RB News

12.9.2014

Detroit, Michigan, USA -- An Exhibition and a panel session on the plight of Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma/Myanmar were some of highlights at the 51st Annual Convention of the Islamic Society of America (ISNA), held at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The panel session was titled “Rohingya Muslim and Islam in Myanmar: A Population and a Faith Under Threat of Extermination”. Dr. Sayyid Syeed, National Director of ISNA, presided the session with opening remarks, followed by speeches by Dr. Wakar Uddin, Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union, His Excellency Ufuk Gokcen, the Ambassador of Permanent Mission of OIC to UN, Honorable Tom Andrews, former United States Congressman and President & CEO of United to End Genocide in Washington, D.C., and Dr. Malik Mujahid, Chairman of Burma Task Force-USA in Chicago, addressed the audience on ethnic cleansing, violence, and atrocities against Rohingya, Kamen, and Pathi/Myanmar Muslim in Burma.

Ambassador Ufuk Gokcen of the OIC Permanent Mission at the United Nations in NY addresses at the Rohingya session at 51st ISNA Convention

Dr. Wakar Uddin provided background information on Rohingya ethnic minority in Arakan, how the modern history of Rohingya has entered the dark period during the past half-a-century, deprivation of the rights of Rohingya by the military regime in Myanmar, ethnic cleansing and major human right violations, pre-planned events of violence against Rohingya beginning from June 2012, and dire situations in IDP camps emerged after expulsion of NGOs by the Government of Myanmar. Dr. Uddin has further explained the current situation on the ground, particularly the controversial “verification” campaign that the Government officials had reportedly conducting using data collection sheets with the title “Household Membership in Illegal Bengali Immigrants”, and the officials turning violent against the Rohingya families for non-cooperation because of their opposition to the mislabeling Rohigya as “Illegal Bengali Immigrants”. Dr. Uddin has warned that the situation in Arakan is grim as the Government of Myanmar is poised to conduct “verification” under the pretext of national census and the campaign by the Government of Myanmar for denial and destruction of the ethnic identity and the name “Rohingya”. Dr. Uddin has appealed the Muslim Umma and the international community for assistance, and detailed the strategies for how they can help the cause in a concerted effort.

Ambassador Ufuk Gokcen spoke on humanitarian and political issues in Arakan, OIC’s dedication to Rohingya cause, stressing that Rohingya issue was the first topic in the recent meeting of OIC Secretary General HE Iyad Madani with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in Bali. Ambassador Ufuk further spoke about OIC’s engagement with the Government of Myanmar, the citizenship issue, importance of OIC member states’ common strategy with common voice and sustained efforts through OIC Ministerial Contact Group, and the important roles of ASEAN member states of OIC that maintain strong bilateral relations with the Government of Myanmar. Ambassador Ufuk also stated the importance of inter-communal relationship and interfaith dialogue among the communities in Arakan and the intricacies in the local, state and central government. He has also explained the importance of the US House Resolution 418 as a landmark in Rohingya issue on a global scale. The major emphasis of Ambassador Ufuk’s speech was finding a long-lasting diplomatic solution to the issues faced by Rohingya and the need for dialogue and ethnic reconciliation to bring a permanent peace and stability in Arakan state.

Honorable Tom Andrews presented the situation of living reality of Rohingya ethnic minority in Arakan state in Myanmar. Hon. Tom Andrews gave the details of his personal trip to Arakan and Central Myanmar and witnessing the horrendous conditions in Rohingya IDP camps, which he calls “concentration camps” in Arakan. Hon. Tom Andrews provided an account of the Rohingya IDPs asking the Government of United States to bomb and finish the camps, so that they will no longer have to go through such humanly unthinkable conditions in IDP camps. Hon. Tom Andrews also provided the detail accounts of precursors of genocide and desperate situation faced by Rohingya families. He stated the importance of the U.S. Congress understanding the serious situation in Arakan; thus passing the House Resolution 418 with bipartisan support unanimously. He also explained his confidence in US Senate about passing a resolution on Rohingya. Hon. Tom Andrews expressed outrage on recent murder of the Muslim community leader, Soe Min Htway, in Mandalay. He urged the global community to sign the petition for Rohingya at EndGenocide.org. He urged President Obama to provide protection to Rohingya as he is protecting minorities in Northern Iraq and Eastern Syria. “We know the truth in Arakan, and we will save the Rohingya” Hon. Tom Andrews declared during his concluding remark.

Dr. Abdul Malik Mujahid spoke about the involvement of Burma Task Force-USA in Rohingya issues. In his speech, Dr. Mujahid provided a number of historic evidences of the recognition of Rohingya as an indigenous people of Arakan and ethnic minority of Myanmar by the Government of Myanmar in 1950s and 60s. Dr. Mujahid stressed that the mounting violence against Rohingya and other Muslim population in Myanmar is being driven by the Islamophobia that is now a public policy in Myanmar. He has also reminded the audience that President Thein Sein is the only leader in the modern world calling for removal and transfer of an indigenous ethnic minority (Rohingya) to another country. He provided the satellite images by Human Rights Watch as the graphic evidence of total removal of Rohingya villages, as a tool of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Dr. Mujahid has also provided evidence of the connection between the leadership of the radical monks in Sri Lanka and the mastermind of violence in Myanmar, monk Wirathu. However, Dr. Mujahid also stated that historically there was no hostility between Islam and Buddhism, and reminded the international community that the radical Buddhist monks in Myanmar and Sri Lanka do not represent the great peaceful religion of Dalai Lama – the Buddhism.

