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Published by Rakhine State Advisory Commission on March 16, 2017





Let me make a few introductory remarks on our report.

First, we should accept that the nature of the crisis facing Rakhine state has changed due to the attacks of 9 October and the subsequent security operations.

This has led to investigations and reports by the United Nations and human rights agencies. However, we as the Advisory Commission are guided by our mandate to focus mainly on long-standing obstacles to peace and development in Rakhine State.

We recognise that the challenges facing Rakhine State and its peoples are complex and the search for lasting solutions will require determination, perseverance and trust. Nevertheless, there are steps that


Let me make a few introductory remarks on our report.

First, we should accept that the nature of the crisis facing Rakhine state has changed due to the attacks of 9 October and the subsequent security operations.

This has led to investigations and reports by the United Nations and human rights agencies. However, we as the Advisory Commission are guided by our mandate to focus mainly on long-standing obstacles to peace and development in Rakhine State.

We recognise that the challenges facing Rakhine State and its peoples are complex and the search for lasting solutions will require determination, perseverance and trust. Nevertheless, there are steps that can be taken immediately, which we put forward in this report.
The report proposes a series of measures to address the situation in Rakhine State.

These recommendations include a renewed call for unimpeded access for humanitarian actors and journalists to the affected areas in Northern Rakhine and for independent and impartial investigation of the allegations of crimes committed on and since 9 October 2016.

We strongly believe that perpetrators of these crimes must be held to account.

Our recommendations, of course, go beyond the current situation in Northern Rakhine and include proposals relating to: the protection of rights, freedom of movement, enhanced economic and social development and the edification of Rakhine’s cultural heritage.

The Commission is aware of a number of unresolved concerns surrounding the verification of citizenship and recommends that they be clarified and resolved without delay.

We also stress that inclusive access to healthcare and education for the all the people in Rakhine requires attention and improvement.

In this context the Commission makes some interim recommendations for early remedial measures.

In the Commission’s view, creating conditions conducive for inter-communal dialogue, representation and participation in public life are essential to ensure that Rakhine state is spared from recurring cycles of violence and destruction. We make some recommendations in that regard.

In developing these interim recommendations, my fellow Commissioners and I have undertaken numerous consultations and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders in Rakhine, Yangon, and Naypyitaw.

As part of that consultative process, a Commission team visited Bangladesh. We have also held consultations with officials from Indonesia, Thailand and organisations based in New York and Geneva.

We believe that bilateral cooperation with Bangladesh on security and economic matters is critical, as is the outreach to ASEAN members.

The recommendations in this report are not exhaustive and do not address all of the issues covered in our mandate.

These are early proposals for action. The main body of our recommendations will be presented in a final report later this year.

In closing I want to commend my fellow Commissioners and members of our office in Yangon, who have worked tirelessly to fulfil the important task, set for us by the State Counsellor.

Our consultations will continue as we work to produce our final report, and we look forward to further exchanges with communities and stakeholders across Rakhine State.





Bangladesh hosts between 300,000 and 500,000 Rohingya refugees [Naushad Ali Husein/Al Jazeera)

By Naushad Ali Husein & Maliha Khan
March 16, 2017

In cramped and unhygienic camps thousands of refugees face disease, hunger and uncertainty about the future

Balukhali, Bangladesh - Hafiz Shafiq's infant son has been crying all night. He has been suffering from diarrhoea for the past two weeks, and now he has developed a fever and is vomiting.

The seven-month-old's condition is deteriorating and with no medical facilities in the camp for Rohingya refugees where his family lives in Bangladesh's Balukhali township - about 45km southeast of Cox's Bazar - there is nobody to help.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) runs a free clinic nearly 7km away in Kutupalong, but most of the refugees at Balukhali, including Shafiq, prefer to consult unqualified locals who act as doctors.

A tense Shafiq, who does not know his age but thinks he is between 22 and 25, pleads for money to take his son to one. 

"I never thought I'd be in a position to ask a stranger for money," Shafiq says.

He opts to consult Khorshad Alam, who works as a private doctor in a room at the back of a chemist shop off a narrow alleyway in Kutupalong Bazar - a market mainly frequented by the Rohingya community. The one-room clinic has two beds, both of which are occupied by women receiving intravenous drips.

The doctor's lips and gums are stained red from chewing betel nut. His prescription states that he has received Local Medical Assistant and Family Planning (LMAF) training. But according to Bangladeshi law, LMAF medics are not considered qualified to prescribe medication. Still, Khorshad prescribes four types of medication for baby Shahid and administers two injections.

Seven months ago, when Shahid was born, Shafiq was living comfortably with his parents, and running his own shop in his home village of Bodibazar, in Rakhine state, across the border in Myanmar.

Hundreds of Rohingya killed 

Although the Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for centuries, they were stripped of their citizenship in 1982 effectively rendering them stateless. Their movement is tightly restricted by the authorities. 

More than 90,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar since October when the military launched a crackdown against what it called Rohingya insurgents after an attack on an army post.

Since then hundreds of Rohingya civilians have been killed. The United Nations has accused Myanmar's military of committing crimes against humanity.

"They burned homes, and went around raping women in our village," says Shafiq. "They torched my shop."

"They hate any marks of Islam - my beard, my cap, my dress," he adds. 

Fearing for his life, Shafiq crossed the Naf River with his wife and son in November, leaving his parents and business behind.

