By Maung Zarni

January 18, 2015

Myanmar's slow Rohingya genocide is a brilliant strategy that kills several birds with a single stone - as far as the country's ruling military Bama regimes.

Myanmar's great commercial opening, talked up as "reforms", triggered Rakhine nationalists and democrats' loud demands and agitations for 3 things - up until the state's manufacturing of the Rohingya-raped-Rakhine woman story (the body of the victim Ma Thida Htwe had absolutely no trace of having been assaulted sexually - according to the medical doctor who performed the medical examination of her body - ask Mr Maung Thura (a.k.a Zargana. He is not telling the country or world, the real truth he knows for a fact because he interviewed the medical examiner on video camera)

1) more equitable revenue sharing (or greater control over Rakhine's economic life)

2) greater political and administrative autonomy of the Rakhine people (the Bama king named Ba Dun or popularly King Grandfather, invaded, destroyed their kingdom, annexed the Rakhine territory into the present day Burma in 1785. The colonialist Bama feudal rulers used Rakhines as Prisoners of War and slaves in temple building and irrigation projects). Rakhines feel and remain a colonized people in their own land, truth be told).

3) resurgence of ethno-nationalism not allowed to express itself peacefully until after the opening up began

Myanmar regime has dealt with all 3 objectives of the Rakhine rather brilliantly - by diverting the Rakhines nationalist anger towards the Rohingya - most vulnerable, without any revolutionary or radical movement or organization to defend their own people or territory.

To date, Rakhines are perceived around the world as Nazi-like genocidal lot: the new perception serves the military leaders' interests in multiple ways.

First, it helps erase their finger-prints on the 37-years of systematic genocide of the Rohingya.

Second, Rakhines are no longer in a position to demand anything successfully from the central colonizer - Bama ruling class EXCEPT the greater repression of their down-trodden and more oppressed Rohingya co-habitants of Rakhine land and denial of the Rohingya rights (such as identity recognition, which early military leaders including Ne Win and his deputies accorded the Rohingya - that the Rohingya would be known, recorded and referred to by their self-chosen identity Rohingya because they were borderland people like Wa, Karen, Chin, Mon, Shan, etc. whose presence in their ancestral land predates the creation of new nation-states such as Burma, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, China, etc.)

Rohingya continue to be subject to the central military's genocidal policies albeit this time through Naypyidaw's strategy of OUTSOURCING DIRECT VIOLENCE AND DESTRUCTION.

Rakhine nationalists, who wanted to full independence and/or greater autonomy from Rangoon/Bama rule, had never forgiven the Rohingyas for always siding with the Burmese rulers in Rangoon against the wishes of the Rakhines.

Bama rulers neither welcome the Rohingya presence nor like the Rakhine (for their ethno-nationalism, which is the result of their colonial status as a people).

Third, the military rulers and their spin-masters like Dr Kyaw Yin Hlaing, who is involved in formulating, articulating and selling the Rakhine Action Plan (Myanmar's equivalent of Final Solution) are telling international visitors and others in Burma policy circle to provide more development aid to addess the lack of development and resultant POVERTY needs to be tackled as a long term strategy!

and the Development Industry loves this b/s.

It even serves the Pentagon as it is placed in a position to discuss beefing up security capacity of the Burmese armed forces - both the Navy and the Army in Rakhine coastal region - where China has twin gas and oil pipeline and wants to have access to the port! (The American 'strategic communitications adviers' - then based in Naypyidaw, on and off, were known to have helped Kyaw Yin Hlaing and the government Rakhine Inquiry Commission in formulating the right spin. Read the recommendations - it reads like a blue print for the defence cooperation between the Pentagon and Burmese Ministry of Defence!)

Boy, genocide pays!

So, the current strategy of the military is paying off handsomely. Rakhine are used as local proxies to pursue the central regime's long-term genocidal policies towards the Rohingya and will take the fall for the crimes of the Bama rulers. Rohingya, whom the regime has long come to view, rather out of its national security paranoia, as a security threat to Burma (because it is the only Muslim population concentrated in the 171 mile-long Burmese-Bangladesh border with linguistic and ethnic ties to the populous Bangladesh.

The Rakhine nationalist leaders, as in effect, finished as far as their demands for autonomy and economic control of Rakhine. Rohingyas continue to be destroyed as a community.

This is not simply a conflict between two religious and ethnic communities settling scores as the result of "the great transition" as morons and dishonest Myanmar experts and researchers have made it out to be.

There are those who those who think the United States Government is going to help rescue the Rohingyas from the slow genocide they need to think and look harder at the below-the-radar politics.

Twice Obama went to Burma and defended publicly Rohingya's right to dignity, identity, etc.

His UN Rep Samantha Power makes mentions of Rohingya in her pronouncements.

At the same time, the Pentagon and its men and women plays a different game - vis-a-vis China.

The American 'Strategic Communications advisers/specialists' - in plain language 'propaganda specialists - - then based in Naypyidaw, on and off, were known to have helped Dr Kyaw Yin Hlaing and the government Rakhine Inquiry Commission in formulating the right spin. Read the recommendations in the Inquiry Commission Report (released in Spring of 2013): the list of recommendations reads like a blue print for the defence cooperation between the Pentagon and Burmese Ministry of Defence!

By AFP

January 16, 2015

A top American diplomat Friday decried growing religious intolerance in Myanmar and warned the use of faith for political ends was "playing with fire" in a crunch election year for the former junta-run country.

His comments came as hundreds of monks staged a rally in Yangon blasting the United Nations' rights envoy for perceived bias towards Rohingya Muslims, in the latest show of strength for Buddhist nationalists.

"We expressed a concern that the use of religion in particular to divide people -- whether it is done for political or for any other purposes -- is incredibly dangerous, particularly in an election year," Tom Malinowski, a senior state department human rights envoy, told reporters after a six day mission to the country.

The delegation voiced fears "this really is playing with fire and exposing the country to dangers that it is not prepared to handle," he added.

Myanmar has seen surging Buddhist nationalism in recent years and spates of violence targeting Muslim minorities that have raised doubts over its much vaunted reforms after decades of harsh military rule.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, was denounced by crowds of monks in the main city of Yangon as she concluded her second official visit to the country on Friday.

The UN envoy warned that inter-religious violence remains a "significant problem" in Myanmar, particularly in unrest-torn Rakhine state, where she said continuing acute tensions between Muslims and Buddhists could have "far-reaching implications".

"The election is a very critical time in shaping the future of Myanmar and the situation in Rakhine is still in a state of crisis," she told reporters.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has large minority religious groups, particularly Muslims and Christians, who are both estimated to account for around four percent of the population, although many believe the number of Muslims could be higher.

