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A Rohingya refugee holds her daughter who suffers from a skin disease at Dar Paing camp, Rakhine, Myanmar.

By Hilary Whiteman
August 26, 2014

Hong Kong -- Tens of thousands of people are fleeing violence in Myanmar only to be robbed, beaten and starved on boats helmed by human traffickers, according to a new report from the United Nations Refugee Agency.

In the 12 months to June, around 53,000 people left ports in the Myanmar-Bangladesh border area -- 61% more than the previous year -- many with the hope of reaching family in Malaysia, according to the report "Irregular Maritime Movements."

They paid between $50 and $300 to board boats carrying up to 700 passengers, some manned by armed guards, many of whom doled out verbal abuse or beatings to prevent their human cargo from moving around.

Some passengers were fed rice and noodles, while others received nothing at all on journeys lasting anywhere from seven days to two months, the report said.

More than 200 people are thought to have died making the trip so far this year, due to illness, heat, lack of food and water, and severe beatings.

However, the number of people who have perished at sea appears to have fallen over the past year, the report noted, after people smugglers hired bigger, more seaworthy vessels.

Persecution in Myanmar

That so many people, the vast majority Rohingya Muslims, are rushing to flee the country is a scathing indictment of the conditions they're being forced to endure in Myanmar, or Burma, as it's also known.

Of around 800,000 Rohingya Muslims living in Rakhine State, violence has pushed around 140,000 into temporary camps, while another 40,000 are effectively detained in isolated villages, according to Human Rights Watch.

"It's a humanitarian disaster," said HRW's Phil Robertson, who said conditions had worsened, especially since February, when the government barred international aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) from working in Rakhine State.

The ban was lifted in late July but aid is yet to reach tens of thousands of people, many who are hungry and suffering preventable illnesses in crowded, unhygienic camps.

"What you're seeing is people who are leaving Rakhine State with very frail health to start with; people who have been in these camps and face the slow deprivation of food and basic medical services to the point that they're already weakened," Robertson said.

"They're getting on these boats, and these boats are landing in Thailand, and they're being put in jungle camps where they're on starvation rations unless their relatives can find exorbitant fees that the traffickers are demanding to release them and send them onto Malaysia."

The U.N. report said upon arrival in Thailand, new arrivals said they were driven through the night in pickups with 15 to 20 other people who were forced to sit or lie on top of one another.

They were then taken to camps where hundreds of people, including women and children, were held while smugglers phoned family members abroad, demanding more money for their loved ones' safe passage to Malaysia.

Demands "were accompanied by threats or, when payment was not immediate, severe beating and prolonged detention in a smugglers' camp for up to six months," the report said.

Malnourished in Malaysia

As many as 38,000 people had registered as Rohingya in Malaysia, the report said, noting that since 2013, many had arrived with serious medical conditions.

In the first half of this year, more than 140 people had been diagnosed with beriberi, a condition caused by severe malnutrition and vitamin B deficiency, which can cause paralysis and death. That's 12 times the number diagnosed in the previous 14 months.

"They have faced deprivation, abuse and suffering every step of their way as they try to flee the predations of the Burmese government, and the local state government and the Rakhine state government," Robertson said.

Myanmar doesn't recognize the Rohingya as citizens or as one of the predominantly Buddhist country's ethnic minorities.

"I think the international community really has to push very hard on the Burmese government to accept the reality that these people should be considered citizens of Burma.

"For the government of Burma to maintain this fiction that somehow these are recently arrived migrants from India or from Bangladesh is absolutely unconscionable," Robertson added.

In a statement following their five-day visit to Myanmar last week, two commissioners from the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom said they were "deeply troubled by reports we received of abuses against the Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine State."

"No impartial observers question reports of systematic, large-scale and egregious abuses of human rights of this community involving acts and omissions resulting in deaths, injuries, displacement, denial of basic health and other services, denial of freedom of movement, and denial of the right to a nationality, among other violations," said Commissioners M. Zudhi Jasser and Eric P. Schwartz.

In the past few years, Myanmar's new leadership under President Thein Sein has won praise for its efforts to open the once reclusive country to foreign influences and trade. However its treatment of the Rohingya continues to cloud its stated commitment to improving human rights.

August 27, 2014

Displaced Rohingya Muslims living in New Delhi are facing extereme conditions, Press TV reports.

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims displaced from Myanmar are now living in the Indian capital, New Delhi. Most of the refugees in a camp in New Delhi are facing acute health and nutrition crises.

“We don’t get any help from anyone. We’re facing extreme hardship. My father died recently and we couldn’t afford medicine for him. We are in desperate need of food and medicine for our children. If the conditions like this continue for a long time, our families will die of hunger,” said Sakuara Begam.

The Rohingya families camping in New Delhi are dragged into extreme poverty and neglect and their children are having health problems, which require immediate medical attention. Unhygienic living conditions, exposure to extreme weather, and pollution makes them physically vulnerable.

Most of these Rohingya muslims have menial jobs and do not earn enough money. Some of them live on charity because it is very difficult for them to find a job.

The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, is carrying out a program for the refugees in India, but they say the UN agency is of little or no help.

“I’m extremely worried about my kids. They usually get sick due to harsh weather and I have no money to get them to hospital or to buy medicine. What can I tell you? Our lives are full of miseries,” said one man.

Social Activists in India have called on the UN to immediately provide humanitarian relief to the Rohingya refugees, who are stateless and are left into destitution. They say Myanmar must stop the massacre and persecution of the Muslims.

Rohingya Muslims account for about five percent of Myanmar’s population of nearly 60 million.

The Myanmar government has been repeatedly criticized by human rights groups for failing to protect the Rohingya Muslims.

According to the UN, the Rohingyas are one of the world’s most persecuted communities.

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims have been killed and wounded in months of increased sectarian violence in Myanmar. Thousands of others have been forced to flee their homes.


By Aman Ullah
RB History
August 27, 2014

A population Census is the process of collecting, compiling, analyzing and disseminating demographic, social, cultural and economic data relating to all persons in the country, at a particular time in ten years interval. 

The History of Census began with 1800 when England had begun its Census but the population of dependencies was not known at that time. 

The Census of 1972 was considered to be prominent one and it contained 17 questions, though it did not cover all territories possessed or controlled by the British.

The Census of 1881 was a great step towards a modern synchronous census. In this Census, emphasis was laid not only on complete coverage but also on classification of demographic, economic and social characteristics. It took in entire continent of British India. 