Hafiz Shafiq arrived in Bangladesh with his wife and seven-month old son [Naushad Ali Husein/Al Jazeera]

Thousands of other refugees have also found their way to makeshift camps along the border areas, in places such as Kutupalong, Nayapara and Leda in Cox's Bazar, a major city in southern Bangladesh.

As refugees continue to pour in, many have been directed to the Balukhali camp, which has been set up near salt fields and offers little protection from harsh weather conditions and wild animals.

This is not Shafiq's first time in Bangladesh. From the age of six, he attended an Islamic madrasa in Cox's Bazar. He only left three years ago. Educational institutions in Myanmar are segregated and, since the outbreak of violence against Rohingya in 2012, members of the community have not been able to attend university.

It would take him an hour and a half to reach his school in Bangladesh from his village in Myanmar, Shafiq explains. "My village is five minutes from a point where we can cross the border - it was usual for people to cross back and forth," he says.

But when Shafiq crossed this time, it was to live in a hut in the Balukhali camp built by his uncle, who left Myanmar years ago. Many other refugees are not as fortunate - too poor to build a hut, they live under tarpaulin in the woods.

Underground aid

Rohingya refugees have been living in Bangladesh since the 1970s. Estimates of the total number vary from 300,000 to 500,000. Most of the refugee camps are located off the Teknaf-Cox's Bazar highway that runs along the Naf River that separates Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Balukhali camp has ballooned to accommodate many of the recent arrivals, while many older refugees have moved out of the camps to live as undocumented immigrants within Bangladeshi communities.

Every fortnight, the World Food Programme (WFP) gives 25kg of rice and fortified food to the most vulnerable Rohingya families in the camps.

It also runs a supplementary programme for young children and pregnant and lactating women, while the MSF regularly conducts immunisation campaigns among the children.

But the WFP only recently began distributing food at Balukhali. They say they will now do so every 15 days. 

In February, an aid ship from Malaysia delivered supplies, some of which reached the Balukhali camp.

The refugees say they have been receiving food rations through unofficial channels.

"We get about 5kg of rice every few days," explains Shafiq, adding that he doesn't know where it comes from.

The Bangladeshi government has strongly discouraged the distribution of aid to Rohingya refugees and banned three NGOs from doing so, saying that it will encourage more to cross the border.

When approached by Al Jazeera, both the interior and the foreign ministries declined to comment on this.

"Any truck containing aid is turned back at the Morichya checkpoint [a checkpoint along the highway where the refugee camps are located], unless they have express approval from the government," says social welfare activist Abul Kashem, who regularly organises shipments of aid to the camps.

"We have to tell the authorities that the material is for locals. That is the only way they allow the trucks to pass."

A WFP official told us on the condition of anonymity that it took much effort on the organisation's part to obtain the government's approval to distribute aid to Rohingya.

But as the refugee numbers swelled, more official aid did start to trickle into the camps.

"The International Organization for Migration distributed blankets, soap, torches, water pitchers and other basic supplies to each family," explains Shafiq, who recalls how "the mood at the camp was very happy" when that happened.

Life at Balukhali

When I first visited Balukhali camp, which has been built on a recently deforested hill, in the first week of February, there were just over 800 huts. Two weeks later, it had grown to more than 1,700. Locals from a nearby village were selling building materials at the camp's entrance.

The huts are made of plastic sheets stretched over bamboo frames. The sand-battered sheets are covered with tree branches and dry leaves to shield them from the sun.

Each rectangular hut is about 2.5 metres wide and 3.6 metres long. You must stoop to enter but may just be able to stand upright at the point where the roof is highest.

At night, the residents fear that wild animals will enter the camp from the adjacent forest. "We moved our house a few days ago because we were scared of the elephants," Shafiq says.

Until recently, there were no toilets in the camps and men could be seen urinating in the sand. Others would go into the forest for more privacy. 

"I can't even begin to tell you how hard it is to adapt to not having toilets," Shafiq says.

Risk of disease

Toilets have recently been installed, although the refugees say they don't know who provided them. Some credit residents of nearby villages, others say it was religious organisations.

But even since their installation, the smell of faeces has intensified as more people arrive at the camp daily.

The refugee camp in Balukhali lacks basic amenities [ Naushad Ali Husein /Al Jazeera]

Activist Kashem, who occasionally volunteers for NGOs, believes that there is a risk of a cholera outbreak. Four Rohingya residents, including two children, at Balukhali camp have died of diarrhoea in recent weeks.

About a month ago, the NGO SHED distributed water filters to every hut in an effort to contain the outbreak of disease. Before that, the refugees drank water directly from the tube wells installed for them by local residents.

Kashem is concerned that the rains, which are still several weeks away, will worsen the already poor hygiene conditions.

Almost all of the refugees have friends and relatives who fled before them. Like Shafiq, many fall back on these networks for survival. This is especially true in Balukhali, where most have no means of making a living.

"[The] day before yesterday we had only rice with salt [for lunch], because there was nothing else. Today is a good day, there is tilapia fish and vegetables," says Shafiq.

But other refugees are facing even greater hardships. Mohammed Hashem, 38, and Noyon Shona, 30, for example, have to take care of their five children as well as four of their nephews, who were orphaned in the latest round of violence in Myanmar.

The country's military set fire to the houses in their village, Hashem explains, and the villagers tried to escape whichever way they could. But Hashem's brother and sister-in-law didn't survive.

"My brother was a big man," he says. "He could not escape. He was shot by the Burmese [Myanmar] armed forces while trying to flee."

