Max Fisher

Washington Post

June 21, 2013

Members of Burma’s Buddhist majority, including some of its much-respected monks, are increasingly persecuting the country’s long-suffering Muslim minority and adopting an ideology that encourages religious violence. It seems a far way from the Buddhism typically associated with stoic monks and the Lama – who has condemned the violence – and more akin to the sectarian extremism prevalent in troubled corners of the Middle East. The violence has already left nearly 250 Burmese Muslim civilians dead, forced 150,000 from their homes and is getting worse.

“You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog,” Ashin Wirathu, a spiritual leader of the movement and very popular figure in Burma, said of the country’s Muslims, whom he called “the enemy.” He told the New York Times, “I am proud to be called a radical Buddhist.”

Wirathu calls himself “the Burmese bin Laden” and was recently labeled on the cover of Time magazine as “the face of Burmese terror.” A prominent Burmese human rights activist, after a lifetime of fighting government oppression, now warns that Wirathu’s movement is promoting an ideology akin to neo-Nazism.

Already, the movement has expanded beyond this one self-styled radical Buddhist monk. It’s now expanding across Burma (also known as Myanmar) according to the Times article. The anti-Muslim sentiment has spread with alarming speed over just the last year, as Burma – which is finally opening up after years of military dictatorship – loosened its strict speech laws. It has prompted boycotts and sermons that can sound an awful lot like calls for violence against Muslims. Monasteries associated with the movement have enrolled 60,000 Burmese children into Sunday school programs.

By far the worst attack so far was in late March in the central Burmese city of Meiktila. Tellingly, the attack was not let by a single leader or religious figure but carried out by mobs of Buddhists, a worrying sign that Wirathu’s violent ideas may have taken hold in the city. A minor dispute at an outdoor jewelry stall between a Buddhist customer and a Muslim vendor escalated rapidly out of control. Buddhist rioters razed entire Muslim neighborhoods, burned several civilians alive and killed up to 200 more Muslims until, after three long days in which the army was conspicuously absent, troops intervened to stop the killing.

Here, from Human Rights Watch, is a set of before-and-after satellite images of one of the neighborhoods attacked, where Buddhist mobs destroyed a staggering 442 Muslim homes.

Heightening the fear is that none of Burma’s leaders has stepped in to end the bloodshed. The military rulers, though they once jailed Wirathu, have held back, perhaps reluctant to risk the backlash at a time when they are willingly abandoning much of their power.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the longtime democracy activist who became an international cause as a political prisoner, is so beloved in Burma that she may well become its first democratically elected president. But the Nobel Prize winner has also failed to fully condemn the violence. This has been typically seen as a political choice, meant to avoid angering too many Burmese voters if she wants to maintain national support. As the Economist points out, many Burmese were angered when Suu Kyi criticized a draconian new law that forbids some Burmese Muslims from having more than two children.

Unchecked, though, Burma’s self-declared radical Buddhists may show no interest in ending their campaign against the country’s Muslim minority.

Associated Press

June 21, 2013

YANGON, Myanmar — Upon seeing his photo splashed across the cover of Time magazine with the words “Face of Buddhist Terror,” Myanmar’s most-talked-about monk was unfazed, saying no amount of bad publicity could hurt him.

The 46-year-old is accustomed to — even flattered by — the foreign reporters who steadily parade through his monastery in the city of Mandalay to ask about religious violence that has swept his predominantly Buddhist nation in the last year — fueled in no small part by his anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Nearly 250 people have died and tens of thousands have fled their homes, threatening to destabilize the quasi-civilian government that came to power just two years ago after five decades of military rule.

“A genuine ruby will shine,” said Wirathu, “even if you try to sink it in mud.”

New freedoms of speech have made it easier to disseminate radical views, while exposing deep-seeded racism felt by much of the population toward Muslims and other minorities.

There has been almost no public outcry when Buddhist mobs have marched into villages brandishing machetes and clubs, but the appearance of a Burmese monk on the cover of the glossy international magazine with an inflammatory title was apparently too much.

The social networking site Facebook was alight with criticism.

Dozens changed their profiles to mock-covers of Time with the word “Boycott.” One person lamented that the image of his country — and faith — was being tarnished.

“Some people misunderstood the title ... seeing it as an insult to religion,” said Dr. Yan Myo Thein, a political analyst. “They believe it’s equating Buddhism with terrorism.”

Few took the opportunity to criticize Wirathu, however, saying it was further evidence of media bias. The monk has repeatedly called on Buddhists to unite against the “threat” Muslims pose to the country and its culture, accusing them of breeding too fast and hijacking the business community.

The Time article quoted him as saying this was not the time to stay calm.

“Now is the time to rise up, to make your blood boil,” he said.

Tin Aung Kyaw

Global Post

June 21, 2013

The national '969' campaign threatens to block Burma's path to ethnic unity at a pivotal time. GlobalPost sits down with the campaign's leader in a rare interview.

Global Post Editor’s note: In a partnership between GlobalPost and the Open Hands Initiative, a team of top young reporters from Myanmar and theUnited States have set out on a reporting journey through a country inching toward a new democracy and undergoing dramatic change. One of the stories these reporters are following here is about rising extremism among a fringe group of Buddhist monks. In a rare interview, GlobalPost reporting fellow Tin Aung Kyaw sat down with the Buddhist monk whose anti-Muslim rhetoric has placed him at the center of rising ethnic and sectarian violence.