Religious intolerance, sporadically spilling into lethal bloodshed, has spread across Myanmar since 2012, when unrest between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists ignited Rakhine state.

- Dangerous divisions -

Both the US and UN raised particular concerns about a set of controversial laws proposed by President Thein Sein in response to campaigns by hardline Buddhist monks.

The draft legislation -- including curbs on interfaith marriage, religious conversion and birth rates -- are seen by activists as particularly discriminatory against women and minorities. 

They are yet to be passed by parliament, but the high-level support from government has raised fears over growing politicisation of religion in the diverse and conflict-prone nation.

"If these bills are passed, it could be viewed as one of the indicators of backtracking in the political reform process," said Lee.

Her visit comes in the wake of a recent UN resolution urging Myanmar to grant the stateless Rohingya access to citizenship -- stoking controversy in the country, where many view the group as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

At the monk protest in Yangon, hardline nationalist cleric Wirathu told AFP that monks had decided to protest against the UN "as they are trying to interfere in our country's internal affairs".

The Rakhine conflict left some 200 people dead and around 140,000 trapped in squalid displacement camps, mainly the Rohingya, who have fled the country in their tens of thousands in perilous sea journeys heading for Malaysia and beyond.

"These people are Bengalis not Rohingyas," Wirathu said, using a term seen as disparaging to the Rohingya, many of whom claim long ancestry in Myanmar.

"I don't accept them because they are dangerous to our country, not because I want them to suffer," he added.

Lee also warned that while dozens of displaced people in Rakhine's Myebon area had been granted either citizenship or naturalised status during a pilot scheme last year, none of those given official documentation were permitted to leave their camp.

"They remain inside the camp with minimum food rations, limited access to health care and to other essential services. The despair that I saw in the eyes of the people in the Myebon IDP camp was heartbreaking," she said.

By Mahi Ramakrishnan

Voice of America

January 16, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR — The United Nations has called the Rohingya Muslims one of the world’s most persecuted minority groups.

Fleeing persecution in Myanmar, the Rohingya see Malaysia, a Muslim country, as a potential safe haven. But Malaysia has not signed the U.N. convention on refugees, so the Rohingya find they cannot work legally, or send their children to school — not even those who were born here.

Activists estimate at least 18,000 have arrived in recent months. Most feel they had no option but to flee.

A violent attack left Ayub Khan's arm and neck partially paralyzed. “I tried to run away from the mob, but they caught up to me and slashed me on the shoulder,” he said.

Another refugee, Nayeemah, said human traffickers killed her husband as they fled with their children via Thailand to Malaysia.

“In my country, there’s so much killing, torture and violent attacks, so there was no alternative to stay there," she said. "I had to leave the country and head to Thailand.”

Eman Hossein left on a ship with some 400 others.

“When the people died they just threw them in the ocean," he said. "At least 50 to 55 people died.”

About 40,000 Rohingya in Malaysia are registered with the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, giving them some protection from arrest and deportation. But activists estimate at least that many remain unregistered.

New arrival Nayeemah hopes to leave Malaysia.

“If I stay here, I will not be able to send my kids to school, so I want to be resettled to another country,” she said.

Rohingya activist Mohammad Sadek estimates that only about 1,000 Rohingya have been resettled to date.

“Many of the refugees are waiting for more than three decades," he said. "They still remain in the same condition without having any hope. So the UNHCR should resettle them as soon as possible.”

There's a slim chance of that happening, perhaps. But life as a refugee living in poverty on the margins of Malaysian society is still a life — something many here say is an improvement from where they came.

By Mizzima

January 16, 2015

Critics have slammed Mr Hugo Swire MP, a junior minister in the UK’s Foreign Office, on January 15, for his failure to provide a robust response to a litany of Myanmar human rights abuses during a debate held in the British Parliament.

The UK-based NGOs Burma Campaign UK and Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK suggested the British government is more interested in doing business than raising the issue of rights abuse.

The debate, held in the House of Commons on January 14 was secured by opposition party Labour MP Mr Jonathan Ashworth and focused largely on the controversy over how the Rohingya minority in Rakhine State are treated.

However, the NGOs said they believe Mr Hugo Swire MP, Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office failed to accept that his approach has failed to influence the Myanmar government, and failed to announce any new initiatives.

“As a government minister he is in a position to make a real difference, to help end some of the violations which are taking place, help free political prisoners, even save lives,” wrote Mr Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK on January 15. “But instead of this, he prioritises trade deals. He must know deep down inside that what he is doing is devoid of any moral principle and justification. Does he have private moments when his conscience makes him question what he does?”

The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK said in a statement January 15 that the response of Mr Swire was very disappointing, noting the UK government’s approach was not working.

The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK said it has asked the British government to support UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon taking the lead in negotiating humanitarian access in Rakhine State, but Mr Swire had failed to support this, the organisation said.

During the UK parliamentary debate, MPs highlighted the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the exclusion of the Rohingya from the census, the discriminatory 1982 Citizenship Law, violations of international law against the Rohingya, refugees in Bangladesh, restrictions on marriage, and many other forms of abuse and repression they claimed were faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar.

Mr Ashworth, speaking during the debate, said: “The Burmese Government will often deny responsibility and claim that much of the anti-Rohingya sentiment exists at a local level. But of course we all know, as has been discussed in great detail in previous debates, that the flames of anti-Rohingya sentiment are very much fanned by the denial of Burmese citizenship to them. A nasty, bigoted piece of legislation—the 1982 Citizenship Law—stripped Rohingya Muslims of their legitimacy in the country and officially declared them foreigners. In effect, they ceased to exist legally and were denied any form of citizenship.”

He said that even though there is debate about how long the Rohingya people have been part of Myanmar, “everyone can accept that they have been there for some generations; they have certainly been there since Burma gained independence. Indeed, it was the first President of Burma who said that. Muslims of Arakan certainly belong to the indigenous races of Burma. If they do not belong to the indigenous races, we also cannot be taken as an indigenous race.”

Mr Ashworth said he understood why Britain would want to pursue trade with Myanmar but said it should not be at the expense of human rights.

Mr Swire said he shared the MP’s concerns for the Rohingya. “I use that term now and I shall continue to use it as I always have done. Their plight remains one of the greatest challenges Burma faces. I have raised this issue during my visits to Burma.”

He said the many challenges faced by all communities in Rakhine are deep-rooted, complex and interrelated.

