By Jonah Fisher

BBC News

August 29, 2013

This week, religious violence has once again flared in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Hundreds of Muslim homes have been burnt to the ground in Sagaing region after being attacked by Buddhist mobs.

In just over a year more than 200 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed and many more displaced as unrest has spread from Rakhine state in the west to towns across the country. 

Many are blaming a controversial monk and the nationalist organisation he helps lead for the rising tensions. 

In a classroom at one of Mandalay's most famous monasteries, a teacher is at work. Shin Wirathu is taking a class of young monks at Masoeyin through the five precepts or pillars of the Buddhist faith. 

This morning, he is lecturing on the importance of avoiding sexual misconduct. 

"Yes venerable monk," the young men chant in unison, as Wirathu softly delivers his advice on the need to avoid temptation.

When the class is over, he shows me outside. On the wall of the monastery courtyard are graphic posters of the Buddhist victims of recent religious and ethnic violence in Rakhine state in western Myanmar.

They are unpleasant viewing. The pictures from October last year show dead children with their heads cut open and the bodies of women with their internal organs spilling out of their torsos.

Wirathu said he put them up as a reminder to Buddhists that the country is under attack from Muslim "invaders".

"Muslims are only well behaved when they are weak, " he said. "When they become strong, they are like a wolf or a jackal, in large packs they hunt down other animals."

Wirathu believes there is a Muslim "master plan" underway to turn Myanmar into an Islamic state.

If he is right, it is a long-term project. Latest estimates suggest that of Myanmar's 60 million people, 90% are Buddhist and about 5% Muslim. 

"Over the past 50 years, we have shopped at Muslim shops and then they became richer and wealthier than us and can buy and marry our girls," Wirathu said. "In this way, they have destroyed and penetrated not only our nation but also our religion." 'Master plan' 

Wirathu's solution lies in a controversial nationalist organisation called 969. It calls on Buddhists to shop, sell property and marry within their own religion. 

Small, brightly-coloured stickers have been distributed to clearly brand businesses as Buddhist-owned. 

Supporters of 969 argue it is a purely defensive organisation, created to protect Buddhist culture and identity. Listening to the rhetoric of Wirathu and 969's leaders, there is no doubt it is squarely aimed at Muslims. 

"In the past, there was no discrimination based on religion and race. We all stayed together in a brotherly way," Wirathu said. "But when their [Muslim] master plan has been revealed we can no longer stay quiet." 

From Rakhine state in the west, to more central towns like Meiktila and Okkan, the link is being made between heightened religious tensions and the preaching and activities of monks and 969. 

The outbreaks of violence usually have a depressing symmetry.

A small flashpoint, often a crime or perceived insult perpetrated by a Muslim against a Buddhist, triggers a disproportionate wave of reprisals against the entire Muslim community. 

Ten years ago, under the military junta, Wirathu was jailed for his anti-Muslim views. Now in these times of change, his message is widely disseminated through social media and DVDs. Far from being condemned, Wirathu now has backing from the very top. 

In June, as his infamy reached its peak, Wirathu appeared on the front cover of Time magazine labelled "The face of Buddhist terror". Burmese monks were outraged and Myanmar's President Thein Sein quickly leapt to Wirathu's defence. 

The Time issue was banned and a statement released with the president lauding Wirathu as a "son of Lord Buddha". 'Obstacle to reform' 

There is no shortage of theories inside Myanmar as to why Wirathu is now flavour of the month. 

One theory is that continuing ethnic and religious violence could be used by the military as a pretext for maintaining a dominant role in Burmese politics. It is certainly an argument Myanmar's generals have made before. 

"We are also wondering about this," Kaylar Sa, a monk jailed for his part in the Saffron revolution of 2007, told me as he chain-smoked his way through a pack of Red Ruby cigarettes. 

He pointed out that the government has acted decisively and violently to end monk-led demonstrations against an army-backed copper mine last year, and yet now was unwilling to tackle them over hate speech. 

"At the moment, we firmly believe that the 969 movement is unnecessary," he said. "If this movement continues to be taken seriously, it could become an obstacle to democratic reform." 

A short drive from Wirathu's monastery, Muslim volunteers guard Joon Mosque, the biggest in Mandalay, each night. The men told me that in the event of a Buddhist attack, they expect no protection from the (Buddhist-dominated) police or the army. 

Smar Nyi Nyi, a veteran of the 1988 student uprising and one of the elders at the mosque, took me to one side. He expressed views that many Burmese share, that shadowy elements within the establishment are stoking the unrest.

"Everybody is talking about the violence between Buddhists and Muslims," he said. "Nobody is interested in the dam on the Irrawaddy River. No one is interested in the gas pipeline. If somebody is controlling things, he is a smart man!" 

Some Muslims cling to the hope that there exists a silent majority of moderate Buddhists appalled by recent events, secretly rooting for them. 

"Most of the Buddhists, they are just onlookers " a retired Muslim doctor tells me with a shrug. "A few might pass a heartfelt regard and say they're sorry, but that doesn't come above the surface." 

For Wirathu, each fresh outbreak of religious conflict reinforces his view that Myanmar is part of a global war on militant Islam and that he is being badly misunderstood. 

"We don't use drones - we haven't killed [Osama] Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein or the Taliban," he told me. 

"We are just preaching and posting on the internet and Facebook for the safety and security of our nation. If we are all protecting our own nation who's the bad guy - Wirathu or Barack Obama?"

