From Pro-Democracy to Hypocrisy: The Other Side of Suu Kyi

FOR the first time anyone could remember, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has become the subject of criticism by the same pro-democracy advocates in the international community who have supported her and helped her rise into prominence on the world stage.

The sudden backlash came undone following her continuous dodging of the issue involving the systematic oppression and violence against the Muslim Rohingya minority by the Myanmar government.

Suu Kyi, who won the adoration of many human right advocates worldwide for championing democracy in strife-torn Myanmar, uncharacteristically chose the ‘safe way out’ when asked on her response on the routine discrimination against the Rohingya including the government’s refusal to grant them citizenship despite having lived in Burma for generations.

At a recent news conference held with singer Bono of rock band U2 in Dublin, she said, “The root of the problem is lack of rule of law (in Myanmar).”

Asked whether the Rohingya should be granted Myanmar citizenship, Suu Kyi replied curtly: “I don’t know.”

The news report from UK daily The Independent also described her responses to the issue at hand as “vague” and “scripted”.

Forsaking Democracy for Majority Buddhist Vote

No one except perhaps her closest supporters would have thought ‘The Lady’, who became widely known as the voice of Myanmar's downtrodden, would turn a blind eye on the plight of the Rohingya following the intensified conflict between the Muslim minority and Buddhist Rakhine in the last few months.

The Oxford-educated political activist-turned politician, who has been placed under house arrest for a total of 15 of the past 21 years since she began her political career, is apparently willing to forsake being labeled a hypocrite by the international community for political gain. Analysts say many of her political allies themselves vehemently oppose the Rohingya hence speaking out on the matter would only risk alienating the former and, ultimately, the Buddhist voters who make up the majority in Myanmar.

“She is no longer a political dissident trying to stick to her principles. She's a politician and her eyes are fixed on the prize, which is the 2015 majority Buddhist vote,” said a Myanmar expert and visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, Maung Zarni.

Plight of the Rohingya

Fighting between Buddhists and Muslims in the western coast state of Rakhine has left about 87 people from both sides dead since June, according to an official estimates, although rights groups fear the real toll is much higher. According to reports, the two groups attacked each other with spears and machetes and went on rampages burning homes and razing entire villages.

The Rohingya, who have been described as “among the world’s least wanted” and “one of the world’s most persecuted minorities”, have continued to suffer from human rights violations under the Burmese junta since 1978. They have been stripped of their citizenship since a 1982 citizenship law. They are also not allowed to travel without official permission, are banned from owning land and are required to sign a commitment to have not more than two children.

The government has been blamed by rights groups which claimed it did little to stop the violence in Rakhine initially before turning its security forces on the Rohingya with targeted killings, rapes, mass arrests and torture. Human Rights Watch which estimated that 100,000 people were displaced by the fighting has accused Burmese forces of opening fire on Rohingya. The New York-based organization also claimed that the government’s tally of 78 dead is “undoubtedly conservative.”

Last weekend, the government finally appointed a 27-member commission to look into the causes of the conflict and to propose solutions to the community mistrust between Muslims and Buddhists.

News reports claimed that the recent violence in Rakhine was initially triggered by allegations that a gang of Rohingya men had raped a local Arakanese woman. Apparently, the lynching of ten Muslims in response sparked days of rioting in the state formerly known as Arakan.

However, the tension between the immigrant minorities, namely from India, and majority Burmese have existed since the early part of last century. According to historian Thant Myint-U, the growing resentment against the minorities was due to the huge influx of Indian immigrants that resulted in the settlers outnumbering the Burmese (hence the two children per family restriction).

"At the beginning of the 20th century, Indians were arriving in Burma at the rate of no less than a quarter million per year. The numbers rose steadily until the peak year of 1927, immigration reached 480,000 people, with Rangoon exceeding New York City as the greatest immigration port in the world. This was out of a total population of only 13 million; it was equivalent to the United Kingdom today taking 2 million people a year." By then, in most of the largest cities in Burma, Rangoon (Yangon), Akyab (Sittwe), Bassein (Pathein), Moulmein, the Indian immigrants formed a majority of the population. The Burmese under the British rule felt helpless, and reacted with a "racism that combined feelings of superiority and fear."

The World Finally Responds

The long-standing conflict between the Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists finally caught the attention of the international community following recent violence in Rakhine after decades of systematic persecution of the Rohingya. Various human rights, pro-democracy groups and Muslim nations have voiced deep concerns over the treatment of the stateless group.