“We acknowledge that the Burmese government has begun to take steps to address those issues, including the appointment of the new Rakhine Chief Minister last year,” he said.

Mr Swire visited Myanmar and Rakhine State in 2012, in the wake of the communal riots, and travelled to Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Kachin State in 2014.

By Paul Mooney

Reuters

January 16, 2015

Hundreds of protesters led by Buddhist monks rallied in Myanmar on Friday to denounce a visit by a human rights envoy of the United Nations, which has urged the government to grant citizenship to persecuted Rohingya Muslims.

Crowds roared and pumped their fists in the air as Ashin Wirathu, a extremist monk known for railing against Muslims, delivered an impassioned speech in Yangon attacking the U.N. and its Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, who is concluding a 10-day visit.

The scenes demonstrate a surge in Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar, where monks carry considerable influence and were revered for their moral integrity during the five decades when the country was under brutal and corrupt military rule.

Protests were outlawed until the civilian-led government that took office in 2011 lifted the ban. But that has given rise to a Buddhist movement that has taken aim at Muslims, who make up about 5 percent of Myanmar's population of 53 million.

Sectarian violence since June 2012 has killed at least 240 people, mostly Muslims. The Rohingya are the worst affected. At least 140,000 were displaced in western Rakhine state, where Lee faced similar protests last week.

Lee said Rakhine state "remains in crisis" and urged the government to allow full aid access to Rohingyas stuck in camps with limited food and medicine.

"The despair that I saw in the eyes of the people ... was heartbreaking," she told reporters on Friday.

Restricting their rights, she said, was "merely serving to exacerbate tensions and anger."

The U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution in November urging Myanmar's government to protect and grant citizenship to the Rohingyas, who number about 1.1 million.

The U.N. call was rebuffed and caused outrage in the Buddhist-majority country, where many reject the name "Rohingya" and see them as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

Some protesters on Friday dismissed them as "terrorists", echoing some Myanmar officials who believe militant elements are among them, a claim Rohingya leaders refute.

Demonstrators wore shirts saying "stand together against Islam", with a cross over the U.N. logo. The backs of shirts read "don't use fake name for illegal immigrants Bangladeshi".

Signs were held saying: "Kick Rohin-liars out".

The issue is a political hot potato for President Thein Sein, who was lauded for his wide-ranging reforms but is now accused of being indifferent to the Rohingyas' plight. Helping them, however, could affect his government's popularity.

(Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Neil Fullick)

By Alex Bookbinder

Democratic Voice of Burma

January 16, 2015

Concluding her second official visit to Burma on Friday evening, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma, Yanghee Lee, urged the government to redouble efforts to improve the country’s still-worrisome human rights situation.

“Based on all the information I have gathered, I feel assured that in some areas the Government is continuing to progress in its reform programme,” she said. “However, in some areas I have not observed progress since my last visit… In the area of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, positive gains risk being lost. Indeed, the possible signs of backtracking I noted in my first report have gained momentum in this area.”

Over the course of her ten-day trip, following up on an earlier trip to the country in July, she met with a wide cross-section of political and civil society actors, including activists, journalists, ethnic and religious leaders, and government officials. She visited Insein Prison in Rangoon, where she met with prominent activists arrested in December for protesting the Chinese-backed Latpadaung copper mine in central Burma.

She travelled to Burma’s restive Arakan State, the site of resurgent communal clashes since 2012 and home to more than a million Rohingya Muslims, most of whom are denied citizenship rights and essential services, and who are subject to severe mobility restrictions. She subsequently visited Lashio, near the front lines of resurgent fighting in northern Shan State and the site of interreligious violence last year.

Her visit to Burma was met with protests from Buddhist nationalist sympathisers, who deplored her support for the rights of Burma’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority to citizenship, mobility, and self-identification.

“Yes, I have been greeted with several protests, and I am informed that there will be another protest today, later on, waiting for me,” she told journalists at Rangoon’s Sedona Hotel before her departure from the country. “I would like to see this as an improvement in the ability to voice opinions and views.”

On Friday morning, a group of some 500 monks and lay supporters, led by hardliners Wirathu and Parmaukkha, marched from Kyay Thon Pagoda, to the east of Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon, to Tamwe Township east of the city centre, holding placards reading “UN decisions cause problems in Burma – we don’t want that!”

Among the marchers were members of the Arakan National Network, which has condemned the UN’s call for Burma to grant citizenship to members of the Rohingya community who were born in the country.

In December, the UN General Assembly approved a non-binding resolution, drafted by the European Union, that called on Naypyidaw to extend citizenship rights to the Rohingya and remove the mobility restrictions placed on them. The resolution also urged investigation into rights abuses in Arakan State, equal access to essential services, and conciliation between Buddhist and Muslim communities in the region.

“Fundamental rights are not hierarchical – they aren’t conditional upon one another. They’re inalienable. You can be assured that in all my meetings with government interlocutors, I use the word ‘Rohingya’. The rights of Rohingya people must be protected, promoted and upheld,” Lee said.

Echoing the sentiments of other high-level UN envoys to Burma over the past year – including UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon and his deputy, Haoliang Xu – Lee claimed that an undue focus on terminology has stalled progress on fundamental issues relating to humanitarian access and the acquisition of citizenship.

“There’s many complexities involved in this, and I’m bringing to the public’s attention that the fixation on the word has paralysed any forward movement,” she said. “That does not mean negating one word or the other, because it is a fundamental right for people to self-identify.”

While she praised some recent developments in Arakan, including the resumption of front-line health care by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in December, she claimed the situation in the troubled state “remains at crisis stage,” and that humanitarian access is “still minimal and high risk.”

She also noted that, while some of the inhabitants of Myebon Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp were granted citizenship through the government’s pilot “citizenship verification” programme, their living standards have not improved as they remain subject to onerous mobility restrictions.

“They remain inside the camp with minimum food rations, limited access to health care and to other essential services,” she said. “The despair that I saw in the eyes of the people in the Myebon IDP camp was heartbreaking.”

Although she was promised access to the latest draft of the government’s “action plan” for Arakan – a leaked earlier draft of which stirred outrage, as it called for the deportation en masse of those failing to acquire citizenship through the verification process – she claims it “has not yet been delivered” to her.

“I stress that international human rights norms must be at the centre of a solution in the Rakhine [Arakan] State,” she said. “Collective punishment of the entire Muslim population of the Rakhine State for the deeds of a limited number of perpetrators from the violence in 2012 is not the answer.”

By Alex Bookbinder

Democratic Voice of Burma

January 16, 2015

A delegation led by US Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski concluded a six-day trip to Burma on Friday, urging Naypyidaw to address concerns about the depth and pace of political reforms.

