By Richard Potter

The Diplomat

October 30, 2016

Much of the speculation about the recent attacks miss a simple truth about the plight of the Rohingya.

Following deadly attacks on three police outposts that killed nine police officers along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, speculation about the perpetrators has spread wildly, both from the Myanmar government and the media. The attack was apparently carried out by a massive group estimated at 400 people that coordinated simultaneous assaults on three separate border guard police posts near the city of Maungdaw, in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The attackers were believed to belong to the country’s long oppressed Rohingya Muslim minority. Speculation has been rampant in the wake of the attacks and subsequent military crackdown, ranging from claims that the assailants were trained by the Pakistani Taliban, to those in opposition claiming the entire affair has been orchestrated by the military to seize resources, regain control of the government, and expel the Muslim minority. What seems clear is that much of what happened and who is behind it is lying in plain sight, but very few have been willing to acknowledge it.

The initial speculation by government and media sources was that the attack was carried out by the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), even though that group has been defunct since they were disarmed by the Bangladeshi government in the early 2000s. Rumors have abounded that the group in fact remains active, even as the RSOs leadership – and indeed the leaderships of nearly all Rohingya militant groups – have gone into exile and taken on more diplomatic roles. Whatever remnants of the RSO do remain in Bangladesh are a toothless version of what once was. This doesn’t eliminate the potential for militarization of Rohingya in the region, but relies heavily on rumors to explain what might be happening.

Within a few days of the attack unconfirmed videos began to appear online of men insinuating their connection to the attacks, calling for Muslims and Rohingya to join them in combat against the military and government. The group identified itself as al Yakeen in several of the videos, and elsewhere as Harakat al Yaqeen, which was translated to me by fluent Arabic speakers as well as Rohingya familiar with the group as “The Movement of the Faith” or alternatively “The Movement of Hope.” In the first videos released several adult men in civilian clothes can be see holding assault rifles and small pistols. In a later video they appear marching and say their emir, or spiritualist leader, has been injured but is continuing on while asking for others to join them. The camera then pans to show a wider shot of the entire militia walking. Their numbers are so great they are unable to show all of them, but they are apparently in the hundreds. What is beyond striking, though, is that only a handful of the men are adults with guns; the rest are children who appear to be 12 years old or younger armed with swords, sticks and farm tools. The feeling quickly sinks in that these children are being marched to their deaths for something they aren’t even old enough to understand. Frankly, it is horrifying.

The president’s office later released a statement regarding the attacks which attempted to clarify previous unconfirmed statements in a single account of facts. The statements described the leadership of a little known group called “Aqa Mul Mujahadeen,” whom they said was trained by the Pakistani Taliban over the course of six months through an RSO contact. “Aqaa Mul Mujahideen” means “Those who stand as Mujahideen (Muslim warriors)” in Arabic, and reads more as a generic reference than any kind of official name. The statement said that this organization was funded by Middle East backers.

The trouble with these statements is that they make very little sense in light of what information is available. While the government is describing an overwhelming force of well trained and well funded Taliban-tied militants, the reality for them is far more embarrassing: Their police posts were overrun by a militia composed mostly of small children led by downtrodden men armed with farm tools, who stole their guns and quickly vanished. Neither the military nor the police can find them. The insurgency the government is trying to identify is more of an uprising, albeit a well coordinated one. Evidence of funding and links to clandestine groups may prove true over time, but at the moment evidence suggests the attacks were local to the areas near the Naf river, the attackers were only armed with swords and tools before robbing the police posts of their guns, and that their initial tactics were sophomoric at best. The Rohingya they’re fighting now are living in the same conditions as the Rohingya who knowingly fled with human traffickers two years ago that could – and often would – kill, rape and sell them in to slavery, in the hope they might escape the circumstances inside of Myanmar and the Bangladesh refugee camps. It is not a jihadist invasion of Myanmar; It is an act of desperation. But unlike the Rohingya who fled on boats, those fighting believe they preserve some sense of autonomy and dignity after decades of having been denied both.

In one of the videos posted on a channel called “The Faith Movement,” the same men seen in the previous videos appear, but a voice is dubbed over, and seemingly modulated perhaps to hide the identity of the speaker. The dubbing is in English and calls for a restoration of rights and that a number of grievances be immediately resolved. They deny any links to terrorists groups, or any outside influence at all. They clearly express a feeling of abandonment by the international community, and perhaps most unexpected of all they call on the Myanmar government to end its civil war with the ethnic minorities in the country, many of whom have been fickle allies, if not outright political opponents to the Rohingya. While the dubbing of this video can’t be verified yet, when compared to what facts on the ground are known they stand well enough to take seriously. Within all the chaos that has happened since the initial attacks no Buddhist civilians have been targeted or attacked. Whether or not the video itself can be verified, it does seem that those involved in this conflict do want to avoid the label of terrorists, and like the other ethnic groups, they may be seeking to gain legitimate political power through guerrilla fighting as the Kachin Independence Organization and Karen National Union have done in the Kachin and Karen ethnic regions.

As few facts emerge about the conflict journalists have also scrambled to gather information on the militants, but with limited success. Surely if hundreds of men and boys left to go fight the government someone would know about it. Yet, the Rohingya have remained incredibly silent on the issue, and one has to imagine how disheartening it must be to be approached by journalists who have often ignored or minimized cries for help from the community but are suddenly now are interested in a sensational story that risks demonizing them even as they watch dozens of their own die in the crackdown. It confirms in the worst way that their grievances are taken more seriously by the world when they are armed than when they are victims.

On October 11, four Burmese soldiers were reportedly killed in a skirmish in Maungdaw. Accounts varied between government and Rohingya sources about who initiated the fight, but given the high number of casualties of well armed Burmese soldiers it seems likely they were ambushed, which may be a dreadful sign of things to come.