MANDALAY, Myanmar — The Buddhist monk arrived wrapped in saffron-colored robes with an entourage of muscular, younger monks who guarded him and hung on his every word at the sprawling monastery he runs and where his divisive, anti-Muslim teaching is gaining a strong following.

The monk, Ashin Wirathu, was unapologetic when asked about his role at the center of a rising tide of Buddhist extremism that has crested in a wave of anti-Muslim violence resulting in the deaths of more than 200 people and displacement of some 150,000 from their homes in recent months.

“Muslims are like the African carp. They breed quickly and they are very violent and they eat their own kind. Even though they are minorities here, we are suffering under the burden they bring us,” Wirathu, 48, said in a rare and wide-ranging interview with GlobalPost on Thursday.

“Because the Burmese people and the Buddhists are devoured every day, the national religion needs to be protected,” he said, announcing that he would push for a ban on interfaith marriage before the next parliamentary session and vowing to continue the so-called “969” campaign that calls for Buddhists to only do business with other Buddhists and exclude Muslims who have a strong tradition as merchants in Myanmar.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is made of eight major ethnic groups, but 90 percent of the population is Buddhist. About 5 percent of the population is Muslim and the rest are a mix of Christian and Hindu.

Muslims live throughout the country, as they were merchants along the trade routes between India and China. They have settled in waves of immigration from throughout the Muslim world and neighboring India since at least the 19th century. More recently, Muslims are coming across the border from Bangladesh in search of work and opportunity in Burma’s Rakhine State, where much of the recent violence has been centered.

Wirathu’s sermons play on the fear among some Buddhists in certain parts of Myanmar of a rising Muslim population that some feel is threatening the majority Buddhist religion and its traditions. Wirathu and others have spurred a movement known as “969,” which calls for Buddhists to band together to defend their faith and for Buddhists to do business only with other Buddhists. The numerology of the “969” movement refers to the virtues of the Buddha, the practices of the faith and the community. The distinctive “969” stickers are ubiquitous on shops, motorcycles and car windows.

Wirathu has also pushed a ban against interfaith marriage, claiming that the Buddhist majority is diluted by such marriages and reeling off one anecdote after another of forced conversions of Buddhist women to Islam. Many critics here and abroad say Wirathu’s sermons are racist rants against Muslims who he has likened to “mad dogs” and “cannibals” and, in perhaps a more charitable and consistent reference, as simply “troublemakers.”

But Wirathu’s movement is gaining a wider and wider following.

He heads the Ma Soeyein monastery attended by some 2,500 monks, has an active Facebook page and leads speaking tours that attract thousands of followers. Wirathu is also gathering signatures for a petition to introduce the interfaith marriage legislation which he has titled, “Safeguarding the National Identity.” 

“The people are requesting that we put forward the ‘Safeguarding the National Identity’ law,” he said, adding, “I am committed to working on this law until it is passed.”

This proposed law, if it does come to a vote, would likely put pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was elected to parliament two years ago, and those who support her efforts in a difficult position.

Political observers say it will put them between their hopes to unify the many different ethnic groups that have been fighting a series of open conflicts with the previous military regime and a broad populist streak among the majority ethnic Burmans who are coalescing around this new brand of Buddhist nationalism.

The proposed ban on interfaith marriage is not new in Burma, and it has been implemented in other countries in the region, including Singapore. It is similar to a popular idea that first emerged in the 1930s and called for a strong nationalist movement. And this is not the first time that Buddhist monks have used their authority to influence the history of Myanmar. They have always been part of major political movements.

Wirathu himself is no stranger to activism; he was arrested in 2003 for political incitement and served seven years in prison before he was reportedly released as part of a government amnesty program. Buddhist monks were also at the head of the 2007 "Saffron Revolution,” in which monks took to the streets in large numbers to protest the rising prices of food and fuel. Images of the military cracking down on the monks with tear gas and batons were carried around the world and served to propel the pro-democracy movement.

The current Burmese parliament was elected two years ago in what was widely seen as Burma’s first free and fair elections in more than a half century. And if this proposed law banning interfaith marriage is indeed introduced, it will mark the first time in history that parliament will consider a law concerning a national religion.

Wirathu said that theological authorities were “shaping the movement.”

A few days ago in Mhawbi, just outside of Yangon, more than 200 monks gathered at what they called a "peace conference," where this law was given shape, he said.

“Legal experts are now writing up a rough draft of the law,” he said. “And there will be a public announcement of this law on the 27th of June.”

Wirathu continued, “We will finish collecting the signatures by the 30th of June. We have found parliamentary members who will introduce this legislation. We also have parliamentary members who will support this legislation. However, the final decision will have to be made through a vote.”

However, the “Safeguarding the National Identity” law is rejected by the intellectual community, human rights groups and many civil society organizations. Mandalay, a city where the “969” movement has taken root, is famous for a strong intellectual community that has supported the pro-democracy movement. One member of that community is Nyi Pu Ley, a writer and artist, who has soundly criticized Wirathu’s proposed legislation.

“Doing this is like raising the political flag unnecessarily because there are many laymen. This is popular among the laymen. The “969” group and the Mandalay people are not on the same page,” he said.

But many learned monks from the Buddhist university are lending support to Wirathu and his proposed law. In a country where monks have a great deal of moral authority, political observers including Nyi Pu Ley fear this could lead to a large nationalist movement.

Thant Myint–U, a historian, author and most recently an adviser to the president, said, “Monks in Myanmar should concentrate more on religious matters rather than political matters. Many people in Myanmar, including those in Mandalay, are worried that there will be more outbursts of religions violence in their communities. People do not want this killing and this violence.”