The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the violence at an emergency summit recently and said it will present its concerns to the upcoming United Nations General Assembly. At the summit, Saudi Arabia accused Myanmar of launching an "ethnic cleansing campaign" and King Abdullah announced that he would donate US$50 million in aid to the Rohingya in Myanmar. Meanwhile, Islamic hardliners in Indonesia and Pakistan have threatened attacks against the Myanmar government.

Democracy vs Hypocrisy

Sadly, the outrage against the persecution of the Rohingya stops at Myanmar's borders. As a politician, Suu Kyi is playing a different ballgame now that her opposition party is trying to consolidate political gains attained after they entered Parliament for the first time in April.

Suu Kyi is well aware that speaking out for the Rohingya is the right thing to do but Myanmar’s Buddhist majority appear to have resentment against these stateless Muslim minority. According to The Associated Press, the Rohingya are a deeply unpopular cause inside Burma, where much of the country's majority Buddhist population views them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Not only that, the Muslim minority have also been labeled as terrorists.

On the first day of the Muslim Eid ul-Fitr celebration, up to 100 ethnic Rakhine held a rally near a regional parliament building in Rangoon to protest against the UN and various non-government organizations’ for providing assistance to the Rohingya . The protesters held signs and banners that said: “Stop Creating Conflicts” and “Don't Bring Terrorists to Our Land.”

Myanmar and the rest of the world are aware that if there was anyone who could effectively take on the Rohingya cause it would be Suu Kyi. However, the problem for Suu Kyi is, how would she, as the most celebrated champion of democracy and human rights, justify hatred towards a certain ethnic minority, especially in these day and age. Any attempt to do so will not only not fly well with the international community which will won’t hesitate to condemn her for being a hypocrite, it could also potentially have repercussions on her vote counts come election in 2015.

Christians Also Targeted

It also appears as if the widespread resentment against minorities has been deeply imbedded in the psyche of the Burmese population and, apparently, the Muslims are not the only ones being targeted. According to the Chin Human Rights Organization’s (CHRO) latest report, ‘Threats to Our Existence: Persecution of Ethnic Chin Christians in Burma’, there exist “a serious ongoing human rights violations, even as the government claims to deepen its reforms in the country.”

“For years, state-sanctioned deep-rooted discrimination against the Chin on the dual basis of their ethnicity and religion has given rise to widespread and systematic violations of fundamental human rights, particularly religious freedom. … the Chin continue to be denied religious freedom and are targeted for induced and coerced conversion to Buddhism, in pursuance of an unwritten State policy of forced assimilation.”

All eyes are on Suu Kyi now as the world waits for her to come out with an unequivocal stand over the Rohingya issue. People want to know what the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader has to say about being selective in her championing of democracy and human rights.

So far, as the world sees it, Suu Kyi has failed to live up to her stature as one of the world's most celebrated pro-democracy campaigners. To the dismay of many, she may well be an angel in disguise who is the lesser of two evils.

The real culprits behind the violence in Rakhine state | Dr. Maung Zarni

It's great that US Ambassador to Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, has finally spoken out on the ethno-religious riots between Rohingyas and Buddhist people in the Rakhine state. 

He points out racism in Myanmar society at large, something some of us have been saying for so long.

But the problem with shifting the new focus onto popular racism is that it lets the real culprits - the generals and their troops - off the hook.

The Myanmar regime has a direct and immediate hand in the recent communal riots between the Rakhines and the Rohingya - who it only refers to as "Bengali Muslims" - by sending the message that these people do not belong in Myanmar, even though they were born on Rakhine soil and have been in the country for generations.

For the record, I place the ultimate responsibility for the outbreak of ethno-racial violence squarely on the Thein Sein government. Successive military regimes since Ne Win's reign (1962-1988) have used the tactic of ethnic and religious divide and rule. Precedents and contemporary cases abound. In 1967, Ne Win reportedly diverted attention from the failings of his socialist economy - which resulted in rice shortages across the country - by blaming "greedy Chinese merchants". That sparked anti-Chinese riots. When the mob in Yangon stormed the Chinese Consulate, the generally trigger-happy Burmese troops (when it comes to "restoring law and order") simply stood by and watched the mob kill the deputy chief of mission on the Chinese Consulate's premises. The regime is pursuing a scorched-earth military operation against the Kachins in the north while offering ceasefire deals to the other armed ethnic resistance groups.

This is the regime that has specialised in "law and order" for the past 50 years, since 1962. It deliberately let all hell break loose in western Myanmar because it suited the regime in multiple ways for the Rakhine and the Rohingyas to slaughter one another.

