By David Palumbo-Liu

Jacobin

June 11, 2018

Rohingyas in Burma are now one of most persecuted peoples in the world. What they're experiencing can only be called genocide.

Although global media outlets like the Economist have made the case that the Rohingya of Burma are the “most persecuted people in the world” for several years at this point, their plight has yet to fully register around the world.

Besides the fact that the genocide involves a poverty-stricken and stateless ethnic people with no political voice, the world’s lack of knowledge about the Rohingya also stems from the fact that Myanmar State Councillor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has offered cover for the brutality of her military through her lack of action and her dismissal of the carnage going on under her rule.

As Hannah Beech wrote in the New Yorker, “[Suu Kyi] has described the Rohingya insurgents as ‘terrorists’ and dismissed the worldwide condemnation, saying that international outlets have created ‘a huge iceberg of misinformation.’ Her office has accused the Rohingya of setting fire to their own homes in order to provoke an outcry.”

This January Bill Richardson, former New Mexico governor and former member of an international panel advising Suu Kyi, described her situation this way: “She seems isolated. She doesn’t travel much into the country. I think she’s developed a classic bubble.” Richardson resigned from the panel in frustration, blaming the Burmese military for most of the killing and destruction and calling the government’s investigation into the Rohingya crisis “a whitewash.”

What exactly is being whitewashed? A New York Times article gave graphic details of the kinds of atrocities the Myanmar government is trying to cover up: “Survivors said they saw government soldiers stabbing babies, cutting off boys’ heads, gang-raping girls, shooting 40-millimeter grenades into houses, burning entire families to death, and rounding up dozens of unarmed male villagers and summarily executing them.”

Human Rights Watch has gathered expensive data that corroborates what the refugees told the New York Times: “The atrocities committed by Burmese security forces, including mass killings, sexual violence, and widespread arson, amount to crimes against humanity. Military and civilian officials have repeatedly denied that security forces committed abuses during the operations, claims which are contradicted by extensive evidence and witness accounts.”

In March, the US Holocaust Museum joined several organizations that have taken back humanitarian recognition from Suu Kyi: it revoked its prestigious Elie Wiesel award, stating, “We had hoped that you — as someone we and many others have celebrated for your commitment to human dignity and universal human rights — would have done something to condemn and stop the military’s brutal campaign and to express solidarity with the targeted Rohingya population.”

At a recent international conference on the Rohingya held in Paris, organized by Dr. Maung Zarni, a Burmese Buddhist activist and organizer with the Free Rohingya Coalition, Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi indicted Suu Kyi specifically in terms of rape: “My sister laureate has dismissed as ‘made-up stories’ credible finding of the Burmese military’s use of systematic and pervasive rape and other acts of sexual violence – such as public stripping of Rohingya women.

The UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on sexual violence Primila Patten of Mauritius has also gone public with her exasperation over Suu Kyi’s refusal to engage substantively on the issue of Burmese military’s systematic sexual violence against literally thousands of Rohingya women and girls – many of whom did not make it to Cox Bazaar’s [in Bangladesh] camps. Suu Kyi should know that inactivity in the face of genocidal actions can carry moral and legal responsibility.”

Ebadi insisted that Suu Kyi and Burmese military leaders be brought before an international tribunal on charges of genocide. Stripping Suu Kyi of her prizes and accolades is an important step towards exposing the violence going on under her protection, but knowing the history and the causes behind the persecution is essential.

The debates over what words to use to describe the carnage in Myanmar are not simply a matter of semantics. Words like “genocide” and “apartheid” trigger specific sanctions within international law and human rights discourse. The issue of whether or not the Rohingya are an actual “ethnic group” is likewise a critical point of debate, with specific rights and remedies hanging in the balance.

Roots of an Atrocity

Who are the Rohingya and why is Burma so intent on its brutal program of ethnic cleansing?

The Rohingya are recognized internationally as an ethnic group, present in their current location from at least the twelfth century. When the modern states were created upon the end of the British empire, the Rohingya were instantly transformed from a distinct people into an ethnic minority within Burma, later to be known as Myanmar. But the Rohingya are Muslim, and the Burmese state sees itself as Buddhist. The ethnic cleansing is meant to force Rohingya into submission or out of the country.

There are two main reasons behind the genocide: racism and greed. Militant Buddhist groups such as the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party voice the dominant anti-Rohingya sentiment. One of its leaders, U Shwe Mg asserts: “the so-called Rohingya are just illegal immigrants. We allowed them to settle down here because we are generous people and we thought they would just stay a while. But the Bengali had a lot of children, paid Buddhist women to convert to Islam and marry them, stole our land, squeezed our resources, and now they demand equal rights and citizenship. It can’t be.”

