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By Umer Beigh / Creative: Maryam Rashid
September 6, 2015

The sound of the killings dogged 44-year-old Khadijah Banoo as she fled from her village of Taammi Cheung in Myanmar on that night in September 2012. She held the hands of her three daughters and son, dragging them with her as she ran, desperate to flee the violence that had made her a widow. She crossed the border into Bangladesh in October and for 10 days, trekked through Ramu, a town in south-eastern Bangladesh. From there, she travelled to India and pinned her hopes on the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) for getting refugee status.


Khadijah and her children are members of Myanmar’s 1.3 million-strong Rohingya population. A Buddhist majority nation, Myanmar officially recognises 134 ethnicities, but the Rohingya Sunni Muslims are not part of this group. The United Nations considers them the most persecuted minorities in the world, as the government in their home country refuses to recognise them as citizens. According to a law passed in 1982, the Myanmar government categorises the Rohingya as illegal migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. There are more than 200,000 Rohingya refugees currently living in Bangladesh, but the country refuses to claim them as its own. Thus, the Rohingya are caught in a grey area between nations, scrambling for survival during what Human Rights Watch (HRW) calls ‘an ongoing ethnic cleansing’.

Who are the Rohingya?

The plight of the Rohingya is not new. According to a 2013 report by the non-profit Physicians for Human Rights, more than 260,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar between May 1991 and March 1992 over “human rights abuses committed by the Burmese military, including the confiscation of land, forced labor, rape, torture, and summary executions”. Following Myanmar’s transition from military-led government to rudimentary democracy in 2010, the government has turned a blind eye to the activities of the ‘969 movement’, an extremist group of Buddhist monks. According to a 2013 Reuters report, the 969 movement is led by a monk named Wirathu, a man who calls himself ‘the Burmese bin Laden’ and who calls for a boycott of Muslim-run shops and mosques (called ‘enemy bases’).

Without adequate access to medicines, clean water, food and shelter, families living in camps in India depend on the charity of locals and NGOs. PHOTO: ZUHAIB MOHAMMAD KHAN

Since 2012, an estimated 140,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar. Massacred, imprisoned and excluded from the official census in Myanmar, the Rohingya have been refused asylum in Malaysia, Indonesia and been subjected to human trafficking in Thailand. According to some estimates, 280 Rohingya have been killed in the last three years and more than 140,000 have been forced from their homes. Myanmar’s Rohingya have been ghettoised in camps outside Sittwe, the capital of the western Rakhine state.

It is believed the Rohingya are descendants of Arab traders. However, Myanmar’s government disagrees. “Rohingya are neither Myanmar’s people nor Myanmar’s ethnic group,” the consul general, Ye Myint Aung, reiterated to The Express Tribune. Today, Rohingya live in exile in Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Thailand. Saudi Arabia, however, is home to the highest number of Rohingya refugees, with roughly 33% of those who have fled Myanmar living there.

Life in India

Khadijah and her children live with 121 other Rohingya families in New Delhi in the Kalindi Kunj area, which lies at the juncture of the New Delhi–Uttar Pradesh border. So far, 6,000 Rohingya refugees across India have been registered by the UNHCR and 4,500 of them have received official documentation of this new status.

Sitting inside a dimly-lit makeshift tent in the camp where she lives, Khadijah is closely watched by male members of her community as she speaks to me. “My husband would be taken for forced labour by government forces in our home in Myanmar,” she recounts. “One day, when he resisted, they beat him savagely.” Just weeks before she fled her village, her husband, 43-year-old Abdur Gaffar was picked up for labour duty and never came home. She believes he was killed by government forces.

Soon after, police officials began harassing Khadijah’s daughters. “They threatened us,” she says. “The men in uniform would often show bad intentions towards my daughters.” Fearing for their safety, Khadijah decided to run. Her fears were not misplaced. In February 2013, 13 women, including teenagers, were subjected to prolonged rape by Burmese security forces in a village in the western state of Arakan. All the women were Rohingya. HRW states that such sexual violence against Rohingya women is common, while prosecutions for rapes committed by security forces are rare. “I preferred exile for the sake of my daughters, even though I was unbearably scared,” explains Khadijah.

The UNHCR says that many Rohingya children living in camps in India are working to support their families instead of attending school. PHOTO: ZUHAIB MOHAMMAD KHAN

The patch of land in Kalindi Kunj where Khadijah now lives was given to the refugees by the Zakaat Foundation of India, an organisation that has been helping them since March 2012. To the left of this settlement is Darul Hijrat, where another 61 families live. Inside the makeshift camps, young men spend their days loitering or waiting for work, while the women remain indoors. Half-naked children dart around the camp and the elderly are confined to their beds.

Twenty-eight-year-old Mohammad Sarafaz, who lives in the camp, is among a handful of literate residents here and has worked as an interpreter for the UNHCR. He calls the treatment of his people a ‘planned genocide’. “The government in Myanmar totally curbed our movement,” he says. “They imposed taxes on anything we owned. We were deprived of the right to vote and had no access to education or health facilities.”

In India, however, things are not much better. An estimated 25,000 Rohingya asylum seekers are struggling to survive in the country after fleeing Myanmar. According to the UN refugee agency, 5,500 Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers are spread across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Refugees live in Hyderabad, New Delhi, Indian Kashmir’s Jammu, Jharkhand, Noida, Mewat, Saharanpur, Muzaffar Nagar, Aligarh, and Mumbai. Without adequate access to medicines, clean water, food and shelter, families living in camps in these areas depend on the charity of locals and NGOs.

Fatima Banoo, who lives in a slum along Sona Road near Gurgaon, Uttar Pradesh, says her children and the elderly members of her family had diarrhea a few weeks ago as they did not have clean drinking water. “The water sometimes has sewage mixed in it,” says 54-year-old Halima Khatoon, who makes a living by collecting plastic bottles from trash. Her son suffers from kidney stones and cannot work and the INR100-150 (Rs157-235) that she earns a day is spent on medication for herself. Many refugees make less than INR4,000 (Rs6,260) a month.

Myanmar’s Rohingya have been ghettoised in camps outside Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar’s western Rakhine state. PHOTO: AFP

The crisis the community faced came to light in April this year after hundreds of refugee families demanded their rights as per their refugee status. Many refugee families say that when they take their children to schools, the authorities deny them admission, demanding proof of identity and other documents. “Where can I get all these documents from?” asks 44-year-old Amir Hussain, a father of four. “Had we not fled our home in fear for our lives, perhaps I would have had those documents and other belongings.”