“At the forefront of this dialogue is whether the [Burmese] government can maintain trust that the reform process is moving forward,” Malinowski said at a press conference in the US Embassy in Rangoon. “How can it earn the trust of its own people, first and foremost?”

The delegation – which included Ambassador Derek Mitchell and senior officials from the Departments of Defense, State, and USAID – met with civil society groups in Rangoon and Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, before taking part in a “bilateral human rights dialogue” with governmental officials in Naypyidaw, the first such meeting to be held since 2012.

Although Malinowski deemed the delegation’s interactions with its Burmese counterparts to be “extremely constructive and productive”, his assessment of the country’s overall human rights situation and reform process was decidedly less rosy.

Malinowski expressed particularly strong concern about the religious demagoguery that has engulfed Burma over the past few years, claiming that the use of religion to “divide people” was “extremely dangerous”, particularly in the run-up to nationwide polls scheduled to occur later this year.

“This is really playing with fire, and is exposing the country to dangers that it is not prepared to handle,” he said.

The delegation discussed a package of four controversial laws pending approval by parliament that would place limits on religious conversion and interfaith marriage with the government and civil society leaders. The delegation also urged the government to end indefinite detention of stateless people – primarily Rohingyas – in Arakan State and quickly establish “non-discriminatory” pathways that would allow them to obtain citizenship.

“The question, we suggested, in assessing citizenship, should not be, ‘What is your race?’ it should not be ‘What is your color?’ [or] ‘What is your religion?’ It should be, ‘What are you prepared to do to help build this country?’” he said. “That is the way to build what everybody in Myanmar says is their goal: national unity and national peace.”

On Thursday, two days after the delegation’s departure from Kachin State, fighting erupted in the jade-mining centre of Hpakant, displacing more than 1,000 civilians. To Malinowski, this latest round of hostilities exemplifies the mistrust that has stalled Burma’s peace process. “It reinforces the imperative of bringing this conflict to an end through a ceasefire and political dialogue, something we have been encouraging for some time,” he said.

High on the delegation’s agenda was addressing Naypyidaw’s limitation of humanitarian access in conflict-affected regions of the country, particularly in areas of Kachin and northern Shan States controlled by ethnic armed groups. He claimed the government explicitly committed to fulfilling its obligations to protect civilians under the Geneva Conventions, but maintained that it “need[s] to ensure that that principle is reflected in practice,” also calling on the military to submit to civilian oversight.

“Whoever you blame for this conflict, whatever your interpretation for why this is happening, IDPs [internal refugees] should not be punished,” he said.

He also urged the government to speed up the release of prisoners of conscience and address pervasive land issues affecting vast swathes of the country. He singled out repressive laws that place limits on public protest, noting that they are not in line with international standards. “In our view, it is not in Myanmar’s interest – it is not in any country’s interest – to be known as a country that imprisons people solely for engaging in peaceful protest,” he said.

Malinowski assumed his current position in April 2014, after 13 years as the Washington director of Human Rights Watch. In June last year, he led another delegation of senior US Treasury, Defense and State Department officials to Burma, which focused on peace and reconciliation in southern Burma and the sanctions regime on targeted individuals maintained by the United States.

Statement of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar

16 January 2015

Introduction

Today is the final day of my second official visit to Myanmar as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. It has been a visit rich in its diversity, geography, viewpoints and experiences. I have engaged with government officials, parliamentarians, religious and community leaders, civil society representatives, victims of human rights violations and members of the international community. My discussions have been frank, open, sometimes passionate but always welcoming. I am feeling more and more a part of this country and am privileged to be accompanying the people of Myanmar on this journey of reform towards greater enjoyment of human rights. My visit would not have been possible without the genuine cooperation of the Government of Myanmar and the committed support of the United Nations Country Team. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to both organisations. 

Today I would like to present some preliminary observations based on my visit and developments since my last visit. I have been particularly interested in any changes in key areas of concern that I raised in my report to the General Assembly following my July 2014 visit. 

In Yangon, I went to Insein prison where I had private interviews with U Sein Than, U Htin Kyaw, Dr. Tun Aung, U Nay Myo Zin, U Aung Myo Thu and Naw Ohn Hla. I later met with U Brang Shawng, the father of Ja Seng Ing, a Kachin girl who was killed in an encounter with a Tatmadaw patrol. I met with lawyer networks for the Letpadaung case and other issues, land rights activists, people charged under the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act as well as some non-government members of the Prisoner of Conscience Affairs Committee. My meetings in Yangon also included discussions with Civil Society Organizations on women’s rights and on electoral reform. I also met with the widow of Ko Par Gyi, some members of the private media and some members of the All Burma Federation of Students Unions. This morning, I called on the Chair of the Myanmar Human Rights Commission.

In Nay Pyi Taw, I held talks with H.E. U Wunna Maung Lwin, Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Minister for Defense, Major-General Kyaw Nyunt, Attorney-General, H.E. Dr. Tun Shin, Union Minister for the Ministry of the President’s Office(3), H.E. U Soe Thane, Union Minister for the Ministry of the President’s Office (4), H.E. U Aung Min and officials of the Myanmar Peace Center, as well as Union Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, H.E. Dr. Daw Myat Myat Ohn Khin. I also met with the Union Deputy Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security H.E. U Htin Aung, the Union Deputy Minister for Immigration and Population H.E. U Win Myint, the Union Deputy Minister for Education H.E U Thant Shin, the Union Deputy Minister for Health H.E. Dr. Win Myint, the Chairman of the Constitutional Tribunal U Mya Theinn, the Chairman of the Union Election Commission U Tin Aye, the Union Minister for Information H.E. U Ye Htut and the Central Committee of Land Use Management.

Yesterday, in Nay Pyi Taw, I met with the Committees of the Upper House of Parliament (Chairs of the Parliamentary Committees and Representatives of Bills Committees), the Committees of the Lower House of Parliament (Including Chairs of Parliamentary Committees, Bills Committee of the Lower House, The Rule of Law and Tranquility Committee of the Lower House, the Legal Affairs and Special Issues Assessment Commission of the Lower House and the Land Acquisition Investigation Commission). I met with the Legal, Economic and Political Advisers of the President, the members of the Constitutional Review Committee, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Union Minister for Home Affairs. I also had a private meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

During my mission I also visited the Rakhine State and Northern Shan State. I will elaborate on those visits later in my statement. 

