By AFP

October 11, 2014

Bangkok: Thai authorities on Saturday arrested 53 Rohingya migrants and two suspected Thai traffickers en route to neighbouring Malaysia, an official said.

The migrants were found on a rubber plantation in Takua Pa district in the southern coastal province of Phang Nga, district chief Manit Phianthong told AFP.

"We got a tip-off from an informant that a trafficking gang would be transporting Rohingya people to Malaysia," he said, adding that the migrants came from Myanmar's western Rakhine state and Bangladesh.

Thousands of Rohingya -- a Muslim minority group not recognised as citizens in Myanmar -- have fled deadly communal unrest in Rakhine since 2012, mostly heading for Malaysia.

The migrants arrested Saturday were ferried onto the Thai mainland from a small island in the Andaman Sea, Manit said, adding that one of the arrested traffickers confessed he was part of a bigger gang.

"We are still looking for the real masterminds," said the official.

Twelve Rohingya migrants are thought to have escaped during the raid, he added.

Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya -- described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world -- as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, and denies them citizenship.

They face travel restrictions, forced labour and limited access to healthcare and education.

Around 300,000 Rohingya have over the years gone to live in Bangladesh, which recognises only a small portion as refugees and regularly turns back those trying to cross the border.

Rights groups say the stateless migrants often fall into the hands of unscrupulous people traffickers.

They have also criticised Thailand in the past for pushing boats of Rohingya entering Thai waters back out to sea and holding migrants in overcrowded facilities.

Thailand said last year it was investigating allegations that some army officials in the kingdom were involved in the trafficking of Rohingya.

By Joshua Carroll

Anadolu Agency

October 11, 2014

Dozens of men from Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority have been arrested and tortured because of alleged ties to a militant Islamic organization, according to a rights group.

The Arakan Project, a Thailand-based group that documents abuses against the Rohingya, says one man has been tortured to death in Myanmar’s far north-west, near the border with Bangladesh.

Authorities have rounded up at least 58 men in the last two weeks from several villages in the north of Rakhine state, according to figures compiled by the Arakan Project and seen by the Anadolu Agency.

The wife of the dead man told the group she was forced to sign a statement that her husband died of natural causes. 

Last month, al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri announced plans to expand his terror network to include Myanmar.

The recently arrested Rohingya men were accused of having ties to a group called the Rohingya Solidarity Organization, or RSO.

Despite little being known about the organization’s movements today, sporadic attacks on Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh are often blamed on the RSO. In recent years the organization has also been accused of forging ties to al-Qaeda.

Chris Lewa, the Arakan Project’s founder, told the AA Friday the arrests were “arbitrary” and “clearly a reaction to the al-Qaeda announcement earlier in September.”

She added that the men were picked up at checkpoints or from their villages by members of the Border Guard Police, an organization that Rohingya regularly accuse of human rights abuses.

The RSO is believed to have been formed in the 1990s after the Myanmar army forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya accused of being in the country illegally to flee to Bangladesh.

Its members are understood to have broken away from the more moderate Rohingya Patriotic Front and earned support from extremist religious groups in other countries, including Malaysia and Afghanistan. 

Earlier this year Khin Maung Myint , head of foreign relations for the pro-Rohingya National Democratic Party for Development, claimed "the RSO hadn’t existed for 20 years.”

He said stories about RSO movements in the region had led to conspiracy theories and questioned whether the existence of the group was a government smokescreen.

Last year, photos circulated on extremist Buddhist websites purporting to show armed insurgents inside Myanmar preparing to avenge attacks against Rohingya.

The Rohingya have been persecuted in Myanmar for decades but their plight has gained widespread international attention since the former military-ruled country began democratic reforms in 2011.

While hundreds of political prisoners have been freed, censorship has been relaxed and economic reforms brought in, the Rohingyas' suffering has intensified.

In 2012, extremist mobs of Buddhists attacked Rohingya villages in Rakhine's state capital Sittwe. The initial riots killed up to 140 and forced tens of thousands of Rohingyas into squalid camps.

The violence has since spread amidst a wave of hate speech targeting all of Myanmar’s Muslims, led by extremist monks bolstered by the country’s newfound freedoms of expression.

Presidential spokesman Ye Htut has described accusations of Rohingya persecution as "baseless."

By Associated Press

October 10, 2014

Yangon, Myanmar -- Thailand's coup leader made his first official overseas trip Thursday to neighboring Myanmar for meetings with another former general who has steered his country to democracy after a half-century of dictatorship.

The visit by Prayuth Chan-ocha, who retired from the army last month and is now Thailand's prime minister, comes at a sensitive time for both countries.

Thailand recently arrested two Myanmar migrants for the killings of two British tourists on a popular resort island last month, and the rights group Amnesty International has alleged the suspects were tortured by police, charges authorities in Thailand deny. Protesters in Myanmar's main city Yangon were organizing a demonstration Friday to denounce the torture allegations and call for an independent investigation of the two Myanmar suspects.

Prayuth's government, which came to power after the army overthrew a popularly elected administration, has also grappled with hundreds of thousands of Myanmar refugees who fled fighting between their army and ethnic rebels and concerns about the trafficking of large amounts of Myanmar-produced heroin and methamphetamine into Thailand.

Flying directly to Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, Prayuth was scheduled to meet first with President Thein Sein, who retired from the military and became head of state in 2011. His quasi-civilian government is holding elections next year, but has resisted changes to the military-drafted constitution that would allow opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to run for president.

Prayuth, too, has spoken about holding elections next year.

Myanmar also has been criticized for bouts of anti-Muslim violence against the minority Rohingyas in the predominantly Buddhist nation.

According to the official schedule, the two leaders will witness the signing of a series of development projects and discuss bilateral ties.

Prayuth also will meet with Thai investors in Yangon on Friday. Thailand is Myanmar's second largest trade partner after northern neighbor China, with a total trade volume of $5.7 billion for the fiscal year of 2013-2014.

By Lawi Weng

The Irrawaddy

October 10, 2014

MYEBON TOWNSHIP, Arakan State — Similar to other camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Arakan State, tales of suffering are in no short supply here in Myebon, where the displaced have languished in hardscrabble living conditions for nearly two years.

But these Rohingya Muslims have a little more hope than most. Here, at least, some members of the persecuted minority have had an opportunity that many others have not: the chance to receive government-issued ID cards, affording some of the rights of citizenship for the first time.