The UNHCR promised to help these families by providing assistance under refugee rights. However, the parents say it did not make a difference. “It turned out to be a fiasco,” says Abdur Kareem, who migrated to India in 2009. “The police was supposed to verify our identity, but there remains a trust deficit between school authorities and us. They do not want to trust us.” The UNHCR says that many Rohingya children are working to support their families instead of attending school.

Many families who live in the refugee camps yearn to return to their home country. “We didn’t come to India to live here forever, nor do we want that,” explains 24-year-old Shiraz Ahmad, who works as a part-time labourer and earns about INR500(Rs783) a week. “Many of us lived in three-storey homes in Myanmar and we don’t want to live in this miserable condition where people judge us when they see us.”

The refugees have been treated with suspicion in India. In 2013, the Bangladesh government claimed militant groups were goading the Rohingya to avenge ‘atrocities’ perpetrated against them. A senior Indian intelligence official stated in June this year, “Given the persecution the Rohingya have faced at home, it could be cannon fodder for jihadist organisations.” However, many say this claim is unfounded. “The Rohingya version of Islam is liberal, not radical,” insists Ravi Hemadri, director of the Development and Justice Initiative that works with Rohingya refugees.

Unequal treatment

The Bhartiya Janta Party’s manifesto states, “India shall remain a natural home for persecuted Hindus and they shall be welcome to seek refuge here.” Soon after BJP took power in May 2014, India has become a safe haven for Hindus seeking asylum from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries. “Hindu refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh would be treated like any other Indian citizen,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

At presently, a total of 19,000 migrants have been given visas in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, 11,000 in Rajasthan and 4,000 in Gujarat. Officials say there are approximately 200,000 Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan now living in India.

The government’s stance is clear: as long as the Rohingya obtain a valid visa and a refugee card, like these other refugees, there is no major problem. “The government of India is concerned about the Rohingya at a humanitarian level,” said Vikas Swarup, the official spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. “However, as far as the issue of giving them refugee rights is concerned, you have to speak to the Ministry of Home Affairs.”

According to Sameer Patil, a security analyst at the Mumbai-based foreign policy think-tank Gateway House, India determines its stance towards these refugees as per its own foreign policy interests, just as any other country. “Relations between India and Myanmar are cordial and India would not like to disrupt them by the issue of Rohingya refugees,” Patil feels, adding that many of Myanmar’s own Muslim neighbours such as Bangladesh have turned away the Rohingya refugees. “It would be unfair to suggest that India is the only erring country in this case,” he concludes.

However, as these countries shirk their responsibilities towards the Rohingya, the refugees are left with nowhere to turn. “When you have two sons, you treat them equally, don’t you?” asks 23-year-old Noor-ul-Amin, who migrated to India some three years ago and now lives at Kalindi Kunj, working as a labourer to make ends meet. “India gives refugees from Somalia, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan all the rights they deserve according to the UNHCR. They are treated with respect, but we are not.” Noor-ul-Amin says the Indian government does not facilitate with the Rohingya’s education or access to basic facilities. These refugees can only hope that the Indian government hears their cry for help, just as it does the pleas of asylum-seekers from around the world who live here.

Umer Beigh is a freelance journalist from Indian Kashmir. He studies at Nelson Mandela Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution in New Delhi.

(Photo: Reuters)

By Ferooze Ali
September 6, 2015

In the second quarter of 2015, the Rohingyas' irregular sea migration made the headlines in international media. The months of May and June 2015 witnessed thousands of malnourished Rohingyas refugees arriving into the seas of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia in cramped boats abandoned by their skippers. During the period, it was reported that thousands more were stranded on rickety boats off the coasts of these three countries, with dwindling supplies of food and clean water.

In recent years, the Rohingyas Muslims have struggled to attract attention to their plight, not only at international level, but also within the contemporary Myanmar political scene. This occurred amid the seemingly celebrated “limited Myanmar reform,” which to date has trickled nothing for the Rohingyas.

The ethnic minority continue to be prosecuted and ignored and rejected by their own countrymen. There are reports of on questionable policies introduced such as denial of citizenship to Myanmar’s 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims, severe restrictions on their movement, employment and access to education and healthcare, as well as a discriminatory law imposing a “two child” limit on Rohingyas families in their Rakhine state. Last year, in 2014, the government even banned the use of the word “Rohingyas,” insisting the Muslim minority, who have lived in that country for generations, be registered in the census as “Bengali.” The main argument to this is – ethnic Rohingyas belong to a Bangladeshi tribe.

Within all these developing issues, it is relevant for us to ask: where does the issue of Rohingyas fit within Myanmar’s evolving governance reform and, pertinently, in its upcoming November 2015 election?

Central to this notion is the involvement of Aung San Suu Kyi as the most well-known Myanmar political reformist.

She has been evasive. In May 2015, when the issue made headlines in international media (arrival of boat people to Malaysia and Indonesia), Aung San Suu Kyi avoided critical remarks and suggested the sensitivity of the issue needed a tactful response. While in a BBC 2013 interview, Suu Kyi blamed the violence on “both sides,” suggesting that “Muslims have been targeted, but Buddhists have also been subjected to violence.”

It is obvious her move is political.

Nicholas Farrelly, director of the Australian National University’s Myanmar Research Centre, stated that “Aung San Suu Kyi and her strategists are looking at the electoral maths,” “They have long imagined that any perception the NLD is too cozy with the country’s Muslims could lose them millions of votes."

For the sake of elections, this seems to be logical.

Though in hindsight, Aung San Suu Kyi's current approach may also trap her and NLD ino following more or less the same vicious policy cycle towards ethnic Rohingyas and Muslims in the future – if granted the power to rule post-November 2015 election. Below are explanations.

The Rohingya Muslim issue is not Myanmar’s political cup of coffee, for two reasons.

First, is the population ratio between Buddhist and Muslims. About 89% to 90% of the population consists of Bamar Buddhist, while the Rohingyas and other Muslim ethnic groups occupy a minor 4% of the total Myanmar population as estimated by the Myanmar government's latest census.

Second, more worrying, is a large majority of Bamar Buddhists has little sympathy and tolerance for the Rohingya’s.

If one would look closely at Myanmar’s emerging socio-political development, there seems to be an emerging passion towards dogmatized Buddhism lead by Ashin Wirathu, a leading extreme Buddhist and anti-Muslim nationalist. He has the potential to mobilize his Buddhist growing masses to pressure any ruling Myanmar government to exhibit zero tolerance for the Rohingyas or Muslims. A little extra show of sympathy to the Rohingyas, or Muslims in general, may likely send a different message to this rightist group, which in-turn could pull away their well-needed votes or the possibility of creating another violent chaos as in 2012.