Preliminary observations 

Based on all the information I have gathered, I feel assured that in some areas, the Government is continuing to progress in its reform programme. I am pleased to see that programmes to improve education, health care and livelihood are underway, and commend the Government on its proposals for greater community consultation on land related projects. I was heartened by the release of U Kyaw Hla Aung released since my last visit. However, in some areas I have not observed progress since my last visit. In particular, land development projects frequently suffer from poor information and a lack of adequate consultation with affected communities. Consequential disputes have been met with harsh crackdowns. I have also observed areas where reforms fail to live up to expectations due to inadequate capacity or simply disregard, at the local level of implementation. In the area of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, positive gains risk being lost. Indeed, the possible signs of backtracking I noted in my first report have gained momentum in this area. I urge the Government to address these issues as a priority. I will elaborate this in my report to be submitted to the Human Rights Council in March. 

Democratic space 

Following my first visit I noted that the opening up of democratic space in Myanmar has been widely acknowledged as one of the significant achievements in Myanmar’s reform process. However, I expressed concern that significant challenges remain and highlighted the need for accelerated efforts if such achievements are to be maintained. I noted particular concerns among my interlocutors with article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act. 

These concerns remain and there are signs that the situation may have even worsened. I was informed that since my visit there have been ongoing arrests and prosecutions of people exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and association, including in relation to land confiscation, environmental degradation and constitutional reform. Protestors are being charged and sentenced under article 18 and under the Penal Code, and it appears that numbers of arrests are increasing. At the end of 2014, official figures were that 27 political prisoners remained in prison. However, I consider that the 78 farmers charged with trespassing during land protests have also been arrested for politically motivated reasons. I was informed that hundreds of persons charged with political offences are currently awaiting trial, including the several persons already arrested this year during protests. The numbers remain unreasonably high, and I am unable to say that progress has been made in this area. 

I met with prisoners that are serving sentences under section 18, including U Sein Than who was arrested immediately after my last visit on his way to the United Nations office to provide me with additional documents concerning allegations of land grabbing. I also met with Naw Ohn Hla and U Nay Myo Zin who had been arrested following protests outside the Chinese Embassy concerning the Leptadaung incident last month. As a parent, I have been particularly touched by the case of U Brawn Shawng, the father of Ja Seng Ing, facing charges brought by the military for allegedly providing false information. His case was brought after he wrote to the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission calling for an investigation into the shooting of his 14 year old daughter in Kachin State during fighting between the military and the Kachin Independence Army in 2012. During the two years of court proceedings against him, an official inquiry into the death of his daughter has still not been initiated. 

At the end of 2014 the previously constituted Prisoner Review Committee was discontinued and replaced by the 28 member Prisoners of Conscience Affairs Committee, including some but not all of the previous NGO members. The previous committee only met three times during 2014 and did not issue public reports. I encourage the Government to ensure that this new Committee is effective and constructive and works to bring about the release of all persons detained for political reasons. 

A free and independent media is another important indicator of democratic society. I am informed that the Government is in the process of reforming media governance and has worked with journalists to this end. But much remains to be done. I received complaints that insufficient consultation has taken place in the development of the current Broadcasting Law. Concerns were also expressed that the publishing and media laws stifle independent media and are unnecessarily restrictive. 

I was informed that journalists face regular intimidation and harassment. The tragic death of Ko Par Gyi is an extreme example of this. Following his arrest on 28 September, Ko Par Gyi was shot and killed while reportedly trying to escape military detention in Mon State. The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission has conducted an investigation into this case and called for the case to be tried in a civilian court. I call on the Government to initiate criminal proceedings as a matter of priority in an open and transparent manner. 

Further, the four journalists and the editor of Unity Journal sentenced to ten years imprisonment with hard labour shortly before my last visit, remain incarcerated without reprieve.

Such incidents reinforce intimidation and harassment towards persons wishing to voice their concerns against actions of the state, including demands of accountability for human rights violations. Instead of facilitating free expression which is fundamental to credible democratic reform, these events serve to encourage self-censorship and caution. I urge the Government to ensure that space for expression of dissent and demands for accountability is both protected and expanded. Maintaining the space available for independent election reporting will be a key challenge during 2015. 

Land and environmental issues

Prominent throughout my visit have been complaints of unfair land confiscation, forced evictions and concerns with land use policy. Government interlocutors have explained the challenges towards sustainable and profitable land development so that all persons in Myanmar can benefit from available opportunities. I commend the development of a legal framework that requires an environmental impact assessment to be conducted before development projects are launched and urge this framework to be implemented consistently and transparently, in full consultation with affected communities. 

However, this is not enough. Just as there is an urgent need to independently and transparently address land disputes including involving the State at the very highest levels, there is also a need for more information sharing about farmer’s rights and responsibilities of duty bearers. During my visit I heard about the property boom – dramatic increases in land values which have brought extraordinary opportunities for easy profit to Myanmar. Existing laws and systems make it conducive to exploit farmers, heighten intercommunal conflict and facilitate grabbing lucrative tracts of land. Moreover, it is difficult for the people of Myanmar to oppose or criticise such development projects. 

I was informed of several cases where excessive force was used against rural farmers and urban residents protesting at the loss of their homes and livelihood. I was also informed that a large number of protestors against land confiscations are charged with trespassing, attracting harsh prison sentences. Notable is the incident at Letpadaung where evicted farmers protesting against a proposed copper mine were met with excessive force by local authorities. Several protesters were injured and one woman died from a bullet wound. A number of protesters were arrested and are currently awaiting trial for trespassing and unlawful protest. 

Similarly, on December 22nd and 23rd, persons protesting against confiscation of their land for the Wanbao project were shot by police with rubber bullets and severely injured. During related protests in front of the Chinese Embassy in Yangon, several protesters were arrested under section 18.

If Myanmar is truly serious about transitioning to democracy, it must allow persons aggrieved by its actions to express their frustrations without being punished. The Government must proactively ensure that adequate consultation on land development has taken place and that comments received have been properly considered. Most importantly, the Government must move towards eliminating legal avenues that punish the expression of opinions contrary to state policy. 

I reiterate my call for the Government to proactively manage development and investment processes to ensure a rights-based and people centred form of sustainable development. This should include poverty reduction, equitable resource sharing and non-discrimination as its central pillars. While legislative change will assist this process, changes in attitudes and behaviour at all levels of government will also be needed. It will be important for international donors and investors to ensure they do not inadvertently facilitate human rights violations through their development programmes. 