'One day at a time'

Hashem is the only breadwinner in his family. He works in a paddy field for about 300 Bangladeshi Taka ($3.74) a day when work is available. But still his family eats only one meal on most days.

Shafiq spends most of his time at the newly built mosque leading prayers, teaching children at the madrasa, and delivering sermons. He says his only source of income is a small honorarium he gets as the mosque's imam.

An LED light bulb in his hut reveals the special status Shafiq enjoys, as a local villager has shared the electricity from his own solar panel with him for free.

The hut is divided by a curtain and Shafiq's wife, Rokeya Begum, joins the conversation from behind it only when she is addressed.

Rokeya, 22, endured a difficult pregnancy. She gave birth by caesarean section and required expensive treatment during and following the procedure.



Shafiq paid for this with loans, and sometimes cash from friends and acquaintances he has made in Bangladesh over the years. "I used to feel ashamed, but I can't any more," he reflects.

Unpacking his blue plastic paan (betel leaf) box, Shafiq laments: "If I was in Myanmar, I could show you how we honour guests. We always have extra food in the house. We always entertain our guests at home. But right now we're just scraping by one day at a time."

Searching for work

Being in close proximity to a port, construction sites and salt fields, the refugee camps in Kutupalong, Nayapara and Leda offer better opportunities for the refugees to earn a living.

The main road passing through the Leda camp is a bustling bazaar, with hundreds of shops run by refugees.

But Balukhali is isolated and there are few work opportunities here. There is one main grocery store run by a resident from a nearby village, and a few tea stalls, which are also mostly run by villagers. A few of the refugees help out in local people's houses, but most must rely on finding work as labourers on farms.

Jamal Hossain, 18, and Ezhar Hossain, 25, (who are not related) have to travel from the camp to Cox's Bazar for work.

It's a gamble, because they may or may not get work at the end of it. For the past five days they have been fortunate to have found work in paddy fields. Between the two of them, they were paid 1,200 Taka ($15) for a day's labour. But they had to spend nearly half of it on travel as it costs around 280 Taka per person for a round trip to Cox's Bazar.

"If we don't get work one morning, we have to spend out of our pockets to get back home," explains Jamal.

Even though the security forces do not formally restrict the movement of Rohingya, Shafiq says they often endure targeted searches at checkpoints. "If they find out a person is Rohingya, they'll search their things, and often harass them."

Seeking the light of education

The Myanmar government announced on February 15 that it had ended its military operation against the Rohingya. "I have been in constant contact with my parents and siblings, and they are safe back home," says Shafiq.

But, despite the hardships in Bangladesh, Shafiq and Rokeya are not planning to return home. "We will stay where the chances are best to educate our son," says Rokeya.

"I want him to learn all different subjects, and not be limited," says Shafiq.

There are no schools in Balukhali. The madrasas teach only Islamic studies and the language of instruction is limited to Arabic. There are no options for children to learn Bengali or English.

The primary schools at the camps in Kutupalong and Nayapara are restricted to registered and older refugees. But even if Shafiq's son were to somehow gain access to one of those schools, anything beyond primary level will be legally impossible if the current situation prevails.

Government schools only admit those with identification documents, which only a handful of Rohingya refugees are able to procure.

Through his work at the mosque and madrasa, Shafiq has become popular with residents of the nearby villages. He hopes one of them will eventually be able to help him enrol his son in a school. "A cleric from Feni invited me to go back with him, and said that he could help me," he says.

"Right now he [Shahid] is young. When he is older, I want to educate him. It is the only way he will be a man."

In January, the Bangladeshi government proposed relocating the Rohingya refugees to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal.

Shafiq says people at the camp believe that the government won't force them to leave.

"If it's a nice place, people would go, but we've heard that it floods and that it's not quite habitable."

More than 90,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar since October [ Naushad Ali Husein /Al Jazeera]


Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the conference that Malaysia had played a significant role in helping the Rohingya and it was done, not because Malaysia was rich but out of compassion towards other human beings.

March 16, 2017

PUTRAJAYA — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has urged Myanmar to immediately end the crisis faced by the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine state.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the International Rohingya Conference 2017 here, he said the action would prove to the Asean communities that Myanmar had a big heart and could accept Muslim minority Rohingya as one of their citizens.

“If Myanmar does not want to recognise the Rohingya as their citizens, then they should come up with another resolution, instead of eradicating them from the Rakhine state,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also home minister, stressed that “what happened and (was) still happening” to the Rohingya Muslim was really disappointing and unacceptable.

Urging Myanmar’s State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi to stop what he described as “craziest, madness crisis”, he said: “We really hope that what is happening in the Rakhine state will end soonest possible and infinitely.”

Although Myanmar claims the Rohingya ‘cleansing’ as their domestic issue, the deputy prime minister said Myanmar should know their act was hazardous and would trigger the ‘uneasy feelings’ of Muslim communities worldwide.

Slamming Myanmar for ignoring Malaysia’s diplomatic messages to put an end to the crisis, Ahmad Zahid reminded the republic to remember the objectives of joining Asean in July 1997 was to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice.

“If you look at the history of Asean, Malaysia was the only country which stood up to protect Myanmar when they (it was) are alone. We were firm and fought for their inclusion in Asean.

“I believe the type of acts like burning, killing lives and violating human being are not written in any religious scripture,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid told the conference that Malaysia had played a significant role in helping the Rohingya and it was done, not because Malaysia was rich but out of compassion towards other human beings.

