M.S. Anwar 

RB News 

February 24, 2013 

Maung Daw, Arakan- Starting from early morning yesterday, a joint operation by Police, NaSaKa (Border Security Force), SB2 (Special Branch Two) and others was carried out against Rohingya Passers-by in Maung Daw. More than 250 Rohingya passers-by Children, Men and Women were arrested and detained for no reason. 

“From the early morning, three joint teams of Police, NaSaKa, SB2 and others encamped at three NaSaKa Camps in Maung Daw. The three NaSaKa camps are at Mayong Khali (Khala) Bridge, MyoThuGyi (Khala) Bridge and ShujaFara (Taak Khali) Bridge located respectively before the three entries to the downtown of Maung Daw. Then, they suddenly popped up and started arbitrarily arresting Rohingya Passers-by including children, women and men alike. More than 250 people were taken to the police custody in Maung Daw and kept in detentions where they were harassed. Later, they were released after extorting some amount of money from each of the detainee. Meanwhile, some of the detainees who had the White Cards (the Foreigners Registration Cards Issued to Rohingyas long ago) with them did not need to pay money for their release. 

On 21st February 2013, U Hla Maung Tin, a Rakhine extremist himself and the head of the Rakhine State Administration, held separate meetings with Maung Daw Administration and other authority, Rakhine community and the religious heads of Rohingya Community. While what he discussed with Rakhine community and Maung Daw administration are not known, he discussed with the religious heads of Rohingyas on how to stabilize the regions and that too in a very nice way. He reportedly said that the violence had taken place accidentally and Rohingyas would not be the subject of the atrocities any more. 

Now, Rohingyas suspect that the intention behind his coming to Maung Daw was to carry out the operations often and play mind games in order to cause terror in the minds of Rohingyas as a part of their psychological war tactics” said a Rohingya Elder from Maung Daw. 

It is the critically final moment for Rohingya people in exile, international communities and government bodies to prepare for the effective actions to prevent the genocides of Rohingyas and Kamans rather than mere holding dialogues with the Burmese tyrants. Burmese regime has always been deaf to any genuine dialogues for peace. They never want peace for the different people and always lie after committing atrocities.

Susan Sacirbey

Diplomaticallyincorrect.org

February 23, 2013

Child soldiers, genocide, ethnic hatred, Rohingya Muslims, Kachin Christians, cronyism, corruption, have all become names associated with Myanmar, or as some call – “Burma.” This week alone, there were two seemingly conflicting reports coming from the UN, one associating unaddressed human rights issues, the second – the release of 24 child soldiers by the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s armed forces. 

Ongoing conflict between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims has created 115,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Rakhine State. Despite reforms claimed by the Government, there is fear of spreading violence to other parts of Myanmar. There are also concerns of excessive government force and human rights abuse, which have all contributed to the number of Rohingya fleeing the country by boat in unsafe vessels many drowning at sea to escape indignity and fear at home. 

Relief supplies continue to be stymied by authorities and logistics to afflicted areas, and medical conditions worsen. At the same time, the Tatmadaw’s action plan to end and prevent child use and recruitment is a welcome development. The Government has agreed to: “Identify all children in the Tatmadaw and ensure their unconditional release/discharge; facilitate the reintegration of released children into their families and communities; and facilitate processes that seek to end child recruitment by non-State armed groups.” 

With greater Government transparency, accountability, and genuine reform and human rights measures to respect all Myanmar’s ethnicities and religions, we may be witness to new images of hope among Myanmar’s children. As Global Citizens, let’s change the picture. 

UN News Centre Sources 

“The reforms in Myanmar are continuing apace, which is a good sign for the improvement of the human rights situation in Myanmar,” said the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the country, Tomás Ojea Quintana, after his latest visit. However, he warned that “there are significant human rights shortcomings that remain unaddressed.” 

Mr. Ojea Quintana called on authorities to address the issues of truth, justice and accountability through the creation of a truth commission, adding that this is crucial for the process of national reconciliation and to prevent future human rights violations. 

During his five-day trip, Mr. Ojea Quintana visited Naypyitaw, Yangon, Kachin and Rakhine, and met with Government officials, the National Human Rights Commission, civil society and former prisoners of conscience, among others. He also met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Chairperson of the National League of Democracy. 

The Special Rapporteur said he was particularly concerned by the escalation of military offensives in Kachin, where some 75,000 people have fled their homes since fighting began in June 2011 between Government troops and rebels. 

Security issues in the state are also hindering humanitarian access, and Mr. Ojea Quintana stressed that all administrative and political obstacles should The living conditions of some 120,000 people who are living in internally displaced camps are especially worrying, the expert said, without adequate health care in the larger Muslim camps. 

On 18 February, 2013, The United Nations welcomed the release of 24 children by Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, and called for the acceleration of discharges in line with the commitment made last year by the Government to end child rights violations. 

Last June, the UN and the Government of Myanmar signed an action plan that sets a timetable and measurable activities for the release and reintegration of children associated with Government armed forces, as well as the prevention of further recruitment. 

According to a news release issued by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the 24 children were officially discharged at a ceremony on Friday in Yangon, attended by senior officials of the Tatmadaw and the Government, as well as the UN. 

“This release of 24 children is a welcome step in the implementation of the action plan by the Government and reflects its commitment that children should not, and will no longer, be recruited and used for military purposes,” stated UN Resident Coordinator in Myanmar Ashok Nigam. “I call for the acceleration of the release of all children from the Tatmadaw and for the non-State armed groups to also do the same,” he added. 

Myanmar is one of 14 countries – with armed forces or armed groups identified by the UN Secretary-General as committing grave child rights violations – working together with the UN system to end grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict.