All they have to do, the government says, is renounce any claim to an ethnic Rohingya identity.

The Myebon IDP camp was selected by the government to pilot a national verification plan, the implications of which remain unknown for those formerly stateless individuals who, on Sept. 22, received citizenship cards. During a visit to the camp this week, residents showed The Irrawaddy their newly issued cards, admitting to their own uncertainty about what the cards might mean for them.

For now, one thing is clear: 40 people out of more than 1,200 who have applied under the verification program so far have received pink cards, theoretically entitling them to the rights of full citizens of Burma. Another 169 people have received green cards, denoting their status as “naturalized citizens,” which can be revoked.

Min Aung, a 42-year-old Muslim in the camp, showed The Irrawaddy his green ID card, explaining that with it, he was told rights previously denied would now be his to enjoy.

“During our swearing-in ceremony, where they [immigration officials] offered the ID cards, they told us that we had become citizens of the country,” he said. “We can travel anywhere and can run our own businesses, but we cannot serve in Parliament as an MP, nor can we join the military.”

This is true, according to Khin Soe, the immigration officer in Sittwe who issued the initial batch of ID cards for the Muslims in Myebon. He added, however, that travel restrictions would remain in place for the time being out of fear that the situation remained unstable, given the local Arakanese community’s opposition to the pilot project.

“They have become citizens of our Myanmar,” he said. “They have the rights of citizenship. But, there have been problems between these two communities. They can travel, but we are worried that there will be more problems. This is why we do not let them travel yet.”

He said it would be the duty of state- and Union-level resettlement departments to assist the newly minted citizens with housing and other measures to help restore their livelihoods.

A total of 1,218 people living in the Myebon camp have applied for ID cards, according to the state Immigration Department, out of just over 3,000 camp residents in total.

Those who can show that they are at least the third generation to live in Burma could receive pink cards.

“Those 40 people who we granted full citizenship were found to have been born here before 1982. … They have full documents. We could not say that they came from another country,” Khin Soe said.

He said even people who could not provide documents might qualify for citizenship, subject to a ruling from “board members,” a seven-person panel that has a major say in determining whether applicants in Myebon qualify for citizenship

“There are people who can prove where they have been staying in the town, and even board members who knew their parents. In such cases, the board will approve it if they are found to be telling the truth,” he said.

Ethnic Arakanese leaders are not happy about the pilot project, which they say has lacked transparency. The Arakan State Immigration Department counters that two Arakanese community leaders were appointed as board members ruling on the citizenship applications.

The Arakanese Buddhist population and the state’s Rohingya minority have been embroiled in a sometimes violent communal conflict, with about 140,000 of the latter having been displaced by violence since 2012.

Aye Maung, a senior member of the Arakan National Party (ANP) serving in the national Parliament, said that state and Union governments shared blame for the opposition that the pilot has stirred among the Arakanese.

“They discussed with us their project, but they did not show their plan when they implemented it,” the lawmaker said. “There should be transparency regarding the action plan for the national verification pilot.”

He said local grievances should be addressed before any effort by the governments is made to implement the verification program statewide.

“They should show our people all information about why they gave those 40 people citizenship, or they should have copy papers and posted information about the 40 people—why they got ID cards—so our people will understand why these people got ID cards,” he said, adding that it remained unclear what would happen to those who failed to qualify for citizenship.

‘They Told Me All Muslims in Arakan Are Bengali’

Ma Shee, who calls herself a Kaman Muslim, said immigration officials refused to accept her ethnic claim and forced her family to identify as “Bengali” during the application process. Burma’s government does not recognize the term Rohingya and insists they are Bengalis, implying that they are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

“I told them [immigration officials] that we are Kaman, but they responded to me that all Muslims in Arakan are Bengali,” Ma Shee told The Irrawaddy.

Aung San had a similar experience.

“My father is Kaman, but they [immigration] disregarded this and forced us to be Bengali,” he said, showing an Irrawaddy reporter a document testifying to his parents’ ethnic Kaman identities, which he took with him before fleeing his home in the 2012 violence.

“We do not need a lot of opportunities. We only want to be able to travel freely, so we can do some businesses for our family,” he said.

Daw Cho, while lamenting the government’s decision to reject many Kaman Muslims claims, said she was nonetheless grateful for the chance to receive a degree of citizenship.

“If we can travel freely, our people will be very happy even though they were recognized as Bengali. It is very important, freedom to travel. We wanted to have equal rights,” said the Muslim woman.

Regarding to case of complaints about Bengali, Khin Soe, the officer from immigration said that the government only recognized Bengali, and the government did not recognize Rohingya, therefor his immigration has to it according to the order from the government.

Asked about any Myebon resident applying for citizenship as a Rohingya, Khin Soe repeated an oft-uttered government line that no such group existed, and that any applicant applying as such would not be recognized under the national verification pilot.

Regarding the complaints of Kaman Muslims like Aung San, Khin Soe said that his Immigration Department would allow Kaman designations to individuals providing full documentation to support the claim, and that those failing to do so would be required to accept “Bengali” in order to have their application considered.

More Applicants in the Pipeline

As more citizenship applications are considered, stories of ethnic reclassification look likely to continue to underpin the national verification process.

“We have 124 people that have newly applied, they applied recently. We cannot force them to apply, but if they accept Bengali, we will accept more if they come,” said Khin Soe.

“We are worried a lot about what we will get,” said Hla Myint, who is awaiting word on the status of his application.

Adding to the uncertainty, a “Rakhine [Arakan] Action Plan” recently publicized has revealed a government plan that would effectively force Rohingya to identify as Bengali or risk internment in temporary detention in camps. The plan has been condemned by human rights groups, who say it represents a continuation of systematically discriminant government policy.

The government chose Myebon for its pilot because of the positive relationship between IDPs and local officials, according to Hla Myint.

“The people who are here are polite. They have cooperated with the government,” he said, adding that he believed the community’s cooperation with authorities during census enumeration earlier this year was a factor in Myebon being selected for the pilot project.

Not only are they polite. They are willing, it seems, to accept the government’s terms when it comes to ethnic identity, if it means hope for a better future.

“We need to agree to whatever they recognize us as, because we have two children … who have not been able to continue their education for the last two years,” said Daw Cho. “They have lost educational opportunities. We have to worry for them. We are staying in a prison now.”

