Nizam Ahmed

Financial Express BD

March 10, 2013

A senior official of the United States (US) is expected to visit Bangladesh, Myanmar and Japan for a week from Tuesday next to discuss issues relating to conflicts in Myanmar and exodus of refugees from the country, officials said on Saturday. 

US State Department Senior Advisor for Myanmar Mr W. Patrick Murphy will undertake the tour at such a time when fleeing Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have become a matter of concern for neighbouring countries.

The intrusion of Rohingyas in the south and the southeast Asian countries including Bangladesh have increased following spells of communal riots between Rohingya Muslims and local Buddhists in Rakhine state, in western Myanmar since June last year.

Bangladesh, which has been hosting about 400,000 unregistered refugees from Myanmar, sent back several hundred Rohingyas who wanted to take refuge in the country fleeing the recent communal riots in Myanmar.

However, before sending them back, the refugees were given medical treatment when needed, food and even cash so that they can support them at least for a few days, according to officials of Border Guard Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka which have been hosting lots of Rohingya refugees since Myanmar riots last year, recently rescued hundreds of boat-people, mostly Rohingyas from the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.

Senior Adviser Mr Murphy is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka Tuesday on a two-day visit to Bangladesh. He will also travel to Myanmar and Japan until March 18, said a press release of the US State Department made available to the FE on Saturday.

Mr Murphy will visit Rangoon, Naypyitaw and other Myanmar cities from March 13 to March 16, and the Japanese capital Tokyo on March 17 and 18, the state department said.

The senior adviser is expected to discuss with the relevant authorities in Dhaka and civil society groups on reforms and other recent developments in Myanmar.

"In particular, he will discuss US policies, conflict in Rakhine and Kachin States, and international support, including responsible investment, to strengthen reform and reconciliation efforts," said the press release.

Mr Murphy is also expected to pay a whirlwind visit to southeastern Cox's Bazar region to see the plight of the Myanmar refugees now living there, officials at the ministry of foreign affairs (MoFA) said in Dhaka.

"However the itinerary of Mr Murphy has no mention of a probable visit to refugee camps in Cox's Bazar district, but the arrangement will be kept ready in case the senior US adviser wants to visit the refugee infested region," a senior official at MoFA told the FE.

Like the US administration, Bangladesh has also a great concern on the Myanmar issues as tens of thousands of unregistered refugees from Myanmar have seriously affected socio economic situation in the refugee infested region.

The unregistered Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are now living in scattered squalid makeshift camps in southeastern region of Bangladesh near Myanmar border.

Besides the unregistered refugees, there are some 30,000 Rohingyas living in two official camps, run by the government of Bangladesh and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, near Cox's Bazar resort town.

The inmates of the official camps are the remnants of some 250,000 Rohingya refugees, who fled Myanmar alleging persecution by military junta in late 1991 and 1992.

Recently, hundreds of Rohingya Muslims trying to flee their native Arakans (now Rakhine state) of Myanmar or their makeshift camps in Bangladesh have been nabbed or rescued from the sea in recent weeks in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka, according to news agencies.

Since the communal clashes began in Arakan State in June 2012, the number of Rohingyas fleeing by boats to neighbouring Southeast Asian countries has increased significantly.

News agencies say many Rohingyas flee Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which considers them illegal Muslim settlers from neighboring Bangladesh.

However, Bangladesh refutes the stance of Myanmar and claims that the Rohingys have been the residents of Arakan for several hundred years.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has recently considered about 800,000 Rohingya people of Myanmar's Rakhine state as the most persecuted people in the world.

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

M.S. Anwar 

RB News 

March 9, 2013

Maung Daw, Arakan - Around 3AM on 9th March 2013, five extremist Rakhine youths attempted to torch a house owned by Rohingya in Shikdar Fara (Myoma Kayintan), Maung Daw. Fortunately, the house owner happened to wake up in time to prevent his house from being torched. 

“Five extremist Rakhine youths came to the house of Zahid Hussain S/o Nurul Amin at around 3AM secretly and with them, there were petrol gallons and lighters. The house owner woke up and saw them trying to torch his house. When the house-owner and his neighbors chased them, four of the escaped and one got caught. Upon questioning, the Rakhine who got caught said that he was Minbraa Township and had been in Maung Daw for around 10 days. Then, he suddenly began to behave as if he was a fool. 