In my conversation about the insurgency with Rohingya I feel swept with guilt for exactly this, and few would open up to me, though they were plainly aware of exactly who al Yakeen was. A small few did agree to talk, and it’s with regret they see their people having run out of options. It is desperation, pure and simple. It can’t be justified, and while listening I am painfully aware of how significantly these events will worsen the suffering of the Rohingya, but it is still imperative to understand where these beliefs came from, how they spread, and how they might be resolved.

As the military and government seek to calm the situation and restore order, they are operating with a heavy hand. Civilian casualties are already high, and credible reports are emerging of Rohingya men dying in police custody, under circumstances that are questionable at best. The situation could easily worsen as resentment and hopelessness increase among the population. The Rohingya have long tried to address their grievances through political means, and the vast majority would prefer to still do so, but lack any course or mechanism. If State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and her party’s new government wants to legitimately restore peace they should be aware their best tool now is compassion. Any acknowledgment of the Rohingya’s humanity, of their suffering, and an offering of a way to dignity and autonomy will do more to reduce violence than any army is capable of. Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy need only to have the courage to do so.

Richard Potter is a researcher with the Burma Human Rights Network.

By Human Rights Watch

(New York, October 28, 2016) – The Burmese government should invite the United Nations to participate in a thorough and impartial investigation into deadly attacks on police and subsequent allegations of summary killings, sexual violence, and other rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine State, Human Rights Watch said today.

On October 9, 2016, gunmen attacked three police outposts in Maungdaw township near the Bangladesh border, reportedly leaving nine police officers dead. The government reported that the attackers made off with dozens of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition. The Burmese government maintains the attack was carried out by a Rohingya group, but who was actually responsible is unclear. The media and local rights groups have reported numerous human rights abuses against Rohingya following the attack, including extrajudicial killings, rape, torture, arbitrary arrests, and burning of homes. On October 28, Reuters published interviews with Rohingya women who claim they were raped by Burmese soldiers. Government-imposed restrictions on access to the area by journalists and human rights monitors have hindered impartial information-gathering.

“The Burmese government should ensure a credible inquiry into the October 9 violence by inviting UN human rights experts to take part,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Rakhine State’s ethnic divide is perhaps Burma’s biggest fault line. The government’s handling of this inquiry is a big test for preventing future violence against the Rohingya and other populations.”

On October 27, the president’s spokesman, U Zaw Htay, said that allegations of human rights violations by the security forces were “totally wrong,” but asserted that the government would take them seriously. On October 28, the office of President Htin Kyaw said authorities had opened an investigation into a case of the death of a 60-year-old man detained on October 14, on suspicion of involvement in the October 9 attack.

On October 24, the parliament of Rakhine State (also known as Arakan State) announced the establishment of a commission of legislators to investigate the October 9 attacks. This followed a statement by UN experts calling on Burma to address allegations of serious human rights violations in the state, where ethnic Rohingya Muslims have long been the target of state-sponsored abuses.

The composition of the commission raises concerns about independence and impartiality, Human Rights Watch said. The commission is comprised of six members of the Arakan National Party (ANP), an ethnic Rakhine Buddhist party; two members of the military-backed Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP); one member of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD); a military appointee; and a legal advisor to the regional parliament. There are no Rohingya on the commission, although they constitute a third of Rakhine State’s population of 3 million, and have long been the targets of rights violations.

Beyond problems with the commission’s composition, members have also indicated a lack of impartiality. U Tun Hla Sein, a USDP commissioner from Rakhine State, stated that one of the purposes of the commission was “to help indigenous people who fled the clashes.” The phrase “indigenous people” is commonly used to refer exclusively to ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.

Burma is obligated under international law to conduct thorough, prompt, and impartial investigations of alleged human rights violations, prosecute those responsible, and provide adequate redress for victims of violations. Standards for such investigations can be found, for example, in the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, and the UN Guidance on Commissions of Inquiry and Fact-Finding Missions. Burma’s failure to conduct such investigations in the past underscores the need for UN assistance, Human Rights Watch said.

In December 2015, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling upon the government to establish without further delay a country office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights with a full mandate. In her August 2016 report, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, emphasized that the prompt establishment of such an office “could give vital assistance to the Government in addressing the complex and wide-ranging human rights challenges currently facing Myanmar.”

“Promptly establishing an unbiased and independent commission that has the mandate to investigate all alleged abuses is an essential first step,” Adams said. “The parliamentary commission appointed by the state government is partisan and appears to lack the independence and technical skills needed to carry out such a sensitive investigation, which is why the UN is needed.”

Immediately after the attacks, government forces declared Maungdaw an “operation zone” and began sweeps of the area to find the attackers and lost weapons. They severely restricted the freedom of movement of the local populations and imposed extended curfews, which remain in place. Humanitarian aid groups have also been cut off, placing tens of thousands of already vulnerable people at greater risk.

Aid groups told Human Rights Watch that the lack of access is worsening the impact on the local population. The World Food Programme said that while areas surrounding Maungdaw and Buthidaung towns are slowly receiving aid, 50,000 food-insecure people in rural Maungdaw remain without routine food distributions.

“The Burmese government and army need to end restrictions on access to northern Rakhine State for aid groups, journalists, and human rights monitors to allow aid to reach the vulnerable Rohingya population and independent reporting on the situation,” Adams said.

By Dr Azeem Ibrahim

Al Arabiya 

October 29, 2016

Over the years, some Nobel Peace Prize awards have raised eyebrows. Most famously, the one awarded to Barack Obama in 2009 for nothing more than suggesting that we all get along and try to fix the Middle East. Many thought at the time that this award was premature, and the fact that Obama has left the Middle East an even more chaotic and violent mess than he found it surely vindicates that thought.

But when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi in 1991, nobody would have expected that we would come to question that decision. Here was an outstanding campaigner for democracy and freedom for her people in Myanmar, who chose to suffer from persecution from the military junta who ruled her country at home than to flee abroad and hide behind Western diplomatic protection.