The Census of 1891 was on the basis of previous approach and efforts were made for hundred per cent coverage and Upper part of present Burma, Kashmir and Sikkim were also included. The departure from previous census was that in place of Mother Tongue, information on Parental Tongue was obtained.

Third continuous census was started on March, 1901. For certain remote areas, where detailed survey was not possible, population was estimated on the basis of houses. Major changes were: provision for house number, castes of only Hindu and Jains were recorded and in case of other religion name of tribe or race were recorded. A new question about the foreign language (English) was introduced.

The Census of 1911 commenced in all fourteen British provinces and Native states. Not only was the knowledge about English but literacy in English recorded. 

The Census of 1931 coincided with a civil disobedience movement. Additionally, it included two new questions – Earner/Dependent and Mother Tongue.

The last census before independence was held under adverse conditions of war in 1941. Major changes were adopted in this census. Random samples were used and every 50th slip was marked to list the validity of a sample in census. Formation of questions was modified to the great extent.

It was not until sixth census, that of 1921, that racial classification of the population was attempted. In previous censuses the population was classified by religious only.

In the Chapter XI, Paragarph 157 of that census mentioned that, “Numbers are tabulated in Imperial Table XIII for three Indo-Burma Races, the Zerbadis, the Arakan Mahomedans, and the Arakan Kaman, all these being associated as Race-group ‘S’ for convenience.”

About ‘Arakan Mahomedans’, in the Paragraph 159 also mentioned that, “The Arakan Mahomedans are practically confined to the Akyab district and are properly the descendants of Arakanese woman who were married Chittagonian Mahomedans. It is said that the descendants of a Chittagonian who has permanently settled in Akyab district always refuse to be called Chittagonians and desire to be called Arakan Mahomedans; but as permanent settlement seems to imply marriage to an Arakanese woman it is quite in accordance with the description given. Although so closely connected with Chittagonian racially the Arakan Mahomedans do not associate at all: they consequently marry almost solely among themselves and have become recognized locally as a distinct race.”

“The Arakanese Buddhist in Akyab asked the Deputy Commissioner there not to let the Arakan Mahomedans be included under Arakanese in the census. The instruction issued to enumerators with reference to Arkan Mahomedan was that this race should be recorded for those Mahomedans who were domiciled in Burma and had adopted certain mode of dress which is neither Arakanese nor Indian.”

“The number of Arakan- Mahomedans tabulated in 1921 was nearly 24,000. The number tabulated at previous census as Mahomaden Arakanes have been as in Marginal Table 8 such difference of numbers as are shown here indicate enumeration of the Arakan-Mahomedans at previous under other description in the census tables of 1901 it is impossible to identify them. Probably under other Mahomedans tribes in all three earlier censuses mentioned, in the table.”

8. Tabulated Arakan-Mahomedans


In the Report of 1931 Census, Volume XII, Burma, Part. I, Paragraph 140 mentioned that, "Figures of all population of different race-groups at the last four censuses are given in Imperial Table XVIII. The figures in that table for the years of 1901 and 1911 were obtained from Imperial Table XIII of those censuses and some difficulty was experienced in compliling tham. In the Imperial Table XIII for 1901 the races, tribes and castes are classified according to the predominant religion, but the figure given for any race, tribe or cast include the figures for all relgions with exception of 8,000 males and 7,000 females representing the Arkan- Mahomedans, which have been included in groups “S” (Indo-Burman Races). For the 1911 figures 10, 000 males and 9,000 females were taken to represent Arakan- Mahomedans and included in groups S (Indo- Burman Races)."

In Paragraph 141 mentioned that, “The number of Indians has increased from 881,357 in 1921 to 1,017,825 in 1931, i.e., by 136,468 or 15.5 per cent. In paragraph 16 of Chapter I, it is pointed out that many Arakan Mahomedans in Akyab district returned themselves as Indians at the 1921 census. The number may be roughly estimated at between 10,000 and 15,000, in which case the increase in the Indian population would be in the neighbourhood of 17 per cent.”

“In the Paragraph 143 also mentioned that, “The Arakan-Mahomedans are mostly found in Akyab district; the only other districts containing an appreciable number Kyauk Pyu (1,597) and Sandoway(1,658). They are properly the descendent of Arakanese women who had married Chittagonian Muslims. They are recognized locally as a distinct race and they dress different from the Arakanese and Chittagonians. The number recorded in 1931 was 51,615, which is more than double number of 1921, namely 23,775.”

“The Arakan Kamans have increased from 2,180 to 2,686 and are practically confined to Akyab and Kyauk Pyu districts.”

In the report of 1911 census, Volume IX, Burma Part I, Paragraph 264, it’s mentioned that, “the majority of the members of the Musalman tribes are to be found in the two districts of Akyab and Rangoon, which contain 56% of the Musalmans of Province (Burma). In Akyab they are indigenous and entered largely in the Agricultural occupation. The population of Musalman in Akyab district in 1901 is 154,887 and in 1911 it was 178,647.”

Thus, according to the series censuses we can tell that, ‘There was a Muslim community in Arakan, particularly in Akyab District, who prefers to call themselves Arakan-Mahomadens and were quite distinct from the Chittgonians and Bengali immigrants to Arakan.’ ‘According to Baxter report of 1940, paragraph 7, “This Arakanese Muslim community settled so long in Akyab District had for all intents and purposes to be regarded as an indigenous race.”

In 1825 Arakan became a British territory with a population of only one lakh souls, (Maughs 60,000; Muslims 30,000, Burmese 10,000). That’s means:-


The total population of Arakan increased 10 fold in 106 years from 1825 to 1931 and the Rakhine’s population also increased nearly 10 fold during the same years. Why the Muslim’s Population increased only nearly 2 fold, while the Buddhist population traditionally had a smaller growth rate compared to both Hindus and Muslims. There is strong possibility that the census on Muslims was incorrect. The populations of Arakan Mahomedans should be not less than 300,000 in 1931 not merely 51,615.

Special Adviser for Myanmar Vijay Nambiar. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras

August 25, 2014

The United Nations Special Adviser for Myanmar today wrapped up a visit to the country during which he visited Rakhine state to see first-hand the progress made to provide aid to local communities, as well as actions being taken to address underlying causes of recent violence.

This was the eighth visit to Myanmar in the past year for Vijay Nambiar, who took part as an observer at a meeting on national reconciliation between the Government and ethnic armed groups – the first of its kind held in the country.