Later, the villagers informed the commander of the military battalion encamped at the High School in the village that they had caught a Rakhine trying to set fire to a house. The battalion commander, without even asking who he was, said “he is a fool” and asked the villagers to inform the Police. Police came and they, too, without even seeing him, said “he is a fool.” And Police released him. The guy was again seen traversing in the village in the evening of the day” said a Rohingya Elder from Maung Daw.

“There are curfew order imposed at night and two military camps at the two ends of the village. Police and Military always patrol at night. So, how could they come at night to set fire to the house? How could the commander say that he was a fool without even asking who was the person that got caught? If he was really a fool, why did he give some straight answers at first? Above all, why is he set free if he is a fool? There are a lot one can question upon. But we feel it is a CONSPIRACY to create violence against Rohingyas again, in which the enforcement authorities are involved. Now, we suspect that the six houses of Rohingyas burnt down in the village the night before might have been torched by the same fools” he continued.

March 7, 2013

Burma Campaign UK

March 8, 2013

British government receiving; ‘disturbing reports of the use of sexual violence by the military in Burma.’ 

On International Women’s Day, Burma Campaign UK is calling on members of the United Nations Human Rights Council to ensure that the Council continues to investigate serious human rights abuses in Burma, including sexual violence. There have been moves by some countries not to renew the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, and for Burma to be downgraded from agenda Item 4; ‘Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention’, to Item 10, ‘Technical assistance and capacity building.’ 

UN Human Rights Council members will discuss Burma on Monday 11th March. 

The moves come just one week after a British Foreign Office Minister, Baroness Warsi, stated: “We continue to receive disturbing reports of the use of sexual violence by the military in Burma. We are concerned that the Burmese authorities have done little to investigate.” The statement came in an answer to a question in the British Parliament on 26th February 2013. 

“Since Thein Sein became President, we have received more, not fewer, reports of rape and sexual violence by the Burmese Army,” said Zoya Phan, Campaigns Manager at Burma Campaign UK. “The government of Burma continues to either ignore or deny its forces are committing sexual violence, instead of investigating and stopping the attacks. If Human Rights Council members end the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, they will be helping the Burmese government to cover up rape and other abuses. In their own countries if they helped a rapist get away with their crime that would also be a crime. There are double standards here and women in Burma are being left to pay the price.” 

Numerous cases of rape and sexual violence by government forces in the past two years have been documented in Shan State, Rakhine State and Kachin State. Reports are available online at: http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php/campaigns/crimes-against-humanity/142/132

“It is not just naive but also criminally negligent to think the issue of rape and sexual violence in Burma can be addressed internally without international involvement,” said Zoya Phan. “Thein Sein has presided over an increase of sexual violence by government forces and has taken no action. He has a track record of allowing his soldiers to commit rape. When he was a commander in Shan State in the 1990s, the Shan Women’s Action Network documented 45 cases of rape by soldiers under his command.”

Greg Torode

South China Morning Post

March 8, 2013
 

United Nations officials have demanded urgent explanations from Thailand over reports that its security forces shot dead up to 15 unarmed Rohingya migrants trying to flee neighbouring Myanmar. 

Vivian Tan, spokeswoman for the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Thailand, said officials yesterday met counterparts from the Thai Foreign Ministry in Bangkok. 

"We … are watching this closely and we are concerned," Tan said. While no specific timetable was offered from the Thai side, "we did say it was urgent".

Her comments follow reports in yesterday's South China Morning Post from its correspondents in Phuket detailing allegations from survivors of the February 22 incident near the island of Phuket on Thailand's Andaman coast. 

The alleged killings came during an attempt by the military to transfer about 20 migrants from the boat that had carried them and more than 100 others from Myanmar to a smaller boat. 

Some feared they would be separated from family members and jumped into the water, at which point the military opened fire, witnesses said. Survivors are being sheltered by local Thai villagers, some of whom heard the shooting and photographed Thai military vessels towing a Rohingya vessel. Thai naval officials have yet to comment. 

Tan said the UNHCR was aware of earlier, vague media reports of shootings in Thailand from Rohingya boatpeople arriving in Sri Lanka and two recent boatloads in Aceh, on the north-western tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. 

UNCHR staff had yet to be allowed access to the Sri Lanka migrants but had started interviewing the arrivals in Aceh. 

"We are aware of the reports but we don't yet have our own information. We are trying to find out what happened," Tan said. 