As a matter of fact, the current Myanmar political climate and election direction is so coagulated with anti-Muslim and -Rohingya sentiment to a point where any perceived link with these two will be disassociated immediately.

This is exactly what Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party did last month when the party leadership excluded over a dozen Muslims from its candidate list. The Irrawaddy News portal reported the number of Muslim candidates that were out listed were about 15 or 16.

Prevailing dogmas in a majority population plays an important role in Realpolitik and Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD party seem to be adhering to this principle for the sake of the impending election.

Hence, taking the above into consideration, one can anticipate that if Aung San Suu Kyi or anyone in her NLD party is voted to be the highest executive power in Myanmar, a drastic policy change towards the Rohingyas or Muslims is not to be expected.

Politically, any immediate U-turn support or show of tolerance to Rohingya Muslims is not a sustainable move in Myanmar given the current political climate. This move can be capitalized by opposition and nationalist alike, which in turn can result in a swift political suicide for NLD even after winning the election.

The writer is not discounting in entirety Aung San Suu Kyi’s audacity for change if NLD is voted in. However, even if policy shift may happen, political sentiments and treatment towards Rohingyas and Muslim in general will not alter satisfactorily.

Hence, it is imperative for the international community to begin reflecting on Aung San Suu Kyi or her NLD party practical commitment towards the Rohingya’s not only from a short-term perspective (pre-election), but also in a longer time frame. Whoever that will be Myanmar’s new government post-November 2015 election will need to play along with prevailing political sentiments for survival.

The broader lesson is to understand that the responsibility to voice and highlight the Rohingyas should not be expected of any reformist party in Myanmar alone. The predicament seems bleak.

This should also be shouldered by the international community in continuously applying pressure on the Myanmar Government to reverse its discriminative policies on the ethnic Rohingyas. It is worth nothing that such an approach may have been proven workable. On May 19, after receiving harsh criticism from the international community, pertinently from ASEAN members, Myanmar information minister Ye Htut told foreign ambassadors that Burma would cooperate with regional and international counterparts “to tackle the ongoing boat people crisis, which is a consequence of human trafficking of people from Rakhine state and Bangladesh to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia."

Asean has, in the past, successfully assisted Myanmar in opening its door to the world and push the country towards various slow but moving reforms. a similar approach can be applied, but with a need for a more robust diplomacy. The Rohingyas issue is not unlike any domestic problems affecting Asean members. This involves raw and critical humanitarian issues of the Rohingyas that will perpetually plague ASEAN if other members choose the usual slow and mitigated path in dealing with Yangon.



Aman Ullah
RB Opinion
September 5, 2015

“Every national and every person born of parents, both of whom are indigenous nationals are citizens by birth. Even though they are Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Burma, Mon, Rakhine and Shan, they are not national races if they permanently live in other countries, not in Myanmar. Same national races who have settled in Myanmar after 1824 are not indigenous races. So they are not citizens by birth. The law also states that national races who acquire citizenship of other countries and persons born of parents, both of whom are those foreign citizens cannot become Myanmar citizens
Section-5, of 1982 Citizenship Law,

There was a legendary love story which albeit ending in a tragic estrangement , between a police officer Diraj Bhattacharya and Ma Thin, daughter of a local Rakhine landlord, during British period.

The story was like this, Bhattacharya, a Jessore born police officer was posted to Teknaf of Cox's Bazar it's unlikely he was thrilled. Teknaf at that time was beyond-remote, barely accessible by road. For a young man like Bhattacharya, Teknaf must've seemed the end of the Earth. There is an old well in one corner of the yard inside the Teknaf police out post.

In the course of each day local Rakhine women arrived to fetch water. It's fair to say that in their colourful blouses and thami skirts they were pleasing to a police officer's eye. Their lively chitchat brought cheerful enthusiasm to resonate as far as the veranda.

Then one day Bhattacharya noticed Ma Thin, the daughter of a wealthy Teknaf landlord. She was particularly attractive, such that there was little for a police officer to do but fall in love.

Fortunately for Bhattacharya, Ma Thin took similar note of the handsome officer, and there developed a habit for Ma Thin to arrive at the well before dawn. Bhattacharya waited on the veranda and the two exchanged adoring glances.

Over time their relationship intensified until a wedding date was set. In the meantime, however, Bhattacharya's family came to know of the affair and one day he received a letter saying his father was sick and he should return home urgently.

According to his family's wishes Bhattacharya left for Kolkata, where they then lived. Although he promised to return, Ma Thin was devastated. “

The affair didn't end well. Bhattacharya never returned to Teknaf. Eventually he left the police service to become a movie star; and he wrote a book called “When I Was a Police Officer,” which includes an account of his love for Ma Thin.

Ma Thin was so heartbroken that she confined herself to bed, refusing all food and water until, prematurely, she died.

Although the tragic estrangement of love story end at that time the well at Teknaf police station is still preserved as a love symbol. 

One of the daughters of that Rakhine landlord family of Teknaf of the then East Pakistan, was married to a naval officer at Akyab ,named U Kyaw Maung later he became Maj Kyaw Maung and also Chairman of The 2nd Rakhine State People’s Council in 1978 to 1982. Many said that his original name was Saw Mra Aung he was also born in one of the Rakhine landlord family of Nhila (Chawdury Para), he and his elder brother Kyaw Zaw Aung came to Maungdaw from East Pakistan in early 50s for education. They studied at Maungdaw State High School later he joined to the Burma Navy and his brother joined at Post and Telecommunication Department as a wireless operator. Moreover, it is said that, the cancellation of his third time chairmanships was mainly on the ground of his citizenship question.

Later Kyaw Maung’s wife brought a boy from Teknaf who is also a relative of her. Initially, for only domestic help but by the request of the boy’s mother she gave him to attend to the nearby school also. However, the boy with his talent and hard working able to matriculated from State School of Akyab. Then, as the then tradition of Rakhine community, the boy was sold to another landlord of Maungdaw, named U Poe Tha, as his son-in-law. The boy married Ma Khin Kyi, the eldest daughter of U Poe Tha and continued his higher study at Rangoon with the financial help of his father-in-law. This boy is not other than the MP, Minister, and active Chief Minister of Arakan State Government, U Mya (Mra) Aung, who neither himself nor his parents nor anyone of his grandparent were/ are legal citizens of Burma (Mynmar)by any existing law of the soil.

