Radio Australia

July 12, 2013

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr says Australia won't use foreign aid as a bargaining tool with Myanmar, despite being "apprehensive" about the future of the country's minority Rohingya Muslim population.

Senator Carr has raised their plight during talks with the government in Naypyidaw, but he's ruled out accepting large numbers of Rohingyas as refugees, even though they are not considered to be citizens of Myanmar.

Presenter: Naomi Woodley

Speaker: Bob Carr, Australian Foreign Minister

BOB CARR: Australia takes a keen interest in their plight and in the need for reconciliation and harmony within this part of Myanmar.

NAOMI WOODLEY: How was that message received by the different political groups in Myanmar?

BOB CARR: Well, the representatives of the government pointed to the efforts they had made to bring communities back together and promote tolerance. They emphasised that education and the development of opportunities across all the ethnic groups in Rakhine state would be vital to longer term success.

We, for our part, are able to talk about the humanitarian assistance we provided in that state. I've announced an increase of $3.2 million going towards the emergency accommodation required but I've got to say, after spending the day in Yangon talking to our representatives of the Rohingya people and to representatives of a group at odds with them, the Arakan League for Democracy and the Rakhine Nationalities Democratic Party* that I'm pretty apprehensive.

NAOMI WOODLEY: Given Aung San Suu Kyi's special status across the world as really a symbol of peaceful struggle and the pursuit of democracy and rights, are you disappointed that she hasn't taken a more aggressive stance on this?

BOB CARR: I wouldn't criticise any of the political leadership of Myanmar. I'd simply highlight that this is an extraordinarily difficult problem. It goes back to colonial times and earlier. As the minister for reconciliation said to me, he said we've got 11 armed ethnic groups and we've got 135 recognised ethnic groups.

NAOMI WOODLEY: Australia is one of the largest contributors of aid towards Myanmar. How quickly are we going to get to a point where the Australian Government would start to look at aid or make aid contingent on some action being taken towards resolving this particular tension?

BOB CARR: Yeah, this is such a wretchedly poor country, we couldn't do that. Our simple humanitarian instincts require that we go on giving aid while, with the credibility that gives us and being seen as something of a champion of Myanmar, we will continue to press with the government and with opposition leadership the plight of the Rohingya.

NAOMI WOODLEY: But then how do you make that message effective because this is a problem that has been growing in seriousness. It is a deep seated problem. So if you're not going to use the sharp end of aid, how does Australia adequately convey this message in a way that will see some action taken?

BOB CARR: Well, Myanmar does care about the way the world perceives it. It does desperately need an inflow of investment dollars to lift the living standards of its people, to see more people move into employment and to see more people liberated from rural poverty.

I think it does care that the headlines around the world these days about ethnic and sectarian tensions in Rakhine province and not about the fact that the government has concluded peace agreements, ceasefires with 11 armed ethnic groups, which is an awe inspiring achievement and one the country can truly be proud of.

TONY EASTLEY: That's the Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr, who's been in Myanmar for the last couple of days. He was speaking to AM's Naomi Woodley.

Maung Aurther

RB Analysis

July 12, 2013

The institution of NaSaKa (Border Security Force) has been abolished by the government of Myanmar today. According to the announcement order “59/2013” issued by the President’s Office today (i.e. July 12, 2013), the institution has been abolished from today onward. 

The sudden abolishment of NaSaKa might come as a shocker to many and at the same time, the news might sound sweet to some. Meanwhile, many can’t decide whether it is for better or worse. 

NaSaKa force was founded by the toppled ex-general Khin Nyunt in early 1990s. Some of the purposes behind the establishment of the NaSaKa Force were:

(1) To put restrictions on Rohingyas’ marriages

(2) To limit Rohingyas’ birth

(3) To confine their movements and travels

(4) To carry out regularly twice a year census operation against Rohingyas

(5) To depopulate their population by exerting various pressures on them, torturing them in many ways, driving them out of Arakan, even killing them 

(6) And many.

In short, it was a force and tool created to implement ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas and genocide against them. Therefore, NaSaKa Force had been red-handed with blood of Rohingyas right from its establishment. 

Moreover, especially in the ongoing violence against Rohingyas in Arakan that erupted in June 2012, the destructive role that NaSaKa played in the cleansing of Rohingyas has been spotlighted by various human rights groups, international community and Rohingya community themselves.

Therefore, the intention behind the sudden abolishment of NaSaKa Institution can be interpreted in many ways.

(1) NaSaKa had been the effective tool machine in exterminating Rohingyas. And hence, it committed countless crimes against humanity. The only way for the government to get impunity for those crimes committed by the institution is the abolishment of the institution. WE MUST NOT FORGET THAT NASAKA COULD ACT UPON NOTHING WITHOUT THE COMMANDMENT FROM THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF MYANMAR. HENCE, THE GOVERNMENT OF MYANMAR MUST ANSWER FOR ALL THE CRIMES AGAINST ROHINGYAS, NOT ONLY NASAKAS. Nevertheless, the current pseudo civilian government made up of ex-generals can easily shake off any accusations against them and hence will be able to get impunity.

(2) The abolishment can merely be a replacement of old and rusty exterminating machine with a new, efficient and effective one. That is to say NaSaKa is being replaced with a well-trained, worse, more cruel institution effective in exterminating Rohingyas. 

(3) Or it can be just a mind game, without practical implementation of the abolishment, to change people’s perceptions on Myanmar. 

Meanwhile, the responsibilities of NaSaKa can be taken over either by Police or by Military. If Police, composed of mainly Rakhine extremist, are handed over the responsibilities of NaSaKa, then Rohingyas especially in Maung Daw and Buthidaung are going to face a life of hell. 