If correct, the reports suggest a lethal new twist in Thailand's previously controversial handling of the Rohingya, according to diplomats and observers. 

Conservative Muslims from Myanmar's isolated Rakhine state, Rohingya have been described by the UNHCR as the most persecuted people on earth. 

Denied citizenship in Myanmar - despite settlements going back centuries - Rohingya have fled across the land border with Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands still languish in camps, and by boat to Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. 

Lack of citizenship means it is difficult for Rohingya to marry or work legally. 

Thousands have set sail to escape a recent outbreak of violence targeting their communities in Myanmar while hundreds languish in Thailand, which has yet to allow the UNHCR to screen them as refugees. 

In 2009, a series of Post reports revealed a campaign by Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), an elite but secretive Thai army unit, to tow Rohingya in powerless boats out to sea and cast them adrift. 

Hundreds died before the policy was disavowed by then-prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. 

ISOC officials launched the crackdown apparently fearing the Rohingya could swell the number of terrorists in Thailand's restive Muslim deep south - even though they have never been linked to any violent groups. 

Since then, the Thai military has publicly adopted a policy of "helping on" Rohingya boats intercepted at sea, supplying them with fuel, food and water on the promise that they keep sailing and do not land in Thailand.

OpenDemocracy

March 7, 2013

The Rohingya, a Muslim minority from Rakhine State in Burma, are among the most persecuted minorities in the world. Hamid sends a letter detailing the violence and exclusion his community continues to face. 

Since June 2012 the Rohingya have been subject to an intense spate of inter-communal violence and state-sanctioned persecution in Myanmar (Burma). Reports of untold deaths, thousands of homes being destroyed, and tens of thousands of Rohingya being displaced have coincided with a time of great change for the country as it transitions to democracy. 

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority from Rakhine State in western Burma, and have been acknowledged by the United Nations to be one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. For decades, the estimated 800,000 population from Rakhine State has confronted restrictions on their freedom of movement, marriage, education, and worship. In 1982 the Government of Burma enacted the ‘Burma Citizenship Law’ constitutionally excluding the Rohingya people from citizenship, making them a stateless people. At the heart of the tension lies a contested history of the origins of the Rohingya. The Burmese government considers them to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. 

Bangladesh, as the eighth most populated country in the world, is estimated to be host to over 200,000 Rohingya refugees. Whilst many refugees have resided in Bangladesh since 1978, with another key migration in 1991, the recent arrival of those fleeing persecution from Burma has stirred ongoing tensions. Competition over scarce resources and employment is said to have fueled these tensions between local residents and the Rohingya. This, along with the Government of Bangladesh’s suspension of humanitarian aid in refugee camps in July 2012, prompted my investigations about the protection needs of the Rohingya. 

After making research inquiries into the consequences of forced migration on both the Rohingyas and the local Bangladesh host population in the Cox’s Bazar District of southern Bangladesh, I met a community with a resounding plea for international help and for others to know the Rohingya story. 

One young man, Hamid, wrote this letter, and requested his testimony be shared. 

[Editor's note: Where marked, the text below is expedited for Hamid's security. Grammar has been altered for ease of reading. In all other respects this is an unedited translation of Hamid's letter. ] 

Who I am 

I finished my primary study in U Hla Pae village and continued my high school in Buthidaung Township. After I finished my study, I continued to study politics. However I could not live in my hometown and had to flee to Bangladesh, and am now living in Cox’s Bazar. Bangladesh government also arrested me here with illegal entry to Bangladesh from Myanmar. It is very difficult to get a job here as an illegal immigrant. We are neither accepted by the Bangladesh government nor Myanmar government. We cannot go back to Myanmar. We would like to request to the international community to show us a peaceful place. I am here now for 5 months. I came here to save my life and feed myself. Because there are so many Rohingya in Bangladesh, we only get work once a week. We do not know what to do. People coming from Myanmar are now starving. These people get food once a day only. The Bangladesh government also arrests them. These people cannot live in cities so they have to stay in countryside villages. My hope is to get donations from rich countries to feed us. [sentence excluded for confidentiality]. I am very thankful and grateful that you listen to our news. I cannot give information about us because I cannot get in contact with any NGOs. 