By Mizan Rahman (Dhaka)

Gulf Times

August 28, 2013

Huffington Post

August 28, 2013

By Hanna Hindstrom

Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB)

August 28, 2013 

Two US-based journalists have been blacklisted by the Burmese government after they visited conflict-struck western Arakan state to cover the ongoing persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority, DVB has learned.

The reporters, who work for an independent photography agency, say they were verbally told by officials at the Burmese embassy in Washington DC earlier this month that they were banned from returning to Burma.

Officials reportedly told Matt Rains and Alia Mehboob from Lux Capio Photography Agency that they could not be issued visas because they had entered “restricted” Muslim areas on a previous visit to Arakan state and should “try again in a year”.

In April, on their most recent trip to the restive state, the reporters were besieged by a Buddhist mob while visiting a mosque on the outskirts of Sittwe’s Muslim quarter, Aung Mingalar, before being detained by immigration authorities and sent back to Rangoon where they say they were followed by military intelligence.

The pair, who held tourist visas, said they had received formal permission from the Ministry of Tourism in Rangoon to visit any area in the Arakan capital, but were refused entry by police guarding Aung Mingalar. They subsequently visited a nearby mosque that seemed to have been taken over by local Buddhists, when a mob approached them.

“People started coming in from all over. One guy flashed his [penis] at Alia; they were trying to take potshots at us from behind. They tried to grab my camera equipment,” explained Rains.

In video footage taken by the reporters, police can be seen brandishing rifles at the pair, while locals attempt to grab their cameras. A man in civilian clothing, claiming to be “the chairman”, bursts into the mosque, shouts at them to “get out” and demands that they hand over their passports.

The pair immediately offered to go to the police station, where their passports were confiscated for several hours and the authorities booked them on the first flight back to Rangoon. After repeated requests for an explanation as to why they were being deported, the police said they had entered a “restricted” zone.

“We were let go in Rangoon, but we had four to six men following us wherever we went, two cars that would just park outside Trader’s Hotel and they would just sit in the lobby waiting for us,” said Rains. “It got to the point where it was too dangerous for anyone to meet with us, so we just booked flights out.”

A spokesperson for the Arakan state government told DVB that although he was unfamiliar with the case, journalists are obligated to travel on media visas and obtain permits before entering some areas that were ravaged by Muslim-Buddhist clashes last year. The President’s Office was not available for comment.

Aung Win, a local Rohingya media fixer, confirmed that the authorities have clamped down on journalists who want to visit Aung Mingalar, where thousands of Muslims are trapped without access to international aid or livelihoods.

“You must get a permit from the Rakhine [Arakan] state government,” said Aung Win. “I can take [journalists] around to IDP camps, but they are not allowed to visit Aung Mingalar.” He added that more recently journalists have also been able to obtain the necessary permits.

But critics say this is an attempt by the former military regime, which has been implicated in mass atrocities against the stateless Rohingya community, to monitor journalists reporting on their persecution. It follows two bouts of deadly ethno-religious clashes in western Burma, which uprooted over 140,000 people, mostly Muslims.

Rains and Mehboob say it is not the first time they have faced harassment attempting to document abuses against the Rohingya, who are considered illegal Bengali immigrants and denied basic rights by the Burmese government. In August 2012, the journalists were repeatedly “locked and loaded” by Arakan police, while locals threatened to “burn” Alia, who is Muslim and a Pakistani national.

US national Rains recalls another incident in Mrauk-U, northeast of Sittwe, which he described as “straight-up Third Reich text book”. The pair had sat in a local movie theatre to watch a film, when an “old-school patriotic national anthem” began playing and Arakanese words started flashing on the screen.

When they asked a man sitting next to them what it was saying, he replied: “’It’s talking about how the Rohingya are burning houses and murdering and killing people’,” said Rains. The moment Rains took out his camera, the screen switched to a “cheesy 80s soap opera show” and the manager asked them to leave. “It’s propaganda at its best and worst at the same time,” he added.

The Burmese government has received international praise for introducing a series of democratic reforms, including easing media restrictions and stripping names from the notorious junta-era blacklist, which barred many western journalists from entering the country. But analysts say that as many as 4,000 names could still be on the list, while military intelligence continues to monitor reporters covering a recent tide of anti-Muslim violence.

An Ex Rohingya MP U Noor Ahmed Passed Away

RB News

August 28, 2013

U Noor Ahmed (a.k.a) U Tin Maung, an ex Rohingya MP and retired head of Buthidaung Township health department passed away at his residence in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State at 12:20 am (Myanmar local time) today. The funeral prayer and burial performed at 2:00 pm (local time).

His son, Sazaat Ahmed lives in the Netherlands said “according to my brother, my father’s face is shining after his breath stopped. He died of natural causes and didn’t suffer pain before his death.”

U Noor Ahmed, age 87, a native of Buthidaung Towship served for the Rohingya people as physician and was head of the Buthidaung Township health department. He was one of four Rohingya members of parliament (MPs) elected in the general election in 1990. He represented for the National Democratic Party for Human Rights (NDPH) in 1990 election and was elected from Buthidaung constituency No. (2). 

We, RB Team pray Almighty to bestow peace to the departed Soul and strength to the family members to bear the irreparable loss.

By Dom Hammond 

Policymic 

August 27, 2013

Over the last two years, the positive news of a Myanmar embracing democracy and engaging with the developed world has been consistently offset by reports of sectarian violence between Buddhists and the minority Rohingya Muslim population. Estimates suggest that 300 Muslims have been killed and up to 300,000 displaced as refugees since the military junta nominally ceded power in 2011. No longer is this violence restricted to the state of Rakhine where the majority of Burmese Muslims live. Major incidents are reported in states as far south as Thaketa, just a few miles from Yangon, the cultural, historic and business capitol of the country which is now awash with western businessmen drinking expensive cocktails in expensive hotels. This worrying trend of more frequent and more widely spread violence threatens to derail the country’s turnaround.