By Bill O’Toole

Myanmar Times

October 9, 2014

Less than two weeks after being convicted of rioting in a Sittwe court, Muslim community leader U Kyaw Hla Aung was released under a presidential amnesty on October 7.

U Kyaw Hla Aung was arrested on July 15, 2013, following a clash in the Baw Du Pha IDP camp when a group of young Muslims 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 said the charges were directly related to U Kyaw Hla Aung’s longstanding political activism and legal assistance on behalf of detained Muslims in Rakhine State.

While 3073 prisoners were freed on October 7, Yangon-based attorney U Robert Sann Aung said U Kyaw Hla Aung was one of just a handful who could be described as a “political prisoner.”

News of his release was welcomed by both his family and local civil society groups that have taken up his case. However, all were quick to point out that the president’s pardon has done nothing to address the larger issue of human rights activists, including Muslims, being targeted for imprisonment and harassment.

During his incarceration, a wide array of international groups spoke out in support of the 74-year-old former lawyer. The former UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Quintana, even met U Kyaw Hla Aung in prison. He regularly called for him to be released from what he described as “arbitrary detention”.

However, local groups were more circumspect in their support. U Bo Gyi, a member of the Remaining Political Prisoner Scrutiny Committee, said he and other civilian members had been attempting to raise U Kyaw Hla Aung’s case but were told by government officials that the situation in Rakhine State was too “sensitive” for the committee to examine it.

Some groups dedicated to the rights of political prisoners were hesitant to take up U Kyaw Hla Aung's case, U Bo Gyi said, because they consider the conflict in Rakhine State a religious rather than political conflict.

However, U Bo Gyi said that over the past 18 months there has been a growing acceptance that U Kyaw Hla Aung did not belong in prison.

"Not everyone agree to regard [U Kyaw Hla Aung] as a political prisoner but everyone agreed to regard him as a special case."

He said he thought that the amnesty showed “the government feel confident about the [situation] in Arakan”, referring to Rakhine State by its former name.

While U Bo Gyi said he was “not surprised” that U Kyaw Hla Aung was chosen for release, he and other committee members had hoped it would occur through the scrutiny committee. He said they had also expected the amnesty to include many more political prisoners.

“We expected more, therefore we are really upset and frustrated,” said U Bo Gyi, adding that the committee has not met since July.

U Kyaw Hla Aung’s son, Ko Aung, said he believed his father’s pardon was a “political” tactic aimed at placating the international community without upsetting Rakhine nationalists.

He pointed out that when U Kyaw Hla Aung was sentenced to 18 months’ jail at the end of September, the judge included time already served, meaning his father only had three months left to serve.

Ko Aung said it was a tacit admission that the government was willing to release his father after holding him for more than a year.

Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, said even with the pardon U Kyaw Hla Aung’s legal troubles are not over.

“He was released with conditions, and his sentence can be reinstated if he's charged with a subsequent offense, so in that sense this is not a true amnesty,” he said.

“That said, we are tremendously happy for Kyaw Hla Aung and his family. They've endured abuses for decades.”

When contacted by The Myanmar Times, U Kyaw Hla Aung said he was happy to be home but declined to comment out of concerns for the safety of himself and his family.

Aman Ullah

RB Analysis

October 9, 2014

On Burma attaining independence on 4th January 1948, it ceased to be a part of the British Commonwealth which it left of its own choice. However, at that time the inhabitants of the country consisted of persons of indigenous, mixed and foreign stock. Citizenship was partly defined by the Constitution thereby assuring citizenship rights to the indigenous and mixed races, but the task of defining citizenship more completely was left to the parliament. Laws were promulgated by the Parliament from time to time to define citizenship and to provide for its acquisition and anyone who was not a citizen was classified as a foreigner. 

The “Residents of Burma Registration Act” was enact in 1949 as Act No.41, 1949 and a nine members committee was formed June 1950 to draft it’s rules in the name of ‘National Registration Rules Drafting Committee’ headed by U Ka Si, Secretary for Home Affairs. After finalizing the draft the committee submitted it to the Government for approval and the Parliament approved the Rules in the February 1951 session. It was circulated by the Ministry of Homes on February 23, 1951 as Gazette notification No. 117 in a name of , ‘Residents of Burma registration Rules, 1951’. 

In order to carry out the provisions of the Act and Rules, the President may appoint the Chief Registration Officer for the whole country in order to maintain the Registration List. The President may appoint Registration Officer, Assistant Registration Officer and other staff in order to perform duties conferred under this Act. Duties, powers and functions of the Chief Registration Officer, Registration Officer, Assistant Registration Officer and other staff are in the manner as prescribed in the rules made under this Act. 

Headmen of the wards appointed under the Town Act and/or village headmen appointed under the Village Act shall perform the duties and responsibilities of the record keepers in their respective jurisdiction. Chief Registration Officer or any officer empowered by the Chief Registration Officer may appoint any volunteered data collector for any registration area or part of the area. The Chief Registration Officer may direct any data collector to produce a testimonial admitting that he has performed his duties properly and empower any assistant registration officer in this regards. 

Every person residing in Burma shall furnish, for registration purposes, (his/her) particulars as required under this Act or its rules made there under. The Registration Officer or Assistant Registration Officer shall, in accordance with the rules made under this Act, issue to every person who has registered as such, a registration card as a proof of identity and containing prescribed particulars. 

The data collector shall make the registration list relating to the persons residing within his jurisdiction by preparing three sets of Form 1 recording the personal particulars mentioned in it. Whoever when required by the record keeper or data collector to reduce the signature on registration forms, registration card and identity card, is responsible to do so accordingly. Should the said person be illiterate, he shall place his fingerprint in lieu of signature. Record keeper or data collector shall endorse the authenticity of signature or fingerprint.

Notwithstanding anything in the above rules, the foreigners shall be exempted from the application of the said rules other than rule 29 and 31. The foreigners who were registered under 1940 Foreigner Registration rules shall be deemed that they are being registered under these rules. For the matters in the rule 29 and 31, the registration card issued under 1940 Foreigner Registration Rules shall be deemed that the card is issued under these rules.

Registration and issuing these cards was commenced on March 1, 1952 by visiting door to door in every nock and corner of the area in Rangoon District and in other 7 towns including Akyab on April1, 1952 (1953 Burma gazetteers vol.1, page-819). The tasks of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung and others 20 townships were commenced on August 1, 1953 (1954 Burmese gazetteers Vol.1, page-197).