Reality behind the Taunggot event 

A group of 52 Muslim pilgrims from Yangon, former capital of Myanmar travelled to the cities in Rakhine state with the purpose of religious activities. For their activities, they had to stay for 45 days in different cities and travelled to Yangon through Taunggot. Taunggot is a crosslink city between Rakhine state and Yangon division. On the way back to Yangon on 3rd June 2012, a Rakhine mob attacked them in Taunggot highway. The mob was so cruel that the pilgrim group was killed inhumanly. They were beaten in head till their brains came out, and slaughtered. That night, the Rakhine mob openly celebrated their successful killings with music and alcohol in Taunggot with the presence of local authorities. 

Reality about the story in Kyauk Ni Maw (Than Dwe) 

In Kyauk Ni Maw, a Rakhine girl was in love with a Kaman Muslim boy since their high school. There was another Rakhine boy who loved this Rakhine girl. The two lovers broke up for some reason. In general, Rakhine girls were not allowed to have affairs with Muslims in Rakhine state. Therefore some Rakhines made a plan to kill that girl for not loving someone of the same race ([the] Rakhine boy) and murdered her inhumanly. After she was murdered, her body was left closer to the Muslim village and accused her former lover, the Muslim boy, as the rapist and murderer and arrested him. However according to initial medical report, she was not raped at all. Together with him, two of his Muslim friends were also arrested with the same accusation. With that news, some Rakhine extremists distributed pamphlets to instigate the anger and hatred against Muslims among the Rakhine community. 

Reality behind the events at Myauk-O, Kyauk Phyu and Kyauk Taw 

In Myauk-O, the number of Rakhine villages is more than Muslim villages. Therefore Muslim population is much less than Rakhine population. Rakhine used their numbers as an advantage and killed Muslims above 4000 by using long knife and guns. Among the victims, 2500 were children and new born babies. Rakhines attached the new born babies at the edge of steel rods and put into fire. Many Muslim houses were also burnt down. Similar stories in Kyauk Phyu and Kyauk Taw as well. 

Reality behind Sittwe’s crisis 

In Sittwe, it started on 7 June 2012. The Rakhine started killing Muslims, burning the houses in Zalla Fara (a Muslim village) and all villagers were killed on that day. It continued to other Muslim villages such as Nazir Fara, Amala Fara, Hausha Fara, San Taw Laik, Bomu Rwar and Bo Pwa Fara with the combination of Rakhines, Police forces, NaSaKa (Burmese Border Security Forces), Lone Tein and Military forces. Rakhines used long knives and homemade guns while the government forces [used] guns to kill Muslims. 

Muslims were burnt alive in their own houses and some were tied up while being burnt. Children and newborn babies were thrown into the river when the Rakhines got tired of stabbing with knives. Some of the children were also thrown into fire. All the government bodies in Sittwe were involved in helping the Rakhine mob to target Muslims. Rakhines had guns and together with Nasaka, Police and Lone Tein, they directly shot at Muslims. Those who were not killed and became homeless are in refugee concentration camps now. 

Muslims from Sittwe tried to flee from their birth places to save their lives and travelled by five small boats to Bangladesh. However those five boats were not accepted by the Bangladesh government and were pushed back towards Burma. Among 5 boats, 3 boats were destroyed by NaSaKa with guns in the sea. The other 2 were also not lucky. There were few pregnant women in those 2 boats and they all died while trying to deliver the baby on the boat. The remaining Muslims were also shot dead by local security forces when they reached back to Rakhine state side. 

Local security forces were famous for torturing and raping Muslim women previously. In this crisis, they did not stay behind doing all those atrocities towards Muslim girls. The government never take action for that. The monks also encouraged and instigated the Rakhines to kill Muslims. Moreover, the monks were involved by themself to kill and drive away Muslims from their land by changing their clothes to ordinary people. 

Reality behind Maungdaw’s crisis 

In Maungdaw, it was started on 8 June 2012. When the problem started in Maungdaw between Rakhine and Muslims, NaSaKa supported to first Rakhines to kill Muslims. When there was a big chance of a riot starting in Maungdaw, a Rakhine trashed a Muslim with his motor bike on 8 June 2012 at 12 pm. After hitting the Muslim, he ran away and the police came and arrested and tortured the victim instead of the Rakhine in the street where the intentional accident happened. When the Muslims (around 10) gathered to the event and asked the police why he was torturing and beating him instead of the Rakhine, the police left the scene with anger and the Muslim was escaped. 

