply-rooted Rohingya culture and civilization in Rohang region of Arakan, dating as far back as 9th century. “All these evidences clearly lead to squarely invalidation of the current position of Burmese Government on Rohingya ethnicity and citizenship” Dr. Uddin stated. He further explained how the intensity and seriousness of the human rights violation and ethnic cleansing against Rohingya people in Arakan state has undeniably risen to the level of genocide. Dr. Uddin has also shed the lights on the emerging humanitarian crisis in Rohingya IDP camps and villages in Arakan as the monsoon season is approaching rapidly. “While the international community is trying so hard to avert a possible humanitarian disaster in IDP camps, the dire situations in many Rohingya villages has gone largely unnoticed – they have no food to eat in villages, particularly in Myohaung, Kyauktaw, Pauktaw, Rathaydaung, Sittwe, Rambre, and several other areas that are under constant threat from radical Rakhine terror network” Dr. Uddin added. About the recent spread of violence in Central Burma, he provided the detailed accounts of the gruesome killings of Myanmar Muslim families in Meiktila and destruction of mosques and properties of Myanmar Muslims in several other cities in Central Burma. Dr. Uddin again appealed the international community and the United Nations not to waste the valuable time and save the vulnerable victims in Burma. “The rapid growth and spread of radical Buddhist terror network ‘969’ in Burma is not just a threat to very existence of the Rohingya and Myanmar Muslims in Burma, but setting the stage for a new dimension to this terrorism that sure will also target the people of other faiths in Burma – it is just a matter of time” he concluded.

Jason Szep

Reuters

April 8, 2013

The Buddhist monk grabbed a young Muslim girl and put a knife to her neck. 

"If you follow us, I'll kill her," the monk taunted police, according to a witness, as a Buddhist mob armed with machetes and swords chased nearly 100 Muslims in this city in central Myanmar.

It was Thursday, March 21. Within hours, up to 25 Muslims had been killed. The Buddhist mob dragged their bloodied bodies up a hill in a neighborhood called Mingalarzay Yone and set the corpses on fire. Some were found butchered in a reedy swamp. A Reuters cameraman saw the charred remains of two children, aged 10 or younger.

Ethnic hatred has been unleashed in Myanmar since 49 years of military rule ended in March 2011. And it is spreading, threatening the country's historic democratic transition. Signs have emerged of ethnic cleansing, and of impunity for those inciting it.

Over four days, at least 43 people were killed in this dusty city of 100,000, just 80 miles north of the capital of Naypyitaw. Nearly 13,000 people, mostly Muslims, were driven from their homes and businesses. The bloodshed here was followed by Buddhist-led mob violence in at least 14 other villages in Myanmar's central heartlands and put the Muslim minority on edge across one of Asia's most ethnically diverse countries.

An examination of the riots, based on interviews with more than 30 witnesses, reveals the dawn massacre of 25 Muslims in Meikhtila was led by Buddhist monks - often held up as icons of democracy in Myanmar. The killings took place in plain view of police, with no intervention by the local or central government. Graffiti scrawled on one wall called for a "Muslim extermination."

Unrest that ensued in other towns, just a few hours' drive from the commercial capital of Yangon, was well-organized, abetted at times by police turning a blind eye. Even after the March 21 killings, the chief minister for the region did little to stop rioting that raged three more days. He effectively ceded control of the city to radical Buddhist monks who blocked fire trucks, intimidated rescue workers and led rampages that gutted whole neighborhoods.

Not all of the culprits were Buddhists. They may have started the riots, but the first man to die was a monk slain by Muslims.

Still, the Meikhtila massacre fits a pattern of Buddhist-organized violence and government inaction detailed by Reuters in western Myanmar last year. This time, the bloodshed struck a strategic city in the very heart of the country, raising questions over whether reformist President Thein Sein has full control over security forces as Myanmar undergoes its most dramatic changes since a coup in 1962.