The News Pakistan

February 23, 2013

YANGON/GENEVA: Myanmar boat survivors rescued by Sri Lanka’s navy last week say they floated for 25 days at sea and 97 people died of starvation after Thailand’s navy intercepted and forcibly removed their boat’s engines.

Thirty-two men and a boy now detained at an immigration detention centre near Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, were rescued last Saturday when their dilapidated wooden vessel began sinking while making a perilous journey to Malaysia. The Thai navy has denied the allegation.

The survivors are Rohingya Muslims regarded as illegal immigrants into Myanmar from Bangladesh, and say they do not want to return to Myanmar.

The survivors were suffering from severe dehydration when they were rescued about 250 miles off Sri Lanaka’s east coast.’

Meanwhile, the UN’s refugee agency on Friday raised the alarm over the rising number of boat people perishing in the Indian Ocean, including Rohingya Muslims fleeing communal strife in Myanmar.

“It is clear that for people fleeing violence and conflict in their homelands, this has become one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world,” said UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic.

In 2012, some 13,000 people took to smugglers’ boats in the Bay of Bengal, of whom 500 died at sea when the vessels broke down or capsized, said Mahecic.

“Already in 2013, several thousand people are believed to have boarded smugglers boats in the Bay of Bengal,” he added.

Among the most recent incidents, around 90 people are believed to have died of dehydration and starvation during a two-month journey, he said.

Around 30 survivors were rescued last weekend by Sri Lanka’s navy off that country’s coast.

“The repeated tragedies at sea demonstrate the need for a coordinated regional response to distress and rescue at sea,” said Mahecic.

Described by the UN as among the most persecuted minority groups in the world, Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya have for years trickled abroad to neighbouring Bangladesh and, increasingly, to Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and denies them citizenship.

Buddhist-Muslim unrest has left at least 180 people dead and more than 110,000 displaced in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine since June 2012.

UNHCR

February 22, 2013

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 22 February 2013, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. 

UNHCR is concerned about a rising numbers of deaths in the Indian Ocean involving people fleeing their countries for safety and better lives elsewhere. This includes many Rohingya from Myanmar. 

Already in 2013, several thousand people are believed to have boarded smuggler's boats in the Bay of Bengal, among them Rohingya from Rakhine state or from Bangladesh's refugee camps and makeshift sites. Most are men, but there are also increasing reports of women and children on these often-rickety boats making the journey southwards. We estimate that of the 13,000 people who left on smugglers' boats in 2012, close to 500 died at sea when their boats broke down or capsized. While UNHCR is still gathering data from 2012 on deaths at sea, it is clear that the Indian Ocean has become for people fleeing their countries one of the deadliest stretches of water in the world. 

In the latest incident, only a week ago, some 90 people – believed to be Rohingya – are said to have died of dehydration and starvation during a journey that lasted almost two months. More than 30 survivors were rescued from this vessel last weekend by the Sri Lankan navy off Sri Lanka's east coast. Earlier in February, around 130 people reportedly originating from Myanmar and Bangladesh – were also rescued at sea by the Sri Lankan navy. We are seeking independent access to the survivors to assess their situation and needs. 

UNHCR is greatly saddened by this latest terrible ordeal, and commends the quick action of the Sri Lankan navy in rescuing this group and providing immediate medical attention. UNHCR is ready to support the Sri Lankan authorities in assisting any among them who are in need of international protection. 

Violence in western Myanmar's Rakhine state erupted last June between different communities there. Since then some 115,000 people – the majority of them Rohingya – have been uprooted. Most continue to be internally displaced within Rakhine state, but others have resorted to smugglers to flee their country. 

About 1,700 people have arrived in recent months on the southern coast of Thailand, where the Royal Thai Government has granted them six months of temporary protection until solutions can be found. UNHCR teams are talking to the men, who are held in detention facilities, and to the women and children who are in government-run shelters, to assess their situations. 

In addition to those who have landed in Thailand, an estimated 1,800 people have arrived in Malaysia since the start of the year. When notified, UNHCR intervenes to secure their release from detention and seeks access to assess their protection needs. 

UNHCR recognizes the regional dimension of the irregular movements of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants by sea. Genuine cooperative regional approaches that promote sharing of burdens and responsibility could offer asylum seekers and refugees an alternative to dangerous and exploitative boat journeys. UNHCR offers its expertise and good offices to play a constructive role in this process. 

Repeated tragedies at sea also demonstrate the need for a coordinated regional response to distress and rescue at sea. We urge States to agree protocols for the safe and quick disembarkation of rescued passengers and the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance. Mechanisms must be in place to assess the needs of and solutions for different groups, including access to UNHCR for those in need of international protection. 

To help move this process forward, UNHCR is facilitating discussions between interested governments and international organizations at a regional meeting on irregular movements by sea to be held in Jakarta in March. 

Amid continuing news reports of boats being pushed back to sea by some countries, UNHCR also urges States in the region to keep their borders open to people in need of international protection, to uphold the principle of non-refoulement and to offer them temporary assistance and protection until durable solutions can be found. 

In parallel, UNHCR has been advocating with the Myanmar government to urgently address the root causes of the outflow. The Rohingya are not recognized as citizens of Myanmar and face many restrictions in their daily lives in Rakhine state. To resolve the problem, we encourage the government to commit to promoting reconciliation and peaceful co-existence as well as economic development in Rakhine state, pursue practical measures to ensure basic rights so that the Rohingya can lead normal lives where they are, and eventually grant them access to citizenship.

Hanna Hindstrom

Democratic Voice of Burma

February 22, 2013

A member of parliament has fired back at claims that Rohingya Muslims do not exist in Burma, after a senior government minister allegedly accused the group of fabricating its history in a parliamentary discussion on Wednesday. 

It follows media reports that the Deputy Immigration Minister, Kyaw Kyaw Win, on Wednesday formally denied the existence of a Rohingya race in Burma, referring to a stateless Muslim minority isolated near the Bangladeshi border. 