“On behalf of the Secretary-General, Mr. Nambiar called on all involved to take a leap of faith and to set aside all narrow agendas in the common interest of peace and a unified Myanmar,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

Several waves of clashes between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, the first of which occurred in June 2012, have affected hundreds of thousands of families in Rakhine.

During his visit, Mr. Nambiar met with the President, Foreign Minister, and other senior officials, and also spoke with diplomats and members of political parties, representatives of ethnic armed groups, civil society, aid agencies, women and youth organizations.

He spoke about the reform and democratization process, development and strengthening the cooperation between communities and ethnic groups, and underlined the UN’s commitment to support Myanmar as it proceeds with reforms.

By Casey Karr & Naomi Kikoler
August 25, 2014

Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have a serious problem in their backyard. Every day in Myanmar approximately 1 million Rohingya Muslims are denied their most basic human rights and face a risk of crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar is not just a member of the regional body, but heads Asean as its 2014 chair. The treatment of the Rohingya is a test of the degree to which Asean member states take seriously their commitment to regional cooperation on protecting human rights and their global pledge to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), a pact to protect populations from mass atrocity crimes.

So far, Asean states and the broader international community are failing in this commitment. For decades they have turned a blind eye to the persecution of the Rohingya, one of the world’s most vulnerable minorities. Rohingyas are denied by the government the right to citizenship, restricted from having more than two children, and many are forced to live in segregated, squalid ghettos that they can only leave with permission from authorities. Rohingyas have repeatedly been attacked and killed on the basis of their identity, receiving little to no physical protection from security forces.

Formerly the perennial international pariah, the Myanmar government has received praise for new political and economic reforms. Yet it has utterly failed to protect the Rohingya, for whom conditions have only worsened since the government began its transition to democracy in 2012.

Increasing hate speech by political, cultural and religious figures has served to dehumanise the Rohingya in the eyes of Myanmar’s public by demonising them as unwanted “Bengali” foreigners.

Despite government assurances that it would allow ethnic self-identification in the first national census conducted since 1983, just days before data collection began the government announced that “Rohingya” would not be recognised.

The widespread culture of impunity for state and non-state actors who perpetrate or incite attacks against Rohingyas fuels a growing cycle of anti-Muslim violence within the country.

Meanwhile, neighboring states have made it abundantly clear that they will not open their borders nor offer protection to Rohingyas attempting desperately to flee persecution. Anti-Rohingya sentiment is not confined to Myanmar’s borders. On July 10 Bangladesh announced that it would cease recognising marriages involving Rohingyas.

The world has seen this before. The Holocaust and Rwandan genocide have shown us what happens when a minority population is systematically dehumanised, deprived of their rights, forced to live in segregation, and denied asylum elsewhere.

In the wake of the atrocities perpetrated against the Jews and Tutsis, the world vowed to prevent these crimes from being repeated. Yet today in Myanmar, the Rohingya face institutionalised persecution.

With little international attention and a failure to hold the Myanmar government accountable for the safety and protection of the Rohingya, their plight is all the more dire.

Faced with unfolding crimes against humanity on their doorstep, will Asean states continue to shirk their responsibility? Myanmar seems to expect this. At this year’s first Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting on Jan. 16, only days after another round of anti-Rohingya violence in Rakhine state left over 40 men, women and children dead, Myanmar rejected the inclusion of talks on “the Bengali issue”, arguing that it was an “internal affair”.

A global commitment to the Responsibility to Protect, born out of the resolve of “never again”, means that atrocities are not internal affairs. Every government, including all Asean member states, affirmed this in 2005 when they endorsed the Responsibility to Protect at the UN World Summit.

They committed to safeguard all populations, irrespective of their religion, ethnicity or citizenship, from crimes against humanity, genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes. Asean’s own Charter obliges its members “to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms”.

To continue to stand by as the Rohingya suffer is to fail these obligations and condemn the Rohingya to a future of persecution.

Myanmar has demonstrated its unwillingness to protect them.Asean members must uphold their responsibility to protect and urge Myanmar’s government to take immediate action to halt the tide of hate speech, provide physical protection to vulnerable Rohingya communities, hold accountable all who incite or perpetrate crimes, and take concrete steps to foster a more inclusive society, foremost by granting Rohingya equal access to citizenship.

With atrocities unfolding, Asean members should provide a safe haven within their borders to Rohingyas seeking refuge.

Myanmar is currently the face of Asean. What happens within its borders is a reflection on the body as a whole and the international human rights standards to which it holds itself accountable.

With Rohingyas facing the risk of crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, it is simply unacceptable for Asean states to appeal to regional preferences for “non-interference” as a justification for silence and indifference.

Yet today in Myanmar, the Rohingya face institutionalised persecution.

Casey Karr is research analyst and Naomi Kikoler is director of policy and advocacy at the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, New York.

By Bill O’Toole
August 25, 2014

On August 18, the lawyer and Rohingya-rights advocate U Kyaw Hla Aung appeared in the Sittwe regional court to face a variety of criminal charges, including “incitement” and “dacoitry”, only to have his case delayed yet again after the prosecution failed to produce its promised witnesses.

Ko Htin Kyaw (second from left) attends a press conference in Yangon on March 23 2013. (Noe Noe Aung/The Myanmar Times)

A day later, the co-founder of the Movement for Democracy Current Force, Ko Htin Kyaw was sentenced to one year of hard labour in Dagon Seikkan township court for his role in distributing political pamphlets. Dagon Seikkan is one of nine townships where Ko Htin Kyaw is scheduled to be tried for his crimes. His combined sentences already total eight years in prison.

While the two court dates were hundreds of miles apart, the UK-based watchdog group Frontline Defenders warned that the cases highlights the ongoing use of the courts and legal system to target activists and human rights defenders, a favorite strategy of the military regime that appears to have remained prevalent under President U Thein Sein’s administration period.

“It shows that the leopard has not yet changed his spots,” said Jim Loughran, a spokesperson for Frontline Defenders. “It is all very well for President Thein Sein to talk about reform or human rights but there is a huge gap between that rhetoric and the actual functioning of state agencies which are still largely controlled by the military.

“Recognition for the legitimacy of the work of human rights defenders, like U Kyaw Hla Aung, is a key indicator of how far Burma has come along that road … [and] the case against Ko Htin Kyaw is another example of how the legal system is used against human rights defenders.”