That day was Friday and therefore all Muslims go to mosque to pray Juamma at noon. During that time, the police and NaSaKa force arrived and waited outside till people came out from mosque and shot at Muslims and 2 Muslims died on the spot. When the police and NaSaKa fired shots into the group, people were dispersed and ran away in different directions. After that scene, the Rakhine went to a local mosque and fired it to burn it down. Muslim houses were also burnt down. As the officers shot fire into Muslims, some of them were seriously injured and some of them escaped to Bangladesh to save their life and to treat their injuries. Some are still in Chittagong continuing their treatment and some were dead with their injuries. Back in Maungdaw, NaSaKa threw some Muslim corpses into the river. 

Reality behind Buthidaung’s crisis 

In Buthidaung, there were no clashes yet between Rakhines and Muslims as the Rakhines are the minority there. The military station Sa Kha Ka group no 15 and Strategy group no 18 are trying to not have any clashes till today. However the commissioner from the police station commanded the police officers to arrest the educated Muslims from every village and kept them in police custody for 2 days and sent to jail. Some of the Muslims were tortured to death. The police are still arresting the known and rich Muslims and extorting money from them to release them from jails. If the demanded money cannot be provided, the Muslims were tortured inhumanely. 

Recently the monks from Buthidaung called a meeting for Rakhines and made a secret plan to bring the guns from Sittwe together with Rakhines from there and stored in Buthidaung. The Muslims are afraid of the guns as they do not have anything to protect themselves. The local government also support the Rakhines and encourage them to attack and oppress Muslims. All of the police are Rakhines and therefore they do not show any mercy to shoot at Muslims. On 3 November 2012, the military seized 180 handmade guns from Rakhines in Buthidaung. 

Law and Order in Rakhine State 

In 1950s and 1960s, Muslims from Rakhine state from various cities entered to government posts after they finished their study. However now Muslims cannot enter to government jobs at all. Moreover they created different law and order for Muslims in the whole of Rakhine state. Muslims have to follow the rule strictly. No Rakhine has to follow that rule. Muslims cannot marry according to Islamic law. Muslims can only marry after paying 300,000 kyats to NaSaKa (Boarder security forces). Only Muslims who have money can marry and poor Muslims cannot. If anyone marries without getting permission from NaSaKa they can be sentenced to 5 years according to strict law. Rakhine people do not have such kind of rule. If Muslims have to visit to Maungdaw and Buthidaung, they have to get permission (called Form 4) from the authority. To obtain that form, 5000 kyats need to be paid and anyone who is caught travelling without that form, he/she will be sentenced to 4 years. 

Moreover one cannot live in another house even in the same village without permission. Muslims cannot stay in their relatives’ house without any permission from the authority. Otherwise they will be fined 300,000 kyats. It is a very miserable life for Muslims in Rakhine state. 

Four years ago, the police forces and NaSaKa forces went to villages in Buthidaung and Maungdaw and gathered all the young girls, young boys and women in police headquarters. They were raped, tortured and beaten inhumanely. Muslims are facing all difficulties to survive in Rakhine state. 

Another important matter is that the authority is giving trouble with improper law to UNHCR and UNDP, with the accusation of sending the news of Rakhine state overseas, and sentenced to jails some staff. Those who sent information through the internet and mobile phone are sentenced to 45 years. Therefore some of the real news from Maungdaw and Buthidaung was not sent through internet and phone. Moreover the internet lines were filtered and closed not to be able to send the news. Therefore the international community do not get the real information of Rakhine state. Therefore I am trying now to send the news to international communities. 

I hope this letter will reach everyone and after reading this, please help and sympathize to Muslims in Rakhine state. 

This letter is directly translated from the original Burmese letter. Translated by Mohammed Anwar, the current president of the Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia. 

This testimony is not necessarily representative of the researcher's views.

Introduction

1. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar was established pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1992/58, and was recently extended by Human Rights Council resolution 19/21. The present report is submitted pursuant to Council resolution 19/21 and General Assembly resolution 67/233, and covers human rights developments in Myanmar since the Special Rapporteur’s report to the Council (A/HRC/19/67) in March 2012 and to the Assembly (A/67/383) in October 2012.