Maung Tha Khin, Ma Ohn Khin and Mg Ohn Maung or Maung Win Maung, came to Maungdaw to attend Burmese school in early 1950s. They were born at Teknaf, the then East- Pakistan and their parents and grandparents were citizens of that Country. After matriculation Ma Ohn Khing joined in education department as a Junior Assistant Teacher (JAT), after graduating Maung Tha Khin joined also in education department as Senior Assistant Teacher (SAT) and their other brother I heard joined at Custom Department. Ma Ohn Khin is a very decent woman and a very good teacher. Mung Tha Khin is also a fine man. But, Although, Munag Tha Khin or U Tha Khin, who neither himself was born in Burma nor his parents and grandparents were born in Burma, he is sitting Upper House MP of Ruling Party USDP. How?

Dr. Aye Maung, Chairman of RNDP/ANP, a sitting MP of RNDP is now trying to stand in Arakan State Parliament with RNP ticket from Mayaung, which is not his birth place or he never ever related to it or he has any relatives or friends there. It is because he has no birth place in Arakan. In 2010 he stood from Akyab now no one accepts him there. He tried to stand from Rathedaung, which he told his birth place but no one accepts there also. Actually, he and his parent migrated to Arakan in 1950s as refugee and they never became citizen according to the law but only fraudulent means. But he is sitting MP and will stand on fort coming election also no bar, no rejection. But, How?

These are not only isolated cases; there are many cases like these. Many Rakhines who were already citizens of Pakistan in accordance with their law, migrated to Arakan after the Independence of Burma. According to Sultan Mahmud, former MP and Health Minister of Burma during U Nu Government, ‘thousands of Rakhines from Barisal, Teknaf, Ramu, Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong Hill Tracts migrated to Arakan annually. They were welcomed by the Burmese authorities with flags and music, issued National Registration Cards....provided with foods, clothes, medicines and household materials. They were settled on Muslim’s lands. They were provided with arable lands, cattle, seed-grains taking from the Muslims. In the most prosperous areas the government has established so-called “Model Villages’ populated by Rakhines and other Buddhists from Bangladesh.

According to section-5, of 1982 Citizenship Law, “every national and every person born of parents, both of whom are indigenous nationals are citizens by birth. Even though they are Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Burma, Mon, Rakhine and Shan, they are not national races if they permanently live in other countries, not in Myanmar. Same national races who have settled in Myanmar after 1824 are not indigenous races. So they are not citizens by birth. The law also states that national races who acquire citizenship of other countries and persons born of parents, both of whom are those foreign citizens cannot become Myanmar citizens”.

By Andy Brown
September 5, 2015

Rakhine State is one of the poorest and most isolated parts of Myanmar, and suffers from complex humanitarian needs and unaddressed development needs. Already marked by a high rate of poverty, the socioeconomic situation in Rakhine further deteriorated in 2012 following the outbreak of violence between majority Buddhist and minority Muslim communities, which displaced many Muslim communities, who were relocated in controlled camps.

The floods that hit Myanmar in July and August this year have exacerbated these problems, with no regard for the lines that have divided these communities for so long. Children from both communities – in camps and not in camps – have felt the impact on their education. 

SITTWE, Myanmar – Thu Zar Moe, 12, lives with her father and four siblings at Thea Chaung displacement camp, near Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state. In 2012, her family fled their home in Ahnauk San Pya village.

© UNICEF Myanmar/2015/Thame
Thu Zar Moe (right) studies with a friend in a classroom at Thea Chaung displacement camp.

They left behind a successful business and ended up dependent on food aid from the World Food Programme (WFP). Thu Zar was one of the brightest girls in her class, but she could no longer go to school. Without access to health care, her mother passed away.

Thu Zar sits with her father, Hla Kyaw, on the porch of their small house, built with wood, bamboo and part of an old tent from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. It is one of many such homes, tightly packed together. It’s raining, and the ground between the houses is wet and muddy.

“I preferred living in the village,” Thu Zar says. “We lived close to school, and I could go every day. My father owned a mechanic workshop and made a good living. My mother was still alive. Our life was much better then.”

“I still do some mechanic work here,” her father adds. “I earn 3,000 to 4,000 Kyats a day [US $2 to $3]. But it’s not enough to live on or pay for health care. We get handouts of rice, beans and oil from WFP. We’re safe here, but we cannot travel beyond the market. I don’t think we will ever be able to go back home.”

Luckily for Thu Zar, there is a way for her to continue her studies. She attends non-formal primary education at a temporary learning centre in the camp, supported by UNICEF and run by the Lutherian World Federation.

Despite the heavy rain falling outside, the children concentrate on their studies. Girls sit on one side of the classroom and boys on the other. A teacher writes Myanmar language on a blackboard, and Thu Zar and the other girls read it out: “The man is building a hut. He wants a string to tie. Please watch out for leeches,” they chant, raising their voices above the hammering of rain on the roof.

© UNICEF Myanmar/2015/Thame
Hlaing Hlaing Oo (left) studies in Grade 6 at Mingan School, not far from the displacement camp.

There are 115 children living in the camp who study at the learning centre. Last year, the top students got a chance to go to a new government-run middle school near the camp. Thu Zar’s teacher says that she is also likely to go.

“She learns very well,” he says. “I’ve seen her improve since coming here. She can already speak Rakhine in addition to her mother tongue, and is now learning Myanmar and English.”

Thu Zar rarely misses an opportunity to learn. “I go to the learning centre in the morning, and in the afternoon I read my books and help with the housework,” she says. “I like learning languages. If I can speak and write English well, it will be very useful in life.”

Although she has ambitions for her future, Thu Zar also assumes that she will still be living in the camp.

“When I grow up I would like to work for WFP, because they give food to other people,” she says.

Back to school

In a village not far from the camp, 11-year-old Hlaing Hlaing Oo’s family struggles with poverty. Conditions in their community are poor, and many children and families have some of their basic needs unmet, with limited opportunities to earn a living.

A few years ago, Hlaing’s parents left Myanmar to work in neighbouring Thailand as migrant labourers. They left Hlaing, and her younger brother with relatives in Yangon. When the family returned to Sittwe, they did not have the right paperwork to get Hlaing into the local school.

“In Thailand, I worked as an electrician, and my wife painted transformer boxes,” her father Kyaw Naing Soe says. “We earned more money there, but we wanted to return to Sittwe and be with our children. Now I work as a motorcycle taxi driver. I earn around 10,000 Kyats a day in the dry season [$8], and around 5,000 [$4] in the rainy season.”

© UNICEF Myanmar/2015/Thame
Thu Zar (right) with her family at home in Thea Chaung camp

Unable to attend regular classes, Hlaing joined a non-formal primary education scheme at Mingan School, supported by UNICEF and run by Myanmar Literacy Resource Centres. Classes are held every day in the evenings for out-of-school children, including those who work during the day to support their families or stay at home to take care of younger siblings.