All NRC issued in earlier years bear no additional remarks. A remark stating, “Holding this certificate shall not be considered as a conclusive proof of as to citizenship” was sealed later on NRCs. The reason behind this extra remark sealed later was the best known to the authorities. Perhaps one of the objectives of 1978, Dragon King Operation was to stamp the above remark on all NRCs.

NRCs were issued to all residents (mainly citizens) whilst registered foreigners (under Foreigners Registration Act and Rule of 1948) were issued FRCs. There was no third category of people in Burma, then. As a result, NRCs were used as a proof of nationality or citizenship. This is the most authentic document concerning Rohingya’s citizenship. 

NRC is a bona fide document that allowed one to carry on all his national activities, without let or hindrance: -- to possess moveable and immovable or landed properties, pursue education, including higher studies and professional courses in the country’s seats of learning, right to work and public services, including armed forces, and to obtain Burmese passport for travelling abroad, including pilgrimage to Holy Makkah. 

According to the 1973 census, the population of Akyab Township was 140,000; Maungdaw 223,320; Buthidaung 163,353; and Rathedaung 95,270. FRC holders in Akyab were 841, Maungdaw 109, Buthidaung 203 and Rathedaung 55. There were also 1528 people without any documents. That’s means that there were 619, 195 persons NRC holders, 1, 208 persons FRC holders and 1528 persons undocumented in these townships, where more than 60% of total population was Rohingyas at that time.

However, since 1970 no NRC cards were issued to the Rohingyas, whereas, as per the regulation every person above the age of 12 years would have to have NRCs. In addition to this, the government launched a military operation since 1974 in the name of ‘Sabe Operation’. During that operation thousands of Rohingyas’ NRCs were seized without any legal authorities, on various pretexts which were never returned. In these ways thousands of the poor and natural born Rohingyas were classified as foreigners, alleging filtrated from Bangladesh. Thus, the system of issuing the NRCs was directed to fit into a well-planned policy of de-nationalizing the Rohingyas of Arakan.

Moreover, following the promulgation of the 1982 Citizenship Law, all residents in Burma had to reapply for citizenship, exchanging their old identity documents for new one. In 1989, a further change was made and all residents had to apply for new Citizenship Scrutiny Cards, (in Burmese ‘naing-ngan-tha si-sit-ye kat-pya’), rather than the Identity Cards (in Burmese 'amyu-tha hmat-pon-tin kat-pya’). The new cards are colour-coded for essay identification of the citizenship status of the bearer. Pink cards were given to full citizens, blue for associate citizens and green for naturalized citizens. 

The cards must be carried at all the times, the cards number has to be given when buying tickets; registering children in schools; staying overnight with friends or relatives outside one’s own council area; applying for any professional post, including all civil service posts; buying or exchanging land and other every days life.

Thus, denying the right to citizenship in Burma is denying all the civil rights in Burma, such as the right to freedom of movement, the right to education, the right to own property, the right to be employed as civil servants’, and so on. 

One of the key points of the Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs), on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, between Burma and Bangladesh and between Burma and UNHCR was that returnees be granted “appropriate identification”. In practice, however, this initially meant that the returnees received “returnee identification cards” yellow colour cards which only identified them as persons having returned from Bangladesh by giving them no legal status.

In July 1995, in response to UNHCR’s intensive advocacy efforts to document the Rohingyas, the regime moved to regularize the population of northern Arakan by issuing new cards to all Rohingya residents. The new card, which is called Temporary Registration Card (TRC), was issued under the 1949 Residents of Burma Registration Act and the 1951 Residents of Burma Registration Rules, both of which acts were superseded by the 1982 Citizenship Law but were reintroduced in order to be used solely for the registration of Rohingyas.

Under the 1951 Residents of Burma Registration Rules, The record-keeper may issue "Temporary registration certificate (TRC)” for any of the following reasons:

· If record-keeper suppose that entry in the registration record has been done completely in a proper way. 

· If an application is submitted to issue another card in lieu of the card, which is lost or damage or faded out? 

· If there is specific reasons by general or special order.

TRC means a certificate issued in lieu of the registration card and a proof of identity valid for a certain period specified in the certificate. The TRC must be in accord with form (3) attached to the back of this rules. The validity duration of TRC may be restricted by fixing a deadline. The holder of TRC shall surrender his card to record-keeper within 7 days after validity of the card expires. The record-keeper may reissue that card endorsing it for validity extension as and when necessary or he may issue new TRC.

The TRC carry a number, as well as the bearer’s name, photograph, year of birth, ethnicity and religion, colour of hair and eyes, father’s name and father’s ethnicity and religion, and there was nothing on the card to show place of birth or residence.

On the 32nd day of the second regular session of the first Pyithu Hluttaw, on October 4, 2013, U Maung Maung of Thayawady Constituency asked whether there was a plan to issue citizen scrutiny cards to persons born of parents of foreign-blood on recommendation of district level authority in a same period of time it took when the cards were issued to those born of parents both of whom are nationals citizens.

Union Minister for Immigration and Population U Khin Yi replied that Section 6 of the 1982 Myanmar Citizenship Law stated that “A person who is already a citizen on the date this law comes into force is citizen.” 

Therefore, those persons of mixed blood were approved as citizens by October 15, 1982, had been applied to become citizens in accordance with the rules and regulations. It would take time to issue citizen scrutiny cards to persons of mixed nationalities as it needed to inspect whether they made false representation to get the citizen status.

Therefore, the process of issuing citizen scrutiny cards took time and only region/state head of Immigration and National Registration departments were vested with authority to issue the citizen scrutiny cards to persons born of parents of foreign-blood. Not to make mistakes in the process, the citizen scrutiny cards were issued to persons of mixed blood by the director-general of the Immigration and National Registration Department as from November, 2005, in accordance with the directive. To avoid delays in the process, the directive was relaxed as from 4, April, 2007, and region and state head of the immigration and national registration departments had issued the cards to them. The ministry would consider to relax the rules and regulations concerning issuing the citizen scrutiny card to persons born of parents of foreign-blood if it became necessaries.

However, till to-day those Rohingyas who applied proving that they have Burmese nationality back to all eight great-grandparents were either rejected or were still waiting for decision. In addition to this, almost all Rohingyas were exclude from UN founded nation-wide census earlier this year, the first in three decades, because they did not want to register as Bengalis. And with a controversial so-called Rakhine Action Plan, the present Thein Sein Government is going to make almost all the Rohingyas not only ineligible for citizenship but also possible detainment or deportation until and unless they themselves identify as Rohingya not Bengalis.