Intercommunal situation

Intercommunal violence continues to be a significant barrier to peace and prosperity in Myanmar, both inter-ethnic and inter-religious violence. In this era of reform where a new national identity is emerging, I am disturbed to see some minorities targeted through rumours, discriminatory policies and in extreme cases, hate speech. Here too, misinformation in the different communities is particularly damaging and I urge Government and community leaders to reach out to one another to remedy this. In the past, Myanmar has been celebrated for its rich diversity. I urge the Government to play a more active role in ensuring that Myanmar’s future maintains this national treasure. 

During my visit I learned that significant progress has been made in the advancement of the peace process. I was informed by the Government that it is confident a nationwide ceasefire agreement will be reached in February. This would represent an important step forward towards improving the human rights situation of some of the most vulnerable people in the country. It is also key to ensuring that persons living in the current conflict zone areas are able to fully participate in the forthcoming national elections. 

Skirmishes, attacks and counterattacks continued throughout my visit and I was informed that my planned visit to IDP camps in the Northern Shan State therefore had security risks. It was unfortunate that my plans to visit some IDP camps had to be cancelled at the last minute. The fighting in Kachin State has intensified in recent months and many villagers have once again fled to the safety of IDP camps. During my visit I was informed of recent instances where armies on both sides have injured or killed civilians, or committed other violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. The time for this long standing source of suffering to end is long overdue. However, the stepping up of attacks in Kachin State over this past month is not conducive to negotiation of a comprehensive ceasefire agreement. Here we have the chance for an historic achievement – I urge all parties to focus on the interests of all people of Myanmar and to make this process work and to ensure it is durable. 

I had the opportunity to visit Lashio in the Northern Shan State where I held talks with the local authorities and called upon the Venerable Mansu Sayadaw. I also met with Palaung leaders U Maung Kyaw and U Aik Mong, local inter-faith representatives as well as civil society. I was particularly interested to assess the follow up since the intercommunal violence in May 2013 where an organised Buddhist mob had violently attacked the local Muslim community. I commend the authorities and community of Lashio for their cooperative recovery from this incident. I was particularly impressed with the commitment of inter-religious leaders from the Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and Christian communities to work together towards maintaining a peaceful community. I was disappointed to see that the Muslim orphanage and Hindu premises burnt in the attack have not yet been rebuilt, due to administrative delays. I urge the authorities to speed up this process so that the Lashio experience can serve as a model for other regions in Myanmar where such cooperation has been more difficult to achieve. 

During my visit I once again visited the Rakhine State and had frank talks with the Rakhine State Chief Minister U Maung Maung Ohn, as well as members of the Emergency Coordination Centre and the Rakhine Elders. I visited the IDP camps of both the affected communities in Myebon and Sittwe. In Sittwe, I also had discussions with members of the Emergency Coordination Centre. At a frank one and a half hour meeting with Rakhine Elders, I was able to gain more insight into the fears and sufferings of the Rakhine people and the history of the Rakhine State.

With the cooperation and logistical support of the State Government, I was able to visit Myebon where I met the local Rakhine leaders and visited a Buddhist and a Muslim IDP camp. I was grateful, once again, to have the opportunity to listen to the views of both the Buddhist and Muslim communities. I listened to the depth of frustration, suffering and fear held by both communities. The severe under development of the Rakhine State, and the conditions of poverty that people live in, lie at the heart of the frustration and tension. I was pleased to hear that electricity was introduced to the Rakhine State last month. But much more is needed. 

Before I go into details of my visit to the Rakhine State, I would like to address the controversial issue of the two words Rohingya and Bengali. These words mean different things to different people and each one brings forth anger and passion for different reasons. To many Rakhine Budhhists, the term Rohingya equates to a claim of indigenous status and secessionist activities. They fear loss of their land, security and livelihood. To those who self-identify as Rohingya, the term Bengali isolates them from the community they were born into. Moreover, legally it brings a loss of rights and entitlements compared with those enjoyed prior to 2012, including unequal access to citizenship. The controversy of both words have been vigorously pointed out to me by many interlocutors. 

Without wanting to invalidate either perspective, I would like to suggest that this fixation on which word to use has paralysed progress on important issues. I am not saying that the debate is not important, but I am asking all of us to focus on addressing the urgent humanitarian and human rights needs that continue to exist throughout the State. 

I commend the work of the Chief Minister of the Rakhine State and his efforts to ensure that the voices of Buddhists, Muslims, government organisations, UN agencies and INGOs all contribute toward solutions for the ongoing problems in this State. Since my last visit some advancements have been made in addressing the serious humanitarian and human rights issues encountered in July 2014. MSF resumed its work in the Rakhine State on December 18 and permission for increased access has been granted to humanitarian organisations over the past weeks. However, in my view the situation remains at crisis stage. Humanitarian access is still minimal and high risk. On 30 December a UN national staff member was beaten by military authorities in Northern Rakhine during the course of performing his duties. I call on authorities to ensure accountability for these acts and to ensure the safety of UN and INGO staff. I note that the three INGO national staff arrested in connection with the 2012 violence remain in detention in Buthidaung prison. I reiterate my call for their immediate release. 

I chose to visit Myebon because the Citizenship Verification pilot exercise has been carried out there. I was informed by the Deputy Minister for Immigration that amongst the 2960 IDPs in the Myebon camp, 1312 persons over 18 qualified for citizenship verification; 88 did not apply and 94 are still to apply. Out of 1280 applications, so far full citizenship has been given to 97 persons, 360 have been naturalized for citizenship. Inside the camp, I was informed by the camp spokesperson that 40 persons have received full citizenship and 169 have been naturalized. The remainder are waiting on the results of the exercise. 

I have some important reflections to make on what I saw and heard. Firstly, the lives of the IDPs who have received their citizenship cards in Myebon camp have not changed. They remain inside the camp with minimum food rations, limited access to health care and to other essential services. The despair that I saw in the eyes of the people in the Myebon IDP camp was heartbreaking. The Chief Minister confirmed that the atmosphere remains hostile, a fact that was confirmed in my discussions with local Elders. I do not regard this as an acceptable situation. The severe curtailment of the rights of the IDPs in conditions of detention, with limited access to essential services must be immediately addressed. Until my arrival, INGOs had been granted limited access to the camps once per week. I understand that permission has now been granted for visits three times a week. This is still far too inadequate. Health services remain abysmal and there is highly limited access to education. Freedom of movement should be available to all IDPs, as well as access to their land and to all other rights enjoyed by other persons in the Rakhine State. 

Secondly, when I spoke to persons in the Myebon Muslim camp who had declined to participate in the Citizenship Verification process, they informed me it was because they were Kaman Muslims or Buddhists married to Muslims. They verified this by showing me their identity cards. Yet they could not leave the camp, either out of fear or lack of authorization. This illustrates the severe level of tension and fear that remains. It also shows that this matter is more complex than the Rohingya/Bengali debate. 