By ICRC

September 11, 2014

Five months after violence disrupted humanitarian operations in Rakhine state, the ICRC has restarted a full range of activities there for the Muslim and ethnic Rakhine communities alike.

"The Muslim and ethnic Rakhine communities are both suffering the long-term effects of violence. Access to essential health care and clean water has been seriously affected, as has the capacity to earn a livelihood," said Enrique Ochoa, head of the ICRC’s office in Sittwe. Since resuming its programmes in May, the organization has been tackling a broad range of problems faced by both communities.

"We are in regular contact with community leaders to help define programmes and tailor them to meet specific needs in a transparent and independent manner," added Mr Ochoa.

The ICRC is carrying out 14 hospital restoration projects in Rakhine designed to enhance health-care infrastructure and services. At the same time, it sponsors the work of local health personnel, including midwives, and contributes to trauma-care training for doctors from various townships. In addition, the ICRC has donated solar-powered refrigerators to support national immunization programmes in the state, and continues to donate medicines and medical consumables to the local ministry of health for use in Sittwe and other township hospitals and mobile clinics.

In northern Rakhine, the ICRC is looking at ways to assist the ministry of health’s existing medical facilities in the Maungdaw and Buthidaung areas.

Working closely with local authorities and community elders, the ICRC has provided seed and fertilizer to small-scale farmers in villages in Sittwe, Pauk-taw, Kyauk-taw and Minbya. Action taken to provide drinking water has benefited over 20,000 displaced people from both communities living in camps and rural areas, while rainwater harvesting systems and ceramic water filters have also been provided. A programme to fence community water storage ponds to avoid contamination by livestock has now been concluded in three townships.

People in three camps with no access to firewood for cooking have received biodegradable fuel sticks made of rice husk. Some 20,000 people received roofing tarpaulins to keep them dry during the wet season. Grants in cash and kind for small business ventures have provided 600 families with a sustainable income. The grants enabled people to buy fishing equipment, livestock, supplies for setting up grocery shops or tricycle taxis, or start small businesses. More than 20,000 people have received this kind of assistance since programmes restarted in May.

Kachin and eastern states

In the north-east of the country, where sporadic fighting still continues despite positive steps in the peace process, the ICRC is focused on supporting health facilities, enhancing services for people with disabilities and generating income streams for displaced families.

Projects to improve health services for both resident and displaced communities started in February in the towns of Laiza, Majayan and Bhamo in Kachin state. Laiza hospital receives comprehensive support through on-the-job training, equipment overhauls and donations of supplies. The ICRC is also upgrading power, water supply, sanitary and medical-waste disposal facilities. In tandem, we are continuing medical training in Kachin and Shan states, boosting the expertise of health personnel in areas such as surgical management techniques and the treatment of weapon injuries.

Plans are under way to build a physical rehabilitation centre at Myitkyina hospital to provide artificial limbs and other services for physically disabled people living in northern Myanmar. The ICRC and the Myanmar Red Cross have started running a mobile repair service for physically disabled people whose devices need repair, improving their access to orthopaedic services across the north and east of Myanmar.

For further information, please contact:

Michael O’Brien, ICRC Yangon, tel: +95 9 420 107 606

Ewan Watson, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 33 45 or +41 79 244 64 70

we petition the obama administration to:

In your 2012 trip to Myanmar, you made an extraordinary powerful statement about a highly persecuted ethnic group in Burma, demonstrating your humanity and the American resolve for human rights. You stated, “Rohingyas… hold within themselves the same dignity as you do, and I do.”

For your upcoming Burma trip in November 2014 please build on your previous approach by continuing to use the name “Rohingyas” publicly. Please do not follow the example of Secretary of State Kerry who did not utter the word “Rohingya” in his August 2014 trip, exactly what the Burmese government wants.

President Obama, please ask the Burmese president to restore citizenship to Rohingya living in their ancestral land; to close all concentration camps; and eliminate the 12 laws discriminating against Rohingya.

Created: Aug 29, 2014

Sign Petition

By Geoffrey Goddard

Mizzima News

September 11, 2014

Increased humanitarian aid and development efforts are urgently needed to benefit all vulnerable people in Rakhine State, senior United Nations officials said on September 11 after a two-day visit.

"Stability and sustainable peace can be achieved in Rakhine State when the needs of all communities are met," said the United Nations Development Program's regional director for Asia and the Pacific, Xu Haoliang.

"We need both to address immediate needs of all vulnerable people and to increase the capacity of the state to provide quality basic services, including healthcare, education, water, livelihoods and infrastructure," Mr Xu said.

In a statement issued jointly with Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs director of operations John Ging, Mr Xu added that more needed to be done to "improve relations between different ethnic groups in Rakhine and to find durable solutions for displaced people."

Praising the progress made since his last visit a year ago despite "challenges and setbacks", Mr Ging said efforts must be redoubled to do more.

"The humanitarian situation is still unacceptably dire for far too many people, but thanks to the outstanding efforts of aid organisations the humanitarian situation is now stabilising," he said.

During their visit beginning on September 8, Mr Xu and Mr Ging "saw the positive and practical results of intercommunal dialogue, in the construction of new roads and bridges to improve economic activity between communities", the statement said.

"These projects give us a real basis for hope but we must not underestimate the challenges ahead, one of the most critical being a just and equitable resolution to the citizenship issue," said Mr Ging.