However, we pray and hope everything turns out to be peaceful and better for all the people living in Myanmar.

Rushanara Ali MP calls on the UK Government to put pressure on Burma to urgently address the humanitarian crisis facing the Rohingya ahead of President Thein Sein’s visit to the UK

For immediate release

As President Thein Sein of Burma prepares for his upcoming visit to London, Rushanara Ali MP, Shadow Minister for International Development, has called on the UK Government to exert pressure on the Burmese authorities to address the humanitarian crisis in Burma and put human rights at the heart of their reform process. She said:

“While it is right to acknowledge the progress towards political and economic reform that has been made in Burma since President Thein Sein took office, it is also right to express our deep concerns about the humanitarian situation in Rakhine State and the ongoing human rights abuses against the Rohingya, the wider Muslim community and other minorities in Burma. The international community should not ignore the considerable work that the Government of Burma still needs to do.

“I welcome President Thein Sein’s pledge to end all forms of discrimination and ensure not only that inter-communal violence is brought to a halt, but that all perpetrators are brought to justice. However, it is crucial that the UK Government and the international community continue to press him to make real that commitment. There are growing concerns regarding the disparity between the President’s words and his actions as Burma’s human rights record remains poor.

“Since inter-communal violence first broke out last year, Rohingya Muslims have been forced into segregated settlements and their movements have been restricted, stripping them of their livelihoods and rendering them reliant on aid. Displaced people are living in constant fear of violence, abuse and harassment both from the security services and from fears of a further attack from sections of the Rakhine population.

“There can be no impunity for those committing human rights abuses in Burma. Human Rights Watch’s recent report “All we can do is pray” concluded that crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing were being committed towards Burma’s Rohingya. Progress on ethnic reconciliation must remain the highest priority.

“Action is also urgently needed to address the mounting humanitarian crisis in the Rakhine State. Those in overcrowded displacement camps face multiple challenges and difficult or no access to basic humanitarian needs including healthcare, food and drinking water. They are also often the victims of violence and exploitation, and women in particular are especially vulnerable to sexual violence. For many in these camps, the only thing preventing an all out humanitarian disaster is the help and support provided by NGOs.

“President Thein Sein’s visit to London is a unique opportunity for Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague to press him and his Government to address some of these key human rights issues. It is crucial that this state visit does not lead to complacency from either the British or the Burmese Government.”

Rushanara called on the UK Government to:

• Work with the international community to apply the strongest pressure on the Burmese authorities to facilitate immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access to affected areas and continue to support those living in displacement camps, in Rakhine State and also in other areas of major displacement, such as Kachin State.
• Exert pressure on the Government of Burma to make urgent shelter arrangements during the rainy season and make healthcare and sanitation urgent priorities.
• Continue to press for democratic reforms and complete respect for human rights in Burma and address the culture of marginalisation and discrimination of the Rohingya community by reviewing and restoring their citizenship rights where appropriate.
• Encourage the Burmese authorities to support a safe and voluntary return process for the Rohingya with adequate protection.
• Exert pressure on our international counterparts for an international inquiry into the events of June and October 2012 and March 2013.

Associated Press

July 11, 2013

YANGON, Myanmar — A Myanmar court sentenced seven Buddhists to between three and 15 years in jail for their roles in a massacre at an Islamic boarding school that left dozens of students and teachers dead, while a Muslim convicted in one related killing received a life sentence.

In all, 24 Buddhists and five Muslims have been sentenced to jail this week for their roles in sectarian rioting March 20 and 21 in the central Myanmar town of Meikhtila. The violence killed at least 43 people and left 12,000 displaced, most of them Muslim.

Previously, few Buddhists had been prosecuted in connection with a wave of sectarian violence that has left more than 250 people dead and 140,000 others fleeing their homes over the past year in this predominantly Buddhist country. Muslims have been prosecuted more frequently, even though they make up the vast majority of the victims.

The state-run Keymon daily said eight people — seven Buddhists and one Muslim — were convicted Wednesday in Meikhtila district court for crimes connected to the massacre at the Mingalar Zayone Islamic Boarding School, where 36 of the deaths from the March rioting occurred.

Buddhist mobs torched the school, Muslim businesses and all but one of the city’s 13 mosques following a dispute between a Muslim and a Buddhist at a gold shop and the burning death of a Buddhist monk by four Muslim men. While security forces stood by, a mob attacked Muslims with machetes, metal pipes, chains and stones as they tried to escape the burning school, leaving 32 teenage students and four teachers dead.

Tin Hlaing, a local reporter present during the hearings, told The Associated Press that four of the eight were found guilty of murder and causing other injuries, getting between 10 and 15 years in jail.

He did not provide details about their roles in the slaughter but said the other four convicted were involved in lesser offenses. The Keymon daily said the seven Buddhists received sentences of three to 15 years, but offered no details about the Muslim’s case.

Tin Hlaing also said four Muslim men on Tuesday received sentences of at least seven years in prison — with one getting a life sentence — for their roles in the murder of a 19-year-old university student during the unrest.

The district court also sentenced 10 Buddhist men Wednesday to one to nine years for their involvement in the death of a Muslim man, and a township court sentenced six men and one woman, all Buddhists, to two years’ imprisonment each for damaging the gold shop.

There have been several earlier sentencings, in Meikhtila and elsewhere, but the vast majority involved Muslim defendants. The Meikhtila district chairman, Tin Maung Soe, said most of the 73 people charged with crimes related to the rioting there are Buddhists.

Asked why Buddhists were given lighter sentences than some of the Muslims, Meikhtila district legal officer Khin Win Phyu said the sentences were handed down “based on the testimonies of the witnesses.”

