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March 29, 2018

Buthidaung, Arakan State -- 22 Rohingya villagers in Buthidaung Township were sentenced to three-year imprisonment each on Wednesday (Mar 28). 

On 16th August 2017, Security Forces conducted raids at 'U Hla Pe' village in Buthidaung and arbitrarily arrested 49 Rohingya villagers. After that, they were detained in the Regional Camp of the BGP (Border Guard Police). Afterwards, 25 were of them released from the BGP camp in the 'Nyaung Chaung' region on ransom.

According to the villagers, the remaining 24 arrestees were sent to the Buthidaung Prison under the false charges of Criminal Sections 17/1 and 17/2. Later on, Section 17/2 was dismissed and they were continued to be prosecuted under the Section 17/1.

Of these 24, Araf Ullah and Eliyas have been set free on 28th May, while each of the remaining 22 has been handed with three years in prison.

"(Before their verdict was announced,) one of the them had paid 7.5 million, while another has paid 7 million, to the judge as ransom for their releases. The remaining 22 were sent to the prison under three-year imprisonment to each (as they could not pay the ransom)", reported a villager.

"The remaining 22 Rohingyas who have been arbitrarily sentenced to three years in jail are innocent" he continued.

[Translated into English by Sabit Hamid]

Please email to: editor@rohingyablogger.com to send your reports and feedback.





By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
March 28

Theresa May vows to try to ensure Rohingya plight is brought to world attention and people do not forget

LONDON -- Britain’s prime minister said on Tuesday that they constantly raise the issue of the oppressed Rohingya at the UN and directly with Myanmar’s government “to constantly raise awareness that this is an issue people should be addressing.”

Taking questions at a committee meeting in parliament, Theresa May said the U.K. will continue to support Bangladesh for supporting the Rohingya refugees and “to press this as an issue with the government of Burma,” using an older name for Myanmar.

Upon a question by Steven Twigg, who heads parliament’s International Development Committee, May said they will also continue to do “what we can to ensure the plight of the Rohingya people is brought to the attention of the world more generally and that people don’t forget… and it is kept up in people’s awareness.”

During the session, Twigg reminded the committee that Myanmar’s Embassy in London last month denied a British parliamentary delegation visas for a planned visit to Bangladesh and Myanmar to visit refugee camps for evaluation.

The cross-party parliament committee’s “visit was planned as part of the committee’s inquiry into the Department for International Development’s work in Bangladesh and Burma,” the committee had said.

“We are extremely disappointed. It is hard to escape the conclusion that this is a direct consequence of our report on the Rohingya,” Twigg said after the visa denial.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, some 750,000 refugees, mostly children and women, fled Myanmar when Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to the UN. At least 9,000 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine state from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24, according to Doctors Without Borders.

In a report published on Dec. 12, the global humanitarian organization said that the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.

The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has criticized Myanmar's army chief for comments about the country's Muslim Rohingya minority

By AFP
March 27, 2018

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday criticized Myanmar's army chief after he declared that the Muslim Rohingya had nothing in common with the country's other ethnic groups.

Guterres said he was "shocked" at reports of General U Min Aung Hlaing's remarks at a military gathering and urged Myanmar's leaders to "take a unified stance against incitement to hatred and to promote cultural harmony."

At the gathering in northern Kachin state on Monday, Hlaing referred to the Rohingya as "Bengalis," a term meant to describe them as foreigners, and said they "do not have the characteristics or culture in common with the ethnicities of Myanmar."

"The tensions were fuelled because the 'Bengalis' demanded citizenship," said the general who was quoted in the Dhaka Tribune.

Some 700,000 Rohingya have been driven into neighbouring Bangladesh since last August by a major army crackdown that the United Nations has likened to ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar authorities say the operation is aimed at rooting out extremists.

Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize laureate, has lost her democratic credentials on the world stage for failing to speak out in favour of the Rohingya.

Guterres said it was "critical that conditions are put in place to ensure that the Rohingya are able to return home voluntarily, in safety and in dignity."

The UN Security Council is hoping to travel to Myanmar to get a first-hand look at the refugee crisis, but has not yet been given the green light for the trip by Myanmar authorities.

Guterres has for months been weighing the appointment of a special envoy for Myanmar that would keep the plight of the Rohingya in the international spotlight.

US President Donald Trump talks to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a break at a high-level meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York in September, 2017 (Focus Bangla)

March 25, 2018

The US president has also felicitated President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Bangladesh’s Independence Day

US President Donald Trump has lauded Bangladesh President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and its people for sheltering the Rohingyas who fled persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

In separate letters, sent to media by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, on Bangladesh’s Independence Day, Trump thanked Hamid, Hasina and the people of Bangladesh for their response to the refugees’ need.