As well as visiting camps in the state capital, Sittway, and in Pauktaw, where the UN and international non-government organisations are providing humanitarian aid, they also went to villages in Sittway Township and Minbya, where UNDP is working with communities to strengthen social cohesion and improve basic services.

On September 10, together with Rakhine Chief Minister U Maung Maung Ohn, they participated in a ceremony to mark the start of work on a bridge that will give four villages all-season access with Sittway. The Ye Chan Pyin bridge project is being supported by the state government and the UNDP.

Mr Xu and Mr Ging travelled to Nay Pyi Taw on September 11 for meetings with senior officials, including Vice President Sai Mauk Kham.

By Aung Hla Tun and Jared Ferrie

Reuters

September 11, 2014

By Democratic Voice of Burma

September 10, 2014

As the 27th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council convened this week, a legal advisory group has warned that Burma’s police force still uses torture during interrogations.

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation that holds general consultative status with the UN, submitted twelve notices to the council on Monday, each pertaining to endemic abuses in various parts of Asia.

The group said that they have new documentation of police torture in Burma, and that the country’s law enforcement mechanisms are not adequate to solve the problem in a quick enough manner. Protection and support for detainees are also critically weak.

“The practice of police torture in Myanmar [Burma] remains unchanged despite the efforts and work of countless individuals across the globe,” read the statement, which went on to detail six cases documented since January 2013. The group said that there are “far more incidents” and that “the practice of torture by law enforcement agencies has been standard operating procedure through the interrogation process”.

One case detailed in the report was of a rickshaw driver arrested in July 2014 on charges of stealing fuel. The man was reportedly tortured in custody as police tried to obtain a confession. Upon his release, he was admitted to hospital and died from his injuries on 7 July. The ALRC said that the man’s family was threatened by authorities not to contradict official accounts of the ordeal.

“The police often know that the victims of torture are innocent,” the report continued. “The police may be acting to protect actual offenders, may not know who the actual offenders are, or do not have the means or inclination to find them within the short time available to solve cases in order to satisfy requirements for administrative efficiency dictated by their superiors.”

While many officials in Burma still adamantly deny the use of torture during interrogations, some have conceded that it does sometimes occur. Brig-Gen Win Khaung, Burma’s national police chief, told DVB that “there are still some officers who want to get the facts fast, or who act compulsively. We cannot say that such offenses are nonexistent.”

The ALRC recommended that the UN work with the Burmese government to implement counseling, case documentation and awareness programmes for relevant institutions like the police force and the judiciary.

Judicial weaknesses are of particular concern, according to Phil Robertson, Asia’s deputy director for Human Rights Watch (HRW).

“The Burmese judiciary is the Achilles heel of the reform movement because basic issues in enforcing rule of law fall to them – and frankly, the judges are nowhere close to ready to take up that challenge,” Robertson told DVB on Tuesday.

“Rather than standing up to stop abuses and enforce accountability, the judges shrink away, either because they are corrupt, or they are afraid to make a confrontational ruling, or more likely, a bit of both,” he added.

Burma is not a signatory to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, though the Burmese government did show some intention to ratify the agreement during planning discussions earlier this year. Despite that positive signal, the ALRC said that “in practice, there is no change.”

By Shankari Sundararaman, IPCS

Eurasia Review
September 10, 2014

By John Zaw, Mandalay

UCA News

September 10, 2014

Health officials in Myanmar’s Rakhine state say the government will meet with aid group Médecins Sans Frontières-Holland this week for discussions that could see medical operations by MSF resume later this month.

U Aye Nyein, head of Rakhine state’s health department, told ucanews.com that officials from the Ministry of Health will meet with the aid group to discuss a way forward for MSF, which was ordered to cease operations in Rakhine earlier this year. Aye Nyein said MSF must also meet with officials on the Emergency Coordination Committee (ECC), which is tasked with monitoring the work of international aid groups.

“I think that the discussion process will not take too long and MSF can carry out its operations in Rakhine state late this September,” Aye Nyein told ucanews.com in an interview.

MSF announced this week that it had signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health that it hoped would pave the way for a return to Rakhine.

“We hope this measure translates into an early resumption of our activities in Rakhine and provides the opportunity to engage with the communities on the ground,” MSF said in a statement.

An MSF official declined to provide further details when contacted by ucanews.com.

Either way, it remains unclear just how much freedom the group will have to operate in what remains a tense environment. The group was ordered to leave Rakhine earlier this year after it faced accusations that its medical aid favored the state’s Rohingya Muslims over the majority Rakhine Buddhist population. Officially, the government accused the group of falsifying reports about its treatment of 22 survivors of a massacre of 40 Rohingya in northern Rakhine that the UN said involved Myanmar security forces.

“We would like MSF to take a balanced … approach to [the] two communities,” Aye Nyein said.

Prejudice and discrimination have been deep-rooted in restive Rakhine state and local Rakhine Buddhists frequently accuse aid workers and the international community at large of favoring the Rohingya, who the United Nations designates as one of the most persecuted peoples in the world. If or when MSF does return to Rakhine, its aid workers will be returning to a similarly fraught environment.

Than Tun, a Rakhine Buddhist, said in an interview that the local Rakhine community remains suspicious of MSF’s work.

“We are not opposing the humanitarian aid to the Rohingya, but we are strongly opposed to their interference in our state affairs under the name of a humanitarian response,” sad Than Tun, who is also a member of the ECC.