But Shwe Maung, who is a native Rohingya, slammed the allegations, quoted in the English-language version of Burma’s state media outlet the New Light of Myanmar, as historically and factually inaccurate. 

“We should not simply deny there are no Rohingya, if we do that it would be irresponsible, we need a study,” said the MP, who represents Buthidaung constituency in northern Arakan state. 

Shwe Maung is one of only two Rohingya MPs in parliament, both of whom represent the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in Maungdaw district. In recent months, he has played an increasingly vocal role in defending the stateless minority, which is broadly viewed as “illegal Bengali immigrants” and denied citizenship by the government. 

It follows two bouts of vicious sectarian clashes between Arakanese Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya in western Burma last year, which prompted senior politicians – many from the military and USDP – to call for the group to be exiled to a third country. 

But Shwe Maung told DVB that he is leading a parliamentary initiative, along with two other MPs from Maungdaw district, to promote the rights of Rohingyas. He explained that they have called on the speaker of the lower house of parliament, Shwe Mann, to set up an investigative commission to establish whether or not Rohingyas exist in Burma. 

“We [also] shared a separate report with our colleagues and MPs and I’ve received a lot of positive and constructive remarks,” he said. “We focused on the facts and documents, especially printed by government media and the ministry of information. Based on that most of the MPs are impressed and agree that there are Rohingya [in Burma].” 

Shwe Maung cited historical research carried out prior to the British colonisation of Burma in 1824, which formally recognised some 30,000 “Rohingya” Muslims living in Arakan state. Both Burma’s first president and prime minister, Sao Shwe Thaik and U Nu respectively, reportedly recognised the Rohingya as one of the country’s “indigenous races”. 

They were later stripped of their citizenship by former military dictator Ne Win. 

“During my recent visit to Sittwe I have seen a lot of families with birth certificates with the ethnic name Rohingya, but still [some are] denying [them],” he said, dismissing allegations that “Bengalis” are migrating into Arakan state. 

“People are not coming in, people are going out,” he said. “In [our language] Burmese Rakhine Muslims are called Rohingya – they are the Muslim people who live in Arakan.” 

He also accused the English-version of the New Light of misrepresenting Wednesday’s parliamentary discussion. 

“[Kyaw Kyaw Win] did not mention there is no Rohingya in Myanmar, but it appeared in the [English-language] media,” Shwe Muang. 

In fact, the Burmese version of the New Light, quoted Kyaw Kyaw Win as saying “there have been cross-border relations since the ancient times”, although he added that Arakanese Muslims were not recognised as natives in the 1973 census. But many government representatives, including the President’s Office Director Zaw Htay, seized the opportunity to slate the Rohingya on social media. 

Although Shwe Maung’s increasingly vocal activism represents a significant shift in the USDP’s notorious reputation for silencing dissent, some analysts question its implications for Burma’s political transition. 

“I think it says more about the USDP, which is a party that people joined because it gave them a position of influence rather than a party with a particular ideology,” Mark Farmaner from Burma Campaign UK told DVB. 

“I don’t think it says much about parliament, which is constitutionally almost powerless. I think it can give people a voice they didn’t have before; and some MPs are using that to represent their constituents whereas others are using it to promote their own self-interests.” 

Farmaner added that it was “unfortunate” that Aung San Suu Kyi’s party – the National League for Democracy (NLD) – has still failed to come out more strongly on the Rohingya issue. 

But Shwe Maung insists that he will continue to “carry the voices of his constituents” to parliament. He added that he is not necessarily pushing for Rohingyas to be recognised as “indigenous peoples” in Burma, but that their basic human rights must be respected. 

“For the time being the most important thing is the people. People are living with a lack of food, they cannot move, they cannot access the market, they cannot access aid from the international community.” 

More than 125,000 people, mostly from the Rohingya minority, were uprooted in last year’s violence and many are still denied humanitarian aid.

Eliane Coates

Relief Web

February 22, 2013

Synopsis

The exodus of many Rohingya over the past year has brought increased international awareness to their plight, as well as Southeast Asia’s inability to deal effectively with forced migration. A regional approach is needed to find a durable solution to the influx of Rohingya boat people.

Commentary

SINCE THE communal clashes began in Arakan State in June 2012, the scale of Rohingya fleeing by boat to neighbouring Southeast Asian countries has increased significantly. According to a reliable source from the human rights organisation The Arakan Project, it is estimated 19,500 registered and unregistered Rohingya, including some Bangladeshis, have fled by boat from Bangladesh and North Arakan State, with an estimated 100 people having drowned during the process.

With an estimated 115,000 people in Arakan displaced by the communal clashes, it is not surprising thousands more Rohingya have fled from other parts of Arakan State not only by boat, but by air and overland too.

The boat people problem

Myanmar, a country once under a severely repressive regime, is now considered a budding democracy. Yet the opening up of Myanmar has re-ignited deep-seated and long-repressed inter-ethnic friction that has the potential to consume Arakan State in continual civil unrest. With the government of Myanmar showing little, if any, interest in the plight of Rohingya and giving no sign of granting permanent residency to Rohingya in the near future, the exodus of Rohingya to surrounding countries is unlikely to relent in coming months with harassment, intimidation campaigns and arbitrary arrests of Rohingya continuing today.

Along with the 200,000-400,000 unregistered Rohingya in Bangladesh, many Rohingya have for years sought refuge in Malaysia which is viewed by Rohingya as a welcoming destination due to the existing Rohingya community. Malaysia is currently the only country where Rohingya receive a minimum of protection. Rohingya now make up the second largest refugee group in Malaysia.