In a majority-Buddhist country known as the "Golden Land" for its glittering pagodas, the unrest lays bare an often hidden truth: Monks have played a central role in anti-Muslim unrest over the past decade. Although 42 people have been arrested in connection to the violence, monks continue to preach a fast-growing Buddhist nationalist movement known as "969" that is fueling much of the trouble.

The examination also suggests motives that are as much economic as religious. In one of Asia's poorest countries, the Muslims of Meikhtila and other parts of central Myanmar are generally more prosperous than their Buddhist neighbors. In Myanmar as a whole, Muslims account for 5 percent of the populace. In Meikhtila, they comprise a third. They own prime real estate, electronics shops, clothing outlets, restaurants and motorbike dealerships, earning conspicuously more than the city's Buddhist majority, who toil mostly as laborers and street vendors.

As Myanmar, also known as Burma, emerges from nearly half a century of isolation and military misrule, powerful business interests are jockeying for position in one of Asia's last frontier markets. The recent violence threatens to knock long-established Muslim communities out of that equation, stoking speculation the unrest is part of a bigger struggle for influence in reform-era Myanmar.

The failure of Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi, now opposition leader in parliament, to defuse the tension further undermines her image as a unifying moral force. Suu Kyi, a devout Buddhist, has said little, beyond warning that the violence could spread if not dealt with by rule of law.

Suu Kyi declined to be interviewed for this story.

GOLD HAIR CLIP

The spark was simple enough.

Aye Aye Naing, a 45-year-old Buddhist woman, wanted to make an offering of food to local monks. But she needed money, she recalled, sitting in her home in Pyon Kout village. At about 9 a.m. on March 20, a day before the massacre, she brought a gold hair clip to town. She had it appraised at 140,000 kyat ($160). With her husband and sister, she entered New Waint Sein, a Muslim-owned gold shop, which offered her 108,000 kyat. She wanted at least 110,000.

Shop workers studied the gold, but the clip came back damaged, she said. The shop owner, a young woman in her 20s, now offered just 50,000. The stout mother of five protested, calling the owner unreasonable. The owner slapped her, witnesses said. Aye Aye Naing's husband shouted and was pulled outside, held down and beaten by three of the store's staff, according to the couple and two witnesses.

Onlookers gathered. Police arrived, detaining Aye Aye Naing and the owner. The mostly Buddhist mob turned violent, hurling stones, shouting anti-Muslim slurs and breaking down the shop's doors, according to several witnesses. No one was killed or injured, but the Muslim-owned building housing the gold shop and several others were nearly destroyed.

"This shop has a bad reputation in the neighborhood," said Khin San, who says she watched the violence from her general store across the street. "They don't let people park their cars in front. They are quarrelsome. They have some hatred from the crowd."

That hatred had been further stoked by a leaflet signed by a group calling itself "Buddhists who feel helpless" and handed out a few weeks before. It suggested Muslims in Meikhtila were conspiring against Buddhists, assisted by money from Saudi Arabia, and holding shady meetings in mosques. It was addressed to the area's monks.

Tensions escalated. By about 5:30 p.m., four Muslim men were waiting at an intersection. As a monk passed on the back of a motorbike, they attacked. One hit the driver with a sword, causing him to crash, witnesses said. A second blow sliced the back of the monk's head. One of the men doused him in fuel and set him on fire, said Soe Thein, a mechanic who saw the attack. The monk died in hospital.

Soe Thein, a Buddhist, ran to the market. "A monk has been killed! A monk has been killed!" he cried. As he ran back, a mob followed and the riots began. Muslim homes and shops went up in flames.

Soe Thein identified the attackers by name and said he saw several in the village days after the monk was murdered. Police declined to say whether they were among 13 people arrested and under investigation related to the Meikhtila violence.