“If they make the same mistake in the future, I would say that they will surely face the same consequences.”

In the meantime, the situation remains critical for Rohingya Muslims, thousands of whom have lacked access to proper healthcare as a result of MSF’s forced withdrawal in February.

“In terms of healthcare, the already dire situation is deteriorating in Rohingya camps since the expulsion of MSF in Rakhine,” said Pierre Peron, public information officer in Myanmar for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“The Ministry of Health has stepped in, in an effort to provide healthcare, but it’s a big gap for healthcare situation in refugee camps.”

By Michael Igoe

Devex

September 10, 2014

A U.S. congressional subcommittee will review on Tuesday legislation that would place limits on security assistance to Myanmar unless the country’s government demonstrates it is taking “concrete steps” on a number of human rights and pro-democracy fronts.

The Burma Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2014 would condition U.S. security assistance funds to Myanmar for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 to establishing civilian oversight of the military, publicly acknowledging human rights abuses committed by the armed forces, terminating military relations with North Korea and establishing a “fair, transparent and inclusive process to amend the constitution,” among several other requirements.

Included in the bill is a special note stressing that none of its contents should be construed as preventing U.S. disaster assistance for Myanmar.

The “security assistance” funds in question include those given directly to the government for military assistance, military education and training as well as peacekeeping operations, and would apply to funds that are unobligated at the time the bill is enacted.

While Myanmar has emerged from decades of isolation to become a donor darling, democratic institutions remain weak, and ongoing persecution of the Kachin minority group and the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Rakhine state have drawn widespread criticism and appeals for the international community to temper its praise — and assistance for the government party majority and the military.

U.S. Agency for International Development spokesperson Matthew Herrick declined to comment on whether or not the agency supports the bill — or whether it would disrupt USAID’s development cooperation strategy for Myanmar.

By Tim McLaughlin

Myanmar Times

September 9, 2014

AID group Médecins Sans Frontières-Holland has signed a new memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Health, a step the group says it hopes will speed up its efforts to begin working again in Rakhine State.

“MSF is committed to fully develop this agreement and stands ready in cooperation with the MoH [Ministry of Health] to resume operations in Rakhine at any time,” the group said in a September 9 statement.

“We hope this measure translates into an early resumption of our activities in Rakhine and provides the opportunity to engage with the communities on the ground.”

MSF was invited to return to the state in late July, five months after it was abruptly forced to shutter its operations there.

An announcement from the Rakhine State government and a Myanmar News Agency article based on a Ministry of Health report, both published in the July 24 edition of the New Light of Myanmar, said the group would be allowed to resume operations in the western state.

But the announcement provided few details on when MSF could return or what it would be allowed to do, and MSF has yet to resume operations in Rakhine.

U Aye Nyein, the head of Rakhine State's Health Department, told The Myanmar Times in August that Nay Pyi Taw had not issued any instructions to allow MSF to resume operations. He said that this would likely only occur after a new MOU was signed.

In the July announcement the Rakhine State government invited UN agencies and INGOs, including MSF “to participate in development, humanitarian, education and healthcare programs in accordance with the wishes of the Rakhine people”. It was published shortly before the arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry and during a visit by the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee.

The invitation was made in order to implement the Rakhine Action Plan, which was developed following meetings on June 26-27 with members of the Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC), UN officials, civil society representatives and officials from the Myanmar Peace Centre, it said.

The government ordered the Nobel Prize-winning organisation to leave Rakhine State in late February amid accusations it was biased in favour of the state’s Muslim population. A month later, all INGOs pulled out of the state after their offices were targeted by Rakhine extremists. All were later allowed to return but the state government said it would not allow MSF to resume its activities in Rakhine.

Prior to its eviction from the state, MSF had angered the government and Buddhist Rakhine residents by reporting that it had treated 22 Rohingya Muslims following an outbreak of violence in Maungdaw township in January. The UN has said that it believes at least 40 people were killed during the fighting but the government has denied that there were any serious casualties.

During ASEAN meetings in Nay Pyi Taw last month, Minister for Information U Ye Htut, a spokesperson for the President’s Office, said MSF had made some “mistakes in the past”, including failing to be transparent about its activities, and it was the responsibility of MSF to “find a solution to run their operation smoothly in Rakhine State".

By Alex Bookbinder

Democratic Voice of Burma

September 9, 2014

A senior United Nations delegation departed for the Arakan State capital of Sittwe on Monday to “take stock of the ongoing humanitarian and development situation in Rakhine [Arakan] State and review priorities for the UN system,” according to a statement.

Assistant Secretary-General Haoliang Xu, who is also the assistant administrator for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and its regional director for Asia and the Pacific, is accompanied by John Ging, the director of the Coordination and Response Division of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

The visit is part of a weeklong visit to the country, Xu’s first in his official capacity. Xu and Ging will subsequently meet with Burma’s vice president, Dr. Sai Mauk Kham, and other senior ministers in Naypyidaw later this week. The pair will depart Burma on Friday.

The visit will focus on the implementation of the UN’s development and humanitarian assistance programmes in the restive state, which has witnessed a surge of communal violence since 2012. In recent months, Arakanese Buddhist nationalists have voiced significant opposition to the activities of UN agencies and international NGOs in the state, which they claim are biased towards Muslims.

“The UN is looking at Rakhine in a more holistic manner,” said Pierre Peron, UNOCHA’s public information officer in Burma. “It’s one of the poorest states in the country.”