“We will never stop our assistance to Rohingya. Malaysia has been on the frontline when it comes to the irregular movement of people,” he said.

Malaysia is hosting about 56,000 Rohingya comprising men, women and children who have fled from the Rakhine state.

He said the Rohingya people would need short and long term solutions to pull them out from the tragedy since they could become easy targets for human trafficking networks and terrorist organisations.

The conference, which is participated by 180 delegates from Asean and Muslim countries, is jointly organised by the Institute of Public Security of Malaysia, Amal Foundation of Malaysia, the International Federation of Relief and Development and the International Union of Muslim Scholars.
Rohingya refugee women walk at Kutupalang unregistered Refugee Camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, March 2, 2017. Picture taken March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Claudia Jardim

By Simon Lewis and Wa Lone
March 16, 2017

SITTWE, MYANMAR -- Since security forces swept into their villages in northwestern Myanmar late last year, around 75,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled across the nearby border to Bangladesh. Many now fear that the authorities in Myanmar could make their displacement permanent.

At least once a year, local administrators go house-to-house in the Rohingya villages of northern Rakhine State, lining up families to check their names against official lists.

The names of those Muslims found missing are crossed through with a red pen, residents say.

The government says it is not using the household count to try to force the Rohingya out of the country and is holding off from finalising the latest list. But officials confirmed that people eventually struck from the list face legal action under immigration laws if they try to return.

Muhammad Ismail, 30, escaped the recent violence and is now living in a makeshift settlement in Bangladesh. His father told him by phone that officials had visited his home village of Dar Gyi Zarin January, checking who was still there.

"I'm scared that if I go back, I'll be jailed," he told Reuters. "This is the law. This is how we understand the rules."

The household survey, which is not conducted elsewhere in Myanmar, is one of a series of measures that rights activists say amount to a system of apartheid against the 1.1 million Rohingya living in northern Rakhine.

"We have to stand for a group photo as a family," said a Rohingya community leader, who did not want to be named. "They ask us if all the family is there and if anyone is missing." 

The authorities have also surveyed and marked for demolition allegedly unauthorised buildings in Muslim villages, residents and officials say. And Rohingyas say their movements are being restricted if they do not accept new temporary identity cards.

The democratically elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi says the identity card scheme will give the stateless Muslim minority more rights, but many Rohingya say they fear it is a ruse to deny them citizenship.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been criticised abroad for failing to confront her country's persecution of the Rohingya, who many in the Buddhist majority view as unwanted illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

A RED LINE

Myanmar's armed forces launched a crackdown in northern Rakhine after Rohingya insurgents attacked border guard posts on Oct. 9. Tens of thousands of people fled across the border during the subsequent violence, amid multiple allegations of mass killings and gang rapes by troops.

Accounts gathered by Reuters from 10 residents and refugees, and confirmed by two Myanmar government officials, show an administrative push to record those who had left began soon after the military campaign started.

The household survey is usually carried out in January and February.

A senior immigration official in northern Rakhine, who declined to be identified, said the count was complete this year aside from those villages worst hit by the conflict. 

But he said officials had only marked those missing in pencil - not the feared red pen - and were awaiting orders to finalise the survey.

"This year, because it might create conflict, we've delayed the list," said Kyaw Swar Tun, General Administration Department (GAD) director based in the state capital, Sittwe. "We're waiting for them to come back."

The GAD oversees Myanmar's sprawling local bureaucracy and is controlled by the military.

He declined to show the list to Reuters, citing confidentiality for official documents, or to say when it would be finalised. But, he added, "Once they're on the list, they can't come back."

On Monday the United Nation's special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, warned pressing ahead with the exercise while so many people were displaced could be seen as an attempt to depopulate Rohingya districts.

"Conducting a household survey - where those absent may be struck off the list that could be the only legal proof of their status in Myanmar - indicates the government may be trying to expel the Rohingya population from the country altogether," she told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. "I sincerely hope that that is not the case."

Police Major Kyaw Mya Win at Maungdaw police station, in northern Rakhine, said authorities in the area have in the past filed charges against those who had been marked off the list. 

"People who fled to Bangladesh have been charged with illegal immigration acts when they returned to the country," he said, declining to outline the specific charges.

"WE ARE NOT FOREIGNERS"

Administration along Myanmar's rugged frontier with Bangladesh is largely in the hands of the paramilitary Border Guard Police (BGP).

Residents say that, soon after the conflict erupted, the BGP also began identifying structures in Rohingya villages that had been built without formal permits - including homes, mosques and Arabic schools.

The GAD's Kyaw Swar Tun said more than 3,300 buildings had been listed for demolition, but said none had so far been pulled down.

Min Aung, a minister and spokesman for the Rakhine state government, said officials had ordered a halt to the checks, recognising that they could cause tensions.

However, since the buildings were illegal they would have to be demolished eventually, said Min Aung, a member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, insisting that the same action would be taken anywhere in the country.

"The government just removed illegal buildings like stores, houses, religious building, but they are merely huts, not really big buildings," he said.

Although many Rohingya trace their roots in Myanmar back generations, years of discriminatory policies have left most without valid identification. Temporary cards issued in the 1990s, which gave them voting rights, were invalidated in 2015.

Muslims in northern Rakhine say they are under pressure to accept a National Verification Card (NVC). "If we don't take it we can't travel from place to place," said the community leader.

Suu Kyi's civilian government - which is not in charge of security and does not oversee the BGP, but has been pushing the ID card scheme - says that holders will be able to apply for citizenship.