(Reporting for this story was also provided by GlobalPost reporting fellows Van Patrick King and Pailin Wedel.)

Rashvinjeet Singh Bedi

PETALING JAYA: Asean can persuade the United Nations to end the persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar, said International Movement for Just World (JUST) president Dr Chandra Muzaffar.

“Asean has a major role in persuading the five members of the Security Council if they want the UN to act on the atrocities in Myanmar.

"Their voice carries more weight as Myanmar is part of the Asean family,” he said at a recent forum 'Plight of Muslims in Burma in the 21st Century: An Initiative for Solution and the Way Forward' organised by the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia.

Dr Chandra said that the UN would be duty-bound to protect the Rohingya if the Security Council adopted a resolution that says they were victims of genocide.

He added that civil society group within Asean should pressure their governments to take a lead on these issues.

Dr Chandra said that although Myanmar appeared to be opening up to the international world, it was done within the backdrop of military rule.

“The root of the problem is the military regime which is cruel, harsh, brutal and barbaric,” he said.

The Rohingya are considered by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. They are considered to be stateless and are often subjected to arbitrary violence and forced labour.

University Malaya's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences visiting senior research fellow Dr Maung Zarni said that Asean should consider the genocide of Rohingya and the mass violence against Muslims in Myanmar as an issue of wide importance as there were regional consequences.

“Asean countries would be affected with the flow of refugees into their countries and the emergence of human trafficking gangs,” he said.

Dr Maung pointed out that eight people died in clashes between Buddhist and Muslim asylum seekers from Myanmar in a detention centre in Medan. Police also uncovered a plot to bomb the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta recently, he added.

“The Burmese government cannot say that Asean is interfering in their affairs,” he said.

As of April, there are almost 95,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia. An estimated 28,000 of them are Rohingya.

Hannah Beech

TIME

June 20, 2013

The fault lines of conflict are often spiritual, one religion chafing against another and kindling bloodletting contrary to the values girding each faith. Over the past year in parts of Asia, it is friction between Buddhism and Islam that has killed hundreds, mostly Muslims. The violence is being fanned by extremist Buddhist monks, who preach a dangerous form of religious chauvinism to their followers.

Yet as this week’s TIME International cover story notes, Buddhism has tended to avoid a linkage in our minds to sectarian strife:

“In the reckoning of religious extremism — Hindu nationalists, Muslim militants, fundamentalist Christians, ultra-Orthodox Jews — Buddhism has largely escaped trial. To much of the world, it is synonymous with nonviolence and loving kindness, concepts propagated by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, 2,500 years ago. But like adherents of any religion, Buddhists and their holy men are not immune to politics and, on occasion, the lure of sectarian chauvinism.

When Asia rose up against empire and oppression, Buddhist monks, with their moral command and plentiful numbers, led anticolonial movements. Some starved themselves for their cause, their sunken flesh and protruding ribs underlining their sacrifice for the laity. Perhaps most iconic is the image of Thich Quang Duc, a Vietnamese monk sitting in the lotus position, wrapped in flames, as he burned to death in Saigon while protesting the repressive South Vietnamese regime 50 years ago. In 2007, Buddhist monks led a foiled democratic uprising in Burma: images of columns of clerics bearing upturned alms bowls, marching peacefully in protest against the junta, earned sympathy around the world, if not from the soldiers who slaughtered them. But where does social activism end and political militancy begin? Every religion can be twisted into a destructive force poisoned by ideas that are antithetical to its foundations. Now it’s Buddhism’s turn.”

Over the past year in Buddhist-majority Burma, scores, if not hundreds, have been killed in communal clashes, with Muslims suffering the most casualties. Burmese monks were seen goading on Buddhist mobs, while some suspect the authorities of having stoked the violence — a charge the country’s new quasi-civilian government denies. In Sri Lanka, where a conservative, pro-Buddhist government reigns, Buddhist nationalist groups are operating with apparent impunity, looting Muslim and Christian establishments and calling for restrictions to be placed on the 9% of the country that is Muslim. Meanwhile in Thailand’s deep south, where a Muslim insurgency has claimed some 5,000 lives since 2004, desperate Buddhist clerics are retreating into their temples with Thai soldiers at their side. Their fear is understandable. But the close relationship between temple and state is further dividing this already anxious region.

As the violence mounts, will Buddhists draw inspiration from their faith’s sutras of compassion and peace to counter religious chauvinism? Or will they succumb to the hate speech of radical monks like Burma’s Wirathu, who goads his followers to “rise up” against Islam? The world’s judgment awaits.

Click here to read Hannah Beech’s full story on the violence between Buddhism and Islam in Asian countries.

Radio Free Asia

June 20, 2013

Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has criticized a proposed law by a group of nationalist Buddhist monks restricting Muslim men and those of other faiths from marrying Buddhist women, saying it was discriminatory and violated human rights. 

Under the proposal, non-Buddhist men wishing to marry Buddhist women in Myanmar have to convert to Buddhism. They also have to gain permission from the parents of the Buddhist women and local government officials before tying the knot. 

The proposed law was circulated at a conference of Buddhist monks recently amid continuing tensions following anti-Muslim violence since last year in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. 

Aung San Suu Kyi told RFA's Myanmar Service that the proposal discriminated against women, violated human rights and the country's laws, and was contrary to Buddhism itself. 

"This is one-sided. Why only women? You cannot treat the women unfairly," the 68-year-old Nobel laureate said. "There should not be any discrimination between the men and women." 