In late July, the regional government invited NGOs and UN agencies to help implement an “Action Plan for Peace, Stability and Development in Rakhine State.” Formulated with input from NGOs, UN agencies, civil society actors and foreign diplomats, it is expected to address issues surrounding humanitarian aid, the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs), and the government’s development priorities, but its contents have not been made publicly available.

A controversial cornerstone of the government’s new strategy in Arakan is a “citizenship verification” programme launched in June, intended to give stateless individuals – primarily Rohingya Muslims – the chance to acquire citizenship. But the programme compels individuals who identify as Rohingya to register as “Bengalis,” nomenclature that implies “alien” origins in neighbouring Bangladesh. It is a designation rejected by the vast majority of Rohingya, whose presence in the restive region dates back generations.

Many Rohingya were stripped of their citizenship under Burma’s restrictive 1982 Citizenship Law, which allows individuals to become “naturalised citizens” if they can prove their ancestors resided in Burma prior to independence in 1948. The burden of proof for “full” citizenship is higher, with a cutoff date of 1823, the beginning of British colonial rule in Arakan. For most Rohingya, their family histories are difficult to document, owing to a lack of a paper trail befitting the government’s exacting requirements.

Last Thursday, a delegation led by Sai Mauk Kham, which included government ministers, INGO officials, and the ambassadors of Turkey and Brunei, visited two IDP camps near Sittwe. He was quoted in state media as saying that IDPs should be relocated to areas close to where they were displaced from, and that the “initial step” for resettlement would be “when the two communities can accept the same conditions for stability and the citizenship scrutiny measures being taken by the government.”

But the notion that citizenship should be contingent on the rejection of Rohingya identity earned the government’s policies a stern rebuke from the newly-appointed UN special rapporteur on human rights, Yanghee Lee. In July, she asserted that, under the principles of international law, minorities have the right “to self-identify on the basis of their national, ethnic, religious and linguistic characteristics.”

She criticised the 1982 Citizenship Law, claiming that it should not “be an exception” immune from amendment during Burma’s current process of legislative reform, despite the substantial level of domestic support the law enjoys.

By Shwe Aung

Democratic Voice of Burma

September 8, 2014

Several political parties in Burma have reacted with frustration to the election commission’s decision to cancel by-elections this year, while others — notably the National League for Democracy (NLD) — shrugged off the polls as unnecessary and “a burden”.

Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) Chairman Aye Thar Aung slammed the Union Election Commission (UEC), saying it was “sowing confusion” among political parties by axing the by-elections, which were slated for November or December.

“First, they say they will hold by-elections, then they cancel them,” he told DVB on Sunday. “It seems to me that they are testing the political parties. It sows confusion, because we have already started planning and choosing candidates to contest the seats.”

The ALD chairman’s perspective was echoed by Ye Htun, a Shan Nationalities Democratic Party MP representing Thibaw Township, who said that although he accepted the decision to cancel the by-election, he believed the UEC had acted in an indecisive manner.

“I always thought they shouldn’t hold polls so close to the 2015 general election. We had a by-election in 2012, so we don’t need another so soon,” he said. “However, since they announced [in March] it would take place, they should stand by their decision. The Commission should not be so indecisive.”

Thirty-five seats remain vacant across both houses of parliament, as well as state and divisional assemblies. Most were vacated as MPs assumed alternate roles within the government; others because of deaths or resignations.

Speaking at Myanmar Peace Centre in Rangoon on Sunday, UEC Chairman Tin Aye announced that holding a by-election to contest just 35 seats was unnecessary for two reasons: first, with general elections slated for next year, it would be asking parties to finance and compete across the country in back-to-back elections, something many were unable to do. Second, he said, even if one party swept all or a majority of the seats in the by-election, it would not affect the overall make-up of parliament.

The NLD won 43 of 46 seats at the previous by-elections in April 2012 – elections which saw party leader Aung San Suu Kyi elected to parliament for the first time. However, its reaction to the cancellation of polling this time round was rather muted.

Nyan Win, an NLD central executive committee member who attended Sunday’s meeting, said that his party accepted the UEC’s decision.

“When the UEC originally announced the timeframe for by-elections, it did not take these [campaign] issues into account,” he told DVB. “Now the matter is pressing. Political parties believe the gap between elections is too close and the campaign rules are inconvenient. By cancelling, we feel there is less of a burden on us.”

Federal Union Party Vice-chairman Saw Than Myint said that everything the government does, including the cancellation of these by-elections, is based on the decision of the ruling party.

“I would say frankly that it all depends on what the ruling [Union Solidarity and Development Party] wants. If by-elections are in its interest, it will pressure the commission to hold them,” he said. “It’s all political opportunism. These are the tricks of the ruling party. They control everything.”

DVB spoke to several non-political players about the UEC announcement.

Maw Linn, the editor of Pyithu Khit Journal, said the reasons for cancelling the by-elections were as yet unclear.

“I can’t say clearly why the UEC did this,” he said. “First, they said no by-elections, then they scheduled them for the end of this year. Now they have cancelled them. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said in parliament that by-elections should be held, and at that time, the UEC was working towards that goal.

“Now they have cancelled the by-election. I think this shows they are not reflecting seriously enough on what is happening in the country. It seems they are trying to solve problems one by one. It’s difficult to say what really lies behind the decision-making.”

Ko Mya Aye, a member of the 88 Peace and Open Society civil society group, offered a disheartened response.