The charges against U Kyaw Hla Aung stem from an incident on April 26, 2013, when a group of young Muslims in the Boduba IDP camp refused to fill out an immigration department form that identified them as “Bengali”. The situation escalated to the point where the youths allegedly attacked several immigration police.

Shortly afterward U Kyaw Hla Aung was arrested and accused of inciting the group to attack the police. Many observers say the charges are directly related to U Kyaw Hla Aung’s longstanding political activism and legal assistance on behalf of imprisoned Muslims in Rakhine State.

He has been detained since July last year. His Yangon-based lawyer, U Hla Myo Myint, said the prosecution has yet to produce any witnesses or evidence of their claim. Instead, they have used court petitions and other legal maneuvering to draw out the process as long as possible.

Ko Htin Kyaw began his activism during the Saffron Revolution in 2007. Since that time he has been arrested on numerous occasions, most often for non-violent violations of the Unlawful Assembly Act.

His specific charges related to his role handing out pamphlets in Yangon claiming that U Thein Sein had resigned and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had formed an interim government.

His prominent lawyer, Robert Sann Aung, said the whole stunt was meant as a harmless if unorthodox political protest, nothing that merits one year of hard labour. “The sentence is completely disproportionate” he said.

Both men have been singled out by numerous international rights groups, including Amnesty International and the UN, as human rights defenders who have been systematically targeted for their political activities and beliefs.

Representatives from the Yangon and Rakhine regional governments could not be reached for comment last week. As previously reported by The Myanmar Times, U Aung Thein, the deputy minister of the President’s Office, has stated publicly that the President’s office no longer believes there are any political prisoners left in the nation’s jails.

Mr Loughran said that the international community had a key role to play in making sure the issue doesn’t fall by the wayside.

“The standard against which the commitment of the international community to human rights will be measured is the extent to which they are willing to act to protect human rights defenders like Ko Htin Kyaw and U Kyaw Hla Aung,” he said.

(Photo: Giulio Di Sturco/VII Mentor)

By Rezaul Karim
August 24, 2014

Repatriation of Rohingya refugees, border management, human trafficking, boosting trade and investment, and introduction of coastal shipping will be high on the agenda at the Bangladesh-Myanmar meeting to be held in Dhaka on August 31.

The foreign secretary-level Eighth Foreign Office Consultation will also discuss issues like regular holding of security dialogues, import of gas from Myanmar, confidence-building measures to remove misunderstanding between the two neighbouring countries, cooperation in areas of climate change, energy, agriculture, education and increasing border trade and tourism.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque and Myanmar Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs U Thant Kyaw will lead their respective sides in the talks.

An eight-member Myanmar delegation will arrive in Dhaka on August 28.

Bangladesh is ready to allow Myanmar vessels use its inland ports, officials at the commerce ministry said. Both countries have already marked Chittagong, Mongla, Narayanganj and Teknaf ports in Bangladesh and Yangon, Pathein, Sittwe and Maungtaw ports in Myanmar for each other's use.

Sources said the two countries have reestablished Dhaka-Yangon air connectivity and is now working on road connectivity.

The officials further said Myanmar wants to set up a wholesale market with Bangladesh and hold trade fairs near the border to increase bilateral trade. Myanmar has such markets and trade fairs with China and Thailand.

Diplomatic sources said Dhaka has recently taken a number of steps to resolve bilateral issues with Myanmar.

During her visit to Myanmar last year, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally offered financial assistance and expertise to Myanmar to assist it in resolving the Rohingya problem.

Bangladesh also proposed holding dialogues for enhancing security.

As there is no structured security cooperation in place, Bangladesh will make a formal proposal for Security Dialogue and discuss a Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) over security issues. 

To reduce tension between the border guards of the two nations, Dhaka last year suggested signing a Memorandum of Understanding to hold regular dialogues on security matters.

This proposal was tabled at a foreign secretary-level meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar, during the last Foreign Office Consultation in 2013.

The foreign ministry has been trying to convince Myanmar for a year to create space for dialogues to build trust between the two countries.

To that aim, the government allowed a Myanmar frigate to cross the Naf river for the first time last year. The frigate stayed in Myanmar territory bordering Cox's Bazar for a month.

Officials at the foreign ministry said Bangladesh has been making all kinds of positive gestures as per the prime minister's directives “to build the best possible relationship with Myanmar”.

Chiefs of the Bangladesh army, air force and navy have already paid visits to Myanmar while the Myanmar naval chief has visited Dhaka and its air chief is expected to visit Dhaka soon.

The meeting was scheduled for June 18 but was deferred by Myanmar after tensions ran high between the countries over the killing of Border Guard Bangladesh corporal Mizanur Rahman by Myanmar security forces on May 28.

Displaced Rohingyas wait outside a humanitarian center for aid at a camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, Rakhine state, Feb. 26, 2014. (Photo: AFP)

By Fakhruddin Ahmed
August 24, 2014

ROHINGYA crisis has been weighing on the world's conscience for decades. The UN Human Rights Council lists Myanmar's 800, 000 Rohingya Muslims among the world's most persecuted minorities. Residents of Myanmar for over 600 years, Rohingyas have been stripped of their Myanmar citizenship. Oppression and expulsion have been repeatedly perpetrated on them by Myanmar's Buddhist majority for centuries. An estimated 300,000 Rohingyas languish in Bangladeshi and Thai refugee camps.

Rohingya villages have been cordoned off, and many Rohungyas have been confined to concentration camps. Humanitarian agencies such as Doctors without Borders have been barred from entering and treating patients in those camps. Rohingyas are perishing while the world looks away.

Rohingya is an Indo-European Rohingya language; the words Rohingya means a resident of the state of Arakan. Myanmar has recently renamed the Rohingyas' tiny home state, Arakan, (5% of Myanmar) “Rakhine” to appease its Rakhine Buddhist residents. To obliterate every trace of Rohingya heritage, Myanmar government has deleted the ethnic category ”Rohingya” from the official list and replaced it with “Bengalis,” with the innuendo that the Rohingyas are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, which they are not. 

Buddhist King Narameikhla first invited the Rohingyas to Arakan from neighboring India as advisors and courtiers in the 1430s. In 1785, Buddhist Burmese from the south conquered Arakan, massacred Rohingyas and expelled many to British Bengal, eliciting unwelcome British attention.

The British took control of Arakan through the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26) and encouraged Indian immigration to the sparsely populated region. Through two additional wars, Burma was fully incorporated into British India in 1885. 