2. From 11 to 16 February 2013, the Special Rapporteur conducted his seventh mission to Myanmar and met, in Naypyitaw, the Minister for Home Affairs, the Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, the Attorney General, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Minister for Border Affairs, the Deputy Chief Justice and other justices of the Supreme Court, as well as several members of parliament and parliamentary committees. In Yangon, he met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, members of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, civil society, prisoners of conscience held in Insein prison, former detainees from Buthidaung Prison, the United Nations country team and the diplomatic community. He also visited Yangon University and met with the Dean and students, and visited the offices of the Myanmar Times.

3. He visited Rakhine State, where he met state authorities and community leaders. He visited camps for displaced persons for both Buddhist and Muslim communities in Sittwe, Myebon and Pauk Taw and visited Sittwe Prison. He also visited Kachin State, where he met state authorities and civil society, visited camps for displaced persons in Myitkyina and Waingmaw and visited Myitkyina Prison. He expresses thanks to the Government of Myanmar for its cooperation during the visit.

4. He visited Japan from 7 to 10 February and met with representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, and civil society organisations. He also visited Thailand from 17 to 18 February and met with representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, civil society, United Nations regional and national offices and the diplomatic community. He is grateful to the Governments of Japan and Thailand for their cooperation.

5. The Special Rapporteur expresses thanks to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, Bangkok and New York, for assisting him in discharging his mandate.

Read more here:

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar

Chutima Sidasathian and Alan Morison 

Phuket Wan

March 6, 2013

The killings, which are said to have occurred on February 21, came during a botched attempt by the military to transfer about 20 would-be refugees from the large boat on which they arrived from Burma (Myanmar) with 110 others, to a much smaller vessel. 

When some feared they would be separated from family members, they jumped in the water and the military men opened fire during the predawn incident, the witnesses said.

Survivors Habumara, 20, Rerfik, 25, and Jamar, 16, said yesterday that they swam for their lives when the shooting broke out. They are currently being sheltered by sympathetic villagers.

Two fresh graves, said to contain Rohingya, were seen by a Phuketwan reporter and an Australian news television crew yesterday.

The three survivors said they believed that the killers were members of the Thai Navy, but village residents said they probably belonged to another branch of the Thai military. 

Previous abuses of the Muslim Rohingya have been carried out by other arms of the Thai military or operatives trained as paramilitaries.

Vice Admiral Tharathorn Khajitsuwan, the Commander of Thai Navy Three, which patrols the Andaman coast, declined to comment.

One Rohingya, Rerfik, said that their boat, which had run out of fuel on its journey from Burma, was intercepted by local Thai fishermen on February 21.

Read more here:

RB News

March 6, 2013

A delegation of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) is visiting South Africa to raise awareness about the situation of the Rohingya and human rights in Burma. The delegation was invited by Burma Campaign South Africa and Protect the Rohingya Group from Johannesburg. 

Yesterday evening the delegation met the Deputy Foreign Minister of South Africa, Ibrahim Ibrahim and highlighted the new apartheid system against Rohingya being imposed by the Burmese Government. 

The delegation highlighted how the immediate priorities are safety and security, and for President Thein Sein to allow full international humanitarian access, not just to those in camps, but also those in villages. The delegation asked the Foreign Minister to support international observers on the ground, support a UN Commission of Inquiry, and to pressure Thein Sein to repeal the 1982 Citizenship Law. 

BROUK President Tun Khin said: “I am extremely satisfied with the meeting with the South Africa Deputy Foreign Minister. We were able to deliver the message that the world needs to wake up to the new apartheid system against the Rohingya which is being created by President Thein Sein.” 

Yesterday the delegation also held a press conference, and met lawyers from the Muslim Association to discuss justice and accountability issues relating to violence and discrimination against the Rohingya. 

Today BROUK President will give an interview on South African national television and give a speech at the prestigious Johannesburg University. 

During South Africa trip the delegation will raise awareness the plight of Rohingya in Cape Town.

Aubrey Belford

The Global Mail

March 6, 2013

Bangkok Post

March 6, 2013

Thein Sein, on the first-ever visit to Brussels by a Myanmar president, received on Tuesday new pledges of EU economic assistance coupled with calls to protect his country's ethnic minorities.

The Myanmar leader, setting out on the fourth leg of an historic 10-day tour of Europe, met successively with European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, EU president Herman Van Rompuy, and foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

"You have in the European Union a committed and longterm partner for the historic journey that Myanmar and its people have started," Van Rompuy told Thein Sein, who was warnmly welcomed all round for his ground-breaking reforms in the once pariah state.