Yet Ms Suu Kyi has become the first person to hold the dubious distinction of having a group of other Nobel Peace Prize laureates accuse her of presiding over a genocide. Desmond Tutu from South Africa, Mairead Maguire from Northern Ireland, Jody Williams from the USA, Tawakkol Karman from Yeman, Shirin Ebadi from Iran, Leymah Gbowee from Liberia, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel from Argentina and Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan have all expressed immense concern over the fate of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, as well as Economics Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and many other distinguished leading global moral voices. There is even a petition on change.org signed by 81,000+ individuals urging the Nobel Committee to withdraw her prize.

What is maddening about the situation is that Ms Suu Kyi has already been in power for over one year after becoming leader of Myanmar in their first reasonably democratic elections in half a century, she has overwhelming popular support, and could carry just about any policy into effect she would desire, yet the situation of the Rohingya in this past year has gotten worse, not better.

Marginalized Rohingya

Marginalised for decades, refused citizenship in the country of their birth by law in contravention of the UN Charter since 1982 and the target of regular communal violence, as well as systematic state violence, over half of the 1.5-2 million Rohingya have been displaced from the country of their birth in the past four decades, while more than 140,000 languish in internal displaced persons’ camps, where they are denied healthcare and education, and from where the authorities discourage them from leaving “for their own protection.”

These conditions have triggered successive waves of emigration which have seriously strained the resources of neighbouring countries and have attracted their ire toward Myanmar. This movement of refugees culminated last year when in the spring, the regional migration crisis shortly overshadowed even the European migration crisis in the news cycle. Yet after the election of Ms Suu Kyi last November, many in the Rohingya community in Myanmar and abroad were hopeful. They trusted in the woman they affectionately call “mother” and this spring has not seen similar waves of emigration as the previous years.

But their faith seems to have been misplaced. At every opportunity afforded to her so far, Ms Suu Kyi has failed to stand up for the Rohingya and tackle those in her country who would ethnically cleanse these people. Indeed, she has chosen to perpetuate the myth that the Rohingya are a people who do not belong in Myanmar, has refused to even acknowledge their existence as an indigenous ethnic group, instead referring to them as “Bengalis” just as the most extreme nationalists do and is conspicuously failing intervene as parts of the police force and military in the local state of Rakhine have killed over 30 and displaced more than 15,000 in a fresh wave of violence in the past month.

For the past year, we have given Ms Suu Kyi the benefit of doubt, just like we gave her the benefit of the doubt before her election. We liked to hope that she knew what she was doing and that she was slowly but surely going to change the perception of the Rohingya in Myanmar so that in the longer term they could be reintegrated into mainstream society, eventually as equal members. But the evidence belies that hope. And the recent surge in state violence toward the group shows that we no longer have the luxury to wait and hope for the best. We must demand that our leaders take charge of the situation and intervene on behalf of the Rohingya, where Ms Suu Kyi will not. 

___________________________

Azeem Ibrahim is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Global Policy and Adj Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College. He completed his PhD from the University of Cambridge and served as an International Security Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and a World Fellow at Yale. Over the years he has met and advised numerous world leaders on policy development and was ranked as a Top 100 Global Thinker by the European Social Think Tank in 2010 and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He tweets @AzeemIbrahim

Dr. Habib Siddiqui

RB Opinion

October 29, 2016

Myanmar’s government said that the October 9 raids were conducted by the Aqamul Mujahidin organization, which it described as being affiliated with an extremist group. On the other hand, a previously unknown group - Faith Movement - has released a press statement on October 15 in which it claimed itself as the sons of Arakan soil who were compelled by the dire situation that they faced to make their own destiny through uprising, self-determination in self-defense. “We stand as an independent body which is free from all elements of terror in any nature,” the press release stated “that seeks fundamental but legitimate rights and justice for all ARAKANESE including our innocent Rohingyas and OTHER civilians dying from the continuous military assaults.” 

An outcome like this was only waiting to happen given that history has repeatedly shown that such prolonged encampment in IDP concentration camps create a sense of ultimate abandonment by the state, pushing even the most moderates to take violent means to redress their plight. The initial attacks, in which three border police outposts were overrun by hundreds of people, most only lightly armed, showed a degree of sophistication not seen before in violence involving the Rohingya, but did not suggest the group was especially well-funded or armed, diplomats said. 

Myanmar’s military (Tatmadaw) has since been deployed in the Rohingya populated northern part of Arakan (Rakhine) state. And what we are witnessing there is simply shocking. War crimes are perpetrated. Under the pretext of finding the Rohingya perpetrators, the Tatmadaw has been doing what it has always done – using its criminal scorched-earth tactics. As a result, since the October 9 attacks (as of October 26), at least 138 unarmed Rohingyas (mostly children and women) have been killed, or have died in custody. At least 144 Rohingyas have been detained, several villages and more than a thousand homes and several mosques have been burned by the security forces forcing an internal displacement of at least 15,000 people, who are even denied humanitarian aid. At least 20 women have also been raped by Myanmar security forces. Many of the local elders and Imams have also been killed extra-judicially after they were asked to report to the local military camp. 

Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, a monitoring group, said the army was using "typical counter-insurgency measures against civilians", including "shooting civilians on sight, burning homes, looting property and arbitrary arrests".

Foreign reporters have not been allowed into the area the military has declared an "operation zone", but Reuters was able to contact some residents and community leaders by telephone. The people, who did not want to be identified, contradicted several of the reports in state media, saying that the death toll in the area was higher than reported and that a number of those killed were unarmed. In one of the disputed accounts, the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper said 30 Muslims attacked government forces on Oct. 11 near Kyetyoepyin village, and that 10 Rohingyas were killed in the subsequent fighting. After the clash, the insurgents fled, setting fire to homes, the report said. But several Rohingya residents from the area said they believed at least 19 people, including eight women, were killed by security forces that day. They also say it was the soldiers who set a large part of the village on fire.