The US president lauded Hasina in his message to her, saying: “Your personal leadership has been critical to addressing the plight of the Rohingya who fled to safety in your country.”

“I thank you for all you have done to assist these men, women and children in need,” he wrote.

More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees have crossed into Bangladesh and taken refuge since a military crackdown, which was described as “ethnic cleansing” by the UN, began on August 25 last year following an insurgent attack in Rakhine.

They have joined more than 400,000 Rohingyas who were already living in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.

In his message to President Hamid, US President Donald Trump thanked his Bangladesh counterpart and the country’s people for hosting the Rohingya who fled from violence, reports BSS.

“The United States respects and admires your nation’s compassionate response to those in need,” Trump wrote.

Felicitating and conveying his best wishes to Hamid, Hasina and Bangladeshis on the occasion of the Independence Day on March 26, Trump said he along with the American people joined them in celebrating the heritage and history of Bangladesh.

“Today we recognize Bangladesh’s rich culture and language and reaffirm our partnership on democracy, development, counterterrorism, trade and investment,” he said in his message to Hamid.

Trump said: “Our close cooperation helps sustain the security and prosperity of both our countries.”

Rohingya rights activist Nay San Lwin

By Tarek Mahmud
March 24, 2018

London-based renowned Rohingya rights activist Nay San Lwin, also a regular contributor to Rohingya community blog Rohingyablogger.com, speaks with the Dhaka Tribune’s Tarek Mahmud to discuss the issues of racial discrimination against Rohingyas in detail

How have Rohingyas faced discrimination in the Rakhine state of Myanmar?

Rohingyas have been subject to racial discrimination since the military coup in 1962.

In 1965, a radio program broadcasted in Rohingya language was shut down.

Then in 1974, the Burmese junta launched ‘Operation Jasmine’, locally known as “Operation Sabae”, through which they confiscated many identity cards from the Rohingyas while they were traveling from one state to another.

1978 saw another large scale operation, ‘Dragon King’, to wipe out Rohingyas, which resulted in more than 250,000 Rohingyas fleeing to Bangladesh. But soon after, although they had been expelled as illegal Bangladeshis, they were repatriated as Rohingyas.

Since then, Rohingyas have lost many basic rights. In 1982, Rohingyas became stateless within their own country after the enactment of the new citizenship law. 10 years later in 1992, the military junta imposed severe restrictions against us, forcing us to live in open-air prisons.

Do the Myanmar authorities impose such restrictions only against the Rohingyas? Why has the Myanmar government acted this way?

Myanmar authorities are targeting the Rohingya population specifically because the Rohingyas are confined within one particular area. But they are not only targeting Rohingyas, they are antagonistic against other Muslim minorities across the country as well.

However, there is a difference between the policies concerning Rohingyas and other Muslim minorities. Myanmar’s policy towards the Rohingya is to simply wipe them off Myanmar’s map through genocide. They do not want the Rohingya population in the country.

They are very well aware of Rohingyas’ lineage and history, but they still continue to propagate the claim that Rohingyas are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. With the help of this propaganda campaign, the Myanmar government has garnered the support of the Buddhist majority, which made it easier for them to kill thousands of Rohingyas and drive them out to Bangladesh since August 25, 2017.

How do you think the Rohingyas can be repatriated properly?

Firstly, the repatriation agreement should be held up, and the homeland of Rohingyas in the Northern Rakhine state must be protected. Secondly, the United Nations and the international community should oversee the safe repatriation of the Rohingyas back to Rakhine.

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh will only go back if a safe repatriation process is ensured.

How can the Rohingya diaspora play a role in the repatriation process and in rooting out this racial discrimination?

Rohingya diasporas are trying to help as much as they can, but it is very important that the UN and the international community intervene in the repatriation process.

Most of the countries have agreed with it, with the exception of China and Russia. Aung San Suu Kyi and Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing need to be produced before the International Criminal Court. Only then will the genocide against Rohingyas stop.

China and Russia are obstacles in the process, but we will not give up. There must be justice for all the atrocities the Myanmar government has been committing for almost four decades.

How is the Rohingya crisis affecting the Asian countries in different arenas such as security, health, migration, and others?

The refugee camps in Bangladesh act as a black market for traffickers. I think, after the monsoon season, many traffickers will try to smuggle genocide survivors residing in Bangladesh. But if the Bangladeshi government is vigilant, this might not occur.

Do you think the Bangladeshi government is tackling the Rohingya crisis in a diplomatic manner? If not, then what do you think Bangladesh should do?