“The courts passed their verdict according to law and there is no bias or privilege toward any group,” she said.

Sectarian violence in Myanmar began in Rakhine state just over a year ago in the country’s west, then spread in March to the central towns of Meikthila and Okkan. The attacks, and the government’s inability to stop them, have marred the Southeast Asian country’s image abroad as it moves toward democracy and greater freedom following nearly five decades of military rule.

AFP

July 11, 2013

Islamic nations on Wednesday called on UN leader Ban Ki-moon to do more to halt the "tyranny" they say Muslims are enduring in Myanmar.

UNITED NATIONS: Islamic nations on Wednesday called on UN leader Ban Ki-moon to do more to halt the "tyranny" they say Muslims are enduring in Myanmar.

Religious riots in Buddhist-majority Myanmar have cast a shadow over heralded political reforms since military rule ended two years ago. Envoys to the UN from Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries say the global body should pressure the Myanmar government over the troubles.

"Myanmar is having a honeymoon with the world. The only problem is that that honeymoon is being built on the bodies of the Muslim victims in that country," said Saudi Arabia's UN ambassador Abdullah al-Mouallemi.

Mouallemi and other ambassadors from OIC members met Ban on Wednesday to demand more action by the United Nations, particularly over Rohingya Muslims.

In March at least 44 people, mainly Muslims, were killed in sectarian strife in central Myanmar.

Communal unrest last year in the western state of Rakhine left about 200 people dead and up to 140,000 displaced, mainly Rohingyas, minority Muslims who are rejected by many in Myanmar.

Roble Olhaye, Djibouti's UN ambassador and head of the OIC group at UN, called the action against Rohingyas "ethnic cleansing".

"The Myanmar authorities are failing in taking the necessary measures to stem the violence," he added at a press conference with Mouallemi.

"What we need from the UN is to have its voice heard loud and clear, being the conscience of the world," Olhaye said.

Olhaye and Mouallemi said the UN leader had promised to be more vocal about defending Muslims in Myanmar.

"We called on the secretary general to interfere to make his voice heard more loudly," said the Saudi envoy. "The most basic human rights and human values are being stepped upon by the current government and by the radical elements within Myanmar."

Mouallemi said Islamic nations wanted the United Nations and the major powers -- particularly the United States, Russia, China, European Union and Myanmar's neighbours -- to speak out against what he called the "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingyas.

"I think there is a lot more that the UN can and should do," he said, adding that Muslim nations would also be speaking with UN Security Council members about Myanmar.

"Myanmar is trying to open itself to the world, trying to attract attention, investment, engagement by the entire world. It is not enough to simply say that you must have elections and feed the basic structures of democracy.

"There has to be an end to the killing, that is much more basic, there has to be an end to the persecution, to the tyranny that this population is facing," said Mouallemi.

Ban met on Wednesday with members of the Group of Friends on Myanmar, which includes the United States, China, European and Asian nations to discuss changes in Myanmar and recent unrest, said a UN spokesman.

The group welcomed peace talks with Kachin rebels, but also "stressed the urgent need for effective action to punish the perpetrators of the violence" in Rakhine and "urgent attention" to issues including Rohingyas citizenship.

Ban "expressed his confidence that Myanmar would continue to make all round progress in strengthening its democratic institutions", said the spokesman.

Peter James Spielmann

Associated Press

July 10, 2013

The U.N. chief on Wednesday warned Myanmar that it must end Buddhist attacks on minority Muslims in the Southeast Asian country if it wants to be seen as a credible nation.

Sectarian violence against Rohingya Muslims in the predominantly Buddhist nation has killed hundreds in the past year, and uprooted about 140,000, in what some say presents a threat to Myanmar's political reforms because it could encourage security forces to re-assert control.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday: "It is important for the Myanmar authorities to take necessary steps to address the legitimate grievances of minority communities, including the citizenship demands of the Muslim/Rohingya."

He says failing to do so could risk "undermining the reform process and triggering negative regional repercussions."

In 1982, Myanmar passed a citizenship law recognizing eight races and 130 minority groups — but omitted the nation's 800,000 Rohingyas, among Myanmar's 60 million people. Many Myanmar Buddhists view the Rohingyas as interlopers brought in by the British colonialists when the nation was known as Burma.

Earlier this year, Myanmar passed a law limiting Rohingyas in two townships in the western state of Rakhine, bordering Bangladesh, to having two children, a law that does not apply to Buddhists. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi criticized the law, and was widely denounced by Buddhists in Myanmar. Seen as likely to be elected president of Myanmar, she has had little else to say about Rohingya rights.

Myanmar had been ostracized by most of the world for 50 years after a coup that instituted military rule. But in recent years the country has been cautiously welcomed after it freed many political prisoners and ended the house arrest of Syu Kyi and instituted reforms. President Barack Obama visited the country last year on an Asian tour, as a hallmark of Myanmar's rehabilitation.

Muslim ambassadors on Wednesday said Myanmar cannot rejoin the community of democratic nations if it doesn't protect minority rights.

"It is not enough to just have elections, you have to end the killings and persecutions," Saudi Arabian U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Yahya al-Mouallemi told reporters. He said the Rohingya are barred from citizenship, work, travel, religious practice, and even the proper burial of their dead.

Djibouti's U.N. Ambassador Roble Olhaye, representing the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said that the Rohingya live in "permanent segregation in what amounts to ethnic cleansing."

A call to the Myanmar U.N. Mission went unanswered on Wednesday evening.

Ban spoke at a meeting of ambassadors from the "Group of Friends on Myanmar," consisting of Australia, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Britain, the United States, Vietnam, and the country holding the presidency of the European Union, currently Lithuania.