The United Nations has said the violence is preventing aid agencies from delivering food and medicines to the region. 

The UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a report on Tuesday (October 25) documenting the systemic discrimination of minorities in Myanmar and calling for concrete steps end these human rights violations. The report focused on particular concern of the treatment of Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine region.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned in a statement Friday (October 21) that as troops poured into the region and authorities blocked off the delivery of humanitarian aid to Maungdaw, aid agencies have not been able to conduct a needs assessment. The statement quoted a World Food Program (WFP) partnerships officer as saying they had requested access “from township level to Union level”. WFP told HRW that 50,000 people remain without food aid in Maungdaw. 

Brad Adams, the group’s Asia director, said the recent violence “has led the army to deny access to aid agencies that provide essential health care and food to people at grave risk”. “The Rohingya and others have been especially vulnerable since the ethnic cleansing campaign in 2012, and many rely on humanitarian aid to survive,” he added.

Rohingya advocacy groups have expressed concerns over what they claim is a continued crackdown in the area, with global groups releasing a statement on October 23 claiming security forces have been indiscriminately killing Rohingya and torching and plundering their homes and villages, under the pretext of looking for the attackers. 

Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) has also criticized the government of Myanmar. Its latest press release read, “Burmese army is in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1820, regarding the protection of women and girls in conflict zones. Reports indicate that the Burmese army is giving impunity to soldiers who are committing sexual assault and raping women. The use of rape in war is considered a Crime Against Humanity and in clear violation of Rome Statute Article 7(1), The Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Article 3, and The Law on the Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), Article 5. As these reports emerge it is imperative that the international community take them seriously and seek to investigate them as such.” The advocacy group called upon the Myanmar Government to investigate all claims of sexual assault, torture, and rape by Burmese soldiers and hold all responsible parties accountable.

The latest ethnic cleansing drives against the Rohingya are simply sickening in a country that is led by someone like Suu Kyi who was honored with a Nobel Prize for peace. What a joke this award is becoming! Apparently, she has failed to learn lessons from history, esp. why her wise father Aung San had organized the Panglong Conference in the pre-independence days.

Suu Kyi should have known better than most Burmese that such military excesses only weaken the very foundation of an artificial geographic entity like Burma (and today’s Myanmar) that comprises peoples of many nationalities, races, ethnicities and religions. Since the time of Pagan King Anawrahta (11th century, CE), her country has been kept together by strong arms tactics of feudal kings, the British Raj and the military governments that ruled. ‘Divide and rule’ and fear-mongering against a perceived foe became prudent methods to administer this diverse country. But such tactics failed to create nationhood. There was never a sense of belonging except for the dominant group. 

This much-needed task for forging national unity was taken up by visionaries like Aung San (who represented the Interim Burmese government), Sao Shwe Thaik (Shan leader) and others (including U Razak of AFPFL, a Muslim) in the late 1940s. That was the background for the Panglong Conference, which was held in Southern Shan state on February 1947. However, the spirit of Panglong Agreement that was reached between Aung San and other ethnic and community leaders in an attempt to unite everyone - irrespective of race, ethnicity and religion, Buddhists and non-Buddhists - for a common goal of independence was dead following Aung San's assassination (along with U Razak who was Education and National Planning Minister in Aung San's cabinet, and six other cabinet ministers) on July 19, 1947, less than six months before Union of Burma was to emerge as an independent state in the global arena. It should be noted that the Agreement, amongst other provisions, accepted full autonomy in internal administration for the “Frontier Areas" (bordering British India, Thailand, Laos, China) in principle and envisioned the creation of a Kachin State by the Constituent Assembly.

The founding fathers of Burma were very serious to foster unity in their future state. Thus, in 1946 General Aung San assured full rights and privileges to Rohingya/Arakanese Muslims as an indigenous people, saying: “I give (offer) you a blank cheque. We will live together and die together. Demand what you want. I will do my best to fulfill them. If native people are divided, it will be difficult to achieve independence for Burma.”

The First President, Sao Shwe Thaik, who was the last Saopha of Yawnghwe, famously said, “If the Rohingyas are not indigenous, nor am I.” 

After Myanmar gained independence on January 4, 1948, communists and ethnic/national/religious minorities in the country began a series of insurgencies displaying their grave discontent towards the newly formed post-independence government as they believed that the Panglong Agreement was not honored and that they were being unfairly excluded from governing the country. Their overwhelming perception was that the new government was a state for, by and of the majority Bamar and Buddhists only, and not for other minorities. 

Sao Shwe Thaik who had led and organized the Panglong conference became the first president of the Union of Burma. His public speech on 4 January 1949 at a mass rally held outside City Hall to mark the first anniversary of Independence Day captures the troubled mood of the state: “Cooperation and understanding cannot come about so long as the element of violence or threat of violence exists, for violence has no counterpart in freedom, and liberty ends where violence begins.”

There were also widespread practice of discrimination against anyone who was not a Buddhist. For example, it was noted that many Christian Karen and Muslim and Sikh military officials, who were originally appointed by the British, were replaced with Buddhist Bamars by the new parliament. The situation was much worse for Muslims everywhere - from Arakan to Rangoon. As a result of serious discrimination, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs lost their jobs in every government sector – civilian, police and military. Many lost their businesses, too, and were looked down upon as either British-era migrants or their children thereof. Loss for them was craved as a net gain for the majority Buddhist. Steadily, intolerance of the minority became the law of the land. 