Hlaing completed the programme, and this term she entered formal school as a Grade 6 student.

On the first week of term, the school is full of noisy, excited children in white and green uniforms. Most wear the traditional Burmese longyi skirt. Between lessons, boys run around a grassy field and girls play skipping games in groups, taking advantage of a break in the rain.

The lessons resume, and in Hlaing’s classroom, a teacher instructs the class in Myanmar geography. The children read from the board in unison, just like the children in the displacement camp.

“I’m very happy to be back at school,” Hlaing says. “My favourite subject is Myanmar studies. I prefer coming during the day with the other children. My friend Sen Sen is in the same class as me. When I grow up, I want to be an engineer and construct new buildings.”

Sharing hopes and dreams

Although they belong to two different communities and live in different circumstances, both Thu Zar and Hlaing have similar hopes and dreams, and both see the value of education for their future. Education has the power to build on these shared dreams, to bring children together to build a joint future for Rakhine State.

UNICEF, with support from Australia, Denmark, the European Union, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, is working to ensure that all children in Rakhine State can develop to their full potential. To do this, we are working to tackle child poverty, promote development and child rights, and meet the humanitarian needs of people displaced by violence. In order to build a peaceful society, all children and families from all communities, need to be able to access services and live with dignity and equal opportunity, regardless of where they live.

© UNICEF Myanmar/2015/Thame
A student waves from a balcony at Mingan School.

As well as the non-formal education provided to Thu Zar and Hlaing, UNICEF also supports life skills education for adolescents, provides school backpacks to all Grade 1 students in eight townships in Rakhine State, and stationery for Grades 1 to 5. This year, we are starting a school improvement plan and training in child-friendly teaching methods.

“UNICEF has worked in Myanmar for 60 years,” says UNICEF Myanmar’s Chief of Education Cliff Meyers. “We’re now working with the Government and civil society to ensure that all children in Rakhine State can access education, regardless of their ethnicity, religion or legal status.”

The future of Rakhine lies in Thu Zar and Hlaing’s common dreams, as well as the aspirations of their supportive fathers.

Thu Zar’s father is pleased that she is continuing her education. “I really want my daughter to be educated,” he says. “She’s so smart. I’m very proud of her.”

Hlaing’s father echoes the same sentiment. “My main hope for my daughter’s future is that she gets a good education,” he says.

By Chris Burns
September 4, 2015

Nearly a decade and a half ago, blogger-activist Nay San Lwin fled his native Myanmar to campaign for the rights of his fellow Rohingya. Lwin says the predominantly Muslim ethnic group is being largely ignored as the Burmese regime’s relations warm with an outside world eager to do business with the petroleum-rich country.

This year thousands of Rohingya fled worsening persecution in Myanmar and Bangladesh to neighbouring south-east Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates 25,000 left in boats from January to March alone. Lwin accuses the Myanmar government of “systematic ethnic cleansing.”

Lwin’s blog, Rohingya Blogger, provides regular updates on conditions inside Myanmar. Lwin credits UN Special Envoy and actress Angelina Jolie for trying to raise consciousness and faults foreign governments as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for a lack of support. He spoke by phone with Equal Times from his home in Frankfurt, Germany.

Nay San Lwin, blogger and activist for Rohingya rights.

How do you blog from afar?

I have a team there....Every day there are human rights violations, extortion, torture, harassment and the sexual abuse of women.

How has the situation changed?

With the previous military government, people had their registration cards. All Rohingya were official. Now they’ve taken away our cards and given us a green card for two years. Within two years you have to apply for citizenship. But we are entitled to full citizenship.

What kind of access are international observers getting?

The UN Special Envoy for Myanmar (Yanghee Lee) was denied access to Rakhine state (where there is a significant Muslim minority – including Rohingya – amongst the Buddhist majority). Not even Angelina Jolie was allowed to go there. The government said weather conditions were very bad due to a cyclone at the end of July... but it was just a lame excuse. If Jolie made a visit to a refugee camp, it would be big publicity for the Rohingya people.

What does the government want to hide?

They want to hide the latest situation because of all the flood damage [editor’s note: severe floods hit the country from July onwards. Over one million people have been affected]. and all the refugees. The government is not providing any aid. The Myanmar commander didn’t meet with any Rohingya people, he didn’t give any aid. The problem was before the cyclone, because the World Food Program reduced the rations by 15 percent due to budget. With the aid from UNICEF, the government put its label on all the aid: “by the Myanmar government.” They are cheaters.

What do you think of the upcoming election?

There’s an election on 8 November, but temporary cardholders can’t vote. In 2010, five Rohingya MPs were elected. Now the ruling party and Aung San Suu Kyi’s party have refused any Muslim candidates. All these (foreign) governments, they are all waiting for after the election. They want to see Aung San Suu Kyi as president of Burma. But she cannot change the constitution. The government is not willing to change the constitution. Will she do something for the Rohingya? I don’t think so. Many of her party members were with a racist movement and she didn’t’ say anything. Most of her party members are against the Rohingya because of our religion. The Buddhist Dai-Net (ethnic group) speak Rohingya, and they got their citizenship.

How can the international community put pressure on the Myanmar government to help bring about change?

European governments keep condemning this violence and discrimination – the US government has done the same. But the problem is Aung San Suu Kyi was very positive to this general (President and former general Thein Sein), and asked the European and US governments to lift the sanctions. Due to fact the sanctions are lifted, the Burmese government no longer cares. They say the Rohingya people are illegal immigrants. Now after almost three years, they are not doing anything to restore the citizenship of the Rohingya people as they promised. The international community need to impose sanctions again. But nobody will do that, so we have to suffer more. They are pulling for time. They all invested already, there are a lot of projects [here in Myanmar]. They put business on top and give human rights lip service; they don’t do anything for human rights.

When will you return home?

I have no hope. My grandfather was a government civil servant, I come from a family of civil servants. We used to be citizens of Burma but our family passports were burned by a Burmese official. My parents went to the UK. I am a German resident.

If the situation changes, will you return to Myanmar?

Yes.

Photo: Tsering Topgyal, AP
A Rohingya refugee woman, an ethnic persecuted Muslim minority fleeing Myanmar – a predominately Buddhist nation, sews inside her slum on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. According to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), there are around 9,000 Rohingya registered in the capital with thousands more unregistered ones living in different parts of the country. In Delhi, most of them lead impoverished lives in tented settlements dotted around the city.