Ron Corben

VOA News

July 10, 2013

BANGKOK — Indonesia is pressing Burma’s government to grant legal status to the country’s Muslim Rohingya. As more Rohingya seek asylum in Indonesia and elsewhere abroad, Ron Corben reports from Bangkok that Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa says Burma needs to take action to end inter-communal violence.

Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, says Burma has to press on with democratic reforms and recognize the legal rights of hundreds of thousands of stateless Muslim Rohingya.

Burma - also known as Myanmar - has been wracked by sectarian bloodshed over the past year that has led to more than 200 deaths and displaced tens of thousands. Fighting began in communities with large numbers of ethnic Rohingya, who are denied citizenship in Burma.

Natalegawa, speaking to reporters in Bangkok Wednesday, says Indonesia is “encouraging” Burma to grant legal recognition to the Rohingya as an initial step to ease tensions.

“There is the issue of the status issue, which on the one hand is political as well as legal, which we are now encouraging the government of Myanmar to address in a fundamental way so that the Rohingya can obtain the kind of status and legal rights similar and akin to the rest of their countrymen,” said Natalegawa.

Burmese authorities have long excluded Rohingya from the ethnic groups recognized as Burmese citizens, claiming that they have always been illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

Natalegawa says there is a “huge sense of distrust” that now lies between the Buddhist majority and Muslim minority in Burma as a result of the sectarian bloodshed. He said Indonesia had to work through similar bouts of violence since the late 1990s as it moved towards democratization. He says Indonesia is ready to share its experience with Burmese authorities in rebuilding the communities.

“So we know there is an issue to be addressed but I believe that this is part and parcel of Myanmar’s democratization efforts," he said. "It cannot be treated in isolation so we must impress upon the Myanmar government as we have been, that to be able to transform democratically there must be at the same time, not sequentially, at the same time they must also address the issue of communal tensions and horizontal conflicts.”

Thousands of Rohingya have fled by boat on perilous journeys, with an unknown number perishing at sea, as they seek asylum abroad.

Indonesia is planning to convene a major regional conference this year to combat people smugglers and reduce the flows of boat people coming into the region.

Press TV

July 10, 2013

Several human rights groups and activists have strongly criticized the Myanmar government for its silence over growing violence against the Rohingya Muslims across the Southeast Asian country.

Several international rights groups and activists warned in a joint statement on Monday that impunity for the Buddhist assailants will further embolden them to commit more crimes against the Muslim minority, and will turn Myanmar into a breeding ground for extremism. 

The statement comes more than three months after authorities failed to charge any suspect in connection with an attack on an Islamic school that claimed dozens of lives in central Myanmar. 

The school on the outskirts of Meiktila town was razed during the bloodshed in March that triggered an outbreak of violence against the Muslim across the southeast Asian country. Hundreds of thugs used steel chains, sticks and knives to attack the students and teachers. 

According to official figures, nearly 50 people were killed and thousands were left homeless across the troubled region. 

The rights group, Physicians for Human Rights, has put together information and eyewitness testimonies to show the scale of violence and horrors at the massacre site. 

Last year western Myanmar's Rakhine State saw a wave of violence against the Muslim community that left more than 200 people dead. 

Scores of Rohingya Muslims have been killed and thousands of others displaced as a result of attacks by Buddhist extremists in Myanmar in recent months. 

International bodies accuse the government of turning a blind eye to the attacks. 

Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar account for about five percent of the country’s population of nearly 60 million. They have been persecuted and faced torture, neglect, and repression since the country's independence in 1948. 

Myanmar’s government has been repeatedly criticized for failing to protect the Rohingya Muslims.

Alok Singh

IANS

July 10, 2013

Jasmine, 20, dreads going back to Myanmar where she says people of her community are treated like pariah and subjected to atrocities. She is among the 195 Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar who are languishing in a deplorable state in in the Jaitpur shantytown in the southeastern periphery of the capital for the past year.

"We would die but won't go back to Burma (Myanmar). Life is a virtual hell there. Though life is not easy here, it is much better than in Burma. No one harasses us here," Jasmine told IANS.

"I don't know the future of my three-year-old daughter. How will she grow up? Where will she study?" a worried Jasmine said while her daughter was playing in a muddy pool of water outside her hut.

In May 2012, this group of Rohingyas had crossed over into India from Bangladesh. They had fled Myanmar fearing attacks on them from Buddhists in the violence that spread through Myanmar's Rakhine province (also known as Arakan).

Rohingyas are not recognised among the 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar and they are treated as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh rejects them, saying they are Myanmarese, with the result that they are living without any civil rights or citizenship.

The temporary settlement of Rohingyas in Jaitpur, comprising a cluster of dirty plastic sheet-covered bamboo huts, is devoid of any basic amenities and the lives of their children and women are pitiable.

"We are looted, exploited and beaten there. No one employs us because we are Muslims," 44-year old Haroon, who is from Busidung in Myanmar, told IANS.

P. Kalam, 20, a daily wage labour who earns Rs.200 a day, said: "Only I know how I am living away from my parents. They don't want me to return to them in Myanmar," said Kalam, who is from the Mongdu area in Myanmar.

The Rohingyas are demanding full refugee status with rights before the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR. In May last year, hundreds of them demonstrated outside the UNHCR office in Vasant Vihar in south Delhi. Most of the Rohingyas who arrived in New Delhi last year spread out to other parts of India, including Jammu and Kashmir.

"We want refugee status in India or another country," said Mohammad Jakaria, a rickshaw puller.

Kalam fled his country thinking that things would get worse. He married Taslima in New Delhi who is also from Myanmar.