"I also understand that this is not in accordance with the laws of the country and especially that it is not part of Buddhism," said Aung San Suu Kyi, who heads the opposition National League for Democracy. 

"It is a violation of women's rights and human rights," said Aung San Suu Kyi, who is barred by the country's constitution from becoming the president because she had married a foreigner and her children are foreign citizens. She and her husband, the late British academic Michael Aris, had two sons who are British. 

Signature campaign

The controversial proposal on marriage restrictions was led by nationalist monk Wirathu who, according to reports, wants to collect signatures to pressure the country's parliament to adopt the law. 

Wirathu heads Burma's so-called "969" movement, which represents a radical form of anti-Islamic nationalism that urges Buddhists to boycott Muslim-run shops and services following sectarian violence since last year which has left about 200 people dead and displaced 140,000, mainly Rohingya Muslims. 

He said the law would be modeled along regulations restricting interfaith marriage in other countries, such as those in neighboring Malaysia which forbids Muslims from marrying non-Muslims unless the non-Muslims embrace Islam. 

Burmese women's rights groups plan to launch a public campaign to stop the contentious draft law, which also stipulates that those who flout the rule could face up to 10 years in prison and have their property confiscated. 

Earlier this week, eight women's rights groups based in Myanmar's commercial capital Yangon issued a joint statement condemning Wirathu’s proposed draft law, which he had claimed would “protect Buddhist women’s freedom,” Myanmar's online Irrawaddy journal reported. 

“Buddhist women are the target of this draft law, and we know nothing about it all. The ones who drafted the bill are monks. That means it doesn’t represent women,” Zin Mar Aung, a founder of the Rainfall Gender Studies Group and a well-known women’s rights activist, was quoted saying. 

Reported by Khin Maung Soe for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Soe and Khet Mar. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.

Jared Ferrie

Reuters

June 20, 2013

YANGON – Her adoring compatriots believe democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi is destined to become Myanmar’s next president. But don’t bet on it.

A year ago, the Nobel Peace Prize winner was feted at home and abroad and flush from her National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s landslide wins in April 2012 by-elections, which swept her into parliament.

Even a military-drafted constitution designed to exclude her from the highest office seemed a surmountable hurdle.

Now the journey from political prisoner to president appears much less certain, even as her ambition is clearer than ever.

“I want to be president and I’m quite frank about it,” she told journalists at the World Economic Forum in the capital Naypyitaw on June 6.

But to emerge as president after a 2015 general election, Suu Kyi, 68, must overcome challenges that would daunt a less formidable political survivor.

She must convince a military-dominated parliament to amend the constitution.

Even if she can do that, and the constitution can be amended in time, she could then face a voter backlash over her position on a violent and widening rift between her nation’s Buddhists and minority Muslims.

Her rare public expressions of support for Muslims, who have borne the brunt of waves of sectarian violence, put her in a politically fraught position in the Buddhist-majority country.

Some people wonder if the violence is being exploited by conservative opponents to chip away at her support.

To win power, she would also have to fend off two former generals who covet the top spot. The first is Shwe Mann, the influential speaker of Myanmar’s lower house.

The other is the popular incumbent Thein Sein, whose quasi-civilian government took power in March 2011 after nearly half a century of military rule and launched a series of political and economic reforms. Thein Sein might seek a second term despite health concerns.

NO EASY TASK

Suu Kyi’s most immediate problem is the constitution.

It bars anyone married to a foreigner or who has children who are foreign citizens. Suu Kyi and her husband, the late British academic Michael Aris, had two children who are British.

“By all accounts it was drawn up with her in mind,” Andrew McLeod, a professor at Sydney Law School and deputy director of the Myanmar Constitutional Reform Project, said of the constitution, drawn up under the former military junta.

Any constitutional amendment would require 75 percent support in parliament – no easy task when the constitution also reserves a quarter of seats for the military.

Most of the rest of the members of parliament are members of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), created by the old junta and largely made up of retired military officers.

If passed by parliament, an amendment must win more than half the vote in a referendum. Some analysts say there just isn’t enough time to do all that before the 2015 election.

But even if she can pull off the amendments, the reality of partisan politics could threaten Suu Kyi’s presidential hopes.

Suu Kyi, the daughter of the hero of the campaign for independence from Britain, faces pressure internationally to defend the persecuted, including Muslims. But when she does, her once-unassailable popularity is threatened.

At least 237 people have been killed in violence between Myanmar’s Buddhists and Muslims over the past year and about 150,000 people have been left homeless. Most of the victims have been stateless Rohingya Muslims in the western state of Rakhine.

Groups such as the New York-based Human Rights Watch have condemned Suu Kyi for not using her moral authority to speak in defence of the Rohingya for fear of upsetting the Buddhist majority ahead of the election.

A 1982 law bars most Rohingya from citizenship and the government – and many ordinary Buddhists – consider them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh even though many can trace ancestry in Rakhine state for generations.

ALIENATING VOTERS?

When asked about her failure to strongly condemn violence against the Rohingya, Suu Kyi said at the World Economic Forum she didn’t want to “aggravate the situation” by taking sides. But she has criticised a policy in Rakhine State limiting Rohingya women to two children.

Suu Kyi has also said the government should re-examine the 1982 citizenship law. But that prompted the Daily Eleven newspaper to warn that any attempt by her to change the law would alienate voters and cost her party the next election.

For Suu Kyi the presidency would crown a remarkable life.

The military put her under house arrest in 1989 following the suppression of pro-democracy protests. The NLDswept a 1990 election by a landslide but the junta ignored the result and kept Suu Kyi under house arrest for 15 of the next 20 years.