In this photo by Tsering Topgyal, a Rohingya refugee sews inside her slum on the outskirts of New Delhi. According to the U.N. refugee agency, around 9,000 Rohingya refugees are registered in the capital and thousands more who are not registered live elsewhere in India. In New Delhi, most of them lead impoverished lives in tented settlements dotted around the city. The Rohingya are a Muslim minority numbering around 1.3 million in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, which denies them citizenship and restricts their movement, and many thousands have tried to flee.

(Photo: Richard Potter)

September 4, 2015

Jakarta -- MER-C Indonesia has been helping with the construction of an Indonesian Health Center in the Rakhine state of Myanmar.

"The Rakhine state government in Myanmar, has allocated a plot of land located in the Mrauk U region for a health center," Dr. Joserizal Jurnalis, Chairman of the Team-3 of MER-C for Myanmar, said recently.

The Myanmar government is also supporting the plan to set up a health center.

The team left for Minbya through Sittwe, on August 28 with the assistance of the Indonesian embassy in Yangon. From Sittwe, they took a speedboat for a three-hour journey to Minbya.

In Minbya, the team also visited two schools constructed by the Indonesian government. One school is for Buddhists and another for Muslims. The two-story schools are located at a distance of just 500 meters from each other.

In February this year, MER-C Indonesia donated two power generators to support the schools activities.

"Students in both the Buddhist and Muslim schools were very happy to meet the team," Jurnalis said.

From Minbya, the team was accompanied by an Indonesian embassy staff member and officers of the Rakhine state administration, who proceeded to Mrauk U in six cars. 

When they arrived in Mrauk U, they could see that the area was still chaotic in the aftermath of flooding.

The 4000 square meter site for an Indonesian Health Center is located between the Site village, which has a Muslim population of 650, and the Nanja village having 1,700 Buddhist inhabitants. 

MER-C Indonesia has paid Rp17.6 million to the local farmers to compensate the state-owned land.

The construction of the health center building is estimated to cost Rp3 billion. 

For Indonesians interested in extending financial aid for the health centers construction, the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee has opened bank accounts in Bank Central Asia (BCA), with account number 686.028.0009 and in Bank Syariah Mandiri (BSM), with account number 700.1306.833. 

Earlier, the team had gifted an ambulance to the residents of Rakhine in Sittwe, the states capital.

MER-C Indonesia is currently also preparing to inaugurate an Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, Palestine.(*)



September 4, 2015

A Rangamati court today placed two arrestees with suspected links to Myanmar’s rebel group Arakan Army on a three-day remand.

Law enforcers produced the arrestees – Cha Sui Wang Marma, 42, and Mong Cha Woang Marma, 39 – before Senior Judicial Magistrate Md Mohsin’s court in Rajasthali today with a 10-day remand prayer.

Wahidullah Sarker, officer-in-charge of Rajasthali Police Station, confirmed the development to our Bandarban correspondent.

The arrestees were caretakers of the two-storey Rajasthali house from where Aung Nu Young, 25, a suspected Arakan Army member, was captured on August 27.

The next day, a joint team of the army and police detained Cha Sui Wang and Mong Cha Woang in Rajasthali upazila of Rangamati.

The drive was launched around 10:00pm on August 26, hours after the Myanmar’s rebel group attacked a BGB camp in Bandarban that left one soldier injured.

Two cases were filed with the police station, accusing house owner Ranaiju Rakhine and arrestee Aung Nu Young of trespass and carrying out terrorist activities.



September 4, 2015

Rohingya MP Shwe Maung today defended his right to run in the election and said there is no doubt in his mind that his father was a citizen at the time of his birth.

Speaking on the sidelines of a small press conference outside the National Human Rights Commission in Yangon, the Muslim MP said he was “surprised” when told last month that his father was not a Myanmar national, because he had been a career police officer who would have needed proper papers for work.

He called the decision last month to bar him from running in the November 8 elections on those grounds as “illogical” and “illegal.” 

“To become a police officer is not a joke in Myanmar,” he said, referring to his father's level of acceptance in society. “I feel bad [about the decision] but I feel that they are lying.”

Shwe Maung’s second appeal to a court in Rakhine state – where he planned on running as an independent, though he was formerly elected as a ruling USDP lawmaker – was rejected on September 1 in less than 10 seconds, he said.

As a last-ditch effort he is taking his case to the Union Election Commission. He would not comment on what he planned to do if the UEC also blocked his candidacy.

“Let me wait for that,” he said.

One of a handful of Muslim lawmakers barred from running in the election, Shwe Maung was accompanied today by Malaysian MP Charles Santiago from the Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights.

Santiago had more forceful words, saying Myanmar's government had been “held hostage” to right-wing groups [Buddhist nationalists].

“He [Shwe Maung] is an elected member of parliament from 2010,” Santiago said. “It makes no sense. “2010 is one law and another law right now?”

Photo of Shwe Maung addressing reporters / Coconuts Yangon



September 4, 2015

A UK-based Rohingya activist has accused opponents of Aung San Suu Kyi of using “dirty tricks” to discredit her after emails appearing to show the opposition leader expressing sympathy with the persecuted Muslim minority surfaced online.

“In the coming election in November our manifesto begins with the fight for equal rights of individuals, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or religious beliefs... we must extend and strengthen the rule of law to protect our most vulnerable ethnic minorities, Rohingyas," reads the message, widely shared on Facebook over the weekend.

Tun Khin, one of the supposed recipients and president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, said the message was never sent.

“I did not receive any emails from Aung San Suu Kyi,” he said on the phone from London.

They have met – once in the UK parliament in 2012 – and have talked on the phone on occasion, he said.

But the leader of Myanmar’s main opposition party has been widely criticized for her failure to speak out on behalf of the Muslim minority, who have been confined to dismal internal displacement camps and villages in Rakhine state after violent clashes with Buddhists in 2012.

Hundreds of thousands are believed to have fled the country on rickety boats.

“I am a longtime supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi, since the 1990s, as she is working as a democratic leader, but I feel very bad that she is not speaking up for the Rohingya,” said Tun Khin.

He believes the emails, also supposedly sent to Professor Dr. Wakar Uddin, director general of Arakan Rohingya Union, were doctored to portray the opposition leader as a Rohingya sympathizer.

Earlier this year, she was lambasted after a Photoshopped image that appeared to show her bowing before an Islamic leader was posted online.

“By using us they want to damage her popularity,” said Tun Khin.

The screenshot posted online contains numerous misspellings including 'hatered’. A spokesperson for her party, the National League for Democracy, could not immediately reached for comment.