The occupation of Burma by Japan during the early years of the World War II, when Rakhine Buddhists had allied themselves with the occupying fascist Japanese forces while the Arakanese Muslims collaborated with the British Raj to defeat Japan, had already poisoned the relationship between these two dominant groups in Arakan. After Burma earned its independence, many Rakhine Buddhists took advantage of the emerging situation to ethnically cleanse Muslims from many parts of Arakan, esp. the southern part of the state. This led to the ghettoization of Muslims in towns and villages bordering today’s Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan). 

It is not difficult to understand why almost every racial/religious entity, including the Mujahedeen (made up of Arakanese/Rohingya Muslims), outside the majority Bamar/Buddhist race/religion rebelled in the early years. Being betrayed by the British Raj, in spite of their valuable services rendered during and after the WWII, it was no brainer that some Arakanese Muslims had felt that they had to protect themselves against marauding Buddhist incursions into their northern Mayu Frontier Territories. Muslim rebellion against the central government ultimately stopped when promises for their wider acceptance were made by government officials. Even then the persecution of the Rohingya and other Muslims continued.

According to the Pakistan Times (August 26, 1959), some 10,000 refugees had by then taken shelter in East Pakistan. In 1959, Burma agreed with East Pakistan governor Zakir Hossain to take back Rohingya refugees who had taken shelter in Chittagong in 1958. When questioned ‘why refugees were pouring into Pakistan from Burma, the governor replied that the government of Burma had nothing to do with it. Actually the Moghs [ie, Buddhist Rakhines] of Arakan were creating the trouble.’ (Pakistan Times, August 27, 1959) Governor Zakir Hossain’s reply once again underscored the deep hostility of the racist Rakhines against the minority Rohingyas. On October 27, 1960, the Daily Guardian, Rangoon, reported that Burmese ‘Supreme Court quashes expulsion orders against Arakanese Muslims,’ which once again shows that the Arakanese [Rohingya] Muslims faced much problems in their reintegration. 

Armed resistance by various ethnic and religious minorities and communists became the new norms and not the exceptions, which continued for more than a decade until the military was able to crush such through its savage scorched-earth tactics. Even then armed struggle is a reality in many parts of Myanmar to this very day.

The two largest insurgent factions in Myanmar were the communists, led by the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), and ethnic Karen insurgents, led by the Karen National Union (KNU). The KNU favored an independent state, forged out of Karen State (Kayin State) and Karenni State (Kayah State), in Outer Myanmar (Lower Burma), administered solely by the Karen people.

Even the Rakhine Buddhist separatists were not behind in such insurgency movements, nor were the Chins. Rakhine insurgent groups, such as the Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Liberation Army (ALA) continue to have hostilities towards the government, though major violence has been rare since political reforms and peace talks. The AA, founded in 2009, is currently the largest insurgent group in Rakhine State, with an estimated 1,500–2,500 fighters active in the region. Its goal is an independent Rakhine state. 

In the early 1960s, the Burmese government refused to adopt a federal system, to the dismay of insurgent groups such as the CPB, who proposed adopting the system during peace talks. By the early 1980s, politically motivated armed insurgencies (like the communist) had largely disappeared, while ethnic-based insurgencies continued.

The Panglong Agreement of 1947 offered the Shan the option to split from Myanmar a decade after independence if they were unsatisfied with the central government. This was, however, not honored following Aung San's assassination. Instead, what they got are – severe mistreatment, torture, robbery, rape, unlawful arrest, and massacre. As a result, an armed resistance movement, led by Sao Noi and Saw Yanna, was launched in May of 1958 in the Shan State. One of the largest Shan insurgent groups in Myanmar is the Shan State Army - South (SSA-S), which has some 6,000 to 8,000 soldiers, with its bases along the Myanmar-Thailand border.

In October 2012, the ongoing conflicts in Myanmar included the Kachin conflict, between the Christian Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the government; a series of genocidal pogroms directed against the Rohingya Muslims that were participated by Rakhine Buddhists, and aided by the government and non-government groups in Rakhine State, including the Buddhist clergy; and a conflict between the Shan, Lahu, and Karen minority groups, and the government in the eastern half of the country. Armed conflict between ethnic Chinese rebels and the Myanmar Armed Forces have resulted in the Kokang offensive in February 2015. The conflict had forced 40,000 to 50,000 civilians to flee their homes and seek shelter on the Chinese side of the border.

In 2012 alone, fighting between the KIA and the government resulted in around 2,500 casualties (both civilian and military); 211 of whom were government soldiers. The violence resulted in the displacement of nearly 100,000 civilians, and the complete or partial abandonment of 364 villages.

Several insurgent groups have negotiated ceasefires and peace agreements with successive governments, which until political reforms that begun in 2011 and ended in 2015, had largely fallen apart. That reality marshaled in the Second Panglong-type conference held in Naypyidaw this August to end the decades-long insurgencies in many of the ethnic areas. 

As can be seen from the brief review above, civil/genocidal wars have been a constant feature of Myanmar's socio-political landscape since her independence as Union of Burma in 1948. These wars are predominantly struggles for ethnic and sub-national autonomy, with the areas surrounding the ethnically Bamar central districts of the country serving as the primary geographical setting of conflict. 

The Rohingya and other Muslims inside Myanmar had been in the receiving end of annihilation. They have faced dozens of extermination campaigns since 1942. Denied each of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, truly, the Rohingyas of Myanmar remain the most persecuted people in our planet. And yet, until this latest episode of attacks by some disgruntled Rohingya youths for daily dehumanization that their family members face, they have been the most unarmed, passive and peaceful of all the communities that make up the fractured mosaic of Myanmar. This, in spite of the fact, more than 1 in 2 Rohingyas now live a life of a refugee outside Myanmar. 