"WE JUST WANT THE MUSLIMS"

That evening, flames devoured much of Mingalarzay Yone, a mostly Muslim ward in east Meikhtila. The fire razed a mosque, an orphanage and several homes. Hundreds fled. Some hid in Buddhist friends' houses, witnesses said. About 100 packed into the thatched wooden home of Maung Maung, a Muslim elder.

As the mob swelled in size, Win Htein, a lawmaker in Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, tried to restrain the crowd but was held back. "Someone took my arm and said be careful or you will become a victim," he said.

About 200 police officers watched the riots in the neighborhood before leaving around midnight, he said.

By about 4 a.m., the Muslim men inside Maung Maung's house were braced for battle, chanting in Arabic and then shouting in Burmese, "We'll wash our feet in Burman blood." (The Burmans, or Bamah, are Myanmar's ethnic majority.) Nearly a thousand Buddhists were outside.

When dawn broke, at about 6 a.m., the only police presence in the area was a detail of about 10 officers. They slowly backed away, allowing the mob to attack, said Hla Thein, 48, a neighborhood Buddhist elder.

The Muslims fled through the side of the house, chased by men with swords, sticks, iron rods and machetes. Some were butchered in a nearby swamp, said Hla Thein, who recounted the events along with four other witnesses, both Buddhist and Muslim.

Others were cut down as they ran toward a hilltop road. "They chased them like they were hunting rabbits," said NLD lawmaker Win Htein.

Police saved 47 of the Muslims, mostly women and children, by encircling them with their shields and firing warning shots in the air, Hla Thein said. "We don't want to attack you," one monk shouted at the police, according to a policeman. "We just want the Muslims."

Ye Myint, the chief minister of Mandalay region that includes Meikhtila, told reporters later that day that the situation was "stabilizing." In fact, it was getting worse. Armed monks and Buddhist mobs terrorized the streets for the next three days, witnesses said.

They threatened Thein Zaw, a fireman trying to douse a burning mosque. "How dare you extinguish this fire," he recalls one monk shouting. "We are going to kill you." A group of about 30 monks smashed the sign hanging outside his fire station and tried to block his truck. He drove through a hail of stones, one striking below his eye, and crashed, he said, showing his wound.

"A monk with a knife at one point swung at me," said Kyaw Ye Aung, a junior firefighter who, like Thein Zaw, is Buddhist.

Three days later, on the hill where Muslim bodies were burned, this reporter found the remains of a mix of adults and children: pieces of human skull, vertebrae and other bones, and a singed child's backpack.

Nearby, municipal trucks dumped bodies in a field next to a crematorium in Meikhtila's outskirts. They were burned with old tires.

MURKY POLITICAL FORCES

Knife-wielding monks jar with Buddhism's better-known image of meditative pacifism.

Grounded in a philosophy of enlightenment, nonviolence, rebirth and the vanquishing of human desires, Buddhism eschews crusades or jihads. It traditionally embraces peace, clarity and wisdom — attributes of the Buddha who lived some 2,500 years ago.

About 90 percent of Myanmar's 60 million people are practicing Buddhists, among the world's largest proportion. Sheathed in iconic burgundy robes, Buddhist monks were at the forefront of Myanmar's struggle for democracy and, before that, independence.

Many Burmese find it easier to assume a cherished institution has been infiltrated by thugs and provocateurs than to admit the monkhood's central role in anti-Muslim violence in recent years.

On the streets of Meikhtila, witnesses saw monks from well-known local monasteries. They also saw monks from Mandalay, the country's second-largest city and a center of Burmese culture about 100 miles to the north. One such visitor was the nationalistic monk Wirathu.

Wirathu was freed last year from nine years in jail during an amnesty for hundreds of political prisoners, among the most celebrated reforms of Myanmar's post-military rule. He had been locked up for helping to incite deadly anti-Muslim riots in 2003.

Today, the charismatic 45-year-old with a boyish smile is an abbot in Mandalay's Masoeyein Monastery, a sprawling complex where he leads about 60 monks and has influence over more than 2,500 residing there. From that power base, he is leading a fast-growing movement known as "969," which encourages Buddhists to shun Muslim businesses and communities.