This racism has been stirred up by the Burmese military, who have other reasons for expelling the Rohingya.: the land they have lived in for centuries has large natural gas resources. Big multinational corporations acting in collusion with the military are profiting from the killings and displacements. Even some Arab states such as Qatar are complicit in supporting the Burmese regime. According to Shirin Ebadi, these corporations and the military are “knee deep in the blood of the Rohingya people.”

The idea that these resources do not belong to the Rohingya, and that they are simply interlopers in Burma, is manifested in laws that perpetually keep them disenfranchised. Last year Myanmar began a citizenship verification programin Rakhine State under which some residents were granted a form of citizenship on condition that they identify as Bengali, rather than Rohingya. This puts the Rohingya in a Catch-22 situation. If they identify as Bengali in order to get this citizenship they are considered as immigrants from Bengal and their form of citizenship made precarious.

This is essentially a bribe to self-incriminate. Their taking this bait advances the government’s argument that the Rohingya are not a distinct Burmese ethnic group but rather Bengali “foreigners.” The Rohingya have resisted this form of blackmail and insist on their designation as a Burmese ethnic group.

Amnesty International has called the system the Rohingya live under “apartheid”: “This system appears designed to make Rohingyas’ lives as hopeless and humiliating as possible. The security forces’ brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing … is just another manifestation of this appalling attitude.”

The deliberate burning of Rohingya villages, often with their inhabitants inside, is done not only to cause death and displacement, but also because according to Burmese law, the state can then claim that land.

In December, UN Human Rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein noted“concordant reports of acts of appalling barbarity committed against the Rohingya, including deliberately burning people to death inside their homes, murders of children and adults; indiscriminate shooting of fleeing civilians; widespread rapes of women and girls, and the burning and destruction of houses, schools, markets and mosques… Can anyone… rule out that elements of genocide may be present?”

The only sanctuary that has been offered to the more than one million Rohingya refugees has been from one of the poorest nations in the world, Bangladesh, whose resources are now stretched to the limit. Fifty-eight percent of those refugees are children, many of them orphans who witnessed the execution of their parents and other family members. These children continue the generations-old history of being stateless. They are the most vulnerable of the vulnerable.

To give a sense of the immensity of this human-made horror, Shirin Ebadi asserted that refugee camps in Syria and Palestine are like “five-star hotels” compared to the refugee sites in Bangladesh. The present conditions are bad enough, with the monsoon season is fast approaching, disease, hunger, and death will rise exponentially very soon.

A Just Return

The Rohingya in exile are arguing for their human right to return, but most importantly in safety and with rights.

On June 6, the United Nations announced that a Memorandum of Understanding had been signed between the Government of Myanmar, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). It says the MOU is the first step needed to create conditions “conducive to voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable refugee returns from Bangladesh, and their reintegration in the country.”

While this seems an encouraging advance, it is crucial to note that the very people it is meant to help, the Rohingya, were given no voice in the matter. That is a disturbing sign. The process that led to this MOU has not been transparent, and the key idea of “citizenship” is left wide open to interpretation.

The only satisfactory kind of citizenship for the Rohingya would need to full and unconditional enfranchisement. Otherwise all the talk about “reintegration in the country” would rightfully be looked upon with suspicion. And even if legally granted full citizenship, it would be naïve to think the Myanmar government would not continue to find ways to continue its repression.

The international human rights NGO, Refugees International, reacted to the MOU thus: “UNHCR’s engagement in the process is welcome and its inclusion in a framework for returns will be an important step toward ensuring that any improvement of conditions in Myanmar can be independently verified. However, RI urges that the text of the MOU be made public and warns that conditions for Rohingya in Myanmar remain appalling.”

It added that “continued impunity, restricted access to aid, and denial of basic human rights in Myanmar’s Rakhine State make repatriation a distant reality at this time.”

But international law is mostly a matter of self-interest and the exercise of power to secure those interests. Today those interests are aimed toward acquiring those natural gas resources — hence the need to think broadly and imaginatively about how to act alongside international protections, which are slow to be activated. The role of civil society is therefore critical.

In the Paris conference, Mireille Fanon-Mendès France, a prominent human rights activist and daughter of Franz Fanon, noted the similarity between the case of the Rohingya and that of the Palestinians, and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement there, which stems from Palestinian civil society. The likeness is striking.