“I simply don’t know what to say. First, they [UEC] announce they will do something, then they don’t. I don’t know what they are doing,” he said. “I think they don’t have a clear policy on how to navigate the country in a straight direction. It is very difficult to see what they are trying to do.”

In its statement on Sunday, the UEC said it had consulted with “concerned individuals and organisations” before making its decision to cancel the by-elections.

By Associated Press

September 7, 2014

Yangon -- Myanmar's Union Election Commission said Sunday that it was canceling by-elections planned for later this year to fill 35 empty parliamentary seats.

Commission chairman Tin Aye made the surprise announcement at a media briefing in Yangon.

Reasons he gave included preparations for the 2015 general election, Myanmar's duties hosting the summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations in November, and an election law that says political parties must field at least three candidates or cease to exist, a requirement he described as burdensome for the country's 67 political parties.

Tin Aye also said that next year's elections would most likely take place in November, the most specific time mentioned so far.

The commission had announced in March that by-elections would be held later this year to fill more than 30 seats vacated for various reasons.

One lower house member, Khaing Maung Yi, said that he had not heard anything about the decision, and that the reasons given were just excuses.

"They should hold the elections since they have already announced them," he said.

Nyan Win, a spokesman for democracy icon Aung Sang Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, said that while it wasn't good that the commission had decided to cancel the by-elections, the NLD supports the decision because it was not enthusiastic about them.

Myanmar's legislature has 224 members in the upper house and 440 in the lower house. Twenty-five percent of each house is occupied by military appointees.

By Feliz Solomon

Democratic Voice of Burma

September 7, 2014

The tragic story of Burma’s boatpeople is now known the world over; countless Rohingya Muslims pay brokers to transport them by boat to neighbouring countries, in a desperate attempt to escape poverty and violence. Many die on harsh seas, others fall into the hands of human traffickers. The United Nations estimates that tens of thousands of people in the region — many of them stateless Rohingya Muslims — risked their lives to flee by boat since just the start of this year.

But this story goes back much, much further. Before Burma’s reforms began and steered the world’s attention to the once-isolated Southeast Asian nation, and before a rash of riots beginning in June 2012 caused a sudden, mass exodus of Rohingyas, people were already fleeing and someone was paying attention.

Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian (known by her nickname, Oi) run a small, online news website based in Phuket, Thailand. As editor and reporter, respectively, they are currently the entire staff of Phuketwan. Morison and Chutima were among the first journalists to report on Rohingya asylum seekers crossing the Andaman Sea en route to Malaysia. They became known as a consistent and trustworthy source of information on the obscure topic, and hence were often contracted by international media to assist with reporting.

Their years of reporting and assisting other journalists were relatively unhindered until July 2013, when they published an article quoting excerpts from a Reuters investigative report about the smuggling of Rohingyas. The Royal Thai Navy brought defamation charges against the pair, who now face up to seven years in jail. Their trial will begin in March 2015, and Morison, an Australian, is bound to remain in-country on a criminal visa until a verdict is reached. His visa status could cause the publication to shut down.

Reuters, a London-based news agency, is not facing charges over the disputed content and has been silent about the case against Phuketwan. To make matters more awkward, news soon emerged that Chutima was hired by Reuters to facilitate parts of their investigation, which wasrecently awarded one of journalism’s highest honours: a Pulitzer Prize.

Some speculate that the pair is being singled out and punished for their work, which ultimately helped to bring this horrendous story of abuse and neglect into the global conscience. DVB spoke with Morison and Chutima about their work, their charges, and the responsibilities of a free and professional press.

Q: Before Reuters reached out to you, Phuketwan was already well known for breaking the story of Thailand’s ‘push back’ policy, a short-lived directive to send asylum seekers back to sea with no assistance. How did this story come about?

CS: We were doing an interview with a commander in 2008. We asked if there were any concerns about security in the Andaman Sea, and he mentioned the Rohingya. After that, we decided to come back. I tried to ask for permission from the Thai navy to get on the patrol boats, because I wanted to know more about the Rohingya. But they wouldn’t give me permission.

Some months later, the Navy, after I pushed them very hard, they sent me a picture. They said, ‘Ok, here’s a picture of the Rohingyas that we arrested yesterday at Surin Island.’ It was a picture of them laid out on the beach. And I thought, ‘Jeez, this is a very good story!’

I went to my university, one of my friends — he is an officer — he also knew about the Rohingya. He’s the one I started the investigation with. He said he saw that they have a new policy to deal with the Rohingya by the Internal Security Operations Command [ISOC, a unit of the Thai military]. So any police station that had any Rohingyas in their custody had to transfer them all to the ISOC in Ranong province. So we just went to Ranong and we scanned every area. This side, that side, the top of that mountain, whatever.

Several days later, we found a kitty boat, a Rohingya boat, in a village. The people there told us, ‘This is from the Rohingya’, so we checked it out. We found that the boat had stopped at Red Sand Island.

Q: Before that time, were you aware that there was a problem of Rohingya smuggling?

CS: No, no, we weren’t aware of smuggling, but I had read some information on the Internet about violence in Burma, and that they [Rohingyas] weren’t citizens.

At the time, we wanted to send a message back to their families because nobody was covering this, and many people were drowning on these boats. You know, the high sea, the monsoon, many people ended up dead.

Q: So those that do make it to Thailand, what happens to them?