By Khaleej Times Editorial

October 8, 2014

The news from the politically desolate South-east Asian country is encouraging from the perspective of human rights. Myanmar’s civilian-military junta has decided to release more than 3,000 prisoners of conscience to further its agenda of what it calls peace and stability. 

It is a promising development and should be lauded. Some of the people to be released are former military intelligence officers, who were close to former prime minister Khin Nyunt who was shown the door a decade ago, and others who were convicted of minor crimes. It is not known how many of them are from the political opposition, especially that of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Buddhist-populated state has seen many ups and down during the last few years, especially after the return of civilian rule. The prime among them is the speed with which the society was segregated on communal lines, and the callous manner in which riots against the minorities were allowed to go ahead. Even today hundreds and thousands of Rohingya Muslims are in a state of despair and the tragic tribulations that they faced in the recent past is almost a forgotten affair.

President Thein Sein can serve the purpose of reconciliation much better if he looks at the broader picture, and dispenses justice at the grass root level. What is instantly required is to knit together the diverse mosaic of Myanmar and broker a new social contract between the Buddhists and minorities, including Muslims in the Rakhine state. As a remedial measure — and one that would also be politically correct, the regime in Yangon should impartially investigate into the mayhem and massacre of Rohingya Muslims and take lawful measures to heal their wounds.

United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay had already demanded a “full, prompt and impartial” investigation to fulfil the requirement of justice and fair play. Since 2011, the Rohingya people have suffered clashes that led to death and destruction that were seldom reported. The government also has to look into this despicable affair.

The bizarre talk in the corridors of power that the Muslim minority in Myanmar is not entitled to citizenship and is in a state of unlawful diaspora is contemptuous to say the least. The fate of more than 800,000 Rohingyas, who are now stateless, is a case in point. This is essentially important as Myanmar evolves into a democratic and pluralistic nation-state. What is surprising is the fact that the champions of democracy, especially Suu Kyi, had maintained discreet silence, and that has to end in the larger interests of the people and the state.

By Lawi Weng

The Irrawaddy

October 8, 2014

MYEBON TOWNSHIP, Arakan State — In Myebon camp, there were few signs on Monday that the roughly 3,000 Rohingya Muslim residents were celebrating Eid al-Adha, one of Islam’s most important religious holidays.

There was no music, nor a festive atmosphere. Yet, some low-key ceremonies were taking place and for residents of the camp in northern Arakan State it was a rare chance to observe their traditions and rejoice.

“This is first time that they [Arakan State authorities] allowed us to do it. We could not do it since violence broke out here” in 2012, said Kyaw Thein, the camp committee’s chairman. “But we celebrated it quietly as we are living in the camp.”

During Eid al-Adha, Muslims honor the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael on God’s command, before God intervened and gave him a lamb to sacrifice instead. Traditionally during the holiday, an animal is sacrificed and divided among the family, relatives and friends, and the poor.

At Myebon, the Rohingya managed to collect some money from camp residents and donations from slightly better off Muslim villagers in the area so that they could afford to sacrifice 21 cows.

Around 3 pm, the men gathered below some plastic tarpaulins that provided little relief from the blistering mid-day sun to quietly slaughter the animals and divide them into pieces of meat for distribution among families in the camp.

Groups of excited children ran around, with some of them wearing new clothes and cheap sunglasses. Among many parents in the camp the mood was subdued, however.

“Brother, you are lucky to see our children in their new dress today. We do not have money to buy it for them. Some people [in nearby villages] donated it to the children to wear during Eid,” said Hla Myint, a camp resident and father of five.

Some residents said they would roast the beef as they lacked the ingredients to prepare a meat curry as they would normally have done before they fled from their villages.

The Rohingya in the camp are among the roughly 140,000 Muslims who were displaced by an outbreak of clashes with the Arakanese Buddhists in northern Arakan State in 2012, where tensions between communities have since remained high.

In Myebon Township, violence erupted in October 2012; 22 Muslims were killed and three Buddhists died. A reported 3,010 Rohingya fled and their villages were burned down, while several hundred Arakanese were displaced.

International human rights groups have accused Burma’s Buddhist-dominated government of carrying out severe rights abuses against the roughly 1 million stateless Rohingya, such as limiting their freedom of movement and access to education and health care, while also blocking international aid from reaching the Muslim camps.

Kyaw Thein said the displaced Rohingya at Myebon camp were suffering from poor living conditions and government restrictions that ban them from leaving the site, a piece of rocky land about the size of two football pitches crammed with ramshackle bamboo and tin-roofed huts.

“We are living as if we are staying under house arrest. We could not move outside the camps,” he said.

About a dozen armed police are stationed around the camp, which is situated between a paddy field and a hill, while a police check point controls the only road leading to the site. There is no local water source and aid organizations have to regularly supply water for drinking and washing, along with regular food rations.

Not far from the Rohingya camp, on the other side of the road, there is a small camp for about 100 Arakanese Buddhists displaced by the violence. Residents of this camp are free to move in and out during the morning and they could be seen leaving for Myebon market to buy or sell goods.

In Myebon town, about a 15-minute drive to the south of the Rohingya camp, loudspeakers were blasting Buddhist chanting on Monday afternoon, while monks collected rice donations during a ceremony that attracted hundreds of Arakanese worshippers.

At the Rohingya camp, residents said they wish they could go back to their homes and rebuild their villages, something that is being prohibited by the authorities who believe that permanent segregation of Buddhist and Muslim communities is the solution to the conflict.

“I want to say: ‘Let’s forget what happened in the past and let us go back to our home places.’ We are human beings; we need nutrition and ingredients to make our food sweet or sour. Please do not let us stay in this place any longer,” said Hla Myint.

Authorities sealed off villages for months in Myanmar's only Muslim-majority region and in some cases beat and arrested people who refused to register with immigration officials, residents and activists say, in what may be the most aggressive effort yet to compel Rohingya to identify themselves as migrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

Immigration officials, border guards and members of the illegal-alien task force in the northern tip of Rakhine state — home to 90 percent of the country's 1.3 million Rohingya — said they were simply updating family lists, as they have in the past. But this year, in addition to questions about marriages, deaths and births, people were classified by ethnicity.