Taslima's parents were killed in an attack by local goons in one of the districts of Myanmar.

According to Alana Golmei, a project manager in Burma Center, Delhi, the Burma-Rohingya conflict is very complicated. It needs proper documentation in solving the issue.

"If media reports are to be believed, they are being persecuted. India being a neighbour country can help them by providing shelter for some time," she said.

She said an estimated 3,000 Rohingyas have taken shelter in other Indian cities like Hyderabad, Aligarh, Saharanpur and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and Mewat in Haryana.

Outside India, Rohingyas have found themselves as asylum seekers in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

(Alok Singh can be contacted at alok.s@ians.in)

The Hindu

July 9, 2013

The attack could be used to target Muslims in the country in order to gain political polarisation before the coming general election, and unleash a new wave of violence against Muslims in Myanmar 

Religious leaders and peace activists across the country have appealed to people to view the terror attack in Bodh Gaya as an act of misguided criminals and not to speculate — that it could have been a retaliation to attacks on Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims — until a proper probe is completed. 

Condemning the bomb blasts, in which three persons were injured, the signatories to a statement on Tuesday said they were deeply pained and shocked by the heinous terror attack targeting innocent people at a place of great spiritual and historical significance and unequivocally condemned the dastardly act of crime against humanity.

Referring to speculation that the attack could be in retaliation to attacks on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, they said all such speculations should be discouraged till proper investigation was conducted and the identity of culprits firmly established. 

The attack, they felt, could be used to target Muslims in the country in order to gain political polarisation before the coming general election, and unleash a new wave of violence against Muslims in Myanmar, who were already suffering grave violence and untold sufferings for years. 

Lakhs had to flee Myanmar to save their lives over the past years. This mindless action, the signatories to the appeal said, might also make scores of Rohingya refugees around the world vulnerable and open to retaliatory attacks in different countries where they had taken refuge. 

The statement urged the government to initiate a speedy, professional and thorough probe to apprehend the culprits and expose and punish both the perpetrators and conspirators behind the dreadful act. 

The signatories to the statement were film maker Mahesh Bhatt; Swami Agnivesh, Arya Samaj, New Delhi; Mazher Hussain and Sardar Nanak Singh Nishtar, Confederation of Voluntary Associations, Hyderabad; D. Yadiah, Boudhik Pramukh, All India Samata Sainik Dal; Binayak Sen, People’s Union for Civil Liberties; Kamla Bhasin, New Delhi; Maulana Syed Shah Hamid Hussain Shutari, All India Sunni Ulema Board; Fr. Dominic Emmanuel, Delhi Catholic Church, New Delhi; Ram Punyani, All India Secular Forum, Mumbai; Zafar Mahmood, Zakat Foundation, New Delhi; Ilina Sen, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai; Hasan Mansoor, PUCL, Bangalore; Sandeep Panday, ASHA, Lucknow; A. Faizur Rahman, Islamic Forum for Promotion of Moderate Thought, Chennai, and Iqbal Ahmad Engineer, Centre for Peace and True Message, Hyderabad.

Syed Mohammed

The Times of India

July 9, 2013

HYDERABAD: Though no stranger to harassment, hundreds of Rohingya refugees who have made the city their own, are apprehensive about policemen knocking on their doors once again in the wake of serial blasts in Bodh Gaya.

"The locals told us about the blasts. The police frequently ask us to produce documents and such harassment has become part of our lives," said 28-year old Abdullah, who arrived in the city last year.

The Rohingya exodus began last June, a month before the onset of Ramzan, in the aftermath of ethnic violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Linking the attack on the Mahabodhi temple to Rohingyas was unfair, Abdullah, who goes by one name, said. "We were unaware of the attack as most of us cannot read, write or even speak local languages. We are first concerned about earning money to buy food and getrefugee status," he said.

While many Rohingyas settled in Delhi and Pune, a substantial number chose Hyderabad as their new home. They believed the city, on account of its substantial Muslim population, would welcome them with arms wide open. But little did they think about police questionings and needless interrogation each time a Hindu shrine or a Buddhist structure comes under attack.

Hyderabad-based Confederation of Voluntary Organisations (Cova), an NGO at the forefront of Rohingya rehabilitation says 1,200 asylum seekers have registered with them so far and many more are likely to come.

After sustained efforts and coordination with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 80 Rohingyas have been given refugee status, another 200 are now refugee certificate holders and 700 are yet to receive a letter of appointment from UNHCR.

Apathy and death has followed the displaced Rohingyas to the city. It was around a fortnight ago that Iqbal Hussain with his family of six had arrived in the city from Myanmar to escape persecution. But in a quirk of fate, Hussain, the sole breadwinner, slipped from a local train and died instantly. Abdul Mazek, who had crossed the border to West Bengal around 24 days ago, was separated from his teenaged son at the local Kharagpur railway station. He still weeps for him and locals say another victim, Noor Qamar's story in particular is heart-wrenching. An angry Buddhist mob had sawed off Qamar's hands and toes in a forest in Myanmar. "Nobody could hear my screams for mercy and help and now people feed me and help me wash myself," Qamar added.

In search of employment, Dudu Miyan, another refugee, pointed out that around 150 men went to the local 'labourer adda' in Babanagar, but only 50 found work as labourers. The trend is the same everyday. "A man who is busy looking for work everyday has no time to even think about causing trouble," he said, pointing to allegations of Rohingya Muslim role in any incident related to the violence in Myanmar.

To tackle disagreement, the refugees have formed a committee of 15 who are entrusted with arbitration. "We do not wish to take our differences, monetary or otherwise, outside. We are already beset with bigger problems which is why it is important that we help each other," said Abdullah, who is respected by the others.