But Kyaw Hla Aung, a Rohingya lawyer in Sittwe, said the scheme fell short of the group's demand to officially identify themselves as Rohingya - a term Myanmar does not recognise.

"NVC is not related to us - it's for foreigners," he said.

Officials denied the government was coercing people to accept the document.

"The roadblocks are not stopping people from moving – but they are checking NVCs," said state minister Min Aung. "We can't allow people to travel without documents."

(Additional reporting by Antoni Slodkowski and Krishna N. Das in LEDA, BANGLADESH.; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan is seen in a video conference in Yangon, Myanmar, March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Pyay Kyaw Aung

By Wa Lone and Simon Lewis 
March 16, 2017

YANGON -- Myanmar should immediately start letting Rohingya Muslims return home and ultimately close rundown camps for the displaced in its western Rakhine state, a panel led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said on Thursday. 

More than 120,000 people, mostly Rohingyas, have been living in what were meant as temporary shelters for internally displaced persons (IDPs) since bouts of communal violence roiled the state in 2012.

"It’s really about time they close the camps and allow the people in the camps, particularly those who have gone through the (citizenship) verification process, access to freedom of movement and all rights of citizenship," Annan told Reuters by telephone from Geneva. 

Hundreds of displaced people, whose return home would be feasible and safe, should be moved back "immediately, as a first step and sign of goodwill," the panel said.

The office of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed the proposals. 

The panel urged the government to reconsider a failed program to verify Rohingyas for Myanmar citizenship and begin mapping the restrictions on movement by both Rohingya Muslims and their Buddhist neighbors in Rakhine.

Residents complain of a system of checkpoints in parts of the state and widespread extortion by officials at roadblocks.

Months after taking power last year in a transition from decades of military rule, Suu Kyi appointed Annan in August to lead the advisory commission. 

The nine-member panel was asked to propose solutions to the Rakhine State problems within a year, but put forward interim recommendations on Thursday that will test her commitment, questioned by many abroad, to improve conditions for Rohingya.

In a statement issued within hours of the recommendations being published, Suu Kyi's office said the government "concurs with the recommendations and believes that these will have a positive impact on the process of the national reconciliation and development". 

Most of the recommendations would be "implemented promptly," the office said, while "a few will be contingent upon the situation on the ground".

The work of the six Myanmar and three international commissioners was made more challenging in the early hours of Oct. 9, when armed Rohingya men launched coordinated attacks on border guard posts, killing nine police and seizing weapons and ammunition.

The commission called for an "independent and impartial" investigation into a subsequent crackdown by security forces in the northern part of Rakhine, but stopped short of backing calls for a full United Nations-led commission of inquiry.

"We have made recommendations that can be implemented now and help improve the situation," Annan added, saying he hoped the government would act quickly to "stem the deterioration of relations between communities and between the government and the Muslim community in Rakhine." 

About 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims are denied citizenship in Myanmar, with their movement and access to services restricted. Many in the Buddhist-majority country view them as unwanted immigrants from Bangladesh.

The government must restart registration of Muslims births in Rakhine, almost completely halted since 2012, the panel said.

"It is not natural in any country of the world that a newborn baby does not have a birth certificate," panel member Ghassan Salame said.

(Editing by Clarence Fernandez; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

A Rohingya boy walks at a refugee camp in Sitwe, in the state of Rakhine, Myanmar March 2, 2017. Picture taken March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun


By Stephanie Nebehay 
March 16, 2017

GENEVA -- The European Union called on Thursday for the United Nations to send an international fact-finding mission urgently to Myanmar to investigate allegations of torture, rapes and executions by the military against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

A U.N. report last month, based on interviews with survivors in Bangladesh, said the Myanmar army and police had committed mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya in a campaign that may amount to crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

The EU draft resolution, submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council, strengthens language in an earlier draft circulating that stopped short of demanding an international probe into alleged atrocities.

The 47-member forum, currently holding a four-week session, is to vote on resolutions from March 23-24.

If adopted, the Council would "dispatch urgently an independent international fact-finding mission" to Myanmar to investigate violations "with a view to ensure full accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims".

Some 75,000 people have fled Rakhine state to Bangladesh since Myanmar's military began a security operation last October in response to what it says was an attack by Rohingya insurgents on border posts in which nine police officers were killed.

The U.N. Security Council will be briefed behind closed doors on Friday on the situation in Rakhine state, at the request of Britain, diplomats said in New York. 

The EU resolution calls on the government of Aung San Suu Kyi to "fully cooperate with the fact-finding mission, including by making available the findings of the domestic investigations".

Activists say that national efforts have not been credible and have called for an international inquiry.

Myanmar has denied almost all allegations of human rights abuses in northern Rakhine and says a lawful counterinsurgency campaign is under way.

Yanghee Lee, U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar, told the rights council on Monday that the government may be using bureaucratic means to get rid of the Rohingya. She cited dismantling of homes and use of a household survey whereby those absent may be struck off the list that could be the only legal proof of their status.

A panel led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said earlier on Thursday that Myanmar should immediately start allowing Rohingya to return home and ultimately close rundown camps for the displaced.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Alison Williams and Pritha Sardar)



By Joseph Kaos Jr
March 15, 2017

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will not stop in its efforts to address issues affecting the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman (pic) said humanitarian assistance as well as continuous pressure from the international community have produced results, and as such, needs to be continued.