Foreign Policy agrees: “Both groups became disenfranchised in the aftermath of colonial rule and imperial collapse, and both the Myanmar and Israeli governments have attempted to relocate them from their territory, portraying them as foreigners with no claim to the land. In both Israel and Myanmar, there have been attempts to rewrite the history of the two persecuted groups, claiming that neither constitute a ‘real’ ethnic group and are thus interlopers and invaders.”

International solidarity groups have formed in many countries such as Japan, Turkey, the US, India, and Ireland that support and offer refuge to the Rohingya. Calls for boycotts and sanctions have been issued. At this point Bangladesh is bearing the weight of the world’s responsibility — this cannot continue to be the case.

Hannah Arendt wrote that human rights cannot depend on nation-states or international bodies for their viability. She said the only guarantor of human rights is the human community. On August 25, the Free Rohingya Coalition will hold a global day of awareness, and ask that world governments and civil society help end the suffering and death of the most vulnerable and persecuted people in the world.

Joint Statement 

June 10, 2018

We the undersigned Rohingya organisations worldwide note the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by UNHCR, UNDP, and the Myanmar government to support the creation of conditions conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to their homes in Arakan/Rakhine State. 

However, we are deeply concerned that (i) the MOU did not address the root causes of the Rohingya crisis, particularly the issue of Rohingya citizenship and ethnic identity, (ii) refugee representative has not been involved although the Rohingya have the right to know about the agreement relating to the process of repatriation, rehabilitation, reintegration and rebuilding of their bulldozed homes and their future, (iii) the texts of the MOU have not been made public leaving the international community in dark that calls into question. 

This is not the first repatriation agreement Myanmar has signed. All previous records showed that the UN agencies, including UNHCR as the agent of the interest of the international community, could not provide adequate protection to the Rohingya returnees due to obstinacy of the Myanmar government. We are intrinsically aware of the false promises of the Myanmar authorities who are characterized by cheating and brutality.

Repatriation is a life and death question for the whole Rohingya people. The refugees require full international protection and guarantee of their safety, dignity, and full citizenship and all accompanying rights enabling them to live in Arakan/Rakhine State as equals, with their recognized ethnic identity, as an indigenous people. 

We reiterate that Myanmar is the most brutal regime in the world that is engaged in genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Despite being homesick the refugees are unwilling to return, as there is no change of attitude of the Myanmar authorities towards Rohingya people. The conditions for well-founded fear of persecution continue to exist for those who still remain in Rakhine State, where they are forced to live in confined villages, ghettos and concentration camps, away from their homes, virtually with no rights of man, no education, ability to work and to survive, not to mention those who might seek to return. They could not trust the Myanmar government and military that have killed, raped, and starved them with hundreds of their villages razed, their land taken and homesteads bulldozed. 

In order for safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation, rehabilitation, reintegration and rebuilding of their bulldozed homes, Rohingya need international protection by state and regional actors, as well as UN peace-keeping forces for their “protected return to their protected homeland” in Northern Rakhine State.

Last but not least, there must be accountability and perpetrators of crimes must be brought to justice and referred to International Criminal Court (ICC). 

Signatories:

• Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO)
• Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)
• British Rohingya Community in UK
• Burmese Rohingya Community in Denmark
• Burmese Rohingya Association Japan (BRAJ)
• Rohingya Advocacy Network in Japan
• Arakan Rohingya Development Association – Australia (ARDA)
• Burmese Rohingya Community Australia (BRCA)
• Burmese Rohingya Association in Queensland-Australia (BRAQA)
• Canadian Burmese Rohingya Organisation
• Canadian Rohingya Development Initiative
• European Rohingya Council (ERC)
• Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation in Malaysia (MERHROM)
• Rohingya American Society
• Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee
• Rohingya Association of Canada
• Rohingya Community in Germany
• Rohingya Community Ireland 
• Rohingya Community in Switzerland
• Rohingya Community in Finland
• Rohingya Community in Sweden
• Rohingya Organisation Norway
• Rohingya Society Malaysia (RSM)
• Rohingya Society Netherlands

For more information, please contact:
Tun Khin (Mobile): +44 7888714866
Nay San Lwin (Mobile): +49 69 26022349
Zaw Min Htut (Mobile): +8180 30835327

Ko Ko Linn (Mobile): +880 1726 068413

By Associated Press

June 9, 2018

KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh – Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled attacks in Myanmar said they were disappointed that a U.N. agreement signed earlier this week did not address one of their key demands: Citizenship.

Most refugees say they are desperate to go home, but fear going back unless they are given protection and citizenship.