Thirdly, in my discussions I heard a large number of rumours and misconceptions about both Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists that were used as justification for the current situation. By preventing interactions between the two communities such misconceptions will continue and easily spiral into hate speech. Segregation is not the answer. 

I discussed the Rakhine Action Plan in my meeting with the Chief Minister. I was promised the latest version but it has not yet been delivered to me. I stress that international human rights norms must be at the centre of a solution in the Rakhine State. Collective punishment of the entire Muslim population of the Rakhine State for the deeds of a limited number of perpetrators from the violence in 2012 is not the answer. Instead, maintaining the current situation of restricting the rights of Rohingya Muslims is merely serving to exacerbate tensions and anger. It also creates a host of challenges for the forthcoming election that will be difficult to address. The issues in the Rakhine State also have international implications which are of concern to all member states. In particular, the human rights violations being committed are encouraging people smuggling and are generating large numbers of asylum seekers, often leading to tragic suffering and loss of life.

I commend the Government for its consensus participation in the 2014 General Assembly resolution on Myanmar. I understand there has been some misreporting in the local press about the terms of the Resolution. I would like to clarify that the Resolution calls for, I quote, “equal access to full citizenship for the Rohingya minority”. 

In conclusion, I believe that the Rakhine State remains in crisis. Efforts are being made to address certain issues, but much more is needed. I urgently call on the Government to protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all inhabitants of Rakhine State regardless of legal status, to allow full and immediate access for humanitarian agencies across the State and to allow the safe return of all IDPs to their communities of origin including to their land. 

The Legislative Package on Race and Religion

I am concerned about a package of four bills that have been tabled for consideration in the next session of the Parliament. I raised my concerns in every government meeting and am grateful for the frank, sometimes vigorous discussions that we had. Several justifications were given for these bills and I was given assurances that international human rights norms had been taken into account in the drafting of the bills. I was also informed that the bills seek to protect the health, welfare and rights of women in particular, as well as addressing administrative needs such as the registration of religious conversion. However, I respectfully maintain my concerns with these laws and call upon all parliamentarians to thoroughly scrutinize these bills and to play a role in building a more tolerant and inclusive community. I would like to offer some specific comments on the bills: 

• The Religious Conversion Bill establishes a State-regulated system for religious conversion and regulation, including through interview and discussion with an eleven member Township Registration Board. It is my view that this process is onerous and potentially intimidating. The freedom to practice religion and to convert is a fundamental human right, a very personal one. I am also concerned at the offences and penalties this Bill proposes for “insulting religion”, which is vague and could be used to discriminate against minority religions. 

• I was informed that the Population Control Bill seeks to address issues of health and poverty in an approved region where it is found to have a very high birth rate. This would be done through a number of strategies including birth spacing of 36 months between two pregnancies. While I was assured this Bill does not impose penalties, I believe that a legal requirement for birth spacing is an illegitimate interference by the State into the right of a woman to determine the number and spacing of her children. Strategies to address poverty, maternal and child mortality and the use of birth control is most appropriately done through education, poverty alleviation programmes, accessible health care and other strategies that empower women. 

• The Myanmar Buddhist Women’s Special Marriage Bill contains several problematic provisions that I regard as discriminatory. The Bill places a number of additional requirements, restrictions and potential penalties on non-Buddhist men intending to marry, or who are married to, Buddhist women. Further, in relation to guardianship of children in the event of divorce, the guiding principle should be the best interests of the child, but this is not in the Bill. I regard this Bill as an inappropriate use of legislative power by the State. 

• I have been informed that the Penal Code already prohibits polygamy so I am unable to understand the purpose of the Monogamy Bill. Moreover, I am concerned by the language of the bill which indicates it is directed towards minority faiths, making it discriminatory. 

Tensions and violence between different religious communities is a significant problem in Myanmar. Inter-community education and reconciliation are urgently needed. Already significant steps forward have been taken through interfaith dialogues and more integrated communities like I saw in Lashio, in the Northern Shan State. I am concerned that these four bills could inflame already existing tensions between religious groups. I therefore strongly urge all Parliamentarians to closely scrutinize these bills, in full consultation with affected communities, and to reject them in their entirety. Areas requiring regulation, such as laws for marriage, divorce and succession, should be the subject of a law common to all people of Myanmar, irrespective of their race and religion, in full compliance with international human rights norms. If these bills are passed, it could be viewed as one of the indicators of backtracking in the political reform process. 

Community level development and Rule of Law

I am pleased to see that programmes to improve education, health care and livelihood are underway and congratulate the Government for its collaboration with the international community in this area. However, I reiterate my concerns that these programmes must include widespread and genuine consultation with affected communities in a transparent and receptive manner. I observed areas where reforms are failing to live up to expectations due to either inadequate capacity, lethargy or inability to implement new laws at the local level. 

The concerns I expressed after my last visit about the need for women to play a greater role in the reform process, both as agents and beneficiaries, remains important. I strongly encourage the involvement of women in the current peace negotiations, as well as in monitoring the agreement after it is concluded. Further, as the forthcoming elections draw closer, the participation of women as candidates, as voters and as observers is crucial. 

As a University Professor, I am passionately committed to the education of young people. They hold the key to our future. It will be these young people that will lead Myanmar to the next level of prosperity and an inclusive and peaceful society. I was therefore shocked to hear that at the Yangon University graduation ceremony in December 2014, around 300 students did not receive their diplomas as they did not hold scrutiny cards. This particularly affected Muslim students originating from the Rakhine State, who are currently undergoing the citizenship verification process. Access to education should not be based on citizenship status. I raised this issue with the Deputy Minister for Education and I thank him for reassuring me that he will remedy this situation. I look forward to receiving the good news that every one of these students who had worked so hard to complete their higher education, received their graduation certificates. 

Much was said to me about the importance of the rule of law in Myanmar, and I fully agree. Yet much remains to be done before confidence in the legal system and authorities becomes a feature of this new State. I remain particularly concerned at the failure of measures to ensure accountability of military officials, including sexual and gender based violence in conflict zones. I also call on the ethnic armed groups to address violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law committed by their personnel. I am also concerned at reports of continued high levels of underage soldiers serving in the Tatmadaw. 

Conclusion

These are my preliminary observations from my visit and I will elaborate on these in my report to the Human Rights Council in March. As a Special Rapporteur and as a friend of Myanmar, I look forward to my future cooperation with the Government and people of Myanmar, towards greater promotion and protection of human rights in this country.