“I believe that the international community’s efforts to urge and encourage the Myanmar Government to alleviate the plight and suffering of the Rohingyas have borne fruit.

“On Feb 15, it was reported that the Myanmar army has halted its security operations in Rakhine and ended a four-month crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim community.

“Malaysia, as a responsible member of the international community will continue to play its part in addressing this issue,” said Anifah, in his address at a special dinner at the International Conference on Rohingya 2017 here Wednesday night.

As a show of Malaysia's commitment towards the Rohingya, Anifah said the country had already announced a contribution of RM10mil to assist in humanitarian efforts and social rehabilitation projects in Rakhine state.

He said Malaysia has also played its role in encouraging other countries to join in its efforts to help the Rohingyas.

“During Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s official visit to Qatar recently, the Government of Qatar through the Qatar Development Fund pledged a total of US$50mil (RM222.4mil) to be channelled in stages to the National Security Council of Malaysia.

“The fund will be used to provide semi-skilled and skilled training, as well as education, health and medical facilities to improve the wellbeing of Rohingya communities in Malaysia,” said Anifah.

As of February, there are 149,496 Persons of Concern registered with UNHCR in Malaysia.

Out of this figure, some 133,263 are from Myanmar, and from that total 56,458 are Rohingyas.

The three-day conference is organised by the Institute of Public Security of Malaysia, Amal Foundation of Malaysia, International Union for Muslim Scholars and International Federation for Relief and Development, Malaysia Chapter.

Anifah said the conference is “very timely and opportune”, as it “provides a platform for experts from all around the world to sit together and formulate proposals to resolve the tragedy that has befallen the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar."


Rohingya Muslim men stand at U Shey Kya village outside Maugndaw in Rakhine state, Myanmar October 27, 2016. Picture taken October 27, 2016. Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun

By Frenalyn Untalan
March 15, 2017

Human rights groups condemn Australia for not backing an international investigation into atrocities against Rohingya Muslims. The administration of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull supposedly refused to support the enquiry despite a motion passed in the Senate that urges the country to call for a United Nations commission of inquiry.

In its statement to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Australian government is calling Myanmar to perform its own investigation with international assistance. "We encourage Myanmar to continue its cooperation with relevant international human rights mechanisms," it said.

Emily Howie, director of advocacy and research at Australia's Human Rights Law Centre, called the wording of Australia's statement "hopelessly weak.” She added that its position is a "real shame and sits uneasily with the serious concern showed by the Senate across all parties, including the government.”

Howie believes that if the country continues to act in such way by the time it sits on the council, its decisions would result to real human consequences. Thousands of victims would continue to suffer crimes against humanity without an attempt to save them.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, commented that Australia was demoted to a corner as United States, European Union and even Bangladesh pushed for international investigation. "Australia's human rights policy has literally been at sea for so long with refugee boats that Canberra seems to now instinctively adopt the preferred policy of rights violating Asian nations," he said.

Last month, Australian senators passed a Greens motion to declare the religious and ethnic equality of its people, including Rohingya. The motion, proposed by Scott Ludlam, argues that the government has to consider backing a UN commission of inquiry into abuses in the Buddhist-majority country. Ludlam described what is currently happening in Rohingya as "devastating".

Sydney Morning Herald notes that since October, nearly 80,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine for refugee camps at the Bangladesh border. Myanmar's military then launched a crackdown after a police post that took the lives of nine policemen. Rohingya is being denied basic rights, such as citizenship. In 2001, Rohingya was attacked by Arakanese mobs and destroyed their mosques and schools.

The UN Human Rights Council is expected to cast their votes later his month on the human rights situation in Myanmar. Establishing a UN inquiry into "gross human rights violations by the military and security forces" in Rakhine is one of the draft resolutions being negotiated.

An Indonesian protester holds a poster with a defaced image of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi during a recent protest in Jakarta against the Rohingya violence. Source: Reuters/Beawiharta

By Emma Richards
Asian Correspondent
March 15, 2017

THE plight of the Rohingya was brutally summed up by UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee when she told of horrific allegations from the community of children being thrown into fires, people tied up indoors while their homes were set ablaze and last but not least, the violent raping of local women.

At the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, Lee also accused Burma of using bureaucratic means to “expel” the Rohingya minority from the country altogether.

The accusation of such unabashed brutality is the latest in a long line of accusations that reflect badly on Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has led Burma since her party’s resounding election victory back in 2015.

Suu Kyi’s government rejected Lee’s bid to set up a Commission of Inquiry into the abuses and insisted its own national probe could uncover the facts in Rakhine, leading critics to believe not enough is being done to combat the problem.

As allegations of abuse in Rakhine state and ethnic clashes in Burma’s northern states mount, Suu Kyi is coming under growing international pressure to take action. But these calls have been for naught, as they are often met with silence and denial.

Regarded for years as a beacon of hope in a country torn apart by the struggle against oppression, could Suu Kyi, the once golden child of democracy, be losing her shine?

Early “golden” years

As the darling of the West, Suu Kyi courted almost unanimously positive press from the western media at the beginning of her political career.

Her powerful, unrelenting resolve along with her undeniable allure and storybook-like post-colonial upbringing made her revered around the globe. Hundreds of thousands attended her rallies at home and her collections of writing became bestsellers abroad, drawing mass global attention to her message.

Amnesty International made her a prisoner of conscience and Vanity Fair dubbed her ‘Burma’s Saint Joan’, labels repeated countless times in news reports and speeches across the world.