"To think that these illiterate and hapless people could be behind any terror attack is unbelievable. Whoever has engineered the blasts has damaged the cause of Rohingyas. This act could lead to another wave of violence against Rohingya population not only in Myanmar, but also in India," executive director of Cova Mazhar Hussain told TOI on Monday.

Rohingyas are the most persecuted in the world and around 6,000 have taken refuge in different parts of the country, he added.

Ambika Pandit

The Times of India

July 9, 2013

NEW DELHI: Off the busy Gurgaon-Sohna Road, in a village called Firozepur Namak, stands a cluster of huts housing Rohingya refugees from Myanmar's Arakan region. Its 280 asylum-seekers hope to return home one day but for now they are worried about being evicted from this village that has been their home for about a year. The plot they are squatting on belonged to a doctor but he has sold it, they say. The 65 families have been told to find another place soon after Ramzan. 

The strife in Myanmar haunts them as many still have relatives in Arakan. In India, they find themselves cut off from the mainstream as asylum seekers. The Rohingyas have been raising the demand for full refugee status with rights before the United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR. The last big protest happened in May 2012 when thousands demonstrated outside the UNHCR office in Vasant Vihar in south Delhi. 

The Rohingyas justify the demonstration by pointing to the conditions in the settlement. Monday's downpour left the low-lying ground waterlogged. The residents are worried about mosquitoes and sickness as the monsoon breaks in full force over the NCR. Their huts are sturdy but this damp weather makes living in them unbearable. 

The men work as day labour. Some earn Rs 300 a day weaving Burmese bamboo huts that have attracted the attention of locals. Some such huts have come up along the Gurgaon-Sohna highway. 

The 85 children in the camp have no friends in the village as they speak a different language. Fatima, 10, plays with other Rohingya children around a pool of dirty water. School to her means the two hours she spends in a large hut where the elders teach some Arabic. A boy, Zahidullah, says they just idle away their time all day in the open. They never go out of the bamboo gate that opens onto the road. 

Mamun Rafique, chairman of the Myanmar Rohingya Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, says the families are most worried about the education of their children. "Members of our committee are planning to take the assistance of an NGO to help educate the children. We need to secure their future," Rafique says. He came from Myanmar two years ago with his wife. His parents and daughter are still in Arakan. 

On the atrocities that drove them out of Arakan, 55-year-old Shahzan says all their rights, including the right of their children to marry, were taken away. She came to India four years ago. Her son, Mohd Hassan, found his life partner at the settlement and had a traditional nikah in a hut which now also serves as a mosque for the community. Inside this hut one finds dreams of a better life as paper wall hangings crafted like chandeliers dangle from the plastic roof.

In this photo essay, The Diplomat offers a close-up look at the anti-Muslim 969 movement on the rise in Myanmar today.

Myanmar is home to a growing wave of anti-Muslim sentiment, as seen in the troubling 969 movement. The numerical significance of the digits is rooted in Buddhism’s Three Jewels (Tiratana), which comprise 24 attributes: nine special attributes of Lord Buddha, six core Buddhist teachings, and nine attributes of monkhood. 

Coopted by members of Myanmar’s nationalistic Buddhist majority, the number has become a symbol of religious division that has led to both discrimination and violence. Even the government, under President Thein Sein, has taken controversial actions that seem to align with its anti-Muslim stance, from its ongoing purge of the nation's Muslim minority Rohingyas to its highly contentious two-child policy, applied solely to the same group.

While the movement has infiltrated the country’s mainstream over a long period of time, a prominent Buddhist monk, Ashin Wirathu, has recently become its unofficial leader. A photograph of Wirathu in crimson robes, with the words “The Face of Buddhist Terror”, made the cover of the July issue of TIME Magazine, causing a furor in Myanmar and drawing international attention to the country's heated religious tensions.

In this photo essay, The Diplomat gives an exclusive look at the 969 movement from the inside, including up-close images of the monk who has made international headlines.

In the first image (above) Wirathu is welcomed by supporters at his monastery in Mandalay. Since publicly promoting the 969 movement on social networks, he is often referred to as the “Burmese Bin Laden”. The number “969”, are seen everywhere in the nation's streets: on motor taxis, shop windows, betel nut carts. In a country keen on numerology, 969 officially presents itself as a return to Buddhist roots and the teachings of the faith's founder. However, it is widely accused of being a vehicle of religious hatred and extremist brainwashing.

“If Myanmar wants to live in peace, Buddhists and Muslims have to live separately”, Wirathu told The Diplomat.

We met Wirathu, the saffron robed monk, while he was supervising an exam where he teaches at Masoeyein Monastery in the nation's ancient capital of Mandalay. 

The walls of his office are plastered with giant portraits of himself. Outside, plastic banners display the charred bodies of Buddhist casualties in southern Thailand (a region struggling with an Islamist insurgency) and in Myanmar's western Rakhine state (where the Muslim Rohingya minority is enduring a de facto ethnic cleansing). 

The infamous monk looks much younger than his 46 years. In his soft and calm voice, he said: “Muslims are fundamentally bad. Mohammed allows them to kill any creature. Islam is a religion of thieves, they do not want peace.” 

His racist rants are widely spread on YouTube and social media websites where they are watched by thousands. In 2003, Wirathu was sentenced to 25 years in jail for inciting anti‐Muslim hatred. He was released in 2010 following a general amnesty of political prisoners. With the landmark political reforms implemented by the semi-civilian government that has been in power since March 2011, he is now free to move, speak, and even hold rallies.

Young students in a Madrasa, near Joon Mosque in central Mandalay.