AM: There were about 2,000 Rohingyas in detention here for quite some time. After the discovery of women and children on the boats [in January 2013], Thailand changed its policy and, for a time, took Rohingya into detention centres. About six months later they found that they couldn’t find a solution. They had to somehow get rid of these people quietly, without too much attention.

That’s when they started the practice of ‘soft deportation’.

All of Thailand’s intentions to do right by those people just fell by the wayside; they couldn’t find a third country, in the end they didn’t know what to do with them so they developed the policy of soft deportation, and they all just disappeared.

Oi and I spent a night up in Ranong because we had been told by somebody that a convoy [of detained Rohingyas about to be deported via land crossing] was coming. We were waiting for these buses to turn up, I think there were three buses, and sure enough it was Rohingya who had been captured down south and trucked up to the Ranong immigration detention centre.

We were there when the buses arrived in the middle of the night, around 2am. They had to be fingerprinted and go through all the normal checks, and treated as Burmese would be who are being deported. But with the Rohingya it’s a little bit different, they don’t actually go back to Burma, they drop them off on the beach.

Q: Is there no documentation of these deportations?

AM: There would be, in Ranong. There would be a record that they’d all been sent back to Burma, but they’re just left on a beach.

A ‘soft deportation’, I would say, is dropping people off at a beach in Burma and either letting human traffickers pick them up or leaving them to their own devices, rather than handing them back to officials.

Q: Subsequent investigations have concluded that some asylum seekers are intercepted by human traffickers, who keep them captive in jungle camps and demand ransom for their passage to Malaysia. Have you been to any of these camps?

AM: Oi has. She’s raided some of the camps, but I think they seldom find any people in them because the word gets around and the locations are shifted. What we’ve heard lately is that the camps are now becoming less accessible to everybody and guarded by more people. They have the guards further out so no one can get in. It’s more difficult these days for the authorities to get at them, as well.

Q: You’ve clearly been very active on these issues. Phuketwan reported consistently on the arrival of the boats in January 2013, which you mentioned a moment ago. Has the lawsuit affected your ability to carry out your work?

CS: It has burned a lot of energy; it takes up a lot of our time.

But also, the military is involved in every issue in Thailand. It [the lawsuit] makes things difficult, because I still have to report what happens, what’s going on. I can’t avoid them, because they are in charge of the country. There are some officers that just intimidate us. It’s not that all of them are bad, but just some.

Q: In April, a Reuters spokesperson told DVB that your role in the agency’s investigation was ‘very limited’. How, exactly, were you involved in the Reuters investigation?

CS: They emailed Alan because they were looking for someone who was working on the Rohingya issue. I was working for them as a fixer, and they used all my material, all my contacts. I accompanied them for parts of the investigation.

Q: What do you think about how Reuters has reacted to your case?

CS: They ignored me [laughs]. I’m very disappointed. Very disappointed. They should stand for the principle of support for the press and for free media in Thailand.

AM: The way Khun Oi’s role as fixer was dismissed by Reuters was a disgrace, unbecoming behaviour from Pulitzer Prize-winners. Oi worked with Jason [Szep] twice, I believe. All the other international teams she has worked with haven’t been so reluctant to recognise that Khun Oi’s contacts on the Rohingya saga in Thailand, built up over the years, allowed them to quickly get to the people involved.

Reuters have let the little guys take the rap. It’s their 41 words, not ours. But they are nowhere to be seen. We have enormous amounts of support from every rights group and media body with even the vaguest interest in the case, except for Reuters.

By Colin Hinshelwood

Democratic Voice of Burma

September 6, 2014

The Burmese Muslim Association (BMA) has vehemently condemned a statement by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri in which he announced an intention to launch an active cell in the Indian subcontinent and Burma.

“Burmese Muslim Association vehemently condemns the statement of the Al-Qaeda leader who threatened Burma in his latest video,” the group said in a statement on 5 September. “The marginalised minority Muslims in Burma will never accept any help from a terrorist organisation, which is in principle a disgrace and morally repugnant.”

The BMA also lashed out at the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, saying its “inhumane actions are totally contrary to Islamic beliefs and teachings.”

In a 55-minute video on Wednesday, Egyptian cleric Zawahiri announced Al-Qaeda’s intention of launching of a new cell called “Qaedat al-Jihad”, which would be active in Burma and the Indian subcontinent with the aim of expanding jihad to the region.

Zawahiri tops the most wanted terrorist list in the US, with a US$25 million bounty for his apprehension.

The BMA immediately disassociated themselves from Zawahiri’s comments and said they rejected terrorism.

“Muslims are fully integrated into the fabric of Burmese society and belong and support the Burmese nation,” BMA said. “The Burmese Muslims will not tolerate any threat to their motherland. The Muslims in Burma have proved their loyalty to the country throughout the history of Burma with exceptional bravery and with tremendous courage.”

Calling for peaceful coexistence and human rights in Burma, the London-based Muslim organisation also noted its concern at the “silence” of religious organisations and political parties in Burma while Muslims in the country face “ethnic cleansing”.

It called on the Burmese government to stop supporting extremist Buddhist organisations that are promoting anti-Muslim hatred.

Meanwhile, Burmese newspaper Daily Eleven cited an anonymous official at the President’s Office in Naypyidaw stating that Burma, or Myanmar, is cooperating with other governments in the region and around the globe to prevent terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda through an early warning system and the sharing of information on the group’s activities.