Member's of Burma's Rohingya ethnic minority are escorted by Burmese police in a truck heading back to their remote community of Aung Mingalar. (Getty Images)

September 3, 2015

When the United States reestablished full diplomatic relations with Myanmar in 2012, the Obama administration was optimistic that the once-isolated Southeast Asian country, also known as Burma, was moving steadily along a path toward democracy. The ruling junta had recently turned over much of its power to a quasi-civilian government and had released 1,300 political prisoners. Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi had been released from house arrest and was soon elected to parliament.

But after three years and two visits from President Obama, Myanmar's progress has stalled. It continues to oppress its stateless Rohingya Muslim population, which has been designated one of the world's most persecuted minorities. The government has also stepped up arrests of political dissidents and journalists. Attempts to reform the constitution, under which the military is automatically allocated a quarter of the seats in parliament, have been blocked.

And with one of the biggest, most closely watched elections just weeks away — with 498 parliamentary seats at stake — the government has banned candidates from criticizing the military on state-run media.

Of course, these actions have prompted some stern statements from State Department officials, and Obama has called the plight of the Rohingya a "most urgent matter." But overall, the U.S. approach has been to praise Myanmar's leaders for their reform efforts so far and to encourage them to do better. That's not working so well. Human rights groups and other experts are skeptical that the elections will be conducted honestly, even with legions of election monitors expected to be on site. They fear the military will intimidate voters, or the government might cancel the elections outright, in areas where the ruling party is unpopular.

Myanmar is a country of strategic significance to the U.S. because of its location between India and China and its long, close relationship with China and North Korea. Despite this, the U.S. must take a tougher stance. When Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel visits this week, he should start by reminding the country's officials that economic sanctions can always be reimposed. For example, the U.S. could add officials implicated in human rights abuses to the Specially Designated Nationals list, barring them from doing business with or getting funds from anyone in the U.S.

American firms with an investment of more than half a million dollars in Myanmar are required to report back on the work they do there, their anti-corruption practices and what steps they have taken to ensure that human rights and workers' rights are maintained. That requirement is set to expire next May. It should not.

These are small steps, but they might help remind Myanmar that better ties with the U.S. require meaningful reform.

Migrants sit on their boat as they wait to be rescued by Acehnese fishermen off East Aceh, Indonesia, in May. Photo: AP

By Lindsay Murdoch
September 3, 2015

Bangkok: A boat carrying dozens of migrants has sunk in rough seas in the Malacca Strait off Malaysia, killing at least 14 people, according to Malaysian rescuers.

The tragedy has reignited fears about a new wave of Rohingyas making a perilous journey in unsafe boats across the Bay of Bengal to flee persecution in Myanmar.

In May, Thailand cracked down on human trafficking networks as several thousand Rohingyas and Bangladeshi boat people landed in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand after being abandoned by smugglers.

Mass graves of more than 200 others who had been murdered by traffickers were found in remote areas of Thailand and Malaysia.

Images of starving and distressed families stranded at sea shocked the world.

No boats had been reported in South-east Asian waters in recent weeks.

A Rohingya woman weeps at a temporary shelter in Lapang, Aceh province, Indonesia, in May. Photo: AP

But rights activists say state-sponsored persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar has not ended despite the urgings of South-east Asian countries which struggled to deal with the boat people crisis.

Myanmar's military-dominated government has refused to agree to the right of Rohingyas to return to Myanmar.

More than a million Rohingyas living in Myanmar's western Arakan state are denied basic freedoms of movement, marriage, childbirth and other aspects of daily life.

Human rights groups accuse authorities in Myanmar, which is also called Burma, of trying to coerce Rohingyas to identify as Bengali in a crude strategy to erase Rohingya ethnic identity and send them to Bangladesh.

The boat sank on Thursday afternoon off Malaysia's western coast near the town of Bernam in central Selangor state.

A man stands beside election posters at the Zabuthiri district election commission office in Naypyidaw, Aug. 14, 2015.

September 2, 2015

Myanmar’s Union Election Commission (UEC) on Tuesday rejected all but one candidate from an Islamic party based on citizenship requirements before general elections in November in a move that could lead to the party’s disbandment, the organization’s political leader said.

The commission rejected the applications of 17 of 18 candidates who had filed to run for parliamentary seats as members of the Democracy and Human Rights Party (DHRP), Kyaw Min (a) Mahmood Shomshul Anwarul Haque, the party’s chairman, told RFA’s Myanmar Service.

Eleven of the rejected candidates are from Rakhine state, and the six others are from the Yangon division, he said, leaving only one party candidate to stand in the elections.

“The rejection notice did not mention detailed reasons behind the decision, but just said the candidates were rejected for violations based on laws and regulations,” he said.

The DHRP is preparing to appeal to the UEC within seven days, although it has not filed yet, said Kyaw Min, a Rohingya candidate who himself was rejected, although he was a member of the parliament elected in 1990 elections. 

If the UEC rejects the party’s appeal, the DHRP, which was founded by Muslim politicians and activists, would be deregistered under a provision in the country’s Political Parties Registration Law that requires a party to put forth at least three candidates or face disbandment.

By law, the DHRP cannot replace the rejected candidates, Kyaw Min said.

“If rejected, our party will be forced to disband due to [an insufficient] required number of candidates needed to survive after the elections,” he said. 

Terms of disqualification

So far, the UEC commission has rejected nearly 50 candidates in total—24 candidates from Rakhine state, including the ones from the DHRP, and 25 from the Yangon division.

The candidates rejected in Rakhine state’s Maungdaw district, where the majority of people are Muslim Rohingya, were disqualified based on two sections of the election law — section 8(e) which bars people from running for office if their parents were not Myanmar citizens at the time of their birth, and section 10(e) which requires candidates to have lived in the country for the past consecutive 10 years, according to local media reports.

All the candidates from Rakhine state are Rohingya, whom the Myanmar government views as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and refers to them as “Bengalis,” although many have lived there for generations.

Kyaw Min, however, pointed out that all the rejected DHRP candidates have citizenship cards or national registration cards.

“The rejection is based not on law; they don’t want to give us [political] space,” said Kyaw Min. “If it’s in the law, they why could we stand in the past? We could stand in the 1990 elections as well as the 2010 elections.”

“We are discouraged by the decision, and we don’t see this is a good sign,” he said. “I think the words like ‘all-inclusiveness’ and ‘transparency’ are not that right here in this case.” 

NLD voices disagreement

The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party has called the UEC’s rejection of candidates based on the election law’s citizenship requirements “unconstitutional.”

“It is not constitutional [because] according to the constitution, every citizen has equal rights,” NLD spokesman Nyan Win told RFA Tuesday after political party leaders met with UEC members in Yangon. “The rejection of candidates based on the citizenship of their parents is in my opinion an infringement upon the equal rights of citizens.” 