Yet, because Kuala Lumpur is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees, nor the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, Rohingya are technically illegal immigrants. Hence they often remain urban refugees in cities, with the constant threat of arrest, detention and deportation. However, in recent times no Rohingya have been arrested or deported, especially since 2009 when Malaysia began allowing United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) access to Immigration Detention Centers to conduct refugee status determination processes.

Thailand’s unsustainable policy

In the last month Thailand seems to have become not solely a transit country to Malaysia, but a destination country as well with increasing arrivals of boats carrying Rohingya intercepted off the coast of Thailand. Thailand’s current policy towards arriving boats of Rohingya is to ‘help them on.’ Boats found near the Thai coast are not allowed to come ashore but are escorted back out to sea with food, water, and fuel provided on the condition that the boat continues its journey to Malaysia.

While official reports state that 6000 Rohingya have illegally entered Thailand by sea since October 2012, the reality is there has been many more Rohingya arriving on Thai shores in undetected boats.

Over the last three decades from 1975, Thailand has hosted almost three million refugees, initially from countries such as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, though mostly from Myanmar. Thai policy towards people from Myanmar during this period has fluctuated, despite international pressure urging Thailand to adopt a flexible policy towards displaced peoples. More recently, Thailand has engaged in ‘soft deportation’ of Rohingya across the Myanmar-Thai border as Myanmar refuses to re-admit Rohingya.

Rohingya, after being either handed directly to brokers, enter a tangled human trafficking web where they often are forced to pay brokers exorbitant fees or engage in forced labor in Thailand so as to eventually be transported to the Malaysian border. Worse, there have even been allegations against senior military officers of involvement in the smuggling racket.

Recent Thai army raids on camps in Thailand’s southern border province of Songkhla unearthed an estimated 900 Rohingya waiting to be sent to work in Malaysia. This development prompted Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul to state that those found, as well as a small group of Rohingya rescued from unseaworthy boats, would be permitted to remain on Thai soil for six months.

Although not upgrading their status to refugees, the Rohingya will be given a daily allowance of 75 baht (US$2.50) while Thailand talks with the UN, international agencies and seeks third countries willing to accept them.

Rohingya boat people will continue to arrive on Thai shores in the future. The strategy of soft deportation currently being employed will likely become unsustainable as many of the newly arrived Rohingya boat people will be unable to pay the high fees to traffickers, with many having lost their property in the recent communal violence in Arakan State.

Need for concerted regional solutions

In sum, the Rohingya immigration issue can no longer be regarded as an internal affair of the Myanmar government. Although many Southeast Asian countries understandably wish to steer clear of the sensitive debate on the Rohingya, the regional dimensions of this exodus of people seem all too evident. It is hard to escape the conclusion that what is urgently required is a concerted regional strategy aimed at coaxing the Myanmar government to more effectively address the situation in Arakan State.

While addressing the root causes of the increasing outflows of Rohingya boat people is important, it may not be sufficient. Regional countries may have to seriously explore the option of allowing boats carrying Rohingya to land on their shores and assist in the processing of people, giving Rohingya the right to apply for asylum and go through a refugee status determination process for eventual resettlement.

While undeniably only a temporary solution, this move may still help deal with the unmistakable regional repercussions of such human outflows arising from communal violence in Arakan State.

Eliane Coates is a Research Analyst at the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS), a constituent unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.

Ben Doherty

Fairfax Media

February 22, 2013

Ron Corben

The Sydney Morning Herald

February 22, 2013

Australia will boost aid by $2.5 million to Myanmar's (Burma's) displaced ethnic communities, but has ruled out an "open door" policy to ethnic Muslim Rohingya seeking asylum in Australia after fleeing sectarian violence.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr, after meeting Thai counterpart Surapong Tovichakchaikul, said Australia ruled out allowing the Rohingya to be part of its resettlement policy after advice by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"We don't want to give the impression that for Rohingya, (those) desperate people (who) come to Thailand, they have a route to Australia because the settlement, the settlement of this displacement lies in changing policies to (give) effect to changed policies within Rakhine province," Senator Carr told reporters in Bangkok.

Up to 2000 Rohingya are living in camps in Thailand after fleeing violence between Muslim and Buddhist communities in the Myanmarese state of Rakhine last year.

The violence left up to 200 dead, thousands injured and hundreds of homes and shops torched in arson attacks.

Human rights groups say up to 19,000 people - mostly Rohingya - have fled in unsafe boats from Myanmar and nearby Bangladesh. Hundreds have drowned, including women and children.

Senator Carr said after talks on Thursday with the Thai foreign minister the two countries agreed the settlement of the Rohingya should be within Rakhine state.

"Others can't resolve it for them. It needs to be a humanitarian settlement within Rakhine that addresses the question of their citizenship status and sees them resettled and integrated into the economy," he said.

Australia would also be providing $750,000 to support access to clean water and sanitation in eastern Kachin state, where bitter fighting between Myanmar's army and Kachin fighters has left up to 70,000 people displaced.

In addition it would provide $500,000 to begin land mine clearance in southeast Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Senator Carr told AAP former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and fled in 2008 from a two-year jail term for corruption charges, had been granted a visa to travel to Australia.

"He's applied for, and was issued, a visa in early 2012. He hasn't visited Australia since the visa was issued," he said.

Mr Thaksin, whose younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is Thailand's prime minister, was previously on a visa blacklist.

In his article, “A friend’s appeal to Burma”, published on June 19, 2012, Benedict Rogers included that the first President of Burma, Sao Shwe Thaike, a Shan, said that “Muslims of Arakan certainly belong to the indigenous races of Burma. If they do not belong to the indigenous races, we also cannot be taken as indigenous races”. 

“The people living in Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships are Rohingya, ethnic of Burma” said by Burma’s first prime minister U Nu in his pubic speech on September 25, 1954 at 8 pm. “The Rohingya has the equal status of nationality with Kachin, Kayah, Karen, Mon, Rakhine and Shan” said the prime minister and minister for defense U Ba Swe at public gatherings in Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships in November 3, 1959 and November 4, 1959. 