On Wednesday, Myanmar and U.N. agencies signed an agreement that could —eventually — lead to the return of some of the 700,000 Rohingya who fled persecution in their homeland and are now crowded into makeshift camps in Bangladesh.

While the refugees welcomed the talks, they have also heard years of empty promises from the government in Yangon.

Mohammed Toiteb Ali, who fled brutal attacks last year that sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya across the border, said Yangon could first give citizenship to the Rohingya who remain in Myanmar.

"When we are assured by seeing and knowing that they are enjoying their citizenship, then we will go back," Ali said Friday, while strolling through the crowded market of the Kutupalong refugee camp.

Many said they would not be truly happy with an agreement unless it announces that the Rohingya will get citizenship and the return of the property they lost in the pogroms.

"When the whole world will see this, when we will see these developments, then we will go back," said Mohammed Syed, another refugee who fled last year.

U.N. officials have called the agreement an important first step in complex discussions.

The agreement signed Wednesday will create a "framework of cooperation" designed to create conditions for "voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable" repatriation of the Rohingya. It does not address Myanmar's denial of citizenship to the Rohingya.

Myanmar officials say they hope the agreement will speed up repatriation, but rights groups doubt Yangon will let many Rohingya go back, or if officials can guarantee the safety of those who do.

Myanmar's statement didn't use the word "Rohingya," reflecting the insistence by the government and the country's Buddhist majority that the ethnic group doesn't even exist. Most people in Myanmar view the Rohingya as illegal migrants from Bangladesh, though some have lived in the country for centuries, before modern borders existed. The agreement described the refugees as "displaced persons."

Myanmar security forces have been accused of laying waste to Rohingya villages last year in Rakhine state, near the Bangladesh border, where most Rohingya lived. The military's self-proclaimed "clearance operations" were set off by a Rohingya militant group's assault on police posts.

The U.N. and the U.S. have described the military campaign as "ethnic cleansing."

U.N. officials note that the Wednesday agreement gives its agencies access to Rakhine state, allowing it to better assess the situation and inform refugees about conditions back in their villages.

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet 

Anadolu Agency

June 9, 2018

Return of Rohingya refugees could potentially result in another round of mass killings: Maung Zarni and Natalie Brinham

ANKARA -- Rohingya survivors of the Myanmar genocide are demanding a UN security force to guarantee their safe return to their homelands, terming the new agreement signed between Myanmar and the UN as inadequate, experts tell Anadolu Agency.

On June 6, the Myanmar government signed an agreement with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), allowing them to get involved in the much-delayed repatriation process.

Maung Zarni, coordinator for strategic affairs at the Free Rohingya Coalition, and Natalie Brinham, an economics and social research council Ph.D. scholar at the Queen Mary University of London, wrote an analysis piece for Anadolu Agency giving their views on the new agreement.

"One million Rohingya survivors of Myanmar genocide, who took refuge across the borders in neighboring Bangladesh, remain largely unpersuaded by the news of the latest repatriation deal the United Nations agencies have signed with their perpetrators in Naypyidaw, and openly call for 'UN Security Forces' to guarantee safe return to their homelands in the Western Myanmar state of Rakhine," they wrote.

The analysts said on June 6, two UN agencies with mandates for refugee protection and development inked a memorandum of understanding with the government of Myanmar.

However, the contents of the agreement were treated as if it were Myanmar’s top national security secret, they wrote.

"The conditions on the ground indicate no semblance of physical safety for any returning Rohingyas," the analysts said.

Zarni and Brinham added that there is also no indication that the official acceptance of Rohingya by Myanmar as an integral ethnic minority of the union is forthcoming. 

Reintegration prospect low

"And there is little prospect for their reintegration into the predominantly Buddhist society where the most powerful Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing publicly declared his genocidal intent, that Rohingya presence in N. Rakhine was 'unfinished business' from the pogroms of WWII," they said.

"In addition to the frightening prospects of being marched back to Myanmar’s 'killing fields', what has unnerved Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh -- thousands have been in refugee camps in Bangladesh since the early 1990’s as they fled the earlier waves of violent persecution -- about this latest UN-Myanmar refugee deal is this: UN agencies -- UNDP, UNHCR, World Food Program (WFP) -- have a dismal record when it comes to standing up for the Rohingya in the last 40 years since UNHCR first became involved in the repatriation process in the summer of 1978."

Zarni and Brinham said the UN’s reputation -- and most specifically the reputation of UNHCR and UNDP -- is on the line in Myanmar, and beyond.