She was released in November 2010 a week after a general election, widely regarded as rigged, swept theUSDP to power. The NLD boycotted the election as undemocratic.

The European Union and United States have lifted or suspended most sanctions against Myanmar, although Washington warned they could be reimposed if it backtracked on reform.

Denying Suu Kyi a crack at the presidency could suggest to the world that Myanmar is doing just that, said McLeod. This could prompt Western companies to halt investment in one of Asia’s last frontier economies.

But Bertil Lintner, a veteran journalist and author of several books on Myanmar, said that was not likely.

“I think the foreign business community would prefer to have the USDP and the military in power,” he said. “For them, it means stability and continuity.”

(Additional reporting by Soe Zeya Tun; Editing by Andrew R.C. Marshall)

Md Subhan

Postnoon

June 20, 2013

Rohingya refugees from Burma continue to pour into Hyderabad and no proper account of them seems to be maintained. Though a humanitarian issue, the security risk involved is ignored.

From 5,000 a few months ago, the number of refugees from the strife-torn Myanmar (Burma) has risen to some 12,000 now in the absence of any check on the inflow of Rohingya refugees from the Rakhine state of Burma. Myanmar’s 8,00,000 Rohingyas are stateless people today after the ethnic Buddhists drove them out. They are denied citizenship in Myanmar and are rejected by Bangladesh. The UN calls them, “one of the most persecuted people in the world.”

In the past one month alone, 35 families totalling 200 members reached the City. A revisit to the camp in Balapur, Shaheennagar and surrounding areas shows that the government of India and the State government appear unconcerned about them. Many of them have no refugee status and some claim to have cards from the UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR). Local Muslim leaders are providing shelter and work for them. They are spread over Balapur, Hafizbabanagar, Shastripuram and Kishan Bagh.

Mustafa Faiz Ur Rahman, a Burmese refugee who has learnt Hindi, has emerged their leader. He mediates between the refugees and the local Muslim leaders who are giving support to the uprooted.

It is learnt that these refugees, desperate and helpless in an alien land, are being used by the local leaders. One thing that came out while visiting the camps was that they do menial jobs or con­st­ruction works for far less than the market rates, which result in loss of jobs to the local people. The other is that the local leaders who provide them support probably see them as future investments.

Violence between Buddhists in Mya­nm­ar’s Rakhine state and the Rohingyas exploded in June 2012. At least 3,00,000 Rohingyas have taken refuge in squalid camps on Myanmar’s border with Bangla­de­sh. But Bangladesh has preve­nted them from entering the co­u­ntry. And China does not allow them access even as refugees.

David L Phillips, director, pr­o­gramme on peace-building and rights, Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights, says Bangladesh should be pressured to fulfil its obligations under international law and provide a safe haven to those fl­eeing violence. Despite its end­emic poverty and sky-rocketing population, Bangladesh cannot be excused for barring Rohi­ngyas. The fleeing Rohingyas are not entertained by either China or Bangladesh. They are all driven to India, where no convincing check is evident.

Hanna Hindstrom

Democratic Voice of Burma

June 20, 2013

Human trafficking remains a significant problem in both Burma and Thailand, where the stateless Rohingya minority has become particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, a leading US report warned on Wednesday.

The annual trafficking in persons (TIP) report released by the US state department accused the Burmese government of fuelling forced labour and trafficking among the Muslim Rohingya by denying them citizenship and stripping them of basic rights.

More than 20,000 Rohingyas are estimated to have fled on rickety boats from Arakan state in western Burma, since two bouts of ethno-religious clashes with Buddhists last year. Many end up paying hundreds of dollars to “brokers”, who either abandon them en route, or sell them to traffickers.

“There were reports that some Rohingya asylum seekers transiting Thailand en route to Malaysia were sold into forced labor on Thai fishing boats, reportedly with the assistance of Thai military officials,” said the report.

Thailand also regularly deports migrant Rohingyas back to Burma, despite protests from human rights groups, where they may be subject to re-trafficking, often in collusion with local authorities. The TIP report accuses elements in the ethnic rebel group the Democratic Karen Benevolent (formerly Buddhist) Army of participating in the trade of ethnic Rohingyas.

Burmese authorities in Arakan state have also been implicated in fuelling forced labour, sex slavery and abuse. According to the TIP report, military personnel have kidnapped several Rohingya women from the state capital Sittwe and subjected them to sexual slavery on military installations.

Earlier this year, media reports revealed that a growing number of Rohingya women were being sold as unwilling “mail order brides” to Malaysia in order to meet the growing demand for wives among the refugee population.

“As far as the Rohingya are concerned, Burma has greatly increased their vulnerability to trafficking,” Chris Lewa, head of the Arakan Project, an NGO that campaigns for the rights of Rohingyas, told DVB. “Segregation and restriction of movement have curtailed their access to livelihood; state’s persecution and arbitrary arrests have prompted many to flee abroad.“

Nearly 140,000 displaced Rohingya are currently estimated to be living in squalid camps in western Burma, where they are subjected to severe restrictions on their movements, work and family life.

Other ethnic minority populations in Burma were also identified as particularly vulnerable to trafficking and forced labour, especially in conflict-torn border regions, such as Kachin state.

“Military personnel and insurgent militia engage in the unlawful conscription of child soldiers and continue to be the leading perpetrators of forced labor inside the country, particularly in conflict-prone ethnic areas,” said the report, which ranks Burma on its Tier 2 “watch list” for the second year running.