We appreciate the fact that Bangladesh is hosting more than a million Rohingya refugees. I think they are doing their best, but it is also true that we will not like all of their activities since they have to be diplomatic at the same time.

As a result, I think countries like the US, the UK, and organizations like the EU and OIC need to stand beside Bangladesh and pressurize the Myanmar government to accept the demands of the Rohingya survivors.

Bangladesh has to be firm with Myanmar about the repatriation process. It must urge the Myanmar military to stop calling Rohingyas ‘extremist Bangladeshi terrorists’ and start recognizing them as their own citizens.

As Bangladesh is a state party of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, it has the capacity to refer Burmese criminals to the court.

Bangladesh has been suffering the Rohingya crisis for 40 years. The exodus continues to repeat, again and again. The time has come to take strong action against Myanmar so it stops the ongoing genocide.

How has the international community addressed the Rohingya crisis? What more do you think it should do?

The UN has termed Rohingyas as the most persecuted minority since 1992. But no solutions have been provided yet.

Many rights organizations and countries are calling the persecution against the Rohingyas ‘ethnic cleansing’. But this is not the right term. Scholars and experts have called it a genocide. I believe if the international community starts using the correct term, it will help in stopping the genocide, and actions against the Burmese criminals will be taken faster.

The Rohingyas have been displaced by their government several times already. What is the future of the Rohingyas?

In short, if the repatriation of Rohingyas is not protected, if the homeland of Rohingyas in the Northern Rakhine state is not protected, the exodus and genocide will continue. That is why we are demanding the safe return of the Rohingyas back to Myanmar.

Myanmar State Chancellor Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticized for her role in the crisis. How far do you think she is responsible? What she can do, now?

As a Nobel peace laureate, she at least has a moral authority and obligation to speak out against any injustice. But unfortunately, she has put her support behind the genocidal campaign against Rohingyas. She has sided with military criminals.

As the de facto leader of Myanmar, she is fully responsible for stopping all atrocities against Rohingyas. The military has claimed that they inform the government about everything, and have to get permission before acting. Since she is not willing to do anything for the Rohingyas, except lying to the international community about the Myanmar military’s actions, she should be brought to the International Criminal Court.

Bringing criminals like her to the International Criminal Court is a huge challenge for us, but we will not stop trying. Aung San Suu Kyi needs to be punished.

By Gerald Caplan
March 24, 2018

“All over the world there were people like me sitting in offices, day after day after day, who did not fully appreciate the depth and the speed with which you were being engulfed by this unimaginable terror.”

Thus president Bill Clinton apologized to the people of Rwanda when Air Force One briefly landed at Kigali airport four years after the genocide there ended. Par for American presidents, the statement was not remotely true. Mr. Clinton had known exactly what was happening and chose not to intervene despite the appalling scale of the slaughter of Rwanda’s Tutsis by Hutu extremists. 

But many in the Western world were indeed ignorant about the situation, which is one of the explanations later adduced for the failure of the “international community” to intervene and stop the slaughter. Most Western newspapers and TV networks either didn’t know or didn’t care about a tiny nation in Central Africa called Rwanda. For many, their negligible interest in Africa was appeased by the first free election in South Africa, which happened to take place in the same month, April, 1994, that the genocide began. 

With sparse or no direct information from the media, many Western politicians understood little of the events engulfing Rwanda, and had little incentive to provide the reinforcements urged so passionately by Roméo Dallaire, the head of the puny UN military mission to Rwanda. The world stood by, hands in pocket, and passively watched.

If ignorance was the excuse, anti-genocide activists vowed that never again would such a calamity go unnoticed by the powers that be. The first test case − the “next Rwanda” − came soon enough, as the government of Sudan unleashed mass death against the Darfuri people in the west of the country in 2003. The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof wrote column after outraged column on his first-hand observations in Darfur. Movie stars investigated and spoke out. A worldwide grassroots campaign materialized. Thousands of Canadians added their voices.

This effort was successful, at least formally. U.S. President George W. Bush and his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, both agreed that a genocide was being organized against the people of Darfur. But somehow, that did not impact American policy. Despite the provisions of the 1948 UN Convention Against Genocide, neither the U.S. nor any other government took direct action against the government of Sudan. While attacks against the Darfuri continue to this day, and action groups persist in publicizing them, many activists were shattered to find that knowledge of the crime didn’t at all translate into action against the crime. 

None of this, of course, prevented politicians around the world from continuing self-importantly to swear “Never Again” on their watch. 

Now here we go again. 