The three numbers refer to various attributes of the Buddha, his teachings and the monkhood. In practice, the numbers have become the brand of a radical form of anti-Islamic nationalism that seeks to transform Myanmar into an apartheid-like state.

"We have a slogan: When you eat, eat 969; when you go, go 969; when you buy, buy 969," Wirathu said in an interview at his monastery in Mandalay. Translation: If you're eating, traveling or buying anything, do it with a Buddhist. Relishing his extremist reputation, Wirathu describes himself as the "Burmese bin Laden."

He began giving a series of controversial 969 speeches about four months ago. "My duty is to spread this mission," he said. It's working: 969 stickers and signs are proliferating — often accompanied by violence.

Rioters spray-painted "969" on destroyed businesses in Meikhtila. Anti-Muslim mobs in Bago Region, close to Yangon, erupted after traveling monks preached about the 969 movement. Stickers bearing pastel hues overlaid with the numerals 969 are appearing on street stalls, motorbikes, posters and cars across the central heartlands.

In Minhla, a town of about 100,000 people a few hours' drive from Yangon, 2,000 Buddhists crammed into a community center on February 26 and 27 to listen to Wimalar Biwuntha, an abbot from Mon State. He explained how monks in his state began using 969 to boycott a popular Muslim-owned bus company, according to Win Myint, 59, chairman of the center that hosted the abbot.

After the speeches, the mood in Minhla turned ugly, said Tun Tun, 26, a Muslim tea-shop owner. Muslims were jeered, he said. A month later, about 800 Buddhists armed with metal pipes and hammers destroyed three mosques and 17 Muslim homes and businesses, according to police. No one was killed, but two-thirds of Minhla's Muslims fled and haven't returned, police said.

"Since that speech, people in our village became more aggressive. They would swear at us. We lost customers," said Tun Tun, whose tea shop and home were nearly destroyed by Buddhists on March 27. One attacker was armed with a chainsaw, he said.

A local police official made a deal with the mob: Rioters were allowed 30 minutes to ransack a mosque before police would disperse the crowd, according to two witnesses. They tore it apart for the next half hour, the witnesses said. A hollowed-out structure remains. Local police denied having made any such an agreement when asked by Reuters.

Two days earlier in Gyobingauk, a town of 110,000 people just north of Minhla, a mob destroyed a mosque and 23 houses after three days of speeches by a monk preaching 969. Witnesses said they appeared well organized, razing some buildings with a bulldozer.

"ENEMY BASES"

Wirathu denied directing the monks in Meikhtila and elsewhere.

"You have the right to defend yourselves. But you don't have the right to kill or destroy," he said in the interview.

Wirathu said he was in Meikhtila to persuade monks not to fight. At one point, he delivered a speech on a car roof. A first-hand account of what he said was not available.

He acknowledged spreading 969 and warned that Muslims were diluting the country's Buddhist identity. That is a comment he has made repeatedly in speeches and social media and by telephone in recent weeks to a large and growing following.

"With money, they become rich and marry Buddhist Burmese woman who convert to Islam, spreading their religion. Their businesses become bigger and they buy more land and houses, and that means fewer Buddhist shrines," he said.

"And when they become rich, they build more mosques which, unlike our pagodas and monasteries, are not transparent," he added. "They're like enemy base stations for us. More mosques mean more enemy bases, so that is why we must prevent this."

Wirathu fears Myanmar will follow the path of Indonesia after Islam entered the archipelago in the 13th century. By the end of the 16th century, Islam had replaced Hinduism and Buddhism as the dominant religion on Indonesia's main islands.

Wirathu began preaching the apartheid-like 969 creed himself in 2001, when the U.S. State Department reported "a sharp increase in anti-Muslim violence" in Myanmar. Anti-Muslim sentiment was fueled in March that year by the Taliban's destruction of Buddhist images in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, and in September by al Qaeda's attacks in the United States.