The allegations came on the same day that the International Labour Organization (ILO) decided to lift all remaining sanctions against the former pariah state. Burma moved up from Tier 3 last year, the report’s lowest ranking, in large part due to its efforts to address forced labour in collaboration with the ILO.

Thailand, which was identified as a key destination country for Burmese trafficking victims, remained on the Tier 2 “watch list” for the fourth year running. It comes amid reports that three Burmese nationals were arrested in the Thai border town Mae Sot this week for running a prostitution ring using underage girls.

The report highlights the country’s sex tourism industry as a prominent incentive for the trafficking of women and girls. But labour rights campaigners in Thailand say the report is a “subjective” and “non-evidence” based study, which illustrates how poorly the US understands the sex industry.

Liz Hilton from the sex workers’ rights group, the Empower Foundation, insists that it is the criminalisation of sex work that is to blame.

“Look at New Zealand, where sex work is decriminalised — they’ve had no children in the sex industry, they’ve had no prosecutions for trafficking for nine years, and they’re Tier 1,” she told DVB. “So obviously the decriminalisation of sex work eliminates trafficking.”

Thailand spent US$3.7 million on anti-trafficking activities in 2012, but only assisted 270 victims. Hilton adds that this is a “bigger budget than they spend on climate change” or the women’s empowerment fund. Meanwhile, 350,000 migrants, mostly from Burma, were arrested for illegal entry in 2012, but only 57 were helped.

“[Forced work] is one tiny little tick of the exploitation in Thailand, whether it’s in the sex industry or the fishing industry or whatever,” said Hilton. “What needs to be reformed is the labour conditions in Thailand.”

Maung Aurther

RB News

June 19, 2013

Maung Daw, Arakan - Yesterday (June 18) at 9 A.M, around 20 Burmese military together with some Rakhine terrorists raided and looted six Rohingya houses in the eastern part of the village of Duchiradan (Kilaidaung), Southern Maung Daw. Besides, they bodily abused Rohingya women in the houses under raid in the name of so-called search for Bangladeshi mobile phones.

“20 Military and some Rakhine terrorists surrounded and looted six houses in Eastern Kilaidaung (Duchiradan). The raid was carried under the accusation of the possession of illegal woods and Bangladeshi mobile phones. Of the six robbed families, two are:

(1) Mv Moortobis S/o Abdu Jalil

(2) Abdul Kalam S/o Shukkor

They robbed jewelries, money and other valuable properties. They stripped some Rohingya women off their clothes in the name of so-called search for Bangladeshi mobile phones. No incidents of rapes against the women took place as it is said. However, stripping a woman off her clothes is of grave and serious concern. It is really humiliating” said an elderly Rohingya in a vulnerable tone. 

He continued “one of the 12 Rakhine terrorists who were trying to torch a Rohingya house in the village on 8th June 2013 was caught by the villagers and got handed over to NaSaKa (Border Security Force). During investigation, the terrorist was proved guilty of. That’s why they (Rakhines in cooperation with their allied Military) are carrying out raids and torturing the villagers. 

As usual and like the previous robberies, Captain Htaik Soe of the military light infantry unit 352 based at Kayemyaing, Southern Maung Daw, led the brutal raid and robbed the Rohingya houses. We plead to the central government of Myanmar to stop him from robbing and arbitrarily torturing Rohingyas on daily basis and international community to effectively come forward to helping us.”

UN News Centre
June 19, 2013

The United Nations human rights chief today urged Myanmar’s Government to tackle continuing discrimination against ethnic minorities, warning that failure to act could undermine the reform process in the country.

“Myanmar today can act as a source of inspiration by showing how governments can be transformed by a renewed commitment to human rights,” said the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay.

“However, the ongoing human rights violations against the Rohingya community in Rakhine state and the spread of anti-Muslim sentiment across the State and beyond is threateningthe reform process and requires focused attention from the Government.”

Several waves of clashes between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, the first of which occurred in June 2012, have affected hundreds of thousands of families in the country’s western region. Some 140,000 people, mostly Rohingya, remain displaced in Rakhine and tens of thousands of others have fled by boat.

In March, anti-Muslim violence spread to Meiktila in Mandalay region, leaving 43 people dead and more than 1,500 buildings destroyed, according to Government figures. Last month in Lashio Township, Shan State, anti-Muslim violence displaced some 1,400 people and destroyed property, including a mosque and an Islamic boarding school.

“The President of Myanmar has made some important statements on the need to end discrimination and violence and foster mutual respect and tolerance between people of different faiths and ethnicities,” Ms. Pillay said. “I believe that the political will is there, but encourage the Government to translate this will into concrete actions.”

The High Commissioner said she hoped that discussions on Myanmar during the session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva earlier this month would further encourage the Government to combat discrimination.

In its latest session, the Council urged the Government to allow humanitarian assistance and aid to reach the people and communities affected, and called on authorities to end impunity for all violations of human rights.

Ms. Pillay noted that her Office (OHCHR) continues to receive reports of widespread and systematic human rights violations against Muslims in Rakhine, including arbitrary detention and torture by security forces, as well as extrajudicial killings and sexual violence.

“I am concerned that those involved in mob violence against Muslim communities in Meiktila, Lashio and elsewhere are not being held to account, which sends out a message that violence directed against Muslim communities in Myanmar is somehow acceptable or justified,” Ms. Pillay said.

“The Government must urgently pursue legal and institutional reforms, including reforming local orders and national laws that discriminate along lines of ethnicity and religion.”