As violence in Myanmar creeps closer to the capitol, shown below, the genocide taboo creeps closer to the consciousness of the west.

The violence we are forced to consider here is of the most disturbing kind — indiscriminate, brutal, and deadly. A further disturbing element is the widespread belief that government forces are supporting the violence by turning a blind eye. There are many reports of government forces standing by and, if not actively encouraging, being less than heavy-handed with Buddhist perpetrators. There is some convincing video evidence of this around the news sites and on YouTube. Convictions relating to sectarian violence have been proportionately more prevalent for Muslims who have also seen harsher sentences handed down. Despite political reforms, power is still in the hands of the military, and currently concentrated in the hands of exclusively ethnic Burmese Buddhists.

For those who believe that "genocide" is too shocking a term to use here, I would respond: The Rakhine Buddhists refer to the Rohingya as Bengali rather than Burmese and believe they are illegal immigrants despite their having settling in the Rakhine region centuries ago. By denying their history and denying the Rohingya’s right to call Myanmar home, I believe the term "genocide" can be used without hyperbole to describe this systematic approach to removing an ethnic minority. Human Rights Watch (HRW) agrees.

This makes my recent Sunday morning browse of the papers all the more extraordinary:

1. The Travel section of the Sunday Telegraph ran a feature on why you should consider a river cruise as the most relaxing way to take in the sites of Burma.

2. A McKinsey Global Institute’s report reminded me why global corporates are desperate to deploy capital in the region (in short: natural resources, geographic position and large, young workforce that can become more productive).

3. My Twitter feed reminded me that Hugo Swire, the UK’s FCO minister, is working hard to interact with Thein Sein’s government.

HRW has compared the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya to that of the Tutsis in Rwanda. I did not spend my Sunday mornings reading the paper in 1994, but the idea that travellers would be vacationing in Kigali, investors throwing money at coffee plantations, and President Clinton welcoming Juvenile Habyarimana to the White House seems far-fetched.

It is wholly incumbent on the government of Myanmar, its law enforcers, and the robustness of its judiciary to stamp out this violence. For Muslims in Myanmar, it increasingly obvious that their lives are at stake, but wherever the government sits on the scale of indifference too complicity, they must know the future prosperity of the country is at stake too, for the following reasons:

1. The flourishing tourist industry is likely to stall if the violence continues to encroach on the most popular visitor sites. While attacks remained in Rakhine state it could be dismissed by tourists as “a skirmish among locals, hundreds of miles from our hotel”. But if the stunning, temple-laden plains of Bagan and the banks of the Irrawaddy play host to burning schools and mobs with machetes, the Ray-banned, camera-toting tourists will direct their wanderlust back to Thailand.

2. Global corporates who are serious about putting down roots in Myanmar to profit from the massive economic potential of this genuine frontier market will have to consider their responsible investment obligations far more carefully. Doing business in Myanmar will, for many years to come, rely on opaque local connections and relationships with government. The legal and reputational risk of being seen to be in cahoots with factions remotely connected to the notion of genocide would be disastrous.

3. Efforts of Western nations and ASEAN to engage with Thein Sein and his government, laudable as they are, must go hand-in-hand with pressure to react to the ethnic cleansing of its people in the manner expected of a democratic government being offered a seat at the table of global trade and diplomacy.

Just two days after my rose-tinted reading, I woke up to reports on Tuesday that a 1,000 strong Buddhist mob had torched Muslim homes and shops in Sagaing. To avoid points 1, 2 and 3 above, the Myanmar government should issue a statement condemning the attacks, confirming the legitimacy of the Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic group, and committing to investigating and enforcing the full extent of the law in convicting any offenders. 

Hope springs eternal.

By Ibrahim Shah 

RB Article 

August 27, 2013

Since 2012, authorities in Western Burma have been putting out magazines of religious hatred titled “Protection of Buddhist Nationalism”. Amongst the publications, The Passima Yet Hwong (the western region) magazine was the most notorious and smartly sketched to stimulate Buddhists as strong as Hurricane winds to insult other faiths. It was authorized by authorities of all kinds of state departments. 

When westerners, European countries, ASEAN and the rest international independent institutions spoke out against the long oppression of Burmese Buddhist majority regime against ethnic minorities. The mastermind of these continual collisions is the so called "reformist" or "pseudo democratic" president Thein Sein. The former high rank military officer, triggered unexpected and/or unwanted crisis— National protection for Buddhist Nationalism. 

President Thein Sein conspired with some migrant Buddhist people racially western Rakhines (Anot-thar Mogh), who migrated from Bangladesh to western Burma for economic crisis. Then, he internally designated his adopted-fiddles immoral militaristic officers in Rakhine state government. This, to trigger riots in order for the democracy transition from military transition could be back stepped rather than going ahead. 

A histrionic rape issue— a Rakhine Buddhist girl was raped and murdered and three Rohingya adults were alleged forcibly — was created by some members of Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) and authorities detained them without any further inquiry and on the double, they were sentenced to death. 

That murder provoked an attack on a bus passing in the Taungup area of Rakhine state by a mob of 300 people killed the ten Muslim pilgrims on the spot on June 3, 2012. The government run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported. "Here a censorious point that how the government could reveal the exact number of gangsters." 