"Any part they play in facilitating returns from Bangladesh to Myanmar is risky -- when returns could potentially result in another round of mass killings, further decades of containment in concentration camps or deliberate slow starvation," they said.

The analysts urged the UN agencies to place protection and human rights first this time around.

"The signs of a new secretive deal don’t bode well for the Rohingya survivors. The newly-managed UN in Myanmar has even shelved the organization’s own governing principles, namely transparency and inclusivity, as evidenced in the freshly-inked MoU with Myanmar," they said.

Zarni and Brinham added Myanmar is now suspect in the eyes of the International Criminal Court and international law circles.

"In apparent compliance with the demands for secrecy typically made by Myanmar’s military-controlled NLD-government, the UN has not made public the MoU for scrutiny. Neither has the UN included Rohingyas in any stage of the negotiations over the MoU, nor spelled out their future role," they said. 

'Listen to Rohingya voices'

The analysts said the UNHCR had added a fourth adjective, “sustainable”, to the mainstreamed mantra of “voluntary, safe and dignified”.

"To make the fourth adjective viable, the UN must listen to Rohingya voices that call for a protected return to a protected homeland in Myanmar."

Since Aug. 25, 2017, more than 750,000 refugees, mostly children and women, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to Amnesty International.

At least 9,400 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24 last year, according to Doctors Without Borders.

In a report published recently, the humanitarian group said the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel.

In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.

By Ayhan Simsek 

Anadolu Agency

June 8, 2018 

ERC call for transparency and inclusiveness on tripartite MoU for Rohingya’s return 

The European Rohingya Council (ERC) welcomes the principle of return of Rohingya refugee to their homeland. However, ERC is deeply concerned about the lack of transparency and inclusiveness of Rohingya representatives in the recent tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UNHCR, UNDP and Republic of Union of Myanmar. Therefore, ERC calls for transparency and inclusiveness of Rohingya representatives in the discussion process of ‘the protected return of Rohingya into their protected homeland’. 

In light of the previous horrific experiences Rohingya community had faced during 1978-79, and 1992-4 repatriations, our community is gravely concerned about experiencing same scenarios in the upcoming repatriation. Several credible reports and eye witnesses described the horrific experiences Rohingya community faced in the previous repatriations as: 

· “A bilateral repatriation agreement between the Bangladeshi and Burmese governments was subsequently reached in July 1978, without any consultation with the refugees themselves as to whether they wished to return. Fierce resistance from the refugees was met by intimidation and the withdrawal of food rations from the camps in Bangladesh. Reports from the period estimate that up to 10,000 refugees died from malnutrition and illness by the end of 1978 (Anonymous 2010; Barnett 2000).”

· “Human Rights Watch contends in several cases the UNHCR has failed to provide information on the SLORC's abuses against returning Muslim refugees. The HRW says that while the UN body had evidence that some Rohingya from Burma were arrested by Burmese authorities or ‘disappeared’ when they returned from Bangladesh in 1992 and 1996, it did not provide exiles in Bangladesh with that information (Inter Press Service, 04/30/97).”

· “Many Rohingya people jumped into the Naf River and took their lives because they were forcefully repatriated, and they preferred to end their lives was the better option than going back to Myanmar’s persecutions.” 

In order to prevent repeating the same scenarios, ERC calls upon UNHCR and all other stakeholders to ensure the following conditions of the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation:

· The ongoing persecutions of Rohingya by Myanmar armed forces and extremist elements of Rakhine community must be brought immediately to an end. 

· All IDPs inside Rakhine State must be shut down and the Rohingya who were living in IDPs must be allowed to return to their original homes. 

· Ethnic and citizenship rights that Rohingya enjoyed in post-independent Myanmar must be restored. 

· The lives and properties destroyed by Myanmar armed forces last year must be compensated and rebuilt. 

· The perpetrators of the genocidal crimes and crimes against humanity against Rohingya must be brought to justice. 

· The return and homeland must be under effective international protection until Myanmar is seriously committed to provide protection to Rohingya community. 

For media, contact: 

Dr. Hla Kyaw

chairman@theerc.eu

+31652358202

By bdnews24.com

June 7, 2018

Bangladesh has responded to the queries of the International Criminal Court or ICC over its jurisdiction to run a case against Myanmar in regard to the Rohingya issue.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam confirmed this to bdnews24.com on Thursday.

He said it is in fact mandatory on Bangladesh to respond as it is a member of the Rome Statute.

“We have provided the information only as requested by the court,” he said, adding that Bangladesh is still committed to settle the matter “bilaterally”.