Ms. Pillay also condemned a local order limiting the number of children Rohingya Muslims can have to two, as well as a citizenship law that discriminates against unlisted groups and has left some 800,000 Rohingya stateless.

“This is blatantly discriminatory,” Ms. Pillay said. “This order should be rescinded immediately.”

In addition, she urged for a full investigation into the shooting of three Rohingya women earlier this month. The women were killed as they took part in a peaceful demonstration in Rakhine, when police allegedly fired into a crowd of demonstrators in Pa Rein village, Mrauk-U Township.

“My Office is ready to support the Government’s progressive reforms and to assist in addressing all forms of discrimination and other human rights challenges. I therefore hope to see quick progress in the establishment of an OHCHR Country Office in Myanmar with a full mandate,” Ms. Pillay added.

Bernama

June 19, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR -- Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi urged the Muslim minority in Asean countries, including those in Myanmar, to give priority to education.

He said that the Muslim communities should seek to empower themselves with education and pursue knowledge which is relevant to their needs in the 21st century.

Abdullah said this in his keynote address at the International Forum on Plight of Muslims in Burma in the 21st century: An Initiative for Solution and the Way Forward, held at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS), here, Wednesday.

He said that apart from education, the development of youths and economy of the Muslim communities were also important aspects to be considered in order to achieve a better future for the respective Muslim minority.

However, Abdullah, who is patron of IAIS Malaysia, stressed that in trying to achieve this, they should not sought to violence but instead adopt peaceful means and work in tandem with the non-Muslim communities.

He also pointed out that the more developed Muslim communities could also help the less developed ones in order to achieve this success and to secure their rights in society.

Speakers at the half-day forum, organised by IAIS Malaysia, included President of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST) Dr Chandra Muzaffar, while the moderator was Deputy CEO of IAIS Associate Professor Dr Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil.

Dr Chandra said that it was true that Myanmar has made some changes such as parliamentary elections, changes in economy and was now more open to foreign investment.

"But perhaps these changes will not bring about fundamental transformation in the Myanmar society," he said adding that Asean had a responsibility to try to bring about the change.

"We would like to see Asean governments adopt a more proactive approach to the question of the Rohingyas in Myanmar and of the other minorities," he added.

He said it was important for Asean to speak up and say "lets try to resolve this problem, you must resolve the root of the problem," which is the question of the citizenship and the question of the nature of the regime in Myanmar.

However, Dr Chandra emphasised that the issue must be resolved through non-violence and peaceful methods.

Asean (Association of Southeast Nations) comprise Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam..

Malaysia Chronicle

June 19, 2013

Following the reported violence in Kuala Lumpur between Myanmar nationals, the Malaysian government has sternly warned them that they could face deportation back to Myanmar in the wake of the violence.

Lawyers for Liberty urge the Malaysian government not to proceed with the deportation especially those from the Rohingya community as they are refugees fleeing persecution in Myanmar.

The deportation of the Rohingya will be inhumane and cruel as they have been systematically persecuted in their homeland and remain one of the most vulnerable communities in the world.

They are stripped of their citizenship thus making them legally stateless and subjected to all kinds of serious discriminatory practices including on movement, marriage, birth, education, health care, employment, civil documentation and subjected to arbitrary detention, violence and forced labour.

Since June last year, there had been a serious series of coordinated attacks against the Rohingya and other Muslim communities in Myanmar causing untold number of deaths, injuries and destruction to their homes.

We call on the Malaysian government to deal with the violence as a law and order issue and in accordance to our obligations under international law.

By deporting the Rohingyas, the Malaysian government is as good as signing their death warrant or at the very least complicit with the Myanmar authorities in continuing their persecution and suffering.

Eric Paulsen

Co Founder and Adviser

Lawyers for Liberty

Bernama

June 19, 2013

BANGKOK -- Villagers of a southern Thailand province are currently protesting against the planned construction of a temporary camp for Rohingya migrants in their neighbourhood, China's Xinhua news agency reported quoting police as saying.

An estimated 5,000 villagers of Cha-uad district in Nakorn Sri Thammarat province have signed up a petition in protest of the government's plan to build the camp for Rohingya refugees, who may have fled a sectorial strife inside Myanmar's Rakhine state by boat sailing toward Thai waters in the Andaman Sea.

The planned site for the camp to accommodate thousands of refugees is inside the compound of the 427th Border Patrol Company which lies in proximity of the local schools and villages, according to the Cha-uad protesters.

The local villagers feared that Rohingya migrants might carry epidemics and other diseases as well as jeopardise their safety and livelihood.

However, Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Prasopdee is scheduled to visit the area where the planned refugee camp is located and meet with the protesters on Friday in a bid to solve the problem.

The Muslim Rohingya "boat people", including children and elderly persons, had earlier landed on shore in southern Thailand, exhausted and underfed, sickly and desperately looking for a third country to settle down. Thai authorities provided the migrants with food and temporary shelter before finally sending them off to the sea.

While some of the Rohingyas were taken care of by Thai authorities and southern villagers purely on humanitarian basis, others were reported to have been robbed, assaulted and killed by suspected human traffickers.

Kyaw Phyo Tha

The Irrawaddy

June 18, 2013

RANGOON— A Burmese court has imprisoned two Muslim women for sparking communal violence earlier this year in the town of Okkan, near Rangoon, in the latest conviction of minority Muslims while Buddhist suspects have yet to face trial.

The two women were blamed for sparking the violence in April after they were involved in an altercation with a Buddhist monk that angered local Buddhists, leading to anti-Muslim rioting in the city about 100 kilometers from Rangoon. One Muslim man was killed and nine were injured in the unrest, while 81 homes and a mosque were burned to the ground.