It is not possible that any government anywhere remains unaware of the attacks being levelled by the government of Myanmar against the country’s own Rohingya people. It is not possible that any of these governments are oblivious to the evidence that has led many prominent and responsible observers to describe these attacks as having a genocidal purpose. The indomitable Mr. Kristof is back telling Times readers “I Saw a Genocide in Slow Motion.”

Millions around the world seem to care about the fate of the Rohingya, none of them with any power to intervene. The UN’s human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, reports that Myanmar’s military have committed “acts of genocide” against the Rohingya people. Yet the UN Security Council is paralyzed, this time by China, just as it was paralyzed by Clinton’s America over Rwanda. 

Thoughtful but deeply frustrated observers like Mr. Kristof and Tony Burman, the excellent Canadian foreign-affairs columnist, are pressing hard for some kind of intervention – ANY kind, almost. Mr. Burman wants Canada to get involved, and we can surely be certain that when Bob Rae – a wise and sensible man — soon hands in his report as the federal government’s special envoy for the crisis, he too will call on Canada to take action of some kind.

People look back now and try to recollect where they were during the Rwandan genocide and why they didn’t speak out while it mattered. In a few short years, they’ll be asking themselves the same thing about Myanmar. But this time, ignorance will be no excuse. We know exactly what is happening, and who is making it happen. That’s no longer the issue. The only questions are: What will we and our government do about it this time? Has Never Again actually become Again and Again?

Gerald Caplan is an Africa scholar and former New Democratic Party national director

Adam Mosseri. (Getty)

By Christopher Woody
March 22, 2018

  • Workers at Facebook reportedly "lose sleep" over the use of their platform to spread hate speech.
  • The Facebook executive who oversees the newsfeed algorithm said addressing such content was one of his team's biggest challenges.
  • Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has expressed reservations about cracking down on speech.
  • Adam Mosseri, Facebook's vice president of product management, said that Facebook's contribution to ongoing violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar caused his team distress and was something they struggled to address.

Mosseri said the situation in Myanmar, from where more than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims fled since August, was "deeply concerning in a lot of different ways" during a recent interview on Slate's technology podcast, If Then.

Mosseri manages the team that oversees the algorithm that controls what people see in their Facebook news feeds. He said real-world violence could be one of the "most concerning and severe negative consequences of any platform."

"Connecting the world isn't always going to be a good thing," he said on the podcast. "We're trying to take the issue seriously, but we lose some sleep over this."

"It's important for us to remember that technology isn't naturally a good or a bad thing. It's sort of agnostic and it's how technology's used that can be either good or bad," Mosseri said.

Facebook typically works with third-party fact-checkers, but that approach doesn't work in Myanmar because, as far as the company is aware, there are no groups to fill that role in the country, Mosseri said. The company has instead focused on identifying "bad actors" and enforcing its community standards and terms of service to "address the proliferation of some problematic content."

"Real-world harm and what’s happening on the ground in that part of the world is actually one of the most concerning things for us and something that we talk about on a regular basis," Mosseri said.

Mosseri's comments came in response to a question about UN investigators saying Facebook played a role in spreading hate speech in Myanmar.

Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, said social media has "substantively contributed to the level of acrimony and dissension and conflict, if you will, within the public. Hate speech is certainly of course a part of that. As far as the Myanmar situation is concerned, social media is Facebook, and Facebook is social media."

Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres estimated at the end of last year that at least 9,000 Rohingya Muslims had been killed in the Myanmar military's "clearance operations."

Many of those who fled Myanmar have reported rapes and executions carried out by Myanmar security forces.

The Myanmar government has denied all charges, though in January the military admitted involvement in the killing of 10 Rohingya.

"Everything is done through Facebook in Myanmar," said UN Myanmar investigator Yanghee Lee, adding that while Facebook had helped the impoverished country, it had also been used to spread hate speech.

"We know that the ultra-nationalist Buddhists have their own Facebooks and are really inciting a lot of violence and a lot of hatred against the Rohingya or other ethnic minorities," she said.

The information Facebook gathers on its users and how the company uses that information has garnered increased attention in recent days, in the wake of revelations that British data company Cambridge Analytica illicitly obtained information from as many as 50 million Facebook profiles by abusing Facebook's data-sharing features.

On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Recode he felt "fundamentally uncomfortable sitting here in California at an office, making content policy decisions for people around the world."

"A lot of the most sensitive issues that we faced today are conflicts between our real values, right? Freedom of speech and hate speech and offensive content," Zuckerberg said. "Where is the line, right? And the reality is that different people are drawn to different places, we serve people in a lot of countries around the world, a lot of different opinions on that."


    • Rohingya Exodus