He pointed out that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina floated a five-point plan in New York last year “which is still on the table and we are committed”.

The ICC last month wrote to Bangladesh asking for its opinion on whether The Hague-based court has jurisdiction to run a case against its neighbour.

Myanmar is not a member of the criminal court.

The letter from the pre-trial chamber followed Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s application on Apr 9 when she asked the ICC to rule on whether it has jurisdiction over the deportations of Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, a possible crime against humanity.

The pre-trial chamber 1 in the letter, a copy of which was with bdnews24.com, invited the competent authorities of Bangladesh to submit written observations, either publicly or confidentially, on the three specific matters.

Those are:

(i) The circumstances surrounding the presence of members of the Rohingya people from Myanmar on the territory of Bangladesh;

(ii) The possibility of the Court’s exercise of territorial jurisdiction over the alleged deportation of members of the Rohingya people from Myanmar into Bangladesh; and

(iii) Any other matter in connection with the prosecutor’s request that, in the opinion of the competent authorities of Bangladesh, would assist the Chamber in its determination of this Request.

“We have provided all the information they asked for and everything that we know from our experience,” State Minister Shahriar Alam said when asked, without clarifying whether Bangladesh suggested that the ICC try Myanmar.

He said Bangladesh “is a responsive and responsible state. Our action always guided by universal values and laws”.

Officials, however, earlier indicated that Bangladesh would cite precendences in which ICC tried non-members being recommended by the UN Security Council.

It happened in cases of Darfur in Sudan and Libya, paving the way for the trial Omar Al-Bashir and Muammar Gaddafi.

Earlier, Myanmar government expressed “serious concern” on the news about the application by the ICC prosecutor.

Since August last year, nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar, the United Nations and aid agencies have said.

The refugees have reported killings, rape and arson on a large scale. The United States and the United Nations have described the situation as ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar has denied nearly all allegations, saying it waged a legitimate counter-insurgency operation.

The government has said the army crackdown was provoked by the attacks of Rohingya militants on more than two dozen police posts and an army base last August.

An ICC ruling affirming jurisdiction could pave the way for Prosecutor Bensouda to investigate the deportation of many thousands of Rohingya.

“This is not an abstract question but a concrete one, affecting whether the Court may exercise jurisdiction ... to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute,” Bensouda said in the filing.

The main reason for doubts about the jurisdiction is that while Bangladesh is a member of the court, but Myanmar is not.

Bensouda argued that given the cross-border nature of the crime of deportation, a ruling in favour of ICC jurisdiction would be in line with established legal principles.

The court said the observations of the Bangladesh authorities would assist the chamber in its determinations of the request sub judice.

By Tun Khin

The Daily Star

June 7, 2018

Bangladesh's ICC cooperation is crucial for Rohingya justice

Since August last year, the world has witnessed how hundreds of thousands of desperate Rohingyas have fled across the border into Bangladesh, bringing with them tales of unimaginable horror. Many of these refugees are my friends and relatives. For the first time, the world has woken up to what we Rohingya have lived with for decades—Myanmar's systematic and genocidal attempts to wipe us out as a people. Now we need the help of the world, and Bangladesh, to obtain justice.

Last week, Myanmar announced it was establishing an “independent commission of inquiry” to “investigate the violation of human rights and related issues following the terrorist attacks” in Rakhine State in 2017. The fact that Myanmar did not even mention its own military's abuses speaks volumes of how credible this investigation will be. Over the past years, I have seen Myanmar establish a multitude of similar commissions, always at politically opportune times. In the end, they accomplish very little—they buy Myanmar a modicum of time and international goodwill, but they lead to no genuine accountability or to improvements for the lives of Rohingya people.

It is abundantly clear that Myanmar is both unwilling and incapable of investigating itself. Senior leaders have taken turns to deny the well-documented atrocities carried out by security forces against the Rohingya people. The military has little incentive to punish itself for its own crimes. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto political leader, has dismissed reports of human rights violations and questioned why people have been fleeing in the first place.

There is no question that the international community must play a role in providing justice, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) is increasingly looking like the only real hope. Although Myanmar is not a signatory to the Rome Statute of the ICC, that does not mean that all avenues are closed—far from it.

In April this year, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked the court to rule on whether the ICC “can exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportation of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh,” which is under the jurisdiction of the Court. A ruling affirming such jurisdiction could pave the way for the ICC to investigate Myanmar for the crime against humanity of deportation. Bangladesh, which has already done so much in welcoming refugees, can play a crucial role in making this a reality.