The government denies the existence of Rohingya in the country, saying those who claim the ethnicity are actually Bengalis. Residents said those who refused to take part suffered the consequences.

"We are trapped," Khin Maung Win said last week. He said authorities started setting up police checkpoints outside his village, Kyee Kan Pyin, in mid-September, preventing people from leaving even to shop for food in local markets, work in surrounding paddies or bring children to school.

"If we don't have letters and paperwork showing we took part — that we are Bengali — we can't leave," he said.

Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, which has been advocating on behalf of the Rohingya for more than a decade, said residents reported incidents of violence and abuse in at least 30 village tracts from June to late September. While blockades have since been lifted, arrests continue, with dozens of Rohingya men being rounded up for alleged ties to Islamic militants in the last week.

Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation, surprised the world in 2011 when a half-century of military rule ended and President Thein Sein, a former general, started steering the country toward democracy. Critics, however, say reforms have stalled. Peaceful protesters are again being thrown in jail; journalists increasingly face intimidation, or even imprisonment with hard labor.

Most worrying to many, the government has largely stood by as Buddhist extremists have targeted Rohingya, sometimes with machetes and bamboo clubs, saying they pose a threat to the country's culture and traditions.

Denied citizenship by national law, even though many of their families arrived in Myanmar from Bangladesh generations ago, members of the religious minority are effectively stateless, wanted by neither country. They feel they are being systematically erased.

Almost all Rohingya were excluded from a U.N.-funded nationwide census earlier this year, the first in three decades, because they did not want to register as Bengalis. And Thein Sein is considering a "Rakhine Action Plan" that would make people who identify themselves as Rohingya not only ineligible for citizenship but candidates for detainment and possible deportation.

Most Rohingya have lived under apartheid-like conditions in northern Rakhine for decades, with limited access to adequate health care, education and jobs, as well as restrictions on travel and the right to practice their faith.

In 2012, Buddhist extremists killed up to 280 people and displaced tens of thousands of others. About 140,000 people of those forced from their homes continue to languish in crowded displacement camps further south, outside Sittwe, the Rakhine state capital.

By Kyle Lawrence Mullin

Asian Correspondent

October 7, 2014

While The World Bank Group (WBG) has aided swaths of struggling economies across the globe, activists in Burma say such assistance for the beleaguered South East Asian nation should come with strict conditions.

“The World Bank has an important role to play in advancing access to education, health, and electricity in Burma [also known as Myanmar],” wrote Jessica Evans, senior international financial institutions researcher at activist NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a press release issued this morning, before adding: “But for The WBG to really advance development, it needs to have its eyes wide open to Burma’s ongoing rights problems and actively work to address them.”

Chief among those issues is the government’s controversial new Rakhine State Action Plan. Critics say the plan will push Burma’s Rohingya Muslims to adopt a new ethnicity and falsely admit to being illegal immigrants (despite having resided within the nation’s borders for centuries). In the press release, Evans added that it is crucial for these human rights issues to be addressed by WBG president Jim Kim during his slated meeting with Burmese finance officials at the annual International Monetary Fund summit on October 10-12 in in Washington, DC.

But Evans is concerned that the WBG (who did not respond to interview requests for this story) will fail to make such stipulations, and instead find Burma’s development with no strings attached. In a later interview with Asian Correspondent, she pointed to a recent HRW case study on the organization’s work in Ethiopia as a troubling example. The case study found, among other troubling revelations, that World Bank funding intended for development of the African nation’s rural infrastructure was misappropriated for its infamous “villagization” practices, in which over a million marginalized minorities were forcibly, and violently, relocated.

Evans added that, as the largest and most famous development bank in the world, the WBG’s initial steps will set a hefty precedence in Burma.

“The World Bank has an opportunity to set a tone that takes fully into account the many challenges facing Burma and actively work to address them, rather than drawing invisible lines around issues that it considers too thorny,” Evans told Asian Correspondent, adding: “In doing this, it will also influence other donors.”

But even if such stipulations come to pass, the Burmese government (which did not respond to interview requests) may prove more than reluctant to embrace them. In an earlier interview, Phil Robertson (deputy director of HRW’s Asia division) told us that the aforementioned Rakhine State Action Plan “… continues the blatantly discriminatory policies against the Rohingya that we sadly come to expect from the Burma government.”

For human rights activists like Robertson, that unsettling trend can be traced back to 2012 when mobs of Burma’s Buddhist majority torched thousands of Rohingya homes and killed dozens of the minority Muslims with machetes. From there, over 100,000 displaced Rohingya were housed in new dwellings that activist groups liken to internment camps. The recently unveiled state action plan will relocate the Rohingya to a new, undisclosed location. The plan will offer them citizenship, but only if they admit to being of the “Bengali” ethnicity, implying that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, which may leave them subject to confinement in detention centers.

Those measures seem reasonable to much of Rakhine state’s Buddhists population, according to Matthew Smith, executive director of another prominent activist NGO, Fortify Rights.

“The state and national-level authorities regard the Rohingya as invaders from Bangladesh, and the average Rakhine Buddhist is fearful that any recognition of Rohingya ethnicity would embolden Muslims to gain more economic and political power,” Smith said in an interview with Asian Correspondent, before adding that sentiment is also driven by far deeper, and more ruthless motives. “If you can deny a population their citizenship, burn them out of their villages, and drive them from the country, it’s much easier to confiscate their property and relative wealth, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing. These proposed policies are further to a well documented campaign of ethnic cleansing.”

Robertson said that Rakhine’s circumstances have not always been so dire, adding that it’s state capital Sittwe was almost evenly divided between Rohingya and Buddhists a mere two years ago, before the surge in ethnic unrest.

“Under this plan, that will never happen again,” he said. “The idea of reconciliation has been thrown aside in this plan, and replaced with so-called ‘peaceful co-existence’ – which will mean permanent segregation of the two communities, with the separation enforced by the might of the Burma Army and police, who have a long record of human rights abuses.”

The government has deemed the current and future camps to be a necessary safe zone for the Rohingya who fell prey to the 2012 attacks. Smith concedes this point is true, but only to an extent: “It’s sadly accurate that Rohingya would be attacked if they walked through downtown Sittwe tomorrow. But if the authorities were genuinely concerned about protection they’d facilitate lifesaving humanitarian aid and stop fueling the flames of anti-Rohingya sentiment. The authorities have given displaced Rohingya two options: try to survive in squalid ill-equipped camps or flee the country by sea.”