Published by United Nations Information Centre Yangon

By Umar Shah

UCA News

January 15, 2015

Hundreds displaced by Myanmar violence face grim future as they struggle to survive with no assistance

Jammu, India -- As the sun rises over the railway tracks in the densely populated Jammu region, children play in heaps of garbage while their parents begin to tidy their tarp-covered homes.

“We have houses made of leaves and plastic sheets. Our children fall sick whenever there is rainfall but we are content because we are safe,” says Rohingya refugee Mohammad Yousuf.

Safety was their primary concern when 62-year-old Yousuf and tens of thousands of other Rohingyas left their native Rakhine state in Myanmar two years ago, after ethnic tensions between Rohingya Muslims and the majority Rakhine Buddhists triggered deadly violence.

Yousuf is among more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees now living in temporary tents in Jammu, the winter capital of restive Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority state.

They are safe here near the border with Pakistan, but it is a precarious situation. In Jammu, they have no citizenship, no jobs, no school and no proper health care. They lack even the most basic shelters to protect them from the heat and cold.

Mud inundates shelters during the rainy season, as does dust during the summers. Living with their children in tents made from plastic sheets, these stateless refugees say they are striving — but failing — to forge a new beginning.

Naheeda Bano, 43, says she is concerned about her children’s future. The family is "tired of wandering from once place to another for shelter", she says, as her six-year-old daughter plays at her feet in dirty clothes.

“I am really worried about my children. What will happen to them? We have no money or place to build a proper house and no one is providing a proper shelter," she says.

Zamrooda Begum, 65, says everyone in the community is seeking the same: "better shelter, health services and education for the children”.

Life, she says, is miserably hard. “In summers it is no less than a hell to remain in plastic tents and during winters it is the biting cold that may kill us.”

Without doctors, the refugees are left to treat their illnesses through faith healers. “There are some people with us who are the men of God. They recite some Qur'anic verses and we get cured,” Begum told ucanews.com.

Mohammad Ashraf is a faith healer in this community. Sitting inside one of the tents, he has a prayer mat and Qur'an placed on his right side. "With the power of Allah, I can cure fever, toothache, headache and every ailment that Allah allows to get cured,” says Ashraf.

The refugees sustain themselves with meager incomes. Most men work as scrap collectors in the region, leaving their homes early in the morning and coming back at night. On rented bicycles, they wander along the streets collecting garbage to sell to dealers. The work earns them about 200 Indian rupees (US$3) a day.

Women work as daily wage maids in houses across the city, leaving the children to fend for themselves with no school or protection.

“A voluntary agency established a school some time back but it is now almost defunct. It rarely opens as the agency has no money to spend on us,” says Parvena, 34.

For Parvena, offering a better life to her children would be a dream come true. “Whatever happened to us has happened. But we want our children to be educated and have good jobs. But the [Indian] government until now has not offered a helping hand," she said.

Parvena clearly remembers the 2012 violence between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists back in Rakhine state. “In my neighborhood, women were gang-raped and no one raised a voice. Our houses were burned and property destroyed. We left everything and left only for the sake of our children,” she said.

Rakhine state, where these Rohingyas were born and lived for generations, is alien to them now and none have a desire to return.

Rakhine Buddhists fought to expel them, saying Rohingya are not indigenous to the state but descendants of Muslims migrated from present day India and Bangladesh during British colonial rule of the subcontinent.

The same opinion is held by the Myanmar government, which officially refers to Rohingyas as “Bengali”, and consider them illegal immigrants.

“We will not return" to Myanmar says Rafiqa Bano, echoing a view heard across the refugee settlement. “It [the Myanmar government] says we are stateless people. We don’t want our children to face what we have faced [there]."

According to the State Affairs Office, 1,621 people belonging to 381 Rohingya families are living in tents in Jammu. Of these, 1,476 are registered with the UNHCR, which allows them to live in a South Asian country as refugees.

The Jammu and Kashmir Sakawat Centre, an NGO, provides some education and medical services.

What the NGO is able to offer depends on donations which are meager, said Mir Mohammad Ashraf, an official at the center.

There is currently no money to fund regular schools and medical facilities because the government is not assisting them, he told ucanews.com.

A state Home Department official, who did not wish to be named, admitted there were no budgetary allocations to take care of the refugees.

"They are not eligible for state benefits because they do not belong to the state," he said.

Immediate Release

British Parliament Debates Rohingya of Burma

Date: January 15, 2015

Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK welcomes the debate on the Rohingya held in the British Parliament on Wednesday 14th January. We are disappointed however, by the response of Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP, who failed to accept that his approach has failed to influence the Burmese government, and failed to announce any new initiatives to try to address the human rights and humanitarian crisis faced by the Rohingya in Burma.

Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK would like to thank Jonathan Ashworth MP for securing the debate, and the other MPs who took part in the debate.

During the debate, MPs highlighted the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the exclusion of the Rohingya from the census, the discriminatory 1982 Citizenship Law, violations of international law against the Rohingya, refugees in Bangladesh, restrictions on marriage, and many other forms of abuse and repression faced by the Rohingya in Burma.

Valerie Vaz MP asked Hugo Swire if he had ever met with Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK. He replied he did not recall. The answer is that he has not met with us. He predecessors used to invite representatives of Burma’s ethnic groups in the UK for meetings. Hugo Swire has not done so.

The response of Hugo Swire in the debate, speaking on behalf of the British government, was very disappointing. The Minister said how he has raised the issues highlighted in the debate with the Burmese government. We welcome his raising these issues, but the truth is that this is not working, and the situation continues to get worse. As his current approach is not working, why does he refuse to consider taking different action? Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK has asked the British government to support UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon taking the lead in negotiating humanitarian access. Hugo Swire has failed to support this.

During the debate Hugo Swire avoided giving a straight answer to a question by Valerie Vaz MP, about whether he agreed crimes against humanity have been committed against the Rohingya. He answered: “That is for the international courts to decide.” However, he does not support international courts being able to decide. Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK has asked the British government to support an international investigation into violations against the Rohingya. Hugo Swire has also refused to support this. 

Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK thanks British MPs for their continuing support, and requests them to increase their pressure on the British government to support UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon taking the lead in negotiating humanitarian access in Rakhine state, and to support an independent investigation into human rights violations against the Rohingya.

A transcript of the debate is available here:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmhansrd/cm150114/halltext/150114h0002.htm#15011451000003

For more information contact Tun Khin, President of Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK on +44 (0) 7888714866.