At the outset of World War II Britain abandoned Arakan. While Burmese nationalists sided with Japan, the Rohingyas remained loyal to the British and served as spies behind Japanese lines. This infuriated the Japanese who embarked on a hideous pogrom of torture, rape and murder against the Rohingyas, driving thousands into Bengal.

Between Burma's independence in 1948 and General Ne Win's putsch in 1962, the Rohingyas advocated a separate Rohingya nation in Arakan. The junta brutally crushed Rohingya nationalism.

After Myanmar army's 1978 “Dragon King” operation drove 300,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh, the junta enacted the draconian Burma Citizenship Law in 1982 with the malicious intent of making the Rohingyas stateless, “resident foreigners,” to be repatriated worldwide.

The law stipulates that a full citizen of Myanmar must belong to one of the ten “national races” (Rohingyas are excluded), or their ancestors must have settled in Burma before the British invasion of 1824. Rohingyas do not qualify for the two lesser citizenships either which require the illiterate peasants to produce documentary evidence of their centuries-long residency in Myanmar.

Colonial Britain had also encouraged Indian immigration to Africa and the West Indies as indentured workers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, yet citizenships for those immigrants and their progeny has never been in question. Neither should it be for the Rohingyas.

No internationally acceptable metric can deny the Rohingyas Myanmar's citizenship. It is unconscionable to disenfranchise people who have lived in Myanmar for hundreds of years before current Myanmar was founded. In a civilized society, the majority cannot legislate away the citizenship rights of a despised minority. This is ethnic cleansing through legislation.

Critics call the anti-Rohingya vendetta linguistically, religiously and racially motivated. While 89% of the Myanmar's population practice Theravada Buddhism and are of Mongoloid stock, the Rohingya Muslims are easily identifiable by their dark skin.

Amnesty International reports that “the Rohingyas' freedom of movement is severely restricted,” and “they are also subjected to various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation, land confiscation, forced eviction and house destruction.” They are used as forced laborers on roads and military camps. By law, they are forbidden to have more than two children. The children are born stateless, perpetuating their bleak future.

As non-citizens, Rohingyas are treated as illegal immigrants, with restrictions on movement, no right to own land, receive an education or public service. This is unacceptable. The world must persuade Myanmar to amend the ill-intentioned law and restore the Rohingyas' citizenship rights. Nothing short of full citizenship for the Rohingyas will solve the crisis.

The current anti-Rohingya crusade is spearheaded by Buddhist monks, notably Ashin Wirathu, who proudly calls himself “Buddhist Bin Laden” and warns that the Rohingyas (1.4% of population), aim to subjugate Myanmar. He laments that Buddhists have already lost Afghanistan, Malaysia and Indonesia to Islam; he is not about to let that happen in Myanmar on his watch. Monks are greatly respected in Myanmar.

Myanmar's most respected citizen, Aung San Suu Kyi, is ambivalent about the Rohingyas' citizenship status, saying that she does not know if Rohingyas qualify as Myanmar's citizens. The Economist noted that Suu Kyi's “halo has even slipped among foreign human-rights lobbyists disappointed at her failure to take a clear stand on behalf of the Rohingya minority.”

On May 7, 2014, the US Congress passed a resolution urging the Burmese government to end the persecution of the Rohingyas. America and its President are greatly admired in Myanmar, as President Obama experienced firsthand during his Myanmar visit in 2012. If the President and the Congress and the world firmly demand that the Rohingyas must be given full citizenship before further trade with Myanmar, Myanmar will see the wisdom of acceding.

One expected the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold medal, and a current member of Myanmar's House of Representatives, Aung San Suu Kyi, to speak out against the human rights abuse of the Rohingyas, just as her father, General Aung San, had done. The world stood by Ms. Suu Kyi during her travails. She should do no less for her beleaguered Rohingya compatriots.

I should also like to suggest to Bangladesh government that it does not behoove Bangladesh to compete with Myanmar in inflicting cruelty on the Rohingyas. Granted that unlike Myanmar, Bangladesh is a very densely populated country. Still, it is unconscionable to ban marriages between Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, or between Rohingyas themselves. Instead, Bangladesh should extend its legendary hospitality towards the Rohingyas, shelter and feed them well, offer them medical service, educate their children, and take some Rohingyas in. After all, the Rohingyas' ancestors had lived in the area. 

Generosity nourishes the soul of a nation. Hatred towards others not only destroys an individual, it can also destroy a nation. By treating the Rohingya refugees humanely with dignity, impoverished Bangladesh can teach humanity to those nations who lack it.

The writer is a Rhodes Scholar.



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

August 23, 2014 | USCIRF 

Statement of Commissioners M. Zuhdi Jasser and Eric P. Schwartz upon completing a five-day visit to Burma. 

This is our first Commissioner-level visit to the country. We have had meetings with Union and state government officials, Rangoon-based representatives of ethnic and religious groups, representatives of non-governmental organizations, representatives of political parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and religious leaders. We traveled to Rangoon, Mandalay, Meiktila, and Naypyidaw. In Meiktila, we welcomed the chance to visit camps for persons from both the Muslim and Buddhist communities who were displaced by spasms of violence in March 2013. 

We visited Burma to promote tolerance and inclusion in light of violations of religious freedom and violence and discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities. After our return, we expect to issue a report of our findings. Our comments today represent preliminary observations. 

We were deeply impressed by the conviction of so many Burmese about the importance of religious freedom and human rights and by their recognition that equal treatment, in law and in practice, for all of Burma’s ethnic and religious communities is critical to the process of reform. We also met with officials who echoed President Thein Sein’s stated goal of “securing equal rights for each and every citizen.” 

The Commission has followed this country for more than a decade, expressing concern about limitations on religious freedom for everyone – Buddhists and non-Buddhists. And we have very much welcomed the release of prisoners of conscience, easing of restrictions on freedom of expression and other encouraging developments in recent years. Nonetheless, this visit has confirmed our concerns about serious and substantial discrimination against minority religious faiths, imposed by law, regulation and practice. As a result, members of these faiths have unequal personal status, reflected, for example, in their identification documents and rights associated with citizenship. Other restrictions prevent the construction of religious institutions and impose obstacles to the practice of faith by Christians; we are also concerned by the failure to adequately hold accountable perpetrators of violence against religious minorities. 

We are deeply troubled by reports we received of abuses against the Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine State. No impartial observers question reports of systematic, large-scale and egregious abuses of human rights of this community involving acts and omissions resulting in deaths, injuries, displacement, denial of basic health and other services, denial of freedom of movement, and denial of the right to a nationality, among other violations. While Rakhine State is among the poorest states in Burma and all its communities merit attention and concern, government action is urgently needed to address the horrible circumstances confronting the Rohingya. 