Since June 2012, on the double, the deliberate, unprecedented violence erupted from Taungup to most parts of the Rakhine, central Burma and almost every Muslim quarter throughout the country. 

Amid the Burmese state-sponsored religious collision (in reality the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya and eradication of other Muslims), the security forces, Buddhist terrorists, monks, police, riot police and border security forces perpetrated such terrible crimes more repressively than ever. Gangbangs to mostly immature girls and slaughter, vandalization of tens of thousands of homes and religious buildings. Lively killings of innocent persons and arbitrary arrests, displaced hundreds of thousands of well settled people. Extortion of money and torturing until death in detained centres. Threats to flee into uncertain destinations leaving own properties, dragging women as sex slaves to army camps, forced labor, confiscation lands, confinements and so on. 

It is cruel and miserable that the government has been changing the demographics of western Burma. Resettling western Rakhines from Bangladesh in Rohingya quarters. 

A few months later, the president made a state-sponsored terrorist group 969 campaign, or 969 anti-Muslim movement led by a monk Wirathu. This man was sentenced in 2003 for inspiring Islamophobia. The main motive of the 969 campaign was only to simultaneously attack Muslims and to trigger more riots. To postpone access of international delegations including diplomats and journalists. Ultimately to avoid verdict of all real miscreants. 

Moreover, other double standard rulings of the so called Neo-Nazi democratic government of Burma, many Rohingya and other Muslim elites, politicians, religious experienced mentors and intellectuals are arrested as miscreants on suspicion. They have been quickly imprisoned with false verdicts. 

Whenever the Hitlerite officials of Burma give visitations to Western countries or Europe, they assured and pledged deceptively that there would be no more collisions. They would tackle the further unrest in Rakhine and will probe the unrest. 

They implemented all commitments negatively. President Thein Sein vowed he will open schools for Rohingya children in August 2012. Later, all of the religious schools of Rohingya children were locked up. University students harassed. In lieu of erecting homes to internally displaced people (IDP), they are kept in concentration camps. This is neat and clean though, in contrast of Rakhine IDPs who are enlisted as displaced ones unwillingly by Rakhine state authorities. 

Then, Burma’s Ministry of Border Affairs and a delegation led by OIC Ambassador Ufuk Gokcen, signed a MoU on Sept. 9 to postpone opening OIC offices In Burma. The regime made countrywide demonstrations by monks and finally the deceptive Hitlerite genocidal President Thein Sein announced that he will not allow OIC to open office, for it was against the people’s desire in 15 October 2012. 

Due to international reiterative condemnations, the government disbanded the most notorious and the ever most successive and destructive and discriminatory department "Nasaka." who oppressed repressively the Rohingya. They remained in historical records as unprecedented persecution against ethnic Rohingya on this earth surface; alternatively, the para-military discriminate and incriminate ever so than former ones. i.e. Extortion of unaffordable money from the most impoverished Rohingya to whom the regime impoverished tactfully and politically since 1962. 

Where the Human rights are for Rohingya despite the fact that they are human beings? 

When can the Rohingya deserve to be valued as equals as the Rakhines do? 

How can the ruthless para-military, Hlun Htine police could shoot direct-targeting to Rohingya at Ohn Daw Gyi and Bawdupha refugee camps in August 9, 2013? 

Similarly, the world wildest and ruthless genocidal Burmese regime led by president Thein Sein plays militaristic roles with international bodies, allowed the UN special envoy for human Rights in Burma Mr. Quintana to investigate the human rights in Burma. Alternatively, the regime paved thorny red-carpets in some areas for Quinta to encounter public unwelcome and violence depreciatively by state-sponsored terrorists. How the most impoverished Rakhines who are incapable even to have food with the cheapest and disgusted Burmese favorite food time Ngha Peeh (fish paste) were dare to protest holding decrial portraits of the dignified UN Envoy Quintana, if the authorities didn't sponsor it ? 

It is a good time for UN, EU, OIC, ASEAN, and NATO, USA to corporately denounce the confidential tactic policies of Burmese Hilterite regime led by President Thein Sein, who prefers for inconsistency of his reiterative words about assurances in his international historic tours. 

As well, the regime’s ever talented and successful policies to consolidate the democracy rules if the regime refrains from such discriminatory policies and diplomatic deceptions. 

When will the regime postpone officially harassment and arbitrarily arrest to every innocent Rohingya, or whoever speaks out against the persecution? It is deplorable that a prominent Rohingya human Rights Activist Kyaw Hla Aung and a Rohingya Facebooker Than Shwe, were detained recently. While the ongoing reform procedures, bell ringing ceaselessly throughout the country Burma.

By Radio Free Asia

August 27, 2013

Residents and legislators in central Myanmar’s Sagaing region expressed anger on Monday over a lack of action by authorities in containing Buddhist mobs who went on a rampage burning Muslim shops and houses at the weekend leaving hundreds homeless.

Hundreds of rioters armed with swords and sticks torched dozens of shops and houses in Htan Gone village in Sagaing's Kanbalu township beginning Saturday in the first of spreading anti-Muslim violence to hit the region.

Nearly 50 houses were burned down and 318 people were left homeless—many of them staying with friends and relatives or at a Muslim Arabic school in the areas after the two-day violence triggered by reports that a Buddhist woman was sexually assaulted by a Muslim man.

Several people who moved to contain the violence were injured after being hit by slingshots and police had to fire several rounds of warning shots to keep the mobs at bay, eventually detaining about a dozen suspected arsonists.