“The people living in Mayu Frontier is ethnic Rohingya” included in the announcement of Frontiers Administration office under Prime Minister Office on November 20, 1961. Mayu Frontier is composed of Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Rathedaung Townships. 

Broadcasting from radio program in the Rohingya language was relayed three times a week from the indigenous language programme of the official Burma Broadcasting Service in Rangoon, from May 15, 1961 to October 30, 1965. Myanma Encyclopedia Vol.9, page 89-90, published in 1964, concludes that population of 500,000 living in Mayu Frontier of Northern Arakan State 75% is Rohingya. “The majority people live in Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Rathedaung Townships are ethnic Rohingya and the minorities are Rakhine, Daingnet, Mro and Khami” wrote in Tatmataw Khit Yay journal Vol.12, No.6 printed on July 18, 1961 and Vol. 12, No.9 printed on August 8, 1961. 

In his speech on July 8, 1961, the Army Deputy Commander-in-Chief Brigadier General Aung Gyi said, “The people living in Mayu Frontier are Rohingya. Pakistan (now Bangladesh) is located in west of Mayu Frontier and Muslims are living there. The people living in west are called Pakistani and the people living here are called Rohingya. This is not the only border that has same people on both sides, border with China, India and Thailand also have the same phenomenon. For example: Lisu, Ei-Kaw, La-Wa live in Kachin State and same people live in China. Also Shan people can be found in China as Tai. The ethnics Mon, Karen and Malay are also living in Thailand. In India-Burma border Chin, Li-Shaw and Naga are living. These people are living in Burma as ethnics and living in India as well”. 

The Rangoon University Rohingya Students Association was one of the many ethnic student associations that functioned from 1959 to 1961 under the registration numbers 113/99 December 1959 and 7/60 September 1960 respectively. In High School Geography textbook, printed in 1978, where scattered living regions of national races of Burma is shown on page 86, Northern Arakan is marked as ‘Rohingya region’. 

Rohingya Elites/MPs before and after independence of Burma: 

After the separation of Burma from India in 1935, the “Di-Archy” system was replaced by a ruling system called “91 Taa-na” (Departments administration). In that system there were 132 seats in the governing body and a total of 132 members were elected from various communal backgrounds. In this election, Mr. Ghani Markan, a Rohingya MP from Buthidaung and Maungdaw constituency, was elected. Point to be noted here that Mr. Ghani Markan was from the Community of “Burmese national” category and they (Rohingya) represented the Burmese national and not the Indian or any other group. 

The General Election for Constituent Assembly in 1947 was organized just before the independence, mainly by the participation of General Aung San. This time, Buthidaung and Maungdaw had two separate constituencies. U Abdul Ghaffar for Buthidaung and U Sultan Ahmed for Maungdaw were elected. 

U Abul Bashar for Buthidaung, U Sultan Ahmed and Daw Aye Nyunt for Maungdaw and U Abdul Ghaffar for Upper house were elected in 1951 election. U Ezhar Miah and U Abul Bashar for Buthidaung, U Sultan Ahmed and U Abul Khair for Maungdaw, U Sultan Mahmood for Buthidaung North and U Abdul Ghaffar for Upper house were elected in 1956. U Sultan Mahmood and U Abul Bashar for Buthidaung, U Rashid and U Abul Khair for Maungdaw and U Abdu Suban for Upper house were elected in 1961. By then the Rohingya community were involved more actively in politics. For the first time, one of the Rohingya elected member became a cabinet minister of Prime Minister U Nu’s government. He was U Sultan Mahmood, and in charge for the ministry of Education and Health. U Abdul Ghaffar and U Abul Bashar, elected members of Buthidaung became the Parliamentary Secretaries. 

Even in the era of U Ne Win, the Rohingya exercised the voting and representing rights in the Pyithu Hluttaw (National Assembly) Election and in the election of different level of Pyithu (National) Council. Likewise, many Rohingya dignitaries were endorsed in the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) and some of them held higher positions as well. U Abul Hussein and Dr. Abdur Rahim were elected in 1974 from Buthidaung and Maungdaw. 

Rohingya have been subjected to the discriminatory measure initiated in 1978 by the then BSPP and local authority of Rakhine community. They started to take the initiative to deprive the fundamental rights of Rohingya community and since then the Rohingya were marginalized from the Pyithu Hluttaw Election. U Tun Aung Kyaw aka Abdul Hai, was the only Rohingya representative elected in 1978 election from Maungdaw, but none from Buthidaung. The Rohingya were excluded from participating in the Pyithu Hluttaw elections in 1982 and 1986. However, some Rohingya were seen at lower levels of Pyithu Council of the BSPP. 

In 1990 multi party general election, Rohingya exercised the voting and representing rights again. U Kyaw Min, U Tin Maung, U Chit Lwin and U Fazal Ahmed from National Democratic Party for Human Rights (NDPH) were elected from Buthidaung and Maungdaw constituencies. Later U Kyaw Min became a member of Committee Representing People's Parliament (CRPP). 

Making Rohingya Stateless: 

Rohingya people used to have National Registration Card (NRC) like everyone else in the country. Upon introduction of discriminatory policies on Rohingya by Dictator Ne Win in 1970s, the NRCs were taken away by various measures. Numerous check-points were set up to block Rohingya’s travel and to confiscate their IDs. Nagamin (the Dragon) operation in 1977-78 was skillfully crafted to drive out all Rohingya from Burma. It produced about 250,000 refugees that fled to neighboring Bangladesh. However, most of the fleeing refugees were returned to their original dwelling places, so the plan was not quite successful for the Burmese regime. Although systematic discriminatory policies were in place and IDs and other government issued documents were seized by the government, Rohingya remained as citizens of Burma until 1982. The Citizenship Act promulgated in 1982 is the official document that striped off the citizenship of Rohingya. 