BMA vehemently condemn the statement of Al Qaeda leader

Date: September 5, 2014

Burmese Muslim Association vehemently condemns the statement of the Al-Qaeda leader who threatened Burma in his latest video. BMA also condemn the terrorist group called, ISIS – Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, whose inhumane actions are totally contrary to Islamic beliefs and teachings. The marginalised minority Muslims in Burma will never accept any help from a terrorist organisation, which is in principle a disgrace and morally repugnant.

Muslims are fully integrated into the fabric of Burmese society and belong and support the Burmese Nation. The Burmese Muslims will not tolerate any threat to its motherland. The Muslims in Burma have proved their loyalty to the country throughout the history of Burma with exceptional bravery and with tremendous courage.

According to the peaceful teachings of Islam, we do not believe that violence is the solution, whenever peaceful measures are feasible, because it makes the situation worse. Burma already bore the brunt of the world’s longest civil war, and now is the time to reform our beloved country meaningfully and inclusively, to become a democratic nation that is peaceful and prosperous. We believe in peaceful coexistence for all, and to ensure peace the Burmese government needs to respect human rights and especially needs to protect religious and ethnic minorities who in turn will support the Burmese government.

We are also concerned with the silence of the religious organisations and political parties in Burma because, while hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Burma are facing ethnic cleansing, paradoxically they are at the forefront condemning the oppressed Muslims. Certainly, the Burmese government should also stop supporting extremist Buddhist organisations that are promoting anti-Muslim hatred, and should take actions against state and non-state actors that are involved in anti-Muslim pogroms and persecutions. 

We would like to urge the international community to put effective pressure on the Burmese government to stop supporting the extremist groups in Burma, and to stop hate speech against the minority Muslims. At the same time we would like to assure the international community of our full cooperation in preventing the poisonous ideology of Al Qaeda and other extremist ideology from spreading into our community. However, in this we need the support and cooperation of the international community. 

Burmese Muslim Association

Media Contacts:

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

Ko Myo Win +95 950 70304 (Burma) starmywin@gmail.com

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

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

By Radio Free Asia

September 5, 2014

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a group of 57 Muslim nations, has offered to build a hospital and set up other facilities in Myanmar’s strife-torn Rakhine state, but the local government says the projects cannot be implemented until stability is restored following communal violence.

An OIC delegation led by former Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar met with Buddhist elders and government officials Wednesday in the Rakhine capital Sittwe and offered the projects, saying they would benefit both ethnic majority Rakhine Buddhists and minority Muslim Rohingyas recovering from violence in the region since 2012.

Rakhine Chief Minister Maung Maung Ohn told the delegation “that it is still difficult for local Rakhine people to accept help from OIC right now,” Hla Thein, a Rakhine state government official, told RFA’s Myanmar Service.

“There is still a need to educate local people about the OIC’s wish to help the people in Rakhine state,” he said. “If OIC pursued a step-by-step approach to help Rakhine State until the local people understand its objectives, there is a possibility that the Rakhine people would accept OIC’s help one day.”

Hla Thein said Rakhine Buddhist community leaders told the OIC team “that there is no reason for not accepting their help if they gave it to us under the name of humanitarian assistance and for the development of Rakhine State.”

But the leaders told the visitors that “Rakhine people are concerned that the assistance would interfere with the process of regaining stability in the state,” where bloody communal violence has left more than 280 people dead and tens of thousands displaced over the past two years.

Human rights groups have accused the Myanmar authorities of discriminating against the Muslim Rohingya community, who they say bore the brunt of the violence. Rakhine Buddhists accuse aid groups of favoring the Rohingyas, most of whom are considered illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even though they have lived in Myanmar for decades.

Rakhine Buddhist leader Than Htun told RFA Thursday that he and other Buddhist elders could not accept the OIC offer because the government is currently determining which Rohingyas qualify as citizens under the 1982 Citizenship Act, and the OIC could disrupt the process.

“The OIC delegation has visited while the government is working on the citizenship verification process for Bengalis in Rakhine state,” he said, using the term most people in Myanmar refer to Rohingyas with, indicating that they have illegally immigrated from neighboring Bangladesh.

“I think it would harm the citizenship verification process. And the timing of their visit is not good. That is why we Rakhine leaders have refused their offer.”

The Mizzima news agency quoted him as saying that Syed Hamid Albar had listened during the meeting, but had not made any comments.

In November last year, an OIC delegation visiting Rakhine state was met with mass protests by Buddhists incensed over reports that the group had wanted to establish a wing in Myanmar to channel humanitarian aid to the Rohingyas.

Fact-finding mission

Hla Thein said that the Rakhine government had accepted the OIC delegation this time because it had come on a fact-finding mission and to “listen to the people’s attitudes and opinions” about the group, without pushing its own agenda.

The delegation, which was due to leave Sittwe on Thursday, also met with a group of Muslim community leaders, who told the OIC that the government needs to provide better health care in Rakhine state.

The OIC group had also visited the region’s Thatkepyin and Satyonesu camps for displaced Muslims and Buddhists.

Last week, OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani met with the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon in Bali on the sidelines of the Sixth Global Forum of UN Alliance of Civilization and discussed the conditions Rohingya face in Myanmar, including the denial of their right to citizenship.

According to a statement by the OIC, Madani said that the suffering of the Rohingyas should be a concern of the international community, and outlined the efforts being made by his organization to open up dialogue with Myanmar’s government.

The two leaders agreed that their special envoys for Myanmar should hold talks on the matter, the statement said.

Reported by Min Thein Aung and Yadanar Oo for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.