Htet Aung, a Buddhist resident of Htan Gone, told RFA’s Myanmar Service that the violence spiraled out of control because authorities had reacted too slowly to contain them.

“This became bigger because of a slow reaction [by authorities],” he said, adding that it may be the first violence in the village since it was established. 

“The police had at least two hours to [bring in reinforcements] but they didn’t come in on time. They only came into the village after houses were already set on fire,” he said. 

Htet Aung said policemen who were there “were just standing around before that.”

Myint Naing, a member of parliament for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in Kanbalu, and his colleague Win Htein, an NLD lawmaker in Rakhine state’s Meikhtila—the site of a deadly Buddhist-Muslim clash earlier this year—both blamed police inaction for the scale of the Htan Gone violence.

There were indications as early as 5:00 p.m. on Saturday that riots would erupt, Myint Naing said, with mobs setting what was believed to be the first fire around three hours later.

By 10:00 p.m., he said, a number of houses had been torched and residents called on the police to intervene, but it was already too late.

“Several police came to the village, but it was not enough. The local people asked the police to bring in the military to stop the violence, but they didn’t do it,” he said.

“I can’t say why they didn’t ask for the military … I heard that the police thought they could control the violence by themselves, but that was a mistake.”

Meikhtila similarities

Win Htein said that the violence in Htan Gone was handled by authorities in much the same way as in his constituency Meikhtila, where a dispute between a Muslim goldsmith and his Buddhist customer led to a massive riot that left more than 40 dead and 12,000 displaced—most of them Muslims.

He said that several hours had passed between the dispute and the ensuing violence in Meikhtila—similar to in Htan Gone, where angry residents gathered outside of the local police station demanding authorities hand over a Muslim man suspected of sexually assaulting a Buddhist woman.

“The Meikhtila incident started at a goldsmith shop and the violence erupted two to three hours later. The incident in Kanbalu was the same as in Meikhtila. There were several silent hours between the start of the incident and the violence,” he said.

“When the violence began, police didn’t know what to do. The problem became bigger because the police had no experience [with communal riots] and didn’t decide on the correct way to control the violence.”

An official from the Organization to Protect Nationality and Religion named Tilawka called on the public to refrain from religious violence and for authorities to work more efficiently to prevent it.

“On behalf of our organization, I would like to say that nobody should employ violence,” he said, adding that people should be tolerant of one another’s religious beliefs.

“The relevant authorities need to collaborate with each other to prevent and control the violence.”

Action defended

Ye Htut, a spokesman for Myanmar’s reformist President Thein Sein, defended the police action Monday.

He said only a handful of officers were on duty when the violence erupted and would not have stood a chance against the hundreds of Buddhists who descended on the local police station demanding that the authorities hand over the Muslim man held on suspected sexual assault charges.

“Nine police from Kanbalu couldn’t stop the mob that came to attack the police station,” Ye Htut said.

“It was only because police from the village police station informed us that more police were deployed around 10:00 p.m. and again around 1:00 a.m., and only then could we control the mob,” he said, adding that authorities had a “faster response time” than in previous incidents around the country.

Ye Htut said that in a recent meeting with division and state level governments, Thein Sein had ordered local officials to take faster action against communal violence.

“That’s why you see more police were added and relevant authorities are able to get to affected areas faster than before,” he said.

But he added that a lack of equipment at the local level had hampered some efforts to improve police response time.

“Local police stations often lack enough vehicles to get to problem areas to take action,” he said.

“We need to improve these kinds of facilities. We have also planned to get more cars for police stations.”

The incident in Sagaing came after a spate of communal violence beginning with two deadly Buddhist-Muslim clashes in western Rakhine state last year, threatening the reform drive by the reformist Thein Sein.

The clashes in Rakhine in June and October left about 200 people dead and 140,000 displaced.

The violence then spread to central Myanmar's Meikhtila and Oakkan towns in March and April, respectively, and Lashio township in eastern Shan state in May.

Reported by Kyaw Thu and Sai Tun Aung Lwin for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Rohingya refugees suffer in Thailand

At least eight of the 37,000 who fled anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar have died while detained in Thailand.

An estimated 37,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since January because of the anti-Muslim violence there.

But according to reports, Thailand has also seriously mistreated the refugees.

Since January, eight Rohingya men have died in detention centres run by the Thai immigration department, the report said.

Al Jazeera's Veronica Pedrosa reports from southern Thailand.

RB News 

August 26, 2013 

Maungdaw, Arakan – Aung Kyaw Zin, a police of Special Branch (SB) based in Aley Than Kyaw in the Maungdaw Township of Arakan State have been arresting innocent Rohingya's. He is rottenly extorting money from them. Today, a Rohingya youth from U-Daung village was arrested by him. He is demanding 500,000 Kyat for the release of the Rohingya youth.

The Rohingya youth, 23 year old Narsu, son of Kala Miah, was coming back from Aley Than Kyaw bazaar and on his way back to home in U-Daung village. Narsu was arrested by SB police Aung Kyaw Zin on a false accusation that he was using a Bangladesh mobile phone.

Aung Kyaw Zin has been targeting Rohingyas who shop in Aley Than Kyaw bazaar for a long time. A local close to the family reported to RB News that the arrested Narsu was asked to pay 500,000 Kyat in extortion for his release. 

As many Rohingyas living around Aley Than Kyaw have been having trouble with Aung Kyaw Zin, they complained to higher authorities to take action against him. No action has been taken by the government. the villagers said that the government itself is enjoying the activities of that police officer. 