Burmese generals have never liked the Rakhines people, especially those who are ethno-nationalistic and want to push for genuine political autonomy for the Rakhine state.

Troops and all other security units stationed in western Myanmar, on the other hand, have turned all kinds of severe restrictions - in place for at least 30-40 years - into the basis for extorting and abusing the Rohingyas. For instance, the Rohingyas' physical movements and their ability to marry and have children were restricted, requiring permission from the authorities and security units. In effect, the Rohingyas were turned into cash cows by the local security units in western Myanmar.

For their part, the Rakhine people felt angry that the government security troops and authorities were benefitting economically from the Rohingya. (The Rohingya population in general are very poor, while there are a handful of wealthy Rohingya business families. Many Rohingyas who work abroad, however, remit money back to their families in western Myanmar.) Also, forced labour among the Rohingya population is disproportionately higher than in any other ethnic community including those in Myanmar's active war zones in the eastern and northern regions of the country. So, the authorities extract both cash and labour from the captive Rohingya population.

But the Rakhine people felt powerless in the face of the overwhelming might of the security forces on their soil, despite their perception of the regime's favouritism to the Rohingyas, whom the Rakhine have come to consider as "animals" on their soil.

So, naturally, the Rakhine people grew more hateful of the Rohingyas and the state security apparatus, and finally took it out on the weaker of the two - the Rohingyas.

When violence broke out, not only did the security forces not intervene to keep order and nip the initial violence in the bud, but troops - some Burmese and some Rakhine themselves - in places like Maungdaw decided to turn against their cash cows and forced labourers - the Rohingyas.

This time it wasn't the greed of the troops, who had long milked the Rohingyas for their money and extracted labour that led them to directly participate in the slaughter of the Rohingyas. Rather it was the Burmese and Rakhine people's general dislike of Muslims that finally compelled the troops in Maungdaw to machine-gun the Rohingyas in large numbers.

Evidence of the attacks keeps surfacing from various independent eyewitnesses. According to one local researcher in the country - whose account of the Rohingya slaughter at the hands of the Burmese and Rakhine security forces was published in Al Jazeera English ("Mass graves for Myanmar's Rohingya, August 9) - the troops that he interviewed openly talked about "how much they hate Muslims" and described coldly the manner in which they machine-gunned down the Rohingya.

This directly corresponds with the policies of Nay Pyi Daw. This is not simply troops in local areas shooting without orders from above and getting away with mass murder. In fact, the widespread view within the military is: "the bottom line is, we do not want more Muslims in our country". So there is not simply popular racism but vertical and official hatred of Muslims in general and the Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar in particular.

To deny this is to add insult to injury. The focus of the current riot inquiry by the presidential commission and the international media coverage needs to focus on this direct connection between popular racism and the regime's racist and violent policies and practices of the last 40 years since Operation Snake King (or Nagamin) killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Rohingyas and drove hundreds of thousands more out of western Myanmar into Bangladesh in the 1970s, under the Ne Win-Sein Lwin regime. Ne Win was the godfather, and Sein Lwin was the butcher.

Muang Zarni is a visiting fellow at the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit, the London School of Economics. A veteran founder of the Free Burma Coalition, Zarni advocated "principled and strategic engagement" with the regime as early as 2003. @ m.zarni@lse.ac.uk.

List of the Rohingya Women Raped in Baggona, Maung Daw

At Baggona, a village three miles far from and lies to the South of Maung Daw of Arakan state, more than 80 Rohingya women and girls have been raped and gang-raped by Military, Rakhine Extrmist-Terrorists, Police and Security Forces since the beginning of the violence in Arakan. Though we could not list all the names of the raped victims due to the highly shy and timorous nature of Rohingya women, we were able to collect the profiles of 32 raped victims. The list is mentioned at the end of the article. 

On 19th June 2012, armed Rakhine terrorists, security forces and police (Note: security forces and police in Arakan state are made up of mostly Rakhines, no Rohingya at all) raided Baggona village in Maung Daw and arrested young and old Rohingyas alike which numbered almost 100 (age: 12-80). (They were taken to unknown locations and nothing had been heard from them since then.) Therefore while the remaining Rohingya men were on hiding in the fear of being arrested, they raped and ganged raped the Rohingya women left behind to their heart’s content. Besides, they robbed and looted 700 houses and took away gold, silver, money and whatever possible. For the worse, these terrorists destroyed furniture, cooking pots and other properties which they could not take away. Currently the people in the village are having serious crises and the raped Rohingya women are in troubles such as being pregnant with these unknown terrorists and others. Therefore, they plead international communities to help them out from the hands of evils rather than giving mere lips services. 