In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in honour of her “unflagging efforts” and her resolve to strive for “ethnic conciliation by peaceful means”.

Then India’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru award for international understanding was given the following year.

Politicians lauded her with praise and she was often mentioned in the same context as fellow freedom fighters such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.

While under military-enforced house arrest in Rangoon, reporters took great risks to speak to her, to hear her courageous story of resistance.

Portraits of her were seen all over the world, and celebrities clambered to jump on the Suu Kyi bandwagon.

It seemed there was no limit to her global popularity.

But there has been a notable shift in opinion of late amid mounting reports of rights abuses coming out of Burma, putting her status as exemplar of democratic values under threat.

Turning tides

Since the military launched a crackdown back in October following the death of nine policemen in Rakhine state, it is believed that 75,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled across the border to neighbouring Bangladesh with another 20,000 being displaced within Rakhine state, the UN reported. Claims of rape and murder, and accusations of ethnic cleansing, at the hands of the armed forces have been rife.

Rather than end this cycle of persecution and violence, Suu Kyi is being accused of pandering to Burma’s Buddhist majority in an attempt to court votes rather than assert her principles. She is also yet to visit the area, which has been sealed off under a military directive designed to keep out foreign aid workers and journalists.

While Suu Kyi has taken steps to set up several commissions to review the situation in the Rakhine state, their impartiality have been questioned.

UN rapporteur Lee has stated that she does not believe that they have discharged their investigative obligations and questioned to what extent the investigations will be prompt, thorough, independent and impartial. She has also accused them of not having a “robust methodology or policies in place to address key issues such as witness protection or documentation of evidence.”

Progress in northern Kachin and Shan states, which have seen rebel fighting for decades, has also been almost non-existent despite promises from the National League for Democracy (NLD) to make it a priority following their election victory, with the aim of achieving a nationwide ceasefire by February 2017.

Following the NLD’s peace conference in late August, the military ramped up attacks in Kachin, intensified operations in neighbouring Shan state and began a hunt for a rebel splinter group in southern Karen state, an area that had seen little fighting for years.

Thousands of civilians were displaced and reports emerged of torture, extrajudicial killings and indiscriminate shelling of villages, for which the army has long been notorious.

Suu Kyi’s muted responses to the allegations of killings and abuse have largely consisted of defending or denying the actions of the military.

“Show me a country without human rights issues,” she said in October, as reported by New York Times.

“Every country has human rights abuses.”

A few weeks later during a visit to Tokyo, she said, “We have been very careful not to blame anyone until we have complete evidence about who has been responsible.”

In response to the Kachin problem, Suu Kyi’s office issued a statement claiming that the “information is absolutely not true.”

Suu Kyi has repeatedly tried to downplay the accusations and the scale of the military operations in both regions, drawing condemnation from rights groups and leaders alike.

Amid the escalating human rights abuses, she is also cultivating a reputation for being above public scrutiny and highly anti-media.

And gone are the days of courting international journalists; Suu Kyi now rarely gives interviews to the Burmese press and carefully handpicks her encounters with international media. There is no regular questioning from MPs in Parliament and there has not been a proper press conference since just before the election 14 months ago.

Her government has also taken full advantage of the controversial Telecommunications Law that polices online defamation of the regime, jailing 38 people since her election victory in 2015.

Toeing the line?

Suu Kyi’s almost steadfast refusal to criticise the military now that she is in power, after being a vocal critic whilst in opposition, has raised the question – is she toeing the line or does she believe what she says?

As the civilian leader of the government, Suu Kyi shares power with the military. The army controls the vital cabinets of defence, home affairs and border affairs. Notably, these are the ministries that are running the anti-insurgency operation in Rakhine State.

Suu Kyi has in the past vowed to change this but so far no clear intent towards that has been displayed.

Given the military’s pervasive power, Suu Kyi is forced to work with the men in uniform, rather than against them. The relationship remains tenuous and there continues to be a substantial sources of friction, however, it is a relationship born out of necessity, said Larry Jagan, a former BBC World Service journalist.

“They are working closely together on the peace process, and understand they need each other for this,” he said.

This has led many to believe that Suu Kyi may be biding her time until she is able to curtail the military’s power and shift the balance of power in her direction.

Some believe, however, that Suu Kyi may believe what she says due to the source of her information.

Most of the information she receives on the Rohingya and northern states come from military leaders, leading to some analysts in Burma to believe the army may have convinced her that Rohingya in Rakhine are terrorists.

Her government advisers are also mostly former military officers, or veteran civil servants with firm beliefs about the superiority of Buddhist values over all others, they say.

This theory is supported by comments from U Zaw Htay, spokesman for Suu Kyi, saying she was “standing” with the military.

“She knows everything,” he said, “The military has been briefing her on every important issue.”

What now?

Once the lionised freedom fighter, Suu Kyi now finds herself leader of a country responsible for the most persecuted minority in the world.

“Aung San Suu Kyi was held as this Joan of Arc figure and was such a beacon of hope for the Myanmar people that, in any other country, she was almost bound to fail,” argued Andrew Jaggard of consulting firm Mekong Economics.

Many who admired her resolve throughout the years of house arrest, and those Burmese that believed she was the symbol of hope, remain disillusioned in her failure to act in the face of wrongdoing.

Perhaps Suu Kyi is laying the groundwork and biding her time until an opportunity shows itself to make real change. Or perhaps she is a cynical politician who is willing to put votes ahead of principles.