Since the former premier took over the presidency in March 2011, hundreds of political prisoners have been released and elections held, including the election to parliament of long-detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"The EU and Myanmar are turning a page in their relationship," said Barroso. "More dialogue, more and better aid, more trade and investment."

While EU development aid has more than doubled to around 200 million euros for 2012-2013, Brussels said it was now ready to explore the feasibility of a bilateral investment agreement.

Ashton, flanked by commissioner for industry Antonio Tajani, will visit Myanmar, also known as Burma, later this year to look at further economic support.

The EU has also offered to reinstate a preferential tariffs deal with Yangon.

Thein Sein complained however of continuing economic sanctions against the country, saying "we are one of the poorest countries in the world."

The EU in April rewarded Myanmar's historic changes by suspending for one year a wide range of trade, economic and individual sanctions and said it would "monitor closely the situation on the ground, keep its measures under constant review."

And Brussels on Tuesday made clear it was monitoring minority rights, notably the ongoing conflict in the northern state of Kachin, and communal Buddhist-Muslim unrest in the western state of Rakhine -- where the bloc has provided some 5.5 million euros to help the internally displaced from both communities.

"Important challenges remain. In particular, on the need for a comprehensive peace settlement in ethnic areas," Van Rompuy said.

Speaking through an interpreter, Thein Sein said his government had been able "to reduce a culture of fear" and vowed to continue to work to strengthen democracy. "You have my promise we will continue on this path," he stated.

But groups such as Human Rights Watch urged leaders in Brussels to press the head of state to honour pledges on rights, including a promise to allow the UN Commissioner for Human Rights to set up an office in Myanmar.

There was deadly sectarian violence against ethnic Rohingya Muslims and rights abuses by security forces in ethnic conflict areas, particularly in Kachin state since the resumption of fighting in 2011 against separatists.

The minority, numbering about 800,000, has been described by the United Nations one of the most persecuted minorities on the planet, with thousands seeking refuge in neighbouring countries as boat people.

"Any realistic analysis of the current situation on the ground in Burma would conclude much more needs to be done to entrench reforms," said the group's EU director Lotte Leicht.

Thein Sein, who has already visited Norway, Finland and Austria, will end his 10-day trip in Italy.

On February 27, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu addressed a crowd of religious, political and civil society leaders at the American Center in Rangoon. This was Bishop Tutu's first visit to Burma, and in his first public speech in the country he spoke about reconciliation, tolerance and faith.

Remarks by Bishop Desmond Tutu at the American Center

AFP

March 5, 2013

VIENNA: Myanmar President Thein Sein appealed Monday for the lifting of European Union sanctions against his country, currently suspended.

"What we lack is capital and modern technologies... all these are because of the economic sanctions for the last 20 years," he told journalists following talks with Austrian President Heinz Fischer.

Speaking through an interpreter, Thein Sein also appealed directly to his Austrian counterpart "to cooperate on this," during a joint press conference on the third leg of his first European visit as president.

The EU suspended last April all sanctions against Myanmar, apart from an arms embargo, in the wake of reforms introduced by Thein Sein's government since coming to power in early 2011.

The United States has also dismantled many of its key trade and investment sanctions, while the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have stepped up assistance for the southeast Asian country.

But concerns remain over an ongoing conflict in the northern state of Kachin and ethnic unrest in the western state of Rakhine.

Following a new round of peace talks last month with Kachin rebels, Thein Sein claimed the unrest was over.

"There's no more hostilities, no more fighting all over the country, we have been able to end this kind of armed conflict," he insisted.

Praising the reforms implemented so far by Myanmar, Fischer expressed support for ending European sanctions.

"The Austrian government belongs to those countries, which after all the progress that has been reached, are in favour of lifting these sanctions," he said.

But he urged Myanmar to stick to the democratic process that has now been started.

"It is our hope that the policy can be continued and that good and fair elections in 2015 will decide about the future way of Myanmar," he said.

The Austrian president said he had discussed human rights issues and "the problems of building up a democracy" with his counterpart but did not elaborate.

In an open letter ahead of Thein Sein's visit, the Islamic Coordination Council in Austria had urged Fischer to "strongly condemn the ethnically motivated violence and repression of the Rohingya Muslim minority."