Now President U Thein Sein has set up an inquiry commission into the violence of Arkan, which has 27 members, to investigate and find out the culprits of the violence. But sadly, the commission itself has the people who have committed the crimes against Rohingyas themselves. Therefore, the government will only be able to find out the real cause and culprits of the violence if they replenish the inquiry team with the representatives from the political parties of local Rohingyas and Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP) and use them to thoroughly investigate the real victims in the ongoing violence whether as a means of refilling to the present commission or to exactly find out the masterminds behind the brutal treatments of Rohingyas. 

Below is the list of some Rohingya women and under-aged girls raped by military, Rakhine terrorists, police and security forces.

The list of Rohingya Women Raped in Baggona, a village three miles farfrom Maung Daw to its South
No. Name Father’s Name Age Date of the RapeCasesRemarks1 Yasmine A. Gaffar 14 19.6.12 Yasmine&FulBaano are Daughter&Mother.Now, they are trying to commit suicides manytimes as they dare not see each other’s face.2 Ful Baano Khala Meah 353 Arefa Abdurahim 14 19.6.12 Armed weird Rakhine extremists, Nata

las andSecurity Forces (6 out of 9 members) raped thewoman and the girls at No. 1,2,3,4 at one time.4 Arefa MohammedHussein26 19.6.12 Mother of Two Children5 Daulu Suleman 42 19.6.12 Mother of Three Children6 Sameera Abul Hashim 22 19.6.12 An Extremely Beautiful Girl7 Khurshidah Amanat Shah 12 19.6.128 Rahenah Nazir Ahmed 16 19.6.129 Baanu Osman 19 19.6.1210 Shamshidah Rahimullah 13 19.6.1211 Jannat Bivi Kadir Hussein 13 19.6.1212 Noor Haba Sayyid Salam 15 19.6.12 The Girls in No.12 and No.13 are real sisters.13 DauLu 1314 Firuzaa Amir Hussain 1719.6.1215 Toyuba Islam 1719.6.1216 Hafsa Nazir Ahmed 1819.6.1217 Dil Nawaz MustakhAhmed1719.6.1218 Tasmin Shamshu 2119.6.1219 Maryam Bashar 4019.6.1220 TasminTaraYahya 1719.6.12Girls in No. 20 and No. 21 are sisters.21 Moe Moe 1222 Yasmine Yasin 1819.6.12Girls in No. 22 and No. 23 are sisters.23 Mamtaz 3124.6.1224 Isharat FatemaMohammedJohar1224.6.12No. 23 and No. 24 are mother and daughter25 Shahidah Furuk Ahmed 1524.6.12 No.25 and No.26 are daughter and mother26 Shahidah'sMother-------4027 Hasina ShamshuShamshuShamshu2524.6.1224.6.1224.6.12 No. 27, No.28 and No. 28 are real sisters.28 Raziyaa 2229 Shamshidah 1730 Khalidah MukhtarAhmed4024.6.1231 Noor Kiyas Yunus 1224.6.12No. 30 and No.31 are mother and daughter32 Minara Osman 2224.6.12This girl was a virgin and after being raped, shehas become pregnant and having troubles.

When Will Justice Be Done?

There is a violation still going on against the people called Rohingya whom were described as stateless in their own land by many. But today, they really have no homes and no foods and are living their lives under extreme sorrow due to lawlessness in their country. Besides, they are living chaotic, helpless, hopeless lives resulting from the killings and tortures of Thein Sein’s regime and its security forces in collaboration with Rakhine extremists. 

Although Thein Sein’s regime has to organize an inquiry mission into the violence in an attempt to cover up their crimes of ethnic cleansing, yet in reality on the ground, they are letting more violence be occurred against Rohingyas and other ethnic Muslims in Arakan state. Sadly, the inquiry mission team is made up with the people who themselves have committed the crimes against Rohingyas. Therefore, it is nothing but an attempt to deceive the world in general and OIC in particular. 

After all, what is this fraud inquiry mission is doing? 

Why couldn’t Thein Sein government halt the violence yet? 

In fact, what he has done so far is just beating around the bush by saying that the situation is being handled well and under control while he is neglecting what is happening on the ground. On daily basis, Rohingya elderly people and children are dying due to starvation, malnutrition and lack of medical access. Extreme weather is causing cold and floods in the places where displaced Rohingyas are living in fragile and vulnerable tents now full of mud. Rohingya youths have been being arrested by Burmese authority on lame reasons and sometimes they are abused in the custodies and prisons by Rakhine extremists. 