Numerous forms of discriminations followed by the enactment of 1982 Citizenship Law and lives of Rohingya had become incomprehensible. Again, another operation was carried out in 1991 by the successive military regime and it produced about 300,000 refugees, but this time about 200,000 remained in Bangladesh, of which, 28,000 are recognized refugees by the UNHCR and the rest are scattered around the country and are not recognized as refugees. 

In the meantime, the regime uses different methods to eliminate (forced out) the Rohingya population for the region: confiscation of farmland, establishing Buddhist settlement on Rohingya’s land, force labor, restriction on movement, restriction on marriage, harassment, desecration of religious places, arbitrary taxation, extrajudicial killings, rapes, and the list goes on. 

The new National Scrutiny Card was introduced in 1989 and Rohingya were not entitled to receive them as they have become non-citizen under the 1982 Citizenship Act. However, the authorities issued Temporary Scrutiny Card to all and promised twice in 2008 constitution referendum and 2010 election that National Scrutiny Card will soon be issued to all the Rohingyas. But the promises made to Rohingya were never honored. 

In recent parliament session, when some MPs raised the issue of Rohingya, the immigration minister U Khin Yee said that “there is no Rohingya in Burma”. The same was echoed by the director general of the population department at a later date. Although many Rohingya were members of National League for Democracy (NLD) in Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships during 1990 election, now the vice chairman U Tin Oo and other high ranking officials of NLD are openly saying that there is no race called ‘Rohingya’ in Burma, which is an utter disregard for historical facts, human rights and democratic principle. NLD’s discriminatory policy on Rohingya is no less than that of the military regime. 

There is no justice for Rohingya in Burma as the racism is deeply rooted in Burmese society. Rohingyas are made escape goats to justify their evil doings by both ultra-nationalist racist and the regime to divert public attention. As history cannot be deleted or altered, the truth needs to be revealed and justice needs to be established. It is the human rights defenders that need to work hard to establish the justice and defend the rights of unjustly persecuted. 

Nay San Lwin is an activist and blogger. He can be reached via Twitter @nslwin

This article appeared here on October 29, 2012.

David Stout

Democratic Voice of Burma

February 21, 2013

Burma’s Deputy Immigration and Population Minister Kyaw Kyaw Win denied the existence of the Rohingya ethnic group in Burma during a parliamentary session on Tuesday. 

According to a back page report in today’s The New Light of Myanmar, Kyaw Kyaw Win made the statement twice in response to questions from MPs Maung Nyo of Sittwe and Daw Khin Saw Wai of Yathedaung, who also used the opportunity to unleash their own anti-Rohingya comments in front of the lower house. 

Hours later, President’s Office Director Zaw Htay, under the name Hmuu Zaw, tweeted, “In today[‘s] Parliament, Deputy Minister for Immigration said there is no [Rohingya] ethnic in Myanmar” on the popular social networking site Twitter. 

Zaw Htay has come under fire in the past for publishing anti-Rohingya comments on his Facebook page along with inflammatory pictures when sectarian violence rocked Arakan state last year. 

“When government ministers deny Rohingya exist, and it is repeated by the office of the President, this encourages more prejudice and violence against Rohingya and all Muslims,” said Mark Farmaner, director at Burma Campaign UK. 

“The international community can’t keep turning a blind eye to the fact that with statements like this President Thein Sein’s government is encouraging violence against the Rohingya.” 

Ethno-religious riots exploded in June and October in the restive western state resulting in the displacement of tens of thousands of residents and left a disproportionate amount of Muslim villages razed to the ground. 

Aid groups have struggled to deliver relief to the thousands of displaced Rohingya who are denied humanitarian assistance and not registered as internally displaced persons. 

“The government has denied the Rohingya as an ethnic identity for decades, branding nearly all Muslims in Arakan State as illegal immigrants as a matter of discriminatory state policy,” said Matthew Smith, a researcher with Human Rights Watch. 

Thein Sein’s government was heavily criticised last July after the president told a visiting delegation from the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees that the government would not recognise the Rohingya and suggested resettling the population to a third country. 

The deputy minister’s statement came as two Nobel laureates, former East Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta and former Managing Director of Grameen Bank Muhammad Yunus, published a story in the Huffington Post yesterday calling for an end to the discrimination against the Rohingya minority. 

“The charge that the Rohingya are illegal immigrants to Myanmar is false,” wrote the Nobel laureates. 

“We ask the world to not look away, but to raise its collective voice in support of the Rohingya.”

RB News

February 21, 2013

Some like to term the violence in Arakan as “Sectarian and Communal” or “with a Between.” But one’s look at the details into the violence, he or she will find out that the violence has been neither sectarian nor communal but one-sided attack and ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas and Kamans jointly carried out by Rakhine extremists and Burmese authority. Extermination of these people through various means is still going on. The lists shown below are some portions of atrocities carried out against these two voiceless and helpless communities, whereas most of the atrocities have been successfully covered up by the Rakhine extremists and Burmese authority.

The innocent Rohingya people arrested from Maungdaw Towship, Arakan State, Myanmar

The innocent Rohingya people arrested from Buthidaung Towship, Arakan State, Myanmar

The death list of Rohingya and Kaman at refugee camps in Arakan State, Myanmar

Maungdaw: The incident of internal conflict of Rakhine in Myo Thit village (Rawsu Fara), Maungdaw North on February 10, 2013, has become a source of exploitation for Rakhines extremists and government authorities. They have been robbing legally from Rohingyas of neighboring villages under the pretext of investigation. NaSaKa in collaboration with SaRaPha [Military Security Associates] and armed Rakhine youths have been raiding villages one after another. Upon arriving to a house, they break into it; torture the householders, loot money, gold, clothes, and documents of land. 