On June 20, a panel of judges will hold a closed-door hearing on the question. The ICC has asked Bangladesh for its opinion on whether it can exercise jurisdiction over the deportation of Rohingyas from Myanmar to Bangladesh. So far, Dhaka has yet to respond, although the deadline of June 11 is fast approaching.

We are grateful for the generosity of Bangladesh since the crisis erupted. Dhaka has essentially kept its borders open and hosted hundreds of thousands of people in what has already become one of the world's largest refugee camps. When I visited Cox's Bazar, I was touched not only by the welcome from officials but also from ordinary people. At the height of the crisis, local Bangladeshis were lining up along the border to offer food to fleeing refugees and spent their own meagre resources on constructing shelters.

But an influx of people of this scale is a strain on any country's resources. The situation is not sustainable, and the only solution to the root cause of the crisis lies on the other side of the Naf river in Myanmar.

It is important to remember that this crisis has not happened in a vacuum but is just the latest chapter in a long cycle of abuse. In the late 1970s and early 1990s, similar violent campaigns by Myanmar security forces pushed hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees to flee into Bangladesh. Each time, Bangladesh struck a deal with Myanmar for the return of refugees, only for renewed violence to force another exodus of people. Each time, it has been Bangladesh that has been forced to deal with a humanitarian crisis that is not of its own making.

My parents were forced to temporarily flee into Bangladesh after Myanmar's first major anti-Rohingya operation (“Operation Nagamin” or “Operation Dragon King”) in 1978. I myself witnessed similar violence in 1991 shortly before I fled Rakhine State. How many more times will history have to repeat itself before something changes? Unless those responsible for atrocities—regardless of their rank or position—are held to account, Myanmar's authorities will feel they can commit similar abuses in the future without consequence.

An ICC investigation into mass deportation would be limited and not cover other crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, torture, persecution or genocide. But in the shorter term, it would be an essential start. Most importantly, it would send a powerful message to Myanmar's authorities that they are not above the law, and that the world is willing to back up condemnation with genuine action. Separately, we will continue lobbying members of the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the ICC, which would pave the way for a broader mandate.

The current lack of accountability is not just affecting the Rohingya, but also people in other ethnic areas where security forces and armed groups commit war crimes with impunity. In Kachin State, for example, violence has again flared between the military and insurgents, driving thousands from their homes.

By responding in the affirmative to the ICC, Bangladesh could play a major role in making such accountability a reality. I urge Dhaka to do what it can to support the ICC and the Rohingya people—not just for us, but for the fight for justice everywhere.

Tun Khin is president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK and a member of the Free Rohingya Coalition.

By Antoni Slodkowski

Reuters

June 6, 2018

YANGON -- Safety and “identity” need to be in place for Rohingya Muslim refugees who return to Myanmar, the head of the United Nations in the country said on Wednesday, as Myanmar and U.N. agencies signed an outline deal on returns.

The signing of a memorandum of understanding between the government and U.N. development and refugee agencies - the UNDP and the UNHCR - marks a warming of ties which hit a low point last year after the government suggested some agencies provided food to Rohingya militants. 

The head of the United Nations in Myanmar, Knut Ostby, said he hoped U.N. staff would be able to travel to the violence-ravaged north of Rakhine State “almost immediately” to assess the situation and - over time - to help the refugees in Bangladesh make an informed decision about potential returns. 

Since August, about 700,000 Rohingya have fled an army crackdown in Myanmar, many reporting killings, rape and arson on a large scale. The United Nations has called the campaign a textbook example of “ethnic cleansing” - a charge Myanmar denies. 

U.N. officials have said for months the conditions in Myanmar were “not conducive” to returns which would be safe, voluntary and dignified and view Wednesday’s deal as a first step towards meeting those objectives. 

“There are two really crucial things that need to be in place - one is to have an identity for the people who come back, so that they can live as normal members of society both in terms of an identity and in terms of being able to have the freedom of movement,” Ostby told Reuters by phone. 

“And the other issue is that they need to be able to live in safety. They should not have to risk further violence,” said Ostby, who serves as the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar. 

Access to basic services, livelihoods and infrastructure would also have to be addressed, he said. 

Rohingya are widely called “Bengali” in Buddhist-majority Myanmar - which they see as a derogatory term implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. They have been denied citizenship despite many tracing their roots in the country back generations.

‘PATH TO CITIZENSHIP’ 

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s government has pressed the Rohingya to accept National Verification Cards - documents that are a part of government effort to register Rohingya, but which falls short of offering them citizenship. 

Rohingya community leaders have widely rejected the card, saying it treats life-long residents like new immigrants. 