Aung Kyaw Zin is not only extorting money from the villagers but also has been reportedly engaging in human trafficking business.

RB News

August 26, 2013

Bangkok, Thailand – Thailand based Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT) held a press conference at Student Christian Centre in Bangkok on August 24, 2013.

At the press conference, BRAT’s president U Maung Kyaw Nu said that Rohingyas are not economic migrants but compelled by oppressive regime to flee their home and hearth for the fear of persecution which categorically considered under UN Convention of Refugee so that they should be dealt accordingly with humanity. Present treatment of Rohingya by Thailand is not a solution for now and then. It is clear violation of universal human rights while Rohingya are direly in need of protection and provision then a viable solution.

He stressed that Thai government to treat Rohingya as escapee from persecution in their homeland Arakan, Myanmar so that eligible to seek refugee status for protection and to let them access to UN/Regional/International agency timely manner so taken care of their basic needs and rights in line with international standards.

The speakers at the press conference endorsed that the Rohingya refugees in Thailand to get migrant worker status and to get the chance to reunite with their families.

Surapong Kongchantuk from Human Rights Committee of Lawyers Council of Thailand said “Thailand would no longer be accused of human rights violations if the Government treated them with more compassion.”

Khun Surapong said that Thai government is prepared to talk face-to-face with the Myanmar government about large economic projects but not to talk face-to-face about Myanmar resolving Rohingya issue.

And Human Rights Watch advisor Sunai Phasuk said it was shameful that Burma was about to assume the chair of ASEAN in 2014, yet ASEAN had done nothing to solve the Rohingya issue. 

Dr. Niran Pitakwatchara from National Human Rights Commissioner of Thailand said Rohingyas faced poor temporary shelter, exploitation by trafficking gangs, and extortion from smuggling gangs during their stay in Thailand. 

“Though Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, relevant ministries could actually expedite their authority in providing decent and appropriate shelters for these people, based on human rights principles in the Thai Constitution” Dr. Niran continued.

The press conference and round-table discussion on August 24th was organized and sponsored by Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand. The panel speakers are:

- Dr. Niran Pitakwatchara, National Human Right Commissioner of Thailand, 

- Mr. Surapong Kongchantuk, Human Rights Committee of Lawyers Council of Thailand,

- Mr. Sunai Phasuk, Advisor of Human Rights Watch (HRW)

- Ms. Saowanee Khomepatr, Director, Bureau of Anti-Trafficking in Woman and Children, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, 

- Mr. Sarawoot Sriwannayos, Former President of Young Thai Muslim Organization and 

- U Maung Kyaw Nu, President of Burmese Rohinya Association in Thailand.

The Moderator was Ms. Thananuch Sanguansak, Editor of Feature News, Nation Channel.

RB News 

August 26, 2013

Pantanaw, Ayeyarwady – A Muslim house in Pantanaw Township in Ayeyarwady Division was destroyed by 969 Buddhist group today. 

Although the Buddhist religion is not official religion of Myanmar, the majority in Myanmar's population are Buddhists. Most of the ultra-religionists are celebrating as 52nd State Religion Day. Today a 969 group in Pantanaw Township is celebrating it and opening 969 related songs with super-speakers. A Muslim said to himself that the celebration is too noisy. Apparently a Buddhist heard what the Muslim said. The tension arose immediately.

The Muslim man was forced to leave from the town straight away. The 969 group asked local Muslims to destroy the house. The Muslims didn’t agree. Finally the Buddhist mob destroyed the house with the help of carpenters. The local authorities arrived at the conflict area but they couldn't manage to control the mobs.The authorities permitted the mobs to destroy the house. 

The Muslim people in the region are worried for tonight, as further attacks could be performed by the mobs. 

Moreover, today there is big celebration of State Religion Day in Thandaw Township of Arakan State. More than 500 monks and many thousand locals gather to celebrate the big day. They are about 1500 people walking in the town from place to place. There have been several alerts and information leaked from secret meetings of monks and 969 group in Thandwe that today the Buddhist mobs will terrorize the Muslims in Thandwe. 

The Kaman Muslims in Thandwe are also worried that tonight they could be attacked by the 969 group.

BMA Press Release on Latest Anti-Muslim Violence in Burma

Date: August 26, 2013

President U Thein Sein promised on his recent visit to the UK and France that there would be no tolerance for religious extremism and sectarian violence in Burma. Unfortunately, a number of serious incidents have taken place in recent days which raise questions about the government’s ability to prevent and take action against sectarian violence. 

On 24th August 2013, a rumour was spread that a Buddhist woman was raped by the three Muslim men from Htan Kone village, Kantbalu Township, Sagaing Division. The village is located at 15 miles Northern Shwebo Township. 

Mobs gathered near the police station in the evening and were joined by people from nearby villages. The group then started to attack Muslims. 

46 Muslims houses, 12 shops and one rice mill were torched and destroyed. The security forces were reported to have stood by and watched when the mobs were targeting the Muslims properties. Instead of protecting Muslims properties and arresting the attackers, the security forces requested the mob to stop the attack on Muslims.

The Burmese Muslim Association (BMA) has documented the movements of the 969 Buddhist extremist group in Shwebo Township since May 2013. Members of 969 have been distributing anti-Muslims leaflets and CDs for many months but the authorities never took any action against them.

In Meikhtilar, some Muslims who were targeted, lost properties and lost love ones as a result of the brutal violence in March 2013 were sentenced 14 years jail while members of the Buddhist mob that committed mass murder and arson attacks on Muslims were sentenced only 2 years jail. 