In the last few years alone, they have seen only death and destruction of their folks; desperation has set in, and many have fled the country, while some 150,000 remain internally displaced with no shelters except concentration camps within the Arakan state. Their ID cards were confiscated and they were denied the right to vote; their political parties banned; and not a single Muslim candidate was allowed to contest in the election. Suu Kyi has come to power and refuses to identify them as ‘Rohingya’. She even did not invite them into the peace/unity conference in Naypyidaw. In spite of mounting international pressure, the Rohingya continue to be denied the basic rights and means of livelihood; their women continue to be raped by Tatmadaw as weapons of war to bring collective shame upon them and force them out of their ancestral homeland. 

Many Rohingya women continue to be gang raped by the Tatmadaw in its latest ethnic cleansing drives. As we have seen with the previous military regimes, Myanmar’s civilian government officials continue to deny such accusations. But recently, Reuters has been able to confirm that Myanmar soldiers raped or sexually assaulted dozens of women in a remote village in the northwest of the country during the biggest upsurge in violence against the persecuted minority in four years. Eight Rohingya women, all from U Shey Kya village in Rakhine State, described in detail how soldiers last week raided their homes, looted property and raped them at gun point.

Reuters interviewed three of the women in person and five by telephone, and spoke to human rights groups and community leaders. One 40-year-old woman told the news agency that she was held down by a group of soldiers in her home, and then raped. Her 15-year-old daughter was also allegedly sexually assaulted by them before they made away with the family's jewelry and money. "They took me inside the house. They tore my clothes and they took my head scarf off," the woman said. "Two men held me, one holding each arm, and another one held me by my hair from the back and they raped me." 

Reuters reporters traveled to U Shey Kya village on Thursday (October 27), passing nearby villages where dozens of houses were recently burned down, and interviewed three women who said they were raped by soldiers. Five other women from U Shey Kya have also detailed in a series of telephone interviews how Myanmar soldiers raped them. The accounts are backed up by at least three male residents of the village and a Rohingya community leader in Maungdaw who has gathered reports about the incident.

The residents said some 150 soldiers arrived near U Shey Kya on October 19.

A 30-year-old woman described being knocked off her feet by soldiers and repeatedly raped. "They told me, 'We will kill you. We will not allow you to live in this country,'" she said. The women said soldiers took gold, money and other property, and spoiled rice stores with sand. 

"We can't move to another village to find medical care," said a 32-year-old survivor. "I don't have clothes now or food to eat. It was all destroyed. I'm feeling ashamed and scared."

As usual, the military did not respond to Reuters inquiry. 

The new pogrom inside the Rohingya populated territories of northern Arakan state once again underlines the power the army retains in Myanmar, which is guilty of committing war crimes against an unarmed civilian population. Such brutality against the Rohingya Muslims also unmasks the Buddhist government’s double-standards when dealing with non-Buddhists. Army generals continue to run the home ministry, which inflicts the worst form of collective punishment against the Muslims (but not against the Buddhist rebels). This is quite evident when the Rakhine Buddhist extremists of the Arakan Army attacked the military, which it has done 15 times since 28 December, 2015, in which several soldiers got killed, interestingly no such scorched-earth and combing operation to flush them out was undertaken by the military. 

I wish the persecution of the Rohingya and other Muslims did not extend to other parts of Myanmar. Seemingly, however, no place is secure for these unfortunate victims in Suu Kyi’s den of intolerance.

Border guards went to Kyee Kan Pyin village Sunday (October 23, 2016), which is in the central region of Mandalay, and ordered about 2,000 villagers to evacuate it. Residents only had enough time to collect basic household necessities and valuables. They were then forced for a second night to stay and hide in rice fields without shelter. 

“I was kicked out of my house yesterday afternoon, now I live in a paddy field outside of a my village with some 200 people including my family—I became homeless,” an unidentified Rohingya man told Reuters.

Suu Kyi can start the process of reintegration of the Rohingya, by following the footsteps of her wise father. She can immediately withdraw the military from Rohingya towns and villages where they are committing war crimes. She can restore the citizenship rights of the Rohingya on the basis of the First Schedule to the Burma Independence Act 1947. That Act clearly stated that the Rohingya and all other Muslims who were British subjects - who were born in Burma or whose father or paternal grandfather was born in Burma - were considered citizens of the Union of Burma. Under Annex A of the Aung San-Attlee Agreement, 27 January, 1947, Rohingyas were citizens of the Union of Burma: “A Burma National is defined for the purposes of eligibility to vote and to stand as a candidate of the forthcoming elections as a British subject or the subject of an Indian State who was born in Burma and resided there for a total period of not less than eight years in the ten years immediately preceding either 1st January, 1942 or 1st January, 1947.” 

The Nu-Attlee Agreement (1947), signed between Prime Minister U Nu (Burma) and Prime Minister Clement Attlee (Great Britain) on Oct. 17, 1947 on transferring power to Burma was very important as to the determination of the citizenship status of the peoples and races in Burma. Article 3 of the Agreement states: “Any person who at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty is, by virtue of the Constitution of the Union of Burma, a citizen thereof and who is, or by virtue of a subsequent election is deemed to be, also a British subject, may make a declaration of alienage in the manner prescribed by the law of the Union, and thereupon shall cease to be a citizen of the Union.” 

Human rights group, including the Faith Movement, have called for: restoration of human rights including citizenship rights for their Rohingya people; immediate relocation of the Rohingyas from the IDP camps back to their places of origin (before the genocidal campaigns ensued in 2012), return of their confiscated assets, repeal of the 1982 Citizenship Law so that they can be treated as equals in Myanmar, compensation to IDP detainees towards rebuilding their burnt/destroyed homes and places of worship, a cessation of military offensives against all ethnic groups of Myanmar, and prevention of all kinds of religious persecution including hate speeches by Buddhist extremists. They have also demanded international investigation and intervention to stop Rohingya Genocide, and have sought their protection.