Ostby, asked how the Wednesday agreement might help to resolve the issue of citizenship, said: “We have been talking for a long time about making a clear and predictable path to citizenship for those who are eligible.” 

But the granting of citizenship was the government’s prerogative, he said. 

“What we can do is to facilitate and we call for commitment to international principles,” said Ostby in his first detailed remarks on the text of the agreement, which has not been made public. 

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in January to complete the voluntary repatriation of the refugees within two years but differences between them persist, impeding implementation of the plan. 

The Myanmar government said in a statement after the signing it hoped the repatriation process would “hasten” with U.N. involvement. 

It said the UNHCR would help “in the implementation of the voluntary repatriation and the reintegration of all those who return”, while the UNDP would focus on preparing “conditions for recovery and resilience-based development”. 

Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Robert Birsel

By Edith M. Lederer

June 6, 2018

By Stephanie van den Berg

Reuters

May 31, 2018

THE HAGUE -- Hundreds of Rohingya victims have appealed to judges at the International Criminal Court to grant prosecutors jurisdiction to investigate deportations from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh, an ICC official said on Thursday.

The world’s first permanent war crimes court does not have automatic jurisdiction in Myanmar because it is not a member state, but the prosecutor in April asked the court to look into the Rohingya crisis and a possible prosecution through Bangladesh, which is a member. 

Since August, nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled a military crackdown in mainly Buddhist Myanmar, the United Nations and aid agencies have said. 

Refugees have reported killings, rape and arson on a large scale; some countries compared the situation to the widespread ethnic cleansing seen during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. 

“We are of Rohingya identity and we want justice,” the group said in a letter, demanding that the court take action. “We have been raped, tortured and killed.” 

It was signed with fingerprints of the victims, mostly illiterate women from rural communities. 

A submission on behalf of 400 victims was handed to the court on Wednesday, backing the earlier request from the ICC prosecutor for jurisdiction, spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said. 

The families asked the court to examine allegations not only of deportation but persecution and what they called genocide by the Myanmar military against the Muslim Rohingya minority. 

Myanmar has rejected the efforts to establish international jurisdiction over the matter. 

Lawyers representing a group called Shanti Molhila, or Peace Women, said the court should hear the case because some of the crimes were committed across the border in Bangladesh. 

In her request to judges, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda argued that the ICC had jurisdiction over the deportations because of the cross-border nature of the offence. 

Editing by Anthony Deutsch and Mark Heinrich

30 May 2018

PRESS RELEASE

Protect the Rohingya calls for the end of the Rohingya genocide! Join the movement by wearing BLACK in solidarity on Wednesday, 13 June 2018 and remember to tweet your photos and messages of solidarity to us: @ProtectRohingya using the Hashtag: #Black4Rohingya

The Rohingya have been described as the world’s most persecuted minority by the United Nations. They live in Arakan State, Myanmar where they have been denied citizenship, freedom of movement, access to education and health services. They have been subject inter alia to land confiscations, arbitrary arrests, forced sterilisation, extortion, torture, rape and collective punishment. Their citizenship was revoked by the state in 1982.

Since 2012 the brutality against them has only been exacerbated by the state’s unwillingness to punish right-wing nationalists who spew hatred against them, address its apartheid policies and keep its security forces in check. 

Myanmar military clearance operations have forced more than 680 000 Rohingya to flee over the border to Bangladesh since August of 2017. Stories of murder, rape , arson attacks and extra-judicial killings by the military are the order of the day. With the monsoon season arriving in recent months the Rohingya’s situation has only worsened. 

The Myanmar government disputes the allegations, characterising the actions of its forces as anti-terrorism. It also claims that eyewitness accounts have been fabricated (while denying outside observers, including foreign journalists and even a United Nations observers, meaningful access to the region.

The international community has failed to take any real action to stop the violence against the Rohingya and few countries are offering practical assistance and resettlement programs to Rohingya refugees.

As South African’s having lived through a racist and brutal oppressive regime it is our duty to stand against apartheid wherever it exists. Burma should NOT be allowed to continue its genocide of the Rohingya population. 

We urge people of conscience the world over to join our campaign and spread the word about the 13th of June 2018.

#Black4Rohingya is a Protect the Rohingya initiative, initially held on 5 July 2013 and was then moved to 13 June from 2014 onwards in order to commemorate those Rohingya who were massacred in Arakan State in the second week of June 2012. 

Twitter: @ProtectRohingya

Instagram: @protecttherohingya

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/308153155947556/

Contact: +2772 1786 102