On February 11, 2013, the authorities launched their operation of ransacking in LuDaing village of DoeDang Village Tract and arrested following people including a women. 

(1) Nazer Hussein s/o ? (50 years old) 

(2) Kulsuma d/o Hameed Hussein (45 years old) 

(3) Leyakot Ali s/o Serajul Islam (45 years old) 

(4) Leyakot Ali s/o ? (30 years old) 

(5) Bashar s/o Leyakot Ali (20 years old) 

(6) Usman s/o Abdul Latif (18 years old) 

(7) Mohammed Idris s/o Maulana Kabeer Ahmed (29 years old) 

(8) Mohammed Hashem s/o Zawmeer (25 years old) 

(9) Mohmmed Anas s/o Sayed Ahmed (20 years old) 

(10) Kamal Hussein s/o Mohammed Hussein (22 years old) 

Reportedly, four were killed in the first night among the arrestees. 

The NaSaKa raided Ouk Pyu Ma village (Hasarbil) on February 12, 2013. On the following day they raided and looted 21 houses from Ahtet Pyu Ma village. They looted the food items from storage and owners were beaten and ordered to flee to Bangladesh. 

“You are Bengali. We will do whatever we want.” the NaSaKa told to Eliyas, a victim in Ahtet Pyu Ma village. “You don’t’ want to leave the country because you can drink tasty coffee here?” a NaSaKa-man continued when he found a pack of Coffeemix at the house of Eliyas. 

The NaSaKa continuously raided and looted 41 houses from DoeDang village, about 60 houses from Lake Aine village of Ngar Sar Kyoe Village Tract on February 14, 2013. They took away cash, gold, clothes, cooking pots, documents of land and properties, furniture and any other valuables and appliances that they came across. 

As a result of arbitrary arrest, torture, extortion and plundering of properties and land worth millions, many families have fled their villages. All those who fled from their villages have been hiding in mountains and behind the dams. The seamless barbaric acts of NaSaKa, police and military, who do not have the sense of humanity, mercy and compassion, implanted endless fear in the hearts and mind of helpless Rohingyas. 

The authorities have equipped each village of Rakhines settlers with four guns. The settlers have been openly carrying the guns and roaming in the markets and public places threatening local Rohingyas. 

The authorities most responsible for crimes above are: 

(1) Tun Tun Naing (Nasaka staff of sector 5) 

(2) Moe Byan Tun (Military Security Associate, SaRaPha) 

(3) Major Win Hlaing (Commander of Nasaka sector 5)

Megan Levy

The Sydney Morning Herald

February 21, 2013

Jose Ramos-Horta & Muhammad Yunus

Huffington Post

February 20, 2013

One of the fundamental challenges of a democracy is how to ensure the voice of the majority does not trample the essential rights of the minority. In the founding of the United States this was addressed by the Bill of Rights, some form of which is integrated into most democracies today.

Even as we applaud and rejoice in the new freedoms enjoyed by the Myanmar people, the country's newly elected government must face this challenge as they evolve from autocratic rule into a democratic state. The tragedy of the Rohingya people, continuing to unfold in Rakhine State in the country's western corner, on the border of Bangladesh, will be its proving ground.

The minority Muslim Rohingya continue to suffer unspeakable persecution, with more than 1,000 killed and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes just in recent months, apparently with the complicity and protection of security forces.

The charge that the Rohingya are illegal immigrants to Myanmar is false. There is evidence that the Rohingya have been in present day Myanmar since the 8th century. It is incontrovertible that Muslim communities have existed in Rakhine State since the 15th century, added to by descendants of Bengalis migrating to Arakan (Rakhine) during colonial times.

The borders between present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar have shifted back and forth throughout these periods, resulting in ethnic Rakhine Buddhists living in Bangladesh today, and ethnic Bengali Muslims such as the Rohingya in Myanmar. As the Rahkine Buddhists are rooted in their Bangladeshi communities today, the Rakhine State in Myanmar is the only home the Rohingya know.

A glaring injustice was done to the Rohingya in 1982 when the ruling junta instituted a new law excluding the Rohingya from the list of the 135 national races recognized by the Myanmar government, effectively stripping them of their nationality. Since that time they have been banned from travelling even short distances or from getting married without a permit. When a marriage permit is granted, they must sign a commitment to have no more than two children.

Half of the Rohingya population is estimated to have fled the periodic pogroms that have reduced their villages to ashes and left thousands killed or raped in horrendous massacres. After having lived side by side with the Rakhine Buddhist communities, today they are an uprooted and stateless population, with some 200,000 refugees estimated to still be living in neighboring Bangladesh and hundreds of thousands more having fled to other parts of the world.

The 20th century gave us a term for the ugly phenomena of stripping individuals of their nationality and persecuting them for no reason other than the color of their skin, their religion, or their ethnicity: ethnic cleansing.

When the Myanmar government considers its progress on reform toward an open and democratic system of government, they must address one of the most barbaric remnants of their recent past, ethnic cleansing taking place in their midst, and right the wrongs done to the Rohingya population.

We wish the Rohingya to know that they are not alone. We hope to help share their plight with the world, in the hope and faith and trust that when the world knows of their suffering it will no longer turn its back on their persecution.

We humbly add our voices to the simple demand of the Rohingya people: that their rights as our fellow human beings be respected, that they be granted the right to live peacefully and without fear in the land of their parents, and without persecution for their ethnicity or their form of worship.

We ask the world to not look away, but to raise its collective voice in support of the Rohingya. In these days of public diplomacy the citizens, civil societies, NGOs, private investors and the business community have a vital role to play in the context of democratic reforms, human rights and development around the globe. We must use this voice.