Smith added that a June 2014 Fortify Rights investigation (that included confiscated classified documents and interviews with hundreds of fleeing Rohingya) revealed a systemic exodus of the Muslim minority by sea. The report highlighted how that journey is fraught with dangers and how the Burmese government is perpetuating the participants’ departure (the report can be viewed here).

Evans said the WBG will have a unique opportunity to address those issues at its Oct. 10 meeting with Burmese officials. She added: “The World Bank Group should also make a firm commitment to ensure that human rights will be respected in all of its investments, both in the public and private sectors, thereby setting an example of rights-respecting development for donors and companies alike.”

Smith said a successful honoring of Burma’s human rights would include amending its dated 1982 citizenship law, granting the Rohingya equal access to full citizenship, providing them basic protection from future attacks, and allowing the displaced to return home.

“None of that is happening now,” he said, adding that another shortcoming has not only proven to be an injustice for the Rohingya, but also those who have been vilified in depictions of the Muslim minority’s struggle.

“There should also be accountability for abuses by the state against Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims,” he said. “The absence of accountability only lays the groundwork for future abuses. Both communities have suffered human rights violations in one way or another.”

Smith added that the WBG has “downplayed the situation in Rakhine State, and it’s unclear whose interests they serve by doing so… Very little is known about what the bank is planning to do in Rakhine State. The international community should not only avoid complicity… but should actively work against the ethnic and religious discrimination and entrenched segregation we’re seeing. The bank has some decisions to make, and we hope they take the right course.”

By Saudi Gazette Editorial

October 7, 2014

The latest insidious move by the Burmese government against its 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims is arguably the most sinister yet. Having ignored this not insignificant part of its population in the just completed census, it is now seeking to marginalize the community further with a Catch22 offer of citizenship.

Every Rohingya is being required to register in what at first sight looks like a belated attempt to include them in the census. In response to international outrage at their exclusion, officials are saying that the only way that the Burmese citizenship, which is currently denied to all Rohingya, can be obtained is by registering as “Bengalis”. This, however, is the term that Burmese governments have long used to identify the Rohingya as non-Burmese. It is the official claim that the community is made up of unauthorized immigrants from Bengal. This entirely ignores the historical truth that a Rohingya community has existed in Burma for many generations. 

The government is saying that once a Rohingya has registered, he or she “may” be “considered” for Burmese citizenship. This, even though the very act of accepting the identity of “Bengali” has effectively disqualified someone from obtaining the Burmese identity that has been so long denied this beleaguered community. 

This, however, is not the end of the menacing maneuver that the Burmese president Thein Sein is undertaking. 

Those who do not register will be obliged to go into special camps for “aliens”. Now there are already some 140,000 luckless Rohingya who have been incarcerated in compounds following the murderous rampage of Buddhist bigots two years ago. What had originally appeared to their frightened inhabitants as places of shelter have turned out to be prisons closely guarded by soldiers. Given that both the police and army largely stood by and did nothing during the 2012 riots, if they did not indeed actually join in the butchery, the harsh management of the existing camps should be no surprise.

Now the Thein Sein regime, with its no-win trick offer, is proposing to lock up the entire Rohingya population. There is no longer any pretense that this will be done for the community’s own protection. This outrageous change is nothing more than the creation of concentration camps designed to exterminate the identity of the Rohingya, if not the people themselves. All the community’s settlements, farms and businesses would be emptied, no doubt to be taken over by Buddhists. The ultimate goal would be the enforced “repatriation” of those of the concentration camp occupants who survived their imprisonment, to Bangladesh or Indian Bengal.

The Rohingya are a people without a voice. Those who seek to protest, most recently like 75-year-old human rights activist Kyaw Hla Aung, are being sentenced to jail. 

It is high time that Washington and Brussels drew the line on the warm welcome they have accorded Burma. The rehabilitation of the country must be put into reverse unless and until the reprehensible treatment of a helpless Muslim minority comes to an end and the Rohingya are awarded the status of full citizens in a country which they have always called their home. The international community can no longer collude in something which is so clearly a crime against humanity.

By Human Rights Watch

October 7, 2014

Washington, DC – The World Bank Group should act to overcome Burma’s major human rights problems in its new strategy for the country, Human Rights Watch said in a submission to the bank released today. Key issues include rights violations against ethnic minorities, widespread land grabs, and systematic corruption.

Despite significant human rights improvements in Burma, the reform process remains tenuous, and serious problems remain, particularly as the 2015 elections approach. The World Bank Group cautiously re-engaged with the Burmese government in 2012 and is developing a more comprehensive partnership framework for the next five years. The World Bank Group consists of four organizations tasked with reducing global poverty and achieving sustainable development, and an arbitration body.

“The World Bank should be taking stock of the human rights situation in Burma as the 2015 elections approach,” said Jessica Evans, senior international financial institutions researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The elections could be a milestone in Burma’s reform efforts or a major setback, and the bank will need to set the best path for engagement.”

World Bank Group President Jim Kim should highlight ongoing problems of discrimination and abuses against ethnic minorities, land and labor rights, access to justice, and corruption when he meets with Burmese finance officials during the World Bank/International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Washington, DC, on October 10-12, 2014.

Before it re-engaged with Burma in 2012, the World Bank had not provided financial aid to the country since 1987, when it was ruled by an abusive military junta. While there has been an increase in development aid in the past two years, Burma remains one of the poorest countries in the region.

The World Bank Group is piloting a new process for country engagement in Burma, first identifying major challenges to sustainable, inclusive development. The next step is to work with the government on a strategy to address the challenges. For this new process to be meaningful, the bank should not ignore controversial issues such as human rights, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch urged the World Bank to fully analyze Burma’s positive developments and the myriad issues that remain, and work with the government to address these issues, in close consultation with independent groups.

The decades-long government repression of the Rohingya Muslim minority continues on a massive scale. Since sectarian violence flared in June 2012, an estimated 140,000 mostly Rohingya displaced people have been relocated into camps around Burma’s western Arakan State.