The monk continued until he was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 25 years in prison for distributing anti-Muslim pamphlets that incited communal riots in his birthplace of Kyaukse, a town near Meikhtila. At least 10 Muslims were killed in Kyaukse by a Buddhist mob, according to a U.S. State Department report.

Wirathu has a quick answer to the question of who caused Meikhtila's unrest: the Buddhist woman who tried to sell the hair clip. "She shouldn't have done business with Muslims."

"STATE INVOLVEMENT"

Wirathu should be arrested, said Nyi Nyi Lwin, a former monk better known by his holy name U Gambira who led the "Saffron Revolution" democracy uprising in 2007 that was crushed by the military. "What he preaches deviates from Buddha's teachings," he said. "He is a monk. He is an abbot. And he is dangerous. He is becoming very scary and pitiful."

But Gambira said only the government can stop the anti-Muslim mood.

"In the past, they prevented monks from giving speeches about democracy and politics. This time they don't stop these incendiary speeches. They are supporting them," he said. "Because Wirathu is an abbot at a big monastery of about 2,500 monks, no one dares to speak back to him. The government needs to take action against him."

Hla Thein, a witness to the massacre in Meikhtila, said authorities did surprisingly little to stop the violence. "It was like they were waiting for an order that never came," he said.

One senior policeman told Reuters he expected to be ordered to forcibly restrain the riotous mob, but was told not even to use truncheons.

That pattern echoes what Reuters reporters found last year in an examination of October's anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar's western Rakhine State. There, a wave of deadly attacks was organized, according to central-government military sources. They were led by Rakhine Buddhist nationalists tied to a powerful political party in the state, incited by Buddhist monks, and, some witnesses said, abetted at times by local security forces.

The latest bloodshed could have been nipped in the bud, said NLD lawmaker Win Htein, a former army captain who spent 20 years as a political prisoner. He said the region's military commander, Aung Kyaw Moe, could have stopped the riots with a few stern orders - especially given that thousands of soldiers are permanently stationed in Meikhtila and nearby.

Aung Kyaw Moe insisted authorities did their job. "It is like a battle. When it first starts you can't really guess the manpower needed or how big it is going to be. But there was protection."

Min Ko Naing, a former political prisoner revered by Burmese nearly as much as Suu Kyi, was in Meikhtila as the violence began. After the massacre, he said, the mob looked well organized. Cell phones in hand, monks inspected cars leaving town, he said. A bulldozer was used to destroy some buildings. "The ordinary public doesn't know how to use a bulldozer," he said.

The U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar said he had received reports of "state involvement" in the violence. Soldiers and police sometimes stood by "while atrocities have been committed before their very eyes, including by well-organized ultra-nationalist Buddhist mobs," said the rapporteur, Tomas Ojea Quintana. "This may indicate direct involvement by some sections of the state or implicit collusion and support for such actions."

Ye Htut, a presidential spokesman and deputy minister of information, called those accusations groundless. "In fact, the military and the government could not be concerned more about this situation," he said.

Authorities imposed martial law on the afternoon of March 22, the third day of violence. By then, only three people had been arrested, all of them for carrying weapons, a police official said. As they began to make more arrests, the unrest ended the next day. A total of 1,594 buildings were destroyed, the regional government said.

It started up a day later in Tatkon on the outskirts of the capital Naypyitaw. The riots then swept south to Bago Region, erupting along a highway just north of Yangon. By March 29, at least 15 towns and villages in central Myanmar had suffered anti-Muslims riots. In Yangon, some Muslims prepared for violence by Buddhists, shuttering shops and leaving to stay with relatives elsewhere.

On April 2, 13 Muslim boys died in a fire at a Yangon religious school. Many grieving relatives say they believe the blaze was deliberately set. The floors were surprisingly slick with oil during the blaze, they said. Yangon officials say it was caused by an electrical short circuit.