But as Harvard Law Professor Tyler Gianni told the New York Times:

“She says she is a politician [but] you can have politics and you can have protection of the civilian population at the same time.”

Ko Ni, a prominent member of Myanmar's Muslim minority and legal adviser for Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy, during an interview in Yangon, Jan. 13, 2016. Ko Ni was shot dead Jan. 29, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

By Ron Corben
March 14, 2017

BANGKOK — A close associate of murdered Myanmar lawyer Ko Ni says the constitutional expert was working on a plan to weaken the military's political power when he was gunned down at Yangon's airport soon after his return from a conference in Indonesia on January 29.

The revelation is likely to feed persistent suspicions – which have been denied – that the military had a role in the assassination.

Military still holds power

Despite handing over power to a civilian government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) party of activist Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar armed forces retain wide powers under a constitution it promulgated in 2008.

That constitution guarantees the military 25 percent of the seats in parliament and gives it a veto over any constitutional amendment. It also controls the Ministry of Home Affairs, giving it authority over much of the nation's permanent bureaucracy.

Murdered lawyer Ko Ni may have found a loophole around the military

But commentator Bertil Lintner, a close associate of Ko Ni who also worked with him on journalism training, told VOA in an interview that the prominent NLD adviser believed he had uncovered a "loophole" that could be used to circumvent the military veto.

"[Ko Ni] said that there is nothing in the 2008 constitution which says that the constitution cannot be abolished by a single vote in parliament," Lintner said. 

He said a simple majority vote was all that is needed "to abolish the constitution and adopt a new one. He was working on it."

Lintner said Aung San Suu Kyi considered the idea "too provocative" and preferred efforts at gradual reform. But he said Ko Ni remained insistent.

Police investigating the killing have said the plot to kill Ko Ni was hatched in a tea shop last year by men who had a grudge against the lawyer. Several arrests have been made in the case.

Commentator thinks Ko Ni's murder was a warning

But Lintner said he believes Ko Ni's killing was intended as a warning.

"His murder was meant to send a very strong signal to anyone else who would even dream or think of changing the constitution. And therefore it was carried out in broad daylight outside the airport," he said.

He added the killing had created a "climate of fear" within the NLD party.

National League for Democracy denies the murder created fear within the party

NLD spokesman Win Thein denied that, while acknowledging that Ko Ni's loss was a blow for the party.

"It was definitely ... not fear. (Ko Ni's death) was a great loss, it was a great loss," Win Thein said.

He said the party's relationship with the military is "just the same" as before, and the NLD is "definitely" not nervous over the political climate. He added that the NLD would "never lose hope of amending the constitution."

Ko Ni called an "expert" on the 2008 Constitution

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for the New York-based rights organization Human Rights Watch, said Ko Ni was one of only a few people within the NLD who fully understood the nation's 2008 military-backed charter.

"Let's be clear, U Ko Ni was the technician," Robertson told a briefing at the foreign correspondent club (FCCT). "The NLD has no one to replace him in terms of dealing with the constitution. And if you look at the current configuration of Burmese politics, the 2008 constitution is about central to everything."

Tony Davis, an analyst with HIS Janes, agreed that Ko Ni was widely seen as a danger to the military's influence.

"This man posed an existential threat not just to the [military's] bank accounts, their future, but to the future of the country as they and their fallen comrades and their fathers have seen it since independence [in 1948]," Davis said at the FCCT. 

He said Ko Ni's killing points to a "bleak outlook" for Myanmar's political landscape.

The next general elections are in 2020.

Yanghee Lee, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, delivers her report, during the 34th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 13, 2017. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) (Associated Press)

March 13, 2017

GENEVA — A U.N. expert on Myanmar says she’s “disappointed” at the lack of “appetite” at the Human Rights Council to back her call for the creation of Commission of Inquiry into alleged crimes against the Rohingya minority.

Special rapporteur Yanghee Lee, speaking to The Associated Press after addressing the 47-member council in Geneva on Monday, said she’s hearing of a difference of opinion “within even the European Union” about the best path forward in dealing with rights abuses in Myanmar.

“I am afraid that I have been a little bit disappointed because I don’t think there is an appetite or a push for a Commission of Inquiry from the normal sponsors of the resolution” and by countries that are the “normal players” in calls for such investigative bodies, Lee said.

She said a domestic investigative panel focusing on Rakhine state was “flawed” and another led by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan didn’t have an all-encompassing mandate.

Lee has been denied access to parts of Myanmar that she hoped to visit, and expressed concern about violence affecting civilians in Kachin and Shan states.

Based in part on her 12-day trip to Myanmar in January, a 25-page report issued by her office this month cited “continued and escalating violence” in those and other states, and said Lee had been told ‘the situation is currently worse than at any point in the past few years.”

Myanmar’s military, under international pressure over alleged abuses against members of the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority, has said official investigations failed to substantiate most accusations.

Lee said she’s been “hearing of the discovery of mass graves and things of that nature,” and appealed to the Myanmar government to let investigators like her “leave no stones unturned”

“If these allegations are indeed exaggerated allegations, everyone needs to know,” she told the AP. “If these allegations are true, I think Myanmar needs to know because this will be the obstacle to them fully reforming and transforming into a fully democratic society.”

The estimated 1 million Rohingya in Buddhist-majority Myanmar face official and social discrimination, and are mostly seen as immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh living illegally in the country. Many fled their homes during communal violence in 2012, and over 100,000 live in refugee camps.


    • Rohingya Exodus