We are disappointed that the overall political reform effort has yet to address seriously these concerns. At a time when we’d hope to see reform that addresses these issues, we are also concerned by actions that are in contrast to a reform commitment, such as the draft anti-conversion law and other race and religion bills. 

Finally, we encourage the efforts of the United States and other governments to accelerate the process of reform in Burma. Governments should communicate solidarity with activists who have worked so diligently, and often at great personal sacrifice, to promote respect for human rights, tolerance and religious freedom. Governments should seize opportunities to signal ongoing support for human rights and religious freedom – the rights of those, like Rohingya Muslims, who are the victims of the most serious of abuses. 

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at media@uscirf.gov or 202-786-0613.

Rohingya women are pictured at the Thae Chaung camp for internally displaced people in Sittwe, Arakan State, on April 22, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

By Lawi Weng
August 22, 2014

RANGOON — Buddhist Arakanese leaders are considering a proposal that would see Rohingya Muslims without documentation proving their right to citizenship detained in camps.

The plan will be discussed publicly in the Arakan State capital, Sittwe, in the coming days, said Than Tun, an Arakanese leader and a member of the state’s Emergency Coordination Committee, and comes as a citizenship verification project is restarted for Muslims in Arakan State.

Clashes between ethnic Arakanese and Rohingya broke out in mid-2012 and about 140,000 people, mostly Muslims, still live in temporary camps after fleeing their homes. Arakanese Buddhists see the Rohingya, who are not a recognized ethnic group under Burmese law, as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and refer to them as Bengalis.

The nascent verification process—currently only underway in earnest in Myabon Township—is being conducted by the Ministry of Immigration to find out who is entitled to citizenship, based on how long their families have been settled in Burma.

Than Tun said a proposal would be sent to President Thein Sein asking that those who are not able to provide documentation be rounded up into camps.

“This is just our draft proposal. We will have a public meeting this week. After that, we will send the draft to the president. At the public meeting we will ask for [the public’s] agreement,” Than Tun told The Irrawaddy.

“This proposal refers to all Bengalis who stay in Arakan, including both those who stay in villages and those in refugee camps. This proposal comes from Sittwe, but it will be presented from all Arakanese.”

With Arakan State already dotted with large makeshift camps full of those displaced in earlier rounds of violence, the Burmese government may have to put undocumented Muslims elsewhere in Burma, Than Tun said.

“We will tell him [Thein Sein] if there is a problem to set up a camp for the people in Arakan, he can set up a camp in a suitable area in the union [Burma],” said Than Tun, who predicted that many people without documentation would be found in Sittwe, Maungdaw Township and Buthidaung Township.

“Firstly, they migrated to our land and they were illegal migrants. But they had children, and those children are born in our land, so we cannot say their children are illegal. But, their children are still illegal settlers.”

An estimated 1 million Rohingya live in Arakan State, many tracing their roots in the area back generations. Only a handful of people—who must first agree to identify themselves as Bengali—have so far taken part in the citizenship verification process.

A Rohingya activist said that many displaced people would not have possession of their documents, since they fled their homes to escape Buddhist mobs.

“They killed us and burned our houses. We did not have time to bring documents with us. If the government asks us for documents, we don’t have them,” said Aung Win from Sittwe, arguing that such lost documents should be replaced by the government.

“They should not say that those who do not have documents are stateless. If the government does this in Sittwe, our people will not go to the verification center.”

Rohingya people on a boat cross the river Naf, from Myanmar into Bangladesh, in Teknaf June 11, 2012. (Photo: REUTERS)

By UNHCR
August 22, 2014

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 22 August 2014, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

A new UNHCR report on irregular maritime movements in South East Asia estimates that 20,000 people risked their lives in sea crossings in the first half of this year. Many were Rohingya who fled Myanmar and arrived in the region suffering the effects of malnutrition and abuse during the journey. Several hundred people were also intercepted on boats heading to Australia.

The report has been produced by a newly-established Maritime Movements Monitoring Unit at UNHCR's Regional Office in Bangkok which collates information through direct interviews, and from media reports, partners and governments. It focuses on departures from the Bay of Bengal and elsewhere passing through South-East Asia, and highlights the abuses people are facing on their journeys, and developments related to Australia's Operation Sovereign Borders policy. It also shows that more than 7,000 asylum seekers and refugees who have travelled by sea are at present held in detention facilities in the region, including over 5,000 in Australia or its offshore processing centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Because of its clandestine nature, the full extent of people smuggling remains hard to determine. But in-depth interviews with survivors have offered insights into what goes on during the long and arduous journey from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and beyond.

These developments take place in the context of a very challenging protection environment for refugees in the region. States including Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia are not signatory to the refugee convention and lack formal legal frameworks for dealing with refugees. Without a legal status they are often at risk of arrest, detention, and deportation under immigration laws. It also makes legal employment impossible and drives many people, including women and children, into exploitative and vulnerable situations.

Myanmar/Bangladesh

The report estimates that 53,000 people departed irregularly by sea from the Bay of Bengal in the 12 months ending June 2014 – a 61 per cent increase over the previous 12 months. In the two years following the June 2012 outbreak of inter-communal violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, some 87,000 people – mostly Rohingya but also Bangladeshis among them – embarked on the dangerous journey in search of safety and stability.

The main sailing season has continued to be between October and the first quarter of the year when seas are calmer. Departures were mostly from Teknaf in Bangladesh and Maungdaw in Myanmar, with smaller numbers from Sittwe. Typically, passengers were ferried on small boats to larger fishing or cargo boats that could each hold up to 700 people. Most were men, but there were also rising numbers of women and children who were usually kept in separate quarters.

Most passengers our staff interviewed said they paid between US$50 and US$300 to board the boats and were at sea for an average of one to two weeks. Some waited for up to two months for their boat to take on more passengers. Many said they fell sick along the way. There are also unconfirmed reports of deaths due to illness, heat, a lack of food and water and severe beatings when people tried to move. Some passengers reportedly jumped off boats in desperation. Others went missing when, in one example, they were forced to swim ashore after nearing the coast off Thailand.

Thailand

In Thailand, the survivors of sea journeys said they were packed into pick-up trucks at night, and forced to sit or lie on top of up to 20 other people. They were taken to smugglers' camps in or around hills, jungles or plantations. Hundreds were confined, for up to six months, behind wooden fences with only plastic sheets to sleep on.