So, if Suu Kyi’s government is serious about bringing peace in Arakan, it should seriously fulfil such legitimate demands for the greater good of all. After all, in all fairness, none of these demands is irrational and within the capacity of the Myanmar government to implement. If she continues to overlook such demands and follows the dictates of her savage Tatmadaw that has been committing war crimes in its conflicts against the ethnic minorities, I am afraid, it won’t be too long that Myanmar would divide into many states, and that many of the top generals and ministers could be charged with committing crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court. The international community may also find it necessary to demand that the Mayu Frontier Territories (in northern Arakan) be declared a ‘safe’ territory for the persecuted Rohingyas of Myanmar so that they could live there with honor, dignity, safety and security. 

Behaving like an ostrich with its head buried in the sand is no solution for Suu Kyi. Such a behavior can actually be perceived that Rohingya lives don’t matter to her government, which may actually be the reason behind the border raids. 

Wake up Suu Kyi! Do the math and figure out what is better for your fractured and artificial country. The sooner the better!

Press Release

October 28, 2016

Myanmar: Authorities must investigate security forces as reports of Rakhine abuses mount

Amnesty International is calling for an prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the conduct of Myanmar’s security forces in the restive Rakhine state for human rights violations committed during ongoing security operations in the region.

The organization has received numerous reports that Myanmar’s security forces operating in the state – home to most of the country’s oppressed Rohingya minority – are alleged to be involved in extra-judicial executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, destroying people’s homes and crimes involving sexual violence amongst other violations. Ongoing restrictions on access to northern Rakhine State has made it extremely difficult to independently verify such claims.

“We have received a series of alarming reports concerning Myanmar’s security forces and their conduct against the backdrop of security operations in Rakhine state. Rather than issuing blanket denials without looking into the matter, the Myanmar authorities should implement an independent and impartial investigation that establishes a credible verdict on their human rights record and bring all those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts without recourse to death penalty,” said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s Director for South East Asia and the Pacific.

The call comes as the authorities continue to heavily restrict access to northern Rakhine state, preventing journalists and independent observers from verifying reports.

Local journalists who travelled to the affected Maungdaw area following the eruption of violence in Rakhine state on October 9 have told Amnesty International that the Myanmar military severely impeded their movements, including by sealing off many of the areas affected by “clearance operations”.

Foreign journalists also told the organization that their requests for access to northern Rakhine state have been denied on the grounds that security operations are ongoing and authorities cannot guarantee their safety.

“If Myanmar’s security forces are not involved in any human rights violations as the authorities claim, then they should have no trouble granting independent observers access so they can help establish the truth on the ground,” said Rafendi Djamin.

On October 25, the local media reported that Presidential spokesperson Zaw Htay had rejected allegations that security forces had committed human rights violations, insisting they were just “accusations” and that “we haven’t done anything lawless”.

Amnesty International also reaffirms its call for the Myanmar authorities to grant unfettered access to the UN and international humanitarian organizations who have been unable to provide assistance to communities in need. Both Rohingya and Rakhine communities have been displaced following October 9.

Background

On October 9 unknown assailants attacked three police outposts in the north of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, killing nine Border Guard Police and seizing weapons and ammunition. Eight attackers were also killed. The authorities immediately initiated security operations to apprehend the alleged perpetrators.

Amnesty International recognizes that the Myanmar authorities have the duty and the right to maintain law and order, and to investigate and bring to justice to those suspected of responsibility for the October 9 attacks. However, they must ensure that these investigations are conducted in a fair and transparent manner, in accordance with international law.

Rohingyas in northern Rakhine State have for decades faced severe restrictions on their movement, impacting severely on their ability to access healthcare, education and livelihood opportunities. This ongoing repression has sparked many thousands of Rohingya to flee and seek asylum abroad in recent years.

Original here.

By The Irrawaddy & Reuters

October 28, 2016

Yanghee Lee, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma has called for “complete access” to areas undergoing conflict in northern Arakan State.

Referring to the growing reports of human rights violations in the area by members of the security forces on Muslim communities who self-identify as Rohingya, the Special Rapporteur on Thursday called for “an impartial investigation” and said the UN was currently “in the dark.”

Lee said that they had heard reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, many cases of rape, and the killing of civilians.

“These are unverified as of yet but we do have some credible sources that [add] support to these ongoing human rights violations,” she said.

Access to the area for aid agencies and the media has been severely restricted since Oct. 9, after coordinated attacks on a series of border guard outposts were launched by groups the government believes has links to Islamists overseas.

The militants, who Reuters reported have identified themselves as the previously unknown Al-Yakin Mujahidin in videos posted online, are accused of killing nine police officers and five soldiers, and of stealing a cache of weapons.

In an interview with The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, President’s Office spokesman U Zaw Htay said that “false reports” on alleged human rights abuses were being circulated by individuals and organizations that “support terrorism.” The information could “confuse” the UN, he said.

“If they have strong evidence, they can submit it to the appropriate [branch of] the UN. We will take them seriously. One of our foreign policy principles is to cooperate with the UN,” he said.

On Friday, Reuters reported that eight Rohingya women from U Shey Kya village in Arakan State described in detail how soldiers last week raided their homes, looted property and raped them at gun point.

Reuters interviewed three of the women in person and five by telephone, and spoke to human rights groups and community leaders. Not all the claims could be independently verified, Reuters said, including the total number of women assaulted.

A forty-year-old woman from U Shey Kya told Reuters that four soldiers raped her and assaulted her 15-year-old daughter, while stealing jewelry and cash from the family.

“They took me inside the house. They tore my clothes and they took my head scarf off,” the mother of seven told Reuters in an interview outside her home, a cramped bamboo hut. “Two men held me, one holding each arm, and another one held me by my hair from the back and they raped me,” she said.

U Zaw Htay, the government spokesman, denied the allegations.

“There’s no logical way of committing rape in the middle of a big village of 800 homes, where insurgents are hiding,” U Zaw Htay said.