On 19th August, when UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar Mr. Thomas Ojea Quintana visited Meikhtilar was met by an angry mob. Mr. Quintana’s experience with the mob clearly indicates the existing potential threat for the Muslims. The failure of the security forces to protect him clearly indicated the serious weakness of the state of the rule of law in Burma.

On 9th August a Muslim man was beaten by Buddhist monks from the Thayattaw Monastery in Pha’an city, Karen state. On 20th August, a Muslim man and a teenage boy were beaten by a monk from similar monastery. On 23rd August, three Muslim men were beaten by the monks from the same monastery. BMA has recorded many similar kinds of incidents in Karen state. 

In Arakan, Rakhine Buddhists have been campaigned around 26th August to commemorate 52 years of the declaration of Buddhism as the only State religion in Burma. Rakhine Buddhists in Arakan state plan to celebrate the anniversary in Thantwe city. In the meantime, we have documented that some Rakhine extremists are organising people to attack Muslims in Thantwe where majority Kaman peoples and Rohingyas are living. Ethnic Kamans are recognized as an ethnic minority of Burma. 

Buddhist extremist in Thantwe have ordered all Buddhists to put 969 logos on their doors. We have confirmed that 5 truckloads of Rakhine extremists from across the Arakan arrived Thantwe on 23rd August. Since then, Muslims in the city are in a state of panic. Muslims in Thantwe received information that Buddhist extremists are planning to attack them on 26th August.

Instigators of hate-speech and hate-acts such as U Wirathu continue to spread hatred against Muslims. This indicates that U Thein Sein government does not intend to address the root cause, or at least is so far ineffective at doing so. The riots have been taking place in different places every time. The consequences of not stopping these hate-crimes are very serious and could lead to further mass killings and even popular genocide campaigns. 

We, the Burmese Muslim Association urge the international community to put pressure on Burmese government to protect minorities in Burma from any massacre. Burmese government should protect its citizens equally, and also guarantee protection and security for those whose right to citizenship is contested, such as the stateless Rohingya. The rule of law should be same for everyone residing in Burma. All the displaced persons should be allowed to return to their former places without any restriction. All the religious premises should rebuilt and repair at similar places. All perpetrators of violence should be brought to justice without bias. 

On the eve of Burma's assumption of the ASEAN chair, the government must demonstrate its commitment to protecting peace and security for it citizens and for the entire region.

Burmese Muslim Association 

Media Contact:

Kyaw Win +44-740-345-2378(UK) kyawwin78@gmail.com; 

Ms. Yasmin +1 408 250 6227(USA) yasnohana@sbcglobal.net; 

Kyaw Swa +44 782 842 6801(UK) kyawzwa@b-m-a.org; 

Ms. Molly +1 416 516 7383 (Canada) law4women@gmail.com;

RB News 

August 25, 2013

Sittwe, Arakan – The Rohingya IDPs in Aung Mingalar quarter, Sittwe Township in Arakan State have been moving to designated camps since Saturday. The IDPs were given little notice. Just a few hours before the move was made. These people didn't want to move from Aung Mingalar. They moved there to escape life in the camps. They have to move now because they can’t disobey the order given by the local government. The government has two puppets in the quarter, one is a Rohingya man and another is a Kaman man. The local and international media were misinformed by them as if the moving of the IDPs was voluntary. 

RB News posted the news in English and Burmese after the ordered imposed in Aung Mingalar quarter. Two puppets of the local government are Rohingya man Shwe Hla and Kaman man Shwe Zan Aung. Among them, Shwe Zan Aung spoke to Radio Free Asia Burmese service and Associated Press that the government is not forcing them to move. It is simply a lie according to locals. 

Every family who are moving to the designated camps got Kyat 9,000. The money was paid by a group from Rangoon who visited the quarter recently. Locals said that the group donated Kyat 5 million for the people living in Aung Mingalar quarter. So the authority is giving 9,000 Kyat to every family who are moving. 

Yesterday 130 families, 577 people moved to the camp nearby Thet Kay Phyin and today 89 families, 396 people moved to the camps nearby Thet Kay Pyin and Baw Du Pha. The remaining IDPs will be moved on the following days. 

Regarding the lies of Shwe Zan Aung “We have two puppets of government in our quarter. They are Shwe Hla and Shwe Zan Aung. They have many opportunities as they are talking from the government side. They can go anywhere while many restrictions on us. They can also call any police and use them as their guards at any time. The government offered them something and is using them as informers. Every community has such opportunists. So as they are getting something, they are taking the government side and are echoing the same tune as them. Indeed nobody wants to move from Aung Mingalar. They are living here since last year because they didn't want to stay in designated camps.” a Rohingya from Aung Mingalar told RB News.

RB News 

August 25, 2013

Kanbalu, Sagaing - According to local State Media, MRTV News, 39 Muslim houses, 3 shops and 1 chicken farm were torched by radical Buddhist mobs. Additionally, 3 houses, 12 grocery store and 3 construction shops were destroyed in Htan Gone, Kanbalu Township of Sagaing Division. 

According to locals, although higher authorities were available at that time they couldn’t manage to stop the incident. The mobs set the fire at about 9 pm and the houses were burning till today early morning. Now the homeless Muslims are taking refuge in the Madarasa (Religious School) in Htan Gone. 

Wirathu, a radical monk based in Mandalay posted on his Facebook yesterday when the violence started in Htan Gone that three Muslim men raped a 19-years-old Buddhist girl. Although it is completely rumor, most of his followers believe whatever he propagates.