Burma’s 1982 Citizenship Law effectively prevents Rohingya, many of whom have lived in the country for generations, from obtaining citizenship. This has left Rohingya stateless, facilitating human rights abuses against them and posing serious obstacles to ending the sectarian violence in Arakan State. The citizenship issue has also played a role in pushing Rohingya into increased poverty and is a barrier to realizing their social and economic rights. A draft of the long-awaited Rakhine (Arakan) Action Plan obtained by Human Rights Watch outlines plans to resettle over 130,000 displaced Rohingya into long-term settlements and stage a nationality verification process. A subsequent citizenship process will be inherently discriminatory because it is based on the 1982 law.

In its 2012 Burma strategy, the World Bank dismissed this entrenched discrimination as “localized instances of communal violence … that indicate the need to address continuing societal fault lines.” The attacks on the Rohingya, which amounted to crimes against humanity in a campaign of ethnic cleansing, and the impact on their social and economic rights have heightened since then, but the bank has remained silent.

Since 2012 there has also been a serious rise in anti-Muslim violence and incitement throughout Burma. Attacks took place in a number of towns in central Burma in 2013 and in Mandalay in June 2014.

“World Bank Group President Jim Kim has highlighted the cost of discrimination not only on society, but on the economy,” Evans said. “Kim should emphasize these costs with Burma’s government and urge them to dismantle entrenched discrimination and take the necessary measures to end the violence against the Rohingya and other Muslim communities.”

The World Bank Group should also do more to ensure that local communities can participate in identifying and shaping development priorities, Human Rights Watch said. The bank should publish country documents and project documents in relevant ethnic languages in addition to Burmese and English; consult with local people who will be directly affected by proposed projects; and ensure that all consultations are accessible for all marginalized groups. It should also address ongoing governmental restrictions on independent groups and the media, both in its diagnostic effort and its high-level dialogue with the government, emphasizing the importance of participation and social accountability for development.

The World Bank Group should assess and address the possible adverse impacts on human rights in all of its projects in Burma, particularly discrimination against minorities, land rights violations, and labor rights violations. In light of the high-risk environment, the International Finance Corporation, the bank’s private-sector lending arm, should require businesses to undertake human rights due diligence. This would involve taking the necessary measures to identify potential human rights problems, mitigate them, and provide an appropriate remedy for any abuses that occur despite the preventive steps taken.

All institutions of the World Bank Group should examine the rights records of government and private sector partners to ensure that they are not implicated in rights abuses or corruption, Human Rights Watch said. And all should rigorously monitor and supervise implementation of projects they fund to ensure that human rights are respected throughout.

“The World Bank has an important role to play in advancing access to education, health, and electricity in Burma,” Evans said. “But for it to really advance development, it needs to have its eyes wide open to Burma’s ongoing rights problems and actively work to address them.”

RB News

October 5, 2014

New York -- The OIC Ministerial Contact Group convened at the 69th United Nations General Assembly in New York. Important issues on Rohingya ethnic minority and strategies to find a permanent and lasting solution were discussed in the meeting. Delegations from several countries have expressed their concerns on the lack of progress on Rohingya issues in Arakan. They discussed strategies on engagement with the Government of Burma not only by OIC perspective, but also from the ASEAN perspectives as bilateral relations with Burma that many countries maintain. Among all the Ministerial delegations, they agreed that efforts in dialogue for ethnic and communal reconciliation in Arakan must be stepped up, but there are also needs for more serious and urgent approach for short-term solutions that could set the stage for long-term dialogue and reconciliation efforts. 

The Special Envoy of the OIC to Myanmar, Tan Sri Dr. Syed Hamid Albar, also attended the Ministerial Meeting. The special envoy presented a strong case on what he perceives the Rohingya issue based on his personal experience in Arakan and Naypyitaw as well as the Southeast Asian diplomacy. He made it very clear that the Rohingya and Muslim issue in Burma is rather complex, and dialogue and understanding among the ethnic groups in Arakan is the foundation to solving the problem. He stressed that there may be some challenges in brining the communities together to the table but he also expressed his optimism based on his personal interactions with Burmese and Rakhine officials and the leadership. Contrary to what some Burmese and Rakhine media has earlier reported or alluded to, Ambassador Albar was reportedly well received by the union and state officials in Burma followed by frank and objective discussions on Rohingya issues. Ambassador Albar also expressed high optimism in solving the Rohingya and Myanmar/Pathi Muslim issues that clearly is not what Buddhist Rakhine and some Burmese media had reported earlier. It is obvious that some unprofessional and violence-loving media in Burma are continuously serving as destructive elements not only against Rohingya ethnic minority but also towards the peace in Arakan during the so-called “transition to democracy” that the Government of Burma is claiming.

During the meeting, Dr. Wakar Uddin, the Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union, was given the floor, where he provided the Ministerial delegation the true picture on the ground in Arakan and realistic approach to finding a solution to Rohingya issue. Dr. Uddin unequivocally stated that the Government of Burma must adhere to standards of international law and ethics in all of its conducts. The Government must be consistent in what its senior officials tell the international community and how they drive the policy on the ground in Arakan. Among other things, Dr. Uddin highlighted four major points: 1) the relentless campaign by the radical elements in the Government of Burma to eliminate the very ethnic name and identity of Rohingya; 2) the verification/nationality scrutiny process mired with controversy, hate, and violence by the Burmese and Buddhist Rakhine forces; 3) the unrelenting human right violations and ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya people by the Burmese officials; and 4) the dire situation in Rohingya IDP camps, and the needs for speedy return and operation of NGOs to their full capacity for increased humanitarian assistance to the IDPs. Dr. Uddin also submitted the exhibits of forced “Bengalization” of Rohingya and Kamen Muslims in Arakan through violence by Burmese and Buddhist Rakhine police against Rohingya and Kamen Muslims. He showed the recently issued highly controversial Nationality Scrutiny cards (Green and Pink Cards), in Myabon Township by the Government of Burma. “Your Excellency, the word “Bengali” in the Lu Myo (Race) column is written by the Burmese officials in the Green cards forcefully issued to Rohingya, and the word “Bengali Kamen” is written in the Red cards issued to Kamen Muslims, that were actually one of 135 ethnic groups recognized by the Military Regime earlier – if it is not ethnic cleansing, then what is?” Dr. Uddin stated. “These radicals in the Government are completely consumed with the word “Bengali”, they are poised to eliminate the very identity of Rohingya, and they have evidently initiated the re-characterization of the Kamen also as Bengali, similar to what they are doing to Rohingya - this is very alarming” Dr. Uddin concluded.