The minority, numbering about 800,000, has been described by the UN as one of the most persecuted minorities on the planet, with thousands seeking refuge in neighbouring countries as boat people.

Thein Sein dismissed the issue however on Monday, noting: "All our nationalities are living together side by side and they are living in harmony and peace. The rights of the minorities are also ensured in our state constitution."

Following meetings with Chancellor Werner Faymann and parliament president Barbara Prammer, the Myanmar president met Monday evening with representatives of the Austrian trade chamber, where he pushed for investment in his country.

An Austrian delegation already travelled to Myanmar last month to investigate investment possibilities.

After Norway, Finland and Austria, the Myanmar leader will now head to Brussels for EU and bilateral talks, before ending his 10-day trip in Italy.

HRW

March 5, 2013

Visiting Leader Should Endorse UN Presence, Grant Full Humanitarian Access

(Brussels) – European Union leaders should press Burmese President Thein Sein on adopting key rights reforms during his visit this week to Brussels, Human Rights Watch said today. Thein Sein is set to meet a top-tier roster of leaders on March 5, including Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament; José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission; Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council; Catherine Ashton, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy; and others. 

Burma’s president should be urged to honor his pledges to permit an office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights with a full rights protection, promotion, and technical assistance mandate and allow full and unimpeded access of humanitarian organizations to areas where civilians are in need, Human Rights Watch said. 

“EU leaders should treat the reform efforts to date in Burma as just the start of a process, not the end,” said Lotte Leicht, EU director at Human Rights Watch. “They should of course encourage President Thein Sein’s reforms but also press him to address the hard reality of serious ongoing human rights violations in Burma.” 

Human Rights Watch said that EU leaders should recognize that recent positive changes in Burma are due in large measure to international pressure and the Burmese leadership’s desire to escape economic and political isolation. Thus it is critical that the EU not ignore ongoing abuses by the Burmese security forces, including attacks on civilians in ethnic conflict areas and crackdowns on peaceful protesters in Rangoon and elsewhere. 

Since the resumption of the armed conflict with the Kachin Independence Army in Kachin State in 2011, the Burmese military has been responsible for numerous violationsof the laws of war, including shelling of civilians, summary executions, rape, the use of child soldiers, unlawful forced labor, and looting. Tens of thousands of displaced Kachin civilians have been unable to gain access to humanitarian assistance. 

The government has also failed to address deadly sectarian violence against ethnic Rohingya Muslims and others last year in Arakan State, Human Rights Watch said. The government-formed inquiry on the violence again postponed the publication of its findings, until late March. Thein Sein has already indicated on his European trip that his government does not intend to revise the 1982 Citizenship Law, whose discriminatory provisions are used to deny citizenship to most Rohingya. 

EU leaders should urge Thein Sein to allow unimpeded humanitarian assistance to Kachin and Arakan States and other areas where the population is at risk, Human Rights Watch said. EU member states and the EU Commission have increased humanitarian assistance to Burma although there have been ongoing government obstacles. Despite specific promises by Thein Sein to permit greater assistance, security forces have blocked, harassed or failed to protect aid convoys to beleaguered populations such as Kachin outside of government controlled areas and to camps of displaced Rohingya Muslims. 

Thein Sein should permit the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)to establish a regular presence in the country as he pledged to US President Barack Obama in November, Human Rights Watch said. While the government did allow three OHCHR staff to monitor developments in Arakan State, such monitoring is urgently needed elsewhere in Burma. The OHCHR presence should have a full mandate for rights protection, promotion, and technical assistance. Doing so would be in keeping with a recent European Parliament resolution urging the government “to accelerate the implementation of its commitment to establishing an OHCHR Country Office” in the country. 

Human Rights Watch urged EU leaders to make clear that without an agreement on an OHCHR office with a full mandate to monitor and report on rights developments, the EU will sponsor a Burma resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling for such an office and extending the existing mandate of the UN special rapporteur for Burma.

“Thein Sein no doubt has his talking points polished and is primed to be applauded for his reforms. But any realistic analysis of the current situation on the ground in Burma would conclude much more needs to be done to entrench reforms,” Leicht said. “The EU is not genuinely assisting Burma’s transition – and, more importantly, its people – if it settles for feel-good platitudes. Only constructive and firm pressure will ensure durable protections for civilians, and basic human rights for all. ”

Ramzy Baroud

Onislam.net

March 4, 2013