BBC Burmese service had an interview with the local police. The police said that a Muslim man proposed to a girl and tried to hug her. So the rumor spread out in the region that she was raped. The Muslim man is in custody now. Police are investigating the matter deeply.

The Eleven Media Group, well known as an instigator since last year, echoed the same as radical monk Wirathu in their Burmese news. Wirathu and Eleven Media have been instigating the Myanmar public by posting the rumors to fuel the violence. Although it is a matter that must be solved by local police, the radical 969 group is always ready in any region to attack Muslims. The authorities never try to control the situation, whenever there is an attack on Muslims.

The Ministry of Information released the news this afternoon and reported that the Muslim man tried to rape 25-years-old Buddhist girl. However the ministry could not provide the profile detail of the Muslim man. The news of the ministry said the police and fire brigade were attacked by the mobs. The police opened fire into the air to disperse the crowd. They use a different method against Buddhist and Muslims in Myanmar. The police opened fired directly into peaceful protesters when Muslims in Sittwe asked for the dead body of a Muslim fisherman killed by police on August 9, 2013.

Now that the Muslims in Htan Gone have lost their properties, they are homeless and left on their own. There is no hope that the government will help them rebuild their houses Although the government has full responsibility to protect its citizens.

By Hanna Hindstrom

Democratic Voice of Burma

August 24, 2013

Burma’s ethnic Rohingya continue to face heavy persecution in northern Arakan state, despite the dissolution of a controversial border guard force which had been implicated in mass atrocities against the Muslim community.

According to an independent report seen by DVB on Friday, Rohingyas living in the Muslim-majority Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships near the Bangladeshi border have been “subject to a campaign of mass arrest and renewed restrictions” since a wave of clashes with Buddhists in Arakan state last year.

Although Rohingyas in northern Arakan suffered fewer casualties, less segregation and displacement in the violence compared to those in Buddhist-majority regions, abuses against them are of “significant concern” and a climate of harassment and insecurity persists.

Hundreds of Rohingyas, including children, the elderly and four humanitarian workers, continue to be detained since last year’s riots which displaced over 140,000 people across the western state. The vast majority are being held in the notorious Buthidaung prison, where credible reports of “systematic torture” have emerged.

“They have not had access to fair judicial process and many had been tortured before or in jail custody,” warned the report. “While some are still awaiting trial, many were convicted with harsh prison sentences.”

Earlier this week, Buthidaung court sentenced 43 Rohingya detainees to jail terms ranging from six years to life for their alleged role in the violence. It is also alleged that “several truckloads” of Rohingya inmates, including children, were transferred out of the jail in the days preceding the visit of Tomás Ojea Quintana, the UN special Rapporteur, to the area in mid-August. They were reportedly sent back after he left.

This account was confirmed by Shwe Maung, a Rohingya MP from Buthidaung township. “An eyewitness called me before the visit of Mr Quintana and said that about 200 prisoners were moved to Maungdaw and after the visit they were [moved] back,” he told DVB on Friday.

Quintana, who wrapped up a 10-day visit to Burma this week, told DVB that concerns about torture in Buthidaung jail were legitimate.

“I can confirm last year during the violence that hundreds of Muslims in detention were subjected to systematic use of torture,” he said in an exclusive interview. “These are crimes that the government is obliged to investigate and to hold accountable those who are responsible.”

Meanwhile local sources say that the disbanding of the notorious Nasaka border guard force, which was set up in 1992 to patrol the Bangladeshi border, has only brought “modest improvements” and many Rohingyas view the move as simply “old wine in a new bottle”.

The report notes that while police officers have reduced their reliance on forced labour and eased some local travel restrictions, the collection of arbitrary taxation has skyrocketed. Rickshaw drivers have reported being forced to pay 100 kyat (US$0.10) each time they pass through police checkpoints outside of Maungdaw.

Shwe Maung adds that Rohingyas are still unable to travel between townships, such as Buthidaung and Maungdaw, and workers without travel permits have been arrested at police checkpoints.

“Even though the Nasaka was disbanded, people are still not allowed to move freely, they cannot go freely to Maungdaw, they cannot go freely to Sittwe. So socio-economically, it is very bad,” said Shwe Maung, who represents the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party.

After a meeting with Quintana, the Arakan Chief of Police confirmed that anyone found in possession of a Bangladeshi mobile phone or SIM card would be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with existing laws. But he denied that Rohingyas were subject to a two-child limit, as previously affirmed by the Burmese government.

Describing it to a Nasaka “practice”, he added that village administrators would now be in charge of issuing marriage permits, which Rohingya couples are required to obtain. Chris Lewa, head of the Arakan project, said that is too early to assess the long-term impact of the Nasaka’s dissolution, especially relating to the two-child policy but that marriage restrictions were “unlikely” to change.

She added that the main perpetrator of human rights violations and arbitrary arrests was the army, which is exclusively made up of Buddhists. “Nearly all forced labour is now carried out by the military,” said Lewa, who advocates for the rights of Rohingyas.

Locals say there has been a sharp increase in military troops in Maungdaw and Buthidaung, amid news reports that militant pro-Rohingya groups have been active along the border. But Shwe Maung dismissed the reports as “propaganda” intended to stir communal tensions.

President Thein Sein disbanded the Nasaka in mid-July amid heavy international criticisms of its treatment of the Rohingya, who are viewed as illegal Bengali immigrants by the government and denied citizenship in Burma.