Many were unaware that they would need to pay more money, usually US$1,500-US$2,200, to be released. They were made to call relatives in Myanmar, Bangladesh or Malaysia to send money through hard currency, bank transfers or mobile payment systems. Those who could not pay would be beaten and detained for long periods of time.

Survivors of this ordeal told our staff about people dying in these smugglers' camps due to illness or physical injuries. Some lost sensory abilities and mobility from beriberi due to malnutrition, specifically Vitamin B1 deficiency. Three people were effectively paralyzed and abandoned by the smugglers when their camps were raided by the Thai authorities. The camps in question no longer exist, although others are believed to still be running.

As of early July, 233 Rohingya remained in Thai immigration detention centres or shelters. UNHCR is discussing different alternatives to detention with our government counterparts and other stakeholders. In the meantime we are providing the group with material assistance and counselling them on the risks of using smuggling networks. Our staff are also working with the authorities and UNICEF to enable the children to attend local schools after intensive Thai language lessons. Vulnerable individuals, including unaccompanied children, are being given particular attention to meet their specific needs.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, UNHCR has had access to 230 people who arrived directly by boat between January and June, as well as to others who landed by boat in Thailand and made their way across the land border into Malaysia. In total, more than 4,700 Rohingya were registered during this period, including 375 unaccompanied and separated children. By the end of June, more than 38,000 Rohingya had registered with UNHCR Malaysia cumulatively since the late 1990s.

The physical health and protection needs of recent arrivals remain a major concern. In the first half of the year, we saw 144 Rohingya with symptoms of beriberi. UNHCR has provided vitamin supplements for immediate treatment, and is referring cases to healthcare providers. Two Rohingya have died in hospital within a week of approaching UNHCR.

Indonesia

Sixty Rohingya approached UNHCR in Indonesia between January and June – a drop of almost 90 per cent compared to the same period last year. By the end of June 2014, there were 951 Rohingya registered with UNHCR, mainly people who arrived in previous years. Most are believed to have arrived by boat from Malaysia, together with other nationalities of arrivals to Indonesia.

Australia

In the first half of the year, nine boats travelling towards Australia with more than 400 people were intercepted by the Australian authorities under the government's Operation Sovereign Borders. Seven boats were returned to Indonesia. One boat with 41 passengers was returned to Sri Lanka following accelerated screening procedures by the government. The 157 people on board another boat that left from India were transferred to Nauru, pending a decision by the Australian High Court on how to process them.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

- In Bangkok, Vivian Tan on mobile +66 818 270 280
- In Geneva, Adrian Edwards on mobile +41 79 557 9120
- In Geneva, Dan McNorton on mobile +41 79 217 3011

The report "South-East Asia: Irregular Maritime Movements January-June 2014" is available at www.unhcr.org/53f1c5fc9.html



RB News
August 20, 2014

Tokyo, Japan -- On August 19th, the delegation of Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan (BRAJ) led by Mr Haroon Rashid visited Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They met senior officers Mr Atsushi Murata and Mr Satoshi Oyama from Southeast Asia division. 

The delegation highlighted the current vulnerable situation of Rohingyas in Arakan state and IDPs camps. The malnutrition and health care of Rohingya children and the education of Rohingyas as well. 

The delegation submitted the below letter.

BRAJ Appeals to Japan government to protect Rohingyas in Arakan


Rohingya were excluded from a UN-supported national census in April [EPA]

August 20, 2014

Myanmar's government pressurises foreign officials and aid agencies not to speak 'Rohingya' name, activists say.

Myanmar's government has been pressuring aid workers and foreign officials not to speak "Rohingya" name, activists and UN officials say.

'How will the rights of the Rohingya be protected by people who won't even use the word 'Rohingya'?'' Tun Khin, president of the activist group Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, told the Associated Press news agency.

Khin said by not using it, governments are cooperating with a policy of repression.

Myanmar's oppressed Rohingya Muslims have been denied citizenship, targeted in deadly sectarian violence and corralled into dirty camps without aid.

Myanmar authorities view the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, not one of the 135 officially recognised ethnic groups.

Long-standing discrimination against this stateless minority, estimated to number 1.3 million, has intensified as Myanmar has opened up after decades of military rule.

More than 140,000 Rohingya have been trapped in crowded camps since violent mobs from the Buddhist majority began chasing them from their homes two years ago, killing up to 280 people.

Rohingya were excluded from a UN-supported national census in April if they identified themselves as Rohingya.

Myanmar's Information Minister Ye Htut has said that the name had never been accepted by Myanmar citizens.

Htut told the AP news agency that it was created by a separatist movement in the 1950s and then used by exile activists to pressure Myanmar's former military government at the United Nations in the 1990s.

Avoiding tension

The UN officials say they avoid the term in public to avoid stirring tensions between the country's Buddhists and Muslims.

After Secretary of State John Kerry recently met Myanmar leaders, a senior State Department official told reporters that the US thinks the name issue should be ''set aside".

Kerry during a visit this month did not utter the term at a news conferences when he talked with concern about the situation in Rakhine state.

The State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorised to speak publicly, said the US' position is that to force either community to accept a name that they consider offensive - including the term "Bengali" that the government uses to describe Rohingya is to "invite conflict".

The department says its policy on using "Rohingya", however, has not changed.

Foreign aid workers have been caught up in the tensions. Doctors Without Borders was expelled by the government in February and is still waiting to be allowed back.

Increased government pressure

The UN said the number of severe malnutrition cases among the Rohingya more than doubled between March and June, and the world body's top human rights envoy for Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, last month called the situation "deplorable".

She said she had been repeatedly told by the government not to use the name "Rohingya" although she noted under international law that minorities have the right to self-identify on the basis of their national, ethnic, religious and linguistic characteristics.

In June the UN children's agency even apologised for using the term "Rohingya" at a presentation in Rakhine, an incident which drew criticism from rights activists.

"Any humanitarian agency or donor who refuses to use the term is not just betraying fundamental tenets of human rights law, but displaying cowardice that has no place in any modern humanitarian project," said David Mathieson, senior researcher on Myanmar for Human Rights Watch.

A boat carrying 73 Rohingya refugees was intercepted by Thai authorities off the sea in Phuket on Jan. 1, 2013. (Photo: AP)

By NNT
August 19, 2014

BANGKOK – A fund of 200,000 US dollars has been presented by the Supreme Commander of Thailand to Myanmar to support the rehabilitation process in its restive state of Rakhine. 