“The court gave them a sentence of two years each in prison and hard labor on June 5,” an official from the court in Taik Kyi Township, where Okkan is located, told The Irrawaddy.

Burma has seen clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in several states this year, but so far only Muslims have been imprisoned. Muslims make up only about 5 percent of the country’s 60 million or so population.

In Okkan, the violence erupted on April 31 after a Muslim woman bumped into a novice monk, spilling his food and breaking his alms bowl. The woman and the monk were detained by the police following the incident, and both were released about two hours later after the woman apologized.

But when they left the police station, another Muslim woman grabbed the young monk and shook him, accusing him of lying to the police. This prompted both Muslim women to be detained. A mostly Buddhist crowd gathered outside the police station and began destroying Muslim properties in neighborhood.

The two women were charged with offending religion in Buddhist-majority Burma. An article of the country’s penal code prohibits people from engaging in “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.”

As of last month, a total of 39 suspects were reportedly in police custody for their alleged roles in the rioting.

“We are summoning witnesses and still investigating the case,” an officer at Okkan’s police station told The Irrawaddy, adding that he did not have the authority to disclose the exact number of suspects still in detention.

Before the rioting in Okkan, inter-communal strife between Buddhists and Muslims broke out last year in west Burma’s Arakan State. The violence spread this year to central Burma and east Burma—with clashes in the town of Meikhtila, then in Okkan, and mostly recently in Lashio. In total, more than 200 people have been killed and more than 150,000 people—mostly Muslims—have been displaced.

In the unrest this year, the government has convicted more than 10 Muslims but no Buddhists.

In east Burma’s Lashio Township, a Muslim man was sentenced to 26 years in prison last week after an incident in late May which sparked an outbreak of anti-Muslim violence that left one person dead and displaced about 1,400 Muslim residents. He was convicted of attempted murder, voluntarily causing grievous harm and two drug-related charges.

In the central Burma town of Meikhtila, the Muslim owners of a gold shop and an employee were sentenced in April to more than a decade in prison after a dispute with a Buddhist customer in March sparked anti-Muslim riots that left at least 43 people dead and destroyed hundreds of homes. Last month, seven Muslim men were also imprisoned for the death of a Buddhist monk during that unrest.

In both cases, most of the remaining suspects under investigation are Buddhists. Seventy-four suspects in custody in Meikhtila have been charged with the destruction of property and murder, while 44 suspects in Lashio have been detained but not yet charged, according to regional authorities.

Kyaw Khin, chief secretary of the All Burma Muslim Federation, told The Irrawaddy that he had no comment on the convictions of those who were guilty.

“If they are guilty of the crime, they should be punished fairly—no bias against religion and race,” he said.

“But as of now, all the people who have earned imprisonment are minority Muslims. So I have to ask, where are the majority [Buddhist] people who committed the crimes of looting, rampaging, arson and killing during the riots?”

Kyee Myint of the Myanmar Lawyers’ Network called on the government to ensure equal treatment for suspects of all religions.

“At the moment, they are just playing a game of politics to please the Buddhist majority,” he said.

“But don’t worry: They are going to sentence Buddhists who were involved in the riots very soon.”

Report from UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar

Reliefweb

(Yangon, 17 June 2013) One year on from inter-communal clashes in Rakhine State, 140,000 people remain displaced, with little hope of their lives returning to normal.

Outbreaks of inter-communal violence in Rakhine State in June and October 2012 caused the death of 167 people, destroyed over 10,000 buildings and led to a loss of livelihoods and infrastructure across the state. The onset of violence triggered a multi-sector humanitarian response, with food, health, sanitation, shelter and other lifesaving relief to people in need.

Humanitarian assistance has improved the temporary situation of the communities displaced. Food is distributed on a monthly basis to those in need, with nearly 2,200 metric tonnes provided in May alone. Some 3,000 latrines are now functioning. Temporary shelter for over 71,000 people has been built. However, there are still significant gaps that need to be filled, including additional funding for camp management and coordination activities. These gaps will be updated when the Rakhine Response Plan is released in late July.

Restrictions of access and freedom of movement have severely affected employment, and health and education rights. For example, about 20,000 primary school-aged displaced children have lost an entire school year, with no access to formal education. Everyone needs to have the right to move freely and access basic services.

Several thousand people have been displaced since the clashes, have lost their jobs, and access to land and markets. As a result they have migrated to the displacement camps to get assistance. Humanitarian assistance is a short-term solution and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar, Ashok Nigam, urges the Government of Myanmar and the international community to remain focused on addressing longer term issues; “Humanitarian assistance is a temporary measure to respond to immediate needs. Sustainable solutions must be found to restore a lasting peace and harmony between the people of Rakhine State. Reconciliation between communities is the larger priority. The root causes of the tensions that exist between the people must be addressed. Inter-communal tensions fuel fear and resentment. Left unresolved, they will drive communities further apart. The international community stands ready to support the Government in its efforts to foster peace and harmony in Rakhine State.”

Trust-building between communities and the authorities also needs to be rebuilt so that peace and inter-communal harmony can be achieved. Left unaddressed, mistrust will likely deepen fear. “The citizenship status of the 800,000 Muslims in Rakhine State must also to be addressed,” Mr. Nigam cautioned. “The consequences of statelessness for Muslims in Rakhine State continue to have a direct effect on fundamental human rights, and the social and economic development of Myanmar.”

Casey Hynes

Asian Correspondent

June 18, 2013