U Zaw Htay telephoned a military commander in Maungdaw, whose name he did not disclose, during an interview with Reuters earlier this week. The commander said troops conducted a sweep of U Shey Kya village on Oct. 19, but left without committing abuses.

The military did not respond to an emailed request from Reuters for comment about the accusations in the area it has declared an ‘operation zone.’

U Shey Kya village’s official administrator, Armah Harkim, said he was working to verify the latest accounts, adding most residents believed them to be true.

U Zaw Htay accused residents of fabricating the allegations as part of a disinformation campaign led by the insurgents, which he compared to the tactics of Islamist groups Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

Colonel Sein Lwin, the police chief for Arakan State, dismissed the claims as “propaganda for Muslim groups.”

Reuters’ reporters traveled to U Shey Kya village on Thursday—passing nearby villages where dozens of houses were recently burned down—and interviewed three women who said they were raped by soldiers.

Five other women from U Shey Kya also detailed in a series of telephone interviews with Reuters how Myanmar soldiers raped them. The accounts are backed up by at least three male residents of the village and a Rohingya community leader in Maungdaw who has gathered reports about the incident, according to the Reuters report.

The residents said some 150 soldiers arrived near U Shey Kya on Oct. 19.

Most male residents left the village as they believed they would be suspected as insurgents. The women said they stayed behind in the belief the military would burn down empty homes. Soldiers dismantled the fences around homes, residents said, removing possible hiding places as part of what authorities called a “clearance operation.”

A 30-year-old woman described being knocked off her feet by soldiers and repeatedly raped. The women said soldiers took gold, money and other property, and spoiled rice stores with sand.

“We can’t move to another village to find medical care,” said a 32-year-old survivor. “I don’t have clothes now or food to eat. It was all destroyed. I’m feeling ashamed and scared.”

Meanwhile, according to local sources, the situation in Maungdaw Township has stabilized. Local government reported that 50 out of 402 schools had now reopened and government workers have returned to offices.

There were a total of 3,000 internally displaced Buddhist Arakanese in Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Sittwe townships but many have now returned to their villages, according to the Arakan National Party.

Ultra-nationalist Buddhist monk group Ma Ba Tha visited the region this week to donate a total of 1,000 bags of rice to displaced persons. Senior monk Ashin Thaw Parka told The Irrawaddy, “we encourage people to go back to their villages, if not, other people will take it [the villages].”

The European Commission reported last week that an estimated 10,000 Rohingya remain displaced and that they are in “desperate need of protection, food, shelter, and sanitation.”

On Friday Human Rights Watch echoed the growing calls to the government to allow humanitarian agencies and international agencies into the area, and to launch an independent investigation into alleged abuses.

By Reuters

October 28, 2016

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department said on Friday it had voiced concern to Myanmar's foreign minister about the reported rape of Rohingya Muslim women by soldiers during a recent upsurge in violence against the persecuted minority.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States wanted Myanmar to investigate the reported rapes and hold those responsible accountable.

By Fiona Macgregor

The Myanmar Times

October 28, 2016
 

Minister for Home Affairs Lieutenant General Kyaw Swe speaks to journalists in Maungdaw on October 17. Photo: Kaung Htet / The Myanmar Times

A Tatmadaw soldier stands guard at an outpost in Maungdaw township, northern Rakhine State, after the area was declared an “operation zone” following a deadly attack on Border Guard Police on October 9. Photo: Kaung Htet / The Myanmar Times

By Simon Lewis 

Reuters

October 28, 2016

YANGON -- Myanmar is investigating the death in custody of a 60-year-old Rohingya Muslim, the office of President Htin Kyaw said, as a security sweep in the country's northwest is increasingly beset by allegations of human rights abuses.

Security forces moved into northern Rakhine State after coordinated attacks on three border guard posts on Oct. 9 killed nine police officers.

The sudden escalation of violence in Rakhine state poses a serious challenge to the six-month-old government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who was swept to power in an election last year but has faced criticism abroad for failing to tackle rights abuses against the Rohingya and other Muslims.

The government has said some 400 Rohingya militants with links to Islamists overseas were behind this month's attacks and later clashes in which five soldiers were killed. A group calling itself Al-Yakin Mujahidin claimed responsibility for the attacks in videos posted online.

UN officials are pressuring Myanmar to allow aid and observers into the area, where the majority of residents are stateless Rohingya Muslims.

Residents and human rights campaigners say security forces have killed civilians, arbitrarily detained residents, committed rape and burned houses.

Htin Kyaw's office said via its website that authorities had opened an investigation into the death of Khawrimular, who was detained on Oct. 14 on suspicion of involvement in the earlier attacks along with his three sons and two of his brothers.

Sources in the Maungdaw area of Rakhine told Reuters Khawrimular was a community leader and previously worked for international aid organizations in the area.

Soldiers interrogated Khawrimular and returned him to Kyeinchain police station, where the suspects were being held, on the morning of Oct. 17, said an official account published in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Thursday.

"On the way back, the suspect grabbed a firearm from a soldier. Responsible personnel managed to subdue Khawrimular, but he lost consciousness as a result," the report said, adding that he died on the way to hospital. 

Security forces have killed at least 33 alleged attackers since Oct. 9 and more than 50 people have been arrested. At least two other deaths in custody have been reported.

Eight Rohingya women told Reuters this week that they were raped by soldiers who entered the remote U Shey Kya village to conduct what authorities called a "clearance operation" on Oct. 19.

The 1.1 million Rohingya living in Rakhine face discrimination, severe restrictions on their movements and access to services, especially since inter-communal violence in 2012 that displaced 125,000 people.

The U.N.'s human rights envoy on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, told reporters in New York on Thursday that she had heard "horrific stories" of abuses in Maungdaw.

"I have urged that there has to be complete access to this area and an impartial investigation needs to be conducted to verify, to explore the scope and nature and the cause of this recent attack," she said.