Officially, Islam accounts for 4 percent of Myanmar’s population of 55 million – a figure many 969 followers say is underestimated, claiming the percentage is closer to 24 percent. Members of the movement are convinced that Myanmar is falling prey to an international Islamist conspiracy. In their view, the Muslim minority triggers sectarian riots as a ploy to receive sympathy funding from countries like Saudi Arabia.

“What you see is just the tip of the iceberg," said Wimalar Biwuntha, a prominent member of the 969 movement. "The Muslims here are backed from the outside, by more than 58 Arab countries. More and more countries are giving them money."

According to Myo Win, spokesman for the Myanmar Muslim Network, Muslim organizations estimate that between 8 and 10 percent of Myanmar's total population are Muslims.

Mr Tin Maung Myin is seen here cleaning what remains of his demolished home in Meiktila (200km south of Mandalay).

This was the first time he was allowed to return to his house three months after the clashes that claimed at least 44 lives (mostly Muslims). During the violence, entire quarters of Meiktila were wiped off the map, leaving behind fields of blackened ruins.

In three days, more than 820 buildings were destroyed, according to Human Rights Watch. Where houses once stood, burned trees now tower over a sea of bricks and metal. The mosques have not reopened since. Some 12,000 refugees remain dispersed between five refugee camps under tight police protection. At the end of May, seven Muslims were sentenced to heavy jail terms for their responsibility in the events. No Buddhists were convicted.

A woman, who returned to her destroyed home in Meiktila, recovers pieces of a burnt book in Urdu explaining the teachings of Islam.

That day, the Muslim community started a seven-day clean up program escorted by armed police. The families from the area were allowed to return to their plots for the first time to clear the rubble and recover anything that was not destroyed in the riots.

Wirathu (center) and Wimalar (left) stand among more than 200 Buddhist monks who gathered to discuss how to resolve the growing conflict between Buddhists and Muslims. The conference, held in a monastery on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, was viewed by local and international media less as an effort to promote conflict resolution than an opportunity to discuss an interfaith marriage law that the 969 movement hopes to present to the government in the coming weeks.

The law, inspired by similar legislation in Singapore, hopes to limit the number of Buddhist women who marry Muslim men. The drafted law stipulates that Muslims would have to seek permission from local authorities in their regions to validate such unions.

“Muslim men try to win the love of poor Buddhist women for their reproductive tactics. They produce a lot of children, they are snowballing. We have a duty to defend ourselves if we don’t want to be overwhelmed,” said Wimalar, 41, who helped draft the proposed law.

Wirathu and his entourage leave after a sermon attended by hundreds in Mandalay.

Wirathu's followers gathered in a lavish setting strewn with lights and decorations to listen to his speech, which was streamed live on a screen. He preached for nearly two hours on the Buddhist teachings and shared his take on Muslims and the recent conflicts that have arisen in the country. A local attendee told The Diplomat that around 70 percent of his speech was anti-Muslim.

While Wirathu delivered his sermon, just blocks away in the Dhamma Tharlar Hall, several local organizations and civil society activists organized a peace event. Around 2,000 people of different faiths gathered to listen to a peaceful sermon meant to promote peaceful interfaith exchange.

The initiative, spearheaded by the Committee for the Prevention of the Creation of Riots, came about after worried parents pulled their children from schools amid rumors of religious violence a few weeks earlier.

AFP

July 8, 2013

YANGON: Myanmar has sentenced two Buddhist men to seven years in prison for murders during religious violence in March that left dozens of people dead, a local official said on Monday.

The defendants were convicted after separate trials at the district court in Meiktila for their part in deadly rioting in the town, which mainly targetedMuslims and sparked waves of religious unrest across the country.

Meiktila district chairman of Tin Maung Soe said one man, aged 24, was sentenced on June 28, becoming the first Buddhist known to be sentenced for a serious offence over the rioting, which left at least 44 people dead.

"He was found at the scene where some people were killed during the unrest in Meiktila. That is why he was charged with murder," he said.

He said the second suspect, aged 21, was handed sentences of seven years and one year with hard labour — to be served concurrently — on Friday for his part in the killings.

Thousands of local Muslims were driven from their homes during the violence, as Buddhist mobs torched whole neighbourhoods, destroyed shops and damaged mosques.

Human rights groups have accused the police of being slow to stop the killings, while activists have called on authorities to fully investigate and prosecute those responsible.

At least 10 Muslims have so far been handed jail terms for serious offences during the rioting.

In May seven Muslims were sentenced to between two and 28 years for their parts in the murder of a Buddhist monk in Meiktila during the unrest.

The violence was apparently initially triggered by a quarrel in a gold shop and three Muslims, including the business owner, were jailed for 14 years in April for assaulting a Buddhist customer.

State media recently said 49 people were on trial for murder, with scores more facing court for their roles in the unrest.

"The other cases are still ongoing and still under investigation," Tin Maung Soe said.

Nadim Al-Hamid

Arab News

July 7, 2013

Under the direction of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia is making all-out political and diplomatic efforts to support the cause of Rohingyas on the international level.

“The Kingdom is exerting pressure on the world community,” said Abdullah Maaroof, president of the International Rohingya Center and leader of the Burmese community in the Kingdom.

Speaking at the Arakan Rohingya Union Conference, which opened at the headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) yesterday, he said: “We will soon see the positive the results of these efforts.”

He described the efforts as strong and effective because of the Kingdom’s political and Islamic leverage on the international level. He said Saudi Arabia will work on many fronts to exert pressure on international organizations that have strong ties with Myanmar to put an end to the ongoing injustice and violence against Muslims. He said he was hopeful these efforts will contribute to easing the suffering of the Muslims in Myanmar.

“Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that has supported the Rohingya cause, and this conference is a clear proof of this,” said Maaroof. “There are more than a quarter million Burmese citizens in Saudi Arabia. The latest support is represented in correcting their status by giving them iqamas for four years, and facilities and services they have never dreamed of.”

OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said the government of Myanmar should be held accountable for all forms of discrimination against Muslims, and Buddhist extremists should not be allowed to incite one group against another.

His address, which was read out by the director of minorities at the organization, stated that violent acts targeting Muslims led to the murder of people and destruction of property of thousands of people. These acts should not be allowed to continue, and it is the responsibility of the authorities to root out the problem and safeguard lives and property in Myanmar.

Ihsanoglu said the organization will continue to support all efforts and national and international initiatives that aim to find permanent and peaceful solutions to problems in Myanmar. It calls for the return of refugees and the reinstatement of their rights.

He said that yesterday’s meeting was the second conference of the union since its establishment on May 30, 2011. The union was founded with a view to achieving peaceful cohabitation, democracy and human rights. Member countries of the OIC have supported the union.

He said that despite challenges such as lack of resources, the union has achieved progress and urged it to play its role as a legitimate representative of the Rohingyas throughout the world, defend their cause and improve their conditions in Myanmar and the rest of the world, in addition to helping find a solution to their problems.

Andrea Vance

Fairfax NZ News
July 7, 2013

Tehran Times

July 7, 2013

TEHRAN – Myanmar has welcomed Iran’s proposal to hold a dialogue between Muslim and Buddhist religious scholars in order to help ease sectarian strife in the south Asian country. 

Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi put forth the proposal during a meeting with Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin on Friday. 

Araqchi expressed grave concern over the ongoing clashes between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims and the appalling situation of displaced Muslims, urging Myanmar’s officials to take effective measure to help resolve the conflicts. 

The senior Iranian diplomat also said that Tehran was ready to help Myanmar’s government settle the crisis and send humanitarian aid to the affected people. 

Sectarian clashes between Buddhists and Muslims have erupted on several occasions. 

Muslims make up about 5 percent of the nation’s roughly 60 million people and are denied citizenship by Myanmar government. 

The violence first flared in western Rakhine state last year, when hundreds of people died in clashes between Buddhists and Muslims that drove about 140,000 others, mostly Muslims, from their homes. Most are still living in refugee camps, according to AP.

In a recent violence which occurred in May, a Buddhist mob set fire to a Muslim school and orphanage, which was so badly charred that only two walls remained. Police and other witnesses confirmed the school burning.

The most serious attacks took place in Rakhine state in the west in June and October last year, when Buddhists fought against Rohingya Muslims, who are denied citizenship by Myanmar and seen by many in the country as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. At least 192 people were killed.

RB News

July 06, 2013

Maung Daw, Arakan- On 2nd July 2013, about 2:30 pm, SB-2 (Special Branch 2) arbitrarily arrested an under-aged Rohingya in the village of Haisshu Rata (Alay-Than-Kyaw), Southern Maung Daw.

“At 2:30PM on 2nd July 2013, Hafiz Sana Ullah S/o Zafar Alam, a 15-year-old minor, was arrested on his way to the market of Alay-Than-Kyaw with the false accusation of involving in the last-year-violence. He was very badly beaten in the lock-up. Eventually, he was found not guilty.

Yet, SB2 extorted Kyat 25000 from the parents of the victim. So, his parents got him released from the hands of cruel and inhumane authority. Many Rohingyas, today, are facing similar atrocities” reported Ya Tin, a Rohingya youth in Maung Daw.

Luke Hunt

As Myanmar continues its reform process, the politics is throwing-up a bevy of contrasts – some welcomed and others not. One tour company is offering free beer while the government has banned the recent issue of TIME Magazine, featuring a cover of a Buddhist monk blamed for the recent carnage against Muslims in the country’s north.

The July 1 edition of Time carried the cover photo of Burmese monk Ashin Wirathu, a known fundamentalist and head of the 969 group, which has deployed the age-old technique of mixing rabid nationalistic and religious sentiment to stir up hatred against minorities.

He would like to see a ban on the marriage of people from different faiths and remains unapologetic for the waves of anti-Muslim violence that has to date claimed more than 200 lives in the country and forced another 150,000 people from their homes.

In a recent interview with the Global Post he even added: “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 … because the Burmese people and the Buddhists are devoured every day, the national religion needs to be protected.”

Burmese President Thein Sein seemed sympathetic and is on the record as saying Wirathu is “a son of Lord Buddha” and his 969 movement is “just a symbol of peace”.

“The cover story of the magazine, depicting a few individuals who are acting contrary to most of Myanmar, is creating misconceptions about Buddhism, a religion practiced by the majority of Myanmar’s population,” the President’s office said in a statement.

This comes after proposals to impose a breeding limit on Muslims with a two-child policy.

Oddly, it was among those temples which Wirathu insists are in need of his protection from non-Buddhist influences that one tour company is offering free beer if it rains for more than 10 minutes. The gimmick is for Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake only and is part of a broader strategy to convince tourists to visit during the rainy season. Soft drinks are also available.

Edwin Briels, General Manager of Khiri Myanmar, the company behind the free beer offer, added: "Hotel prices are favorable, the scenery is green, the sightseeing, culture and markets are all vibrant during the summer … it's a great time to come."

Reconciling the great divides within Burmese society – whether it’s the Buddhists and Muslims or warring minorities like the Kachin or Shan – could take some time yet. But helping business to deal with these stark realities could take a bit longer.

Luke Hunt can be followed on Twitter at @lukeanthonyhunt.