At the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, Gen Thanasak Patimapragorn, Supreme Commander and Deputy Chief of the National Council for Peace and Order, hosted a ceremony to offer humanitarian aid money of 200,000 dollars or about 6 million baht to the Myanmar government. The assistance was aimed to help the neighboring country in the effort to restore normalcy in Rakhine State, which was previously plagued by sectarian violence. 

The ceremony was also joined by Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow while Myanmar Ambassador to Thailand U Win Maung accepted the money on his country’s behalf. 

On this occasion, the Myanmar Ambassador expressed gratitude to Thailand for its continuous assistance. The Thai side, meanwhile, affirmed its willingness to support national development and reform processes within Myanmar, especially the ongoing mission to resolve the situation in Rakhine State.

(Photo: Brennan O’Connor/Al Jazeera)

By Sufyan bin Uzayr
August 19, 2014

Myanmar is undergoing upheaval and transformation, as the country experiences changes on the political, economic and social frontiers. Myanmar is also witnessing increased cases of religious intolerance. In spite of its rich cultural heritage and legacy of socio-religious harmony, present-day Myanmar is surely not the best place for its religious minorities.

Recently, the government of Myanmar proposed a law that seeks to impose a virtual ban on religious conversions (any case of religious conversion will need prior approval of the state). This proposed law is just one of the many recent laws that are being put into effect to target the country’s religious minorities: there are plans to outlaw interfaith marriages, and also to limit the birth-rate among non-Buddhist families residing in Myanmar.

But that’s not all. The worst part is the fact that these discriminatory laws are being backed by radical Buddhist monks (collectively known as the Mabatha), and there have been petitions signed by as many as 1.3 million people calling for elimination of Muslims from the country.

A Historical Perspective

Just like any other religion, Buddhism too has seen its principles threatened by its own clerics and clergymen. For centuries, Buddhist sects and monasteries have failed to arrive at a common consensus on various issues, both big and small. Should a monk’s robe cover both shoulders or just one? Answer awaited.

Also, in spite of Buddha’s non-violent teachings and principles, Buddhist monks are no strangers when it comes to violence and conflict. During the colonial era, several Buddhist monastic orders made it mandatory for their members to engage in armed violence against the Europeans.

As such, politics is not unknown territory for Buddhist monks who claim to have denounced the world. In the period ranging from 1980s to 2000s, many Burmese monks participated in the pro-democracy struggles.

However, after the political transition of 2011, two extremist Buddhist groups — the Mabatha and the 969 Movement — have dominated Burmese political thought and ideology. Firebrand radical Ashin Wirathu has emerged as the de facto proponent voice of communal discord. Both the 969 Movement and the Mabatha seem to have one common goal: creation of an exclusively Buddhist state in Myanmar.

Crimes Against Humanity

Back in mid-2012, communal violence took a turn for the worse when riots broke out in the western state of Rakhine, killing hundreds and displacing over 140,000 Rohingya Muslims. The government simply refused to step in, and even when it did, the authorities blatantly sided with the extremists and essentially rendered the Rohingya people helpless.

This showed that anti-Rohingya activities in Myanmar were (and still are) nothing more than planned religious pogrom being conducted by the Buddhist terror outfits in assonance with the government of Myanmar. More details about the ill-effects of the riots can be found here.

Apart from planned genocide, Buddhist extremist groups also indulge in anti-minority propaganda in the form of economic boycotts against Muslim businesses and false criticism of religions they do not like (which include, apart from other faiths, forms of Buddhism that do not agree with their extremist views). Of course, Islam is the centre of their hatred: when delegates of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation visited Myanmar in 2013, banners reading “Islam is a faith of animals with uncontrollable birth-rates” were flashed.

Fundamentalism Among Myanmar’s Monks — Exploring The Causes

The question is, if certain sects of Buddhism are engaging in violence, why are they getting away with it? Fundamentalism can be found in any religion: Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam. But in every religion, the majority of the followers are always against fundamentalism. But in the case of Buddhism, the anti-extremist or moderate voices are too feeble.

The problem is that the average Buddhist is taught, time and again, to think of monks as ascetics who have renounced worldly comforts and are thus immune to human flaws. Even if a monk errs, he is not called ‘corrupt,’ but is instead termed as ‘deviant.’ The robe of the present-day monk is still equated with the Wisdom of Buddha, even if the said monk is miles apart from the teachings of the Enlightened One. As a result, each Buddhist monk considers himself to be a Pope in his own right — incorruptible.

More importantly, on the practical front, the radical monks serve as handy allies for the pseudo-civilian government of Myanmar. Therefore, even Aung San Suu Kyi, so well known for her pro-liberty credentials, has chosen to be a mute spectator while innocent Rohingya children are being massacred.

A Ray of Hope?

Yet, all hope is not lost. In Myanmar, even though the extremists seem to have the upper edge, there are voices who are trying to protect the country’s secular fabric. Led by monks like Metta Shin U Zawana, some intellectuals and students are coming forward to question the policies and propaganda of the radical outfits. Bloggers like Nay Phone Latt have written extensively on this subject.

However, the Mabatha and the 969 Movement are quick to discard the peaceful voices as “echoes of treachery.” When the government’s discriminatory policies against the Rohingya were criticized by women activists, the Mabatha terrorists termed the activists as “traitors.”

Conclusion

Buddha preached that salvation could be attained only if one were to free himself or herself from worldly desires. Universal brotherhood of humankind was the underlying principle of Buddhism in its pristine form.

Unfortunately, modern-day extremist monks of Myanmar are more concerned with ethnic cleansing. Their critics are summarily silenced by the government of Myanmar and this has left the Rohingya people at the mercy of the terrorist-members of the Mabatha and the 969 Movement. The actions of the fundamentalists is causing great tension and turmoil in Myanmar (not to mention the fact that it is putting the lives and property of the Rohingya people at stake).

This is where the international community needs to step in. The Dalai Lama, for instance, should be requested to help spread the true message of Buddhism among the Burmese masses and specifically criticize the extremists for defaming Buddhism.

If Myanmar actually intends to progress towards true democracy and prosperity, it will have to eliminate the terror groups like the Mabatha and the 969 Movement, and attempt to safeguard the interests of its religious minorities. True development seems impossible as long as terrorists are dominating the Burmese politics and society.


    • Rohingya Exodus