We close with an appeal to the Myanmar government. You must amend the infamous 1982 law, and welcome the Rohingya as full citizens of Myanmar with all attendant rights. In doing so you will end the possibility of the radicalization of the Rohingya and channel their energies for the development of Myanmar. You will remove the impetus for extremism and terrorism being generated by the current mistreatment of this vulnerable minority. A strong, stable and democratic Myanmar is not only in the interest to countries of the region, but will serve the cause of global peace and stability as well.

A government must in the end be judged by how it protects the most vulnerable people in its midst, and its generosity towards the weakest and most powerless. Let not the good work of this government be clouded by the continuing persecution of the Rohingya people.

Jose Ramos-Horta is Former President of Timor Leste and the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Muhammad Yunus is Founder and Former Managing Director of Grameen Bank and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Mizzima News

February 20, 2013

Sri Lankan media is reporting on Wednesday that the 32 Myanmar nationals rescued by the Sri Lankan navy on Saturday are refusing to return to their home country. 

According to Colombo Page, the 32, reportedly Muslim Rohingyas from Rakhine State, say they left Myanmar because of persecution. 

Sri Lankan authorities have reportedly detained 17 of the 32 to hand over to Myanmar authorities while the others are held in a detention center for immigration offenders. 

“Sources say that Sri Lanka has no intention to bring charges against them under immigration regulations,” Colombo Pagereported.

Alan Cole

Xperedon

February 20, 2013

Requests for more humanitarian assistance for victims of crisis in Myanmar

Humanitarian charities are intensifying their appeals to support thousands of displaced people in Myanmar (Burma), suffering after a relentless wave of hardship... 

Charities and human rights organisations are appealing for the government of Myanmar to do more to help displaced people of the Rakhine State affected by ethnic violence, and also for international support to help the victims of the humanitarian emergency... 

Violence has been ongoing in the region in recent years between government and rebel groups, and lawless sectarian violence also erupted in Rakhine State last year...leading to thousands of new refugees... 

Charities at work in the region include The Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and Plan that are helping with emergency food, water, shelter and medical care... 

Muslim Aid UK is another charity assisting people in Myanmar and is currently appealing for support from donors to help workers and volunteers deliver humanitarian relief to displaced persons affected by the violence in Rakhine State... 

The charity is also calling on other charities and humanitarian organisations to work with them... 

In South East Myanmar, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency is assisting over 200,000 displaced people... 

Agencies report those that have fled from fighting in Rakhine State are in urgent need of food, water, shelter and healthcare, in what is a steadily worsening humanitarian situation... 

The region is also severely poor, and has been battered by cyclones, storms and floods over the years, the latter that impacted on 70,000 people in 2012 along the Ayeyarwady Delta... 

Human rights organisations are also appealing for more action to respect human rights in the country. 

Whilst progress has been made in this respect, with 400 political prisoners released by the government last year, abuses have still been taking place against civilians during recent armed conflicts says Human Rights Watch... 

Still, further progress was announced by the government, when 24 child soldiers were released in a ceremony on February 15 as part of a commitment to stop the use of child soldiers... 

Charity workers continue to appeal to help those suffering in Myanmar, including people of all ages, religions, nationalities and cultural backgrounds... 

Appeals continue for food and clean water for displaced people, sanitation supplies, health and medical care... 

Arjan Hehenkamp, of Médecins Sans Frontières, says it is those “living in makeshift camps in rice fields or other crowded strips of land” that are suffering the most acute medical needs...

Burma Campaign UK

February 20, 2013

Members of the European Burma Network today called on Germany to come clean over whether it is working behind the scenes to have Burma downgraded as a priority for the United Nations Human Rights Council. The European Burma Network brings together advocacy organisations working for human rights and democracy in Burma. 

Discussions have been taking place within the European Union on whether Burma should continue to be listed under Item 4; ‘Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention’, or changed to Item 10, ‘Technical assistance and capacity building.’ Germany is understood to be privately supporting moving Burma to Item 10. 

This is despite the fact that the country still has one of the worst human rights records in the world, and that in the past two years human rights abuses of the kind that could be considered war crimes and crimes against humanity actually increased. Burma is not a democracy, it remains ruled by a military-backed government, and almost all repressive laws remain in place. 

In his statement on 16th February 2013 at the end of his visit to Burma, the UN Special Rapporteur stated; “…there are significant human rights shortcomings that remain unaddressed…” The Special Rapporteur also highlighted continuing use of torture in Burma’s jails. 

The 2012 UN General Assembly Resolution on Burma stated: “Expresses concern about remaining human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, forced displacement, land confiscations, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, as well as violations of international humanitarian law, and urges the Government of Myanmar to step up its efforts to put an end to such violations.” 

Downgrading Burma from Item 4 to Item 10 would be a major diplomatic coup for the government of Burma. 

Writing to German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, the letter states: ‘Germany has a long track record within the European Union of opposing international pressure against the government of Burma to promote human rights and democracy. Germany consistently worked to either attempt to block increased pressure, or to push for relaxing pressure. Germany uses the confidentiality of internal European Union meetings and processes to hide its actions from the German and European public.’ 

‘It appears that your government is again using this tactic to avoid having to justify publicly your position on the issue of Burma at the Human Rights Council. We know from experience that you are likely to reject any accusation that your government is not concerned about human rights in Burma. Therefore, to avoid any misunderstanding, we request that you clarify publicly the position of your government on whether you believe that Burma should remain as an Item 4 on the UN Human Rights Council, and whether Germany supports maintaining the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur.’ 

The letter was sent from the following European Burma Network members: 

Actions Birmanie (Belgium)

Association Suisse-Birmanie

Austrian Burma Center

Burma Aktion (Germany)

Azione Birmania (Italy)

Burma Action Ireland

Burma Campaign UK

Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK

Christian Solidarity Worldwide

Info Birmanie (France)

Swedish Burma Committee