Some speculate the violence may be orchestrated by conservative forces pushing back at reformers. Or that crony businessmen linked to the former junta hope to knock Muslims out of business and create an economic vacuum in the heartlands that only they can fill. This last theory resonated with some Muslim businessmen such as Ohn Thwin, 67.

"This is both religious anger and economics," he said, surveying the remnants of his 30-year-old metalworking shop at a popular corner of Meikhtila, a strategic city where three highways intersect. Like many Muslims, he can trace his ancestry back several generations. And like many, he runs a profitable business and has dozens of Buddhist friends, including one who helped him escape the violence.

MAKESHIFT REFUGEE CAMPS

Across town, about 2,000 people cram into a two-story high school, one of several makeshift refugee camps housing about 11,000 of the town's Muslims, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Many more squeezed into a nearby stadium.

It's unclear if the Muslims whose businesses were destroyed will be able to reclaim their prime real estate. Ye Myint, the region's chief, said they may be moved to new areas - a policy that backfired in Rakhine State, where segregation has only led to further communal violence.

"Once we have achieved a time when there is peace, stability and the rule of law, then we look into resettlement," said Ye Myint.

The high school feels like a jail. Muslims inside cannot leave at will. Friends and relatives are kept waiting outside. Police block journalists from speaking with Muslims - even through a gate.

"I can't sleep at night. I keep thinking there will be another attack," said Kyaw Soe Myint, 40, who was waiting to see his 10 cousins inside before a guard shooed him away. "We're living with fear."

The identity of those arrested is unclear. But according to police, among those detained was the gold shop owner.

Aye Aye Naing, owner of the hair clip, remained shocked by the violence. "I feel sad for the Muslims who have been killed," she said. "All humans are the same; it's just the skin color that is different. We have friends who are Muslims." She said she doesn't know what became of her hair clip.

(Additional reporting by Min Zayer Oo.; Editing by Andrew R.C. Marshall, Michael Williams and Bill Tarrant.)

Gianluca Mezzofiore

International Business Times

April 8, 2013

Burma Campaign UK criticises President Thein Sein for oppressive policies against minority Muslims

Myanmar's government has violated at least eight international laws with its treatment of the Rohingya Muslims, one of the world's most persecuted minorities, according to a British-based advocacy group. 

Burma Campaign UK slammed the progressive president Thein Sein for policies of oppression applied exclusively to the Rohingya. The minority group is considered stateless under Burma's citizenship law of 1982. 

Legal constraints render it "almost impossible" for the Rohingya to be recognised as citizens of the country. "This violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and international norms prohibiting discrimination of racial and religious minorities," says the report.

Many Burmese consider Rohingya as unwelcome migrants from Bengal. The state-run press refers to "locals" differentiates between "locals" ie Arakan Buddhists and "Bengalis" to indicate Rohingya. Rohingya are denied access to education and employment and face "unacceptable restrictions on movement, marriage, and reproduction", adds the report. 

Following outbreaks of sectarian violence and repeated calls by UN authorities, the government has established a 27-strong commission to investigate trouble in Rakhine state - home to many Rohingya - but Thein Sein has ruled out reforming the 1982 Law and Medecins Sans Frontiers has faced restricted access to camps where Rohingya are displaced. 

Many ministries in the government have disputed the right of Rohingya to be in Burma at all. That gives "official legitimacy to those committing acts of violence" and allows them to continue doing so with impunity, said Burma Campaign UK. 

"World leaders need to take off their rose-tinted glasses and start making policy based on international law and promoting human rights," said Mark Farmaner, director. 

"Burma's treatment of the Rohingya violates international law. The international community must hold President Thein Sein accountable for the policies and actions of his government." 

The group has called on the British government and the international community "to provide a combination of pressure and of assistance, both in terms of humanitarian assistance and in terms of expertise" to reform the citizenship laws. 

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: g.mezzofiore@ibtimes.co.uk