One of the NLD’s own candidates, Tun Min Soe who had planned to run in Rakhine state, was rejected because he lived in Bangladesh in 2006, according to a report in The Myanmar Times.

Last week, officials rejected an application from Shwe Maung, a Rohingya lawmaker from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), to run for reelection because his parents were not citizens when he was born. He was planning to run as an independent candidate in the Nov. 8 elections.

Shwe Maung, who denies that his parents were not citizens, tried to appeal the decision on Tuesday before the Rakhine state election subcommission in Sittwe, but was further disqualified, according to a report by the online journal The Irrawaddy. He plans to appeal to election commission in Naypyidaw.

This picture taken June 24 shows a Buddhist novice praying at a Yangon monastery affiliated with the Ma Ba Tha organization. Myanmar President Thein Sein has signed into law a series of restrictive race and religion bills, which were championed by Ma Ba Tha. (Photo by Christophe Archambault/AFP)

By John Zaw
September 2, 2015

Last of controversial race and religion bills signed into law

A set of restrictive laws on race and religion finalized this week in Myanmar could exacerbate tensions and drive a wedge between the country’s diverse ethnic and religious groups, Christian leaders warn.

Christian groups raised their concerns after Myanmar’s president on Aug. 31 signed into law the last of four controversial bills pushed by hardline Buddhist monks.

The new monogamy law sets punishments for people who have more than one spouse or who are living with another person while still married. It carries a maximum penalty of up to seven years in prison.

Rights groups believe the new law — as well as three other laws on population control, religious conversion and interfaith marriage — is a thinly veiled attempt to target religious minorities, especially Muslims, in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

Dr. Saw Hlaing Bwar, professor at the Myanmar Institute of Theology’s Judson Research Center in Yangon, said the laws could be used to institutionalize discrimination against minorities.

"The law must protect the people and promote equality and rights," he said. "But attempting to enact these laws could legalize … discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities."

Saw Hlaing Bwar worried the laws could also trigger further conflict in a country already rife with ethnic tension, particularly in communities where Muslims and Buddhists coexist.

"What I’m more concerned with is that the conflict may happen among religions if people from minority groups respond to the incitement and propaganda with anger," he said.

Hardliners

The laws were championed by hardline Buddhist monks from a group known as Ma Ba Tha, or the Committee for the Protection of Race and Religion.

Fr. Maurice Nyunt Wai, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar, said the race and religion laws may not be overtly targeting Christians directly, but they could have a lasting impact on race relations in general.

"Over the long term, [the laws] could tarnish the image of Buddhism, which is peaceful, compassionate and calm," he said. "And this can destroy the harmonious society among religions in Myanmar and the distance between the majority Buddhists and other minorities will grow wider."

Saw Shwe Lin, general secretary of the Myanmar Council of Churches, said Christian leaders do not believe the race and religion laws specifically target Christians at this stage. However, church leaders will meet to discuss their possible impacts.

In addition to the monogamy bill, the race and religion laws include legislation on population control, religious conversion and interfaith marriage.

Myanmar President Thein Sein signed the population control bill into law in May. That legislation could let authorities impose mandatory "birth spacing" — the interval between a woman’s pregnancies — in specific populations.

The president signed the laws restricting religious conversion and interfaith marriage on Aug. 26, according to Zaw Htay, director-general of the president’s office. The law on interfaith marriages would require Buddhist women who want to marry non-Buddhist men to register their marriages in advance, allowing members of their community to object to a planned union.

In predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, Christians represent about 5 percent of the population while Muslims comprise about 3.5 percent.

Rohingya MP Shwe Maung represents Buthidaung constituency in northern Arakan state. (PHOTO: DVB)

September 2, 2015

A total of 88 candidates from across Burma, including almost an entire Muslim political party, have been disqualified from the 8 November general election.

The 88 were mostly rejected by the Union or regional election commissions for not meeting personal criteria. The highest number of revoked candidacy applications was in Arakan State – some 28 – all of whom were from the minority Rohingya Muslim community. Invariably, those rebuffed did not meet the election commission’s citizenship criteria.

“They [Rohingya candidates] failed to meet the qualifications under Electoral Law Article 10(e) – that a candidate must be a Burmese citizen, who is also born to parents who are both Burmese citizens. The rejected candidates did not meet this criteria,” said Aung Kyaw Nyunt, the chairman of Maungdaw District’s election commission.

In fact, 17 of 18 candidates were disqualified from one party alone: the Democracy and Human Rights Party (DHRP), based in Rangoon and Maungdaw, which has a high Muslim membership and Rohingya rights agenda.

“We [DHRP] received a letter from Maungdaw District Election Commission saying our candidates were rejected after their applications were scrutinised and found not to be in conformity with the laws and bylaws,” said party chairman Kyaw Min.

“I wonder if the government is prioritising a policy over the law,” he added.

Also among the Rohingya aspirants rejected was incumbent Lower House MP Shwe Maung, a former Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) member, who was seeking to run in the polls this time as an independent candidate for Buthidaung Township.

He told DVB that his appeal against the district election commission’s rejection was dismissed by the state-level election commission on 1 September.

“[Fellow Rohingya candidate] Daw Khin Khin Lwin and I presented our appeals on 27 August and were appointed a hearing on 1 September,” he said. “At 10am, I went to the hearing and presented all my evidence, but the decision must have already been decided, because in less than 10 seconds, [the official] said: ‘U Shwe Maung’s appeal has been dismissed, as has Daw Khin Lwin Lwin’s’.

“From what I could see, the Arakan Election Commission did not give me a proper hearing and had already made a decision [to reject me],” he continued. “This makes me suspect that the Maungdaw district and Arakan state election commissions are being put under pressure by some group or a person.”

The northern Arakan town of Maungdaw, like nearby Buthidaung, is majority Rohingya Muslim, or “Bengali’ as many Burmese prefer to refer to the community, a largely pejorative term suggesting they are illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Tensions between Arakanese Buddhists and the Rohingya community have boiled over several times in the past, most notably in 2012, when communal violence left over a hundred dead and some 140,000 homeless after mobs sowed destruction among each other’s neighbourhoods.

The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) has reportedly said that seven of its 1,138 proposed candidates have been disqualified for a variety of reasons including ethnicity, age, and association with illegal organisations. An NLD spokesman suggested the party would appeal those cases.

The ruling USDP has so far made no announcement about any rejections among its submitted list of 1,139 candidates.

UEC Chairman Tin Aye said the rejected candidates have one week starting from 3 September to appeal the decision with their local election commission. If rejected, they may still reach out but not appeal to the regional [state or division] election commission whose decision will be final.


    • Rohingya Exodus