Above all, how can one expect from this inquiry mission that they will carry out an impartial investigation when they themselves involved in the genocide? Therefore, we invite International and OIC Inquiry Missions to Arakan to do investigation on the violence. 

Additionally, if we review why Thein Sein’s regime rejected International aids and media to the region and made Rakhine extremists protest against NGOs and INGOs etc, it is obvious that there is something they don’t want to expose or reveal. If they want justice and are not trying to cover up anything, why dare they not have such kinds of favorable international supports for the country? 

Moreover, when Malaysian Foreign Minister proposed Myanmar to offer humanitarian aids to all displaced people regardless of religion, Thein Sein’s regime refused the proposal saying that they don’t need any foreign aids and can solve their problems on their own. Contrary to this statement, Thein Sein said in his interview to VOA “we need foreign helps as we can’t alone help all the displaced people.” This trick has come after OIC’s proposal to offer humanitarian helps and to send a fact finding team to Arakan. It is another attempt to melt down the anger of International community towards Thein Sein regime concerning what he said to UNHCR Chief Antonio Guterres to put all Rohingyas into refugee camps or to deport them to third countries. 

Regarding the Rohingya issue, Thein Sein has always one-sidedly followed the desire of Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP). Like the members of RNDP, he, too, had accused Rohingyas as illegal Bengali immigrants from Bangladesh. Quite contrarily recently, he said “there are only a few Bengalis who migrated to Arakan and most of Bengalis have been living in Myanmar for decades. We need to see human as human. We need to follow human rights.” Why are there contradictions? Is not he an oxymoron? Why is he talking about human rights at this time and simultaneously continuing the genocide on the ground? Why is he so hypocritical? These are enough to prove their deception and hoax to the world. They fear that they will be punished for their crimes against humanity. That’s the reason why they are up to deceive the world again. 

When some Myanmar Buddhist Volunteer Organizations, Film Stars and 88 Generation Students Group visited the affected and affecting areas in Arakan state, they have only given aids Rakhines and neglected Rohingyas and other ethnic Muslims totally as if they are not human beings. But when Turkish Foreign Minister helped the affected people in Arakan and Saudi Arabia raised funds for all of them irrespective to race and religions, all the Buddhist racists showed their hatred and jealousy towards them and condemned their kind helps. The world should wonder how racist and extremist people they are! 

One more crucial point needs to be pointed out. On 17th August 2012, Thein Sein released an 18-paged statement in which he said “some political parties, monks and individuals incited extreme racial hatred and encouraged people to commit irrational racial attacks against Bengali Muslims (his own term for Rohingya Muslims).” But under the heading of religious affairs at point number 34, he said “Mosques, Islamic Schools and Religious scholars (Molvis) should be reduced within the boundary of law and legitimacy.” What is he trying to say? Is he indirectly saying that they will make every effort to eliminate Islam from Arakan gradually? So, at least taking this point into consideration, can we say Rohingyas are persecuted on account of their faith, Islam? Now, it has become very transparent why Rohingyas are persecuted. Besides, if one goes through this 18-paged statement, one can find many discriminatory and bigotry citations against Rohingyas. 

To sum up, by now it has become crystal clear to anyone who has humane sense that Rohingyas and other ethnic Muslims in Arakan are being tortured by administration authority, military and security forces in cooperation with Rakhine Buddhist extremists. Hence, the government itself is involving in the crimes. Therefore, we request to UN, OIC and all other international communities to send investigation teams to Arakan to find out the criminals against humanity in general and Rohingyas in particular. Or else, justice will never be done and evil doers will escape forever. And they will ignite conflicts again and again. Now, it is the high time to combat such kinds of genocides and atrocities altogether as “Injustice somewhere is the threat to justice everywhere.” 

Written by Snowy

Revised by Mohammed Sheikh Anwar

Thousands of Rohingyas dead'

Abul Kasim: Claims death toll higher than reported in mediaable

Number of growing casualties played down by authorities, says refugee

ROHINGYAS in Malaysia are claiming that media reports on the death toll in the Arakan region of Myanmar are grossly inaccurate, saying thousands of Rohingya villagers have become casualties of the growing unrest.

Contractor Abul Kasim, 34. who has been staying in Malaysia for the past 10 years, said the reported numbers were played down by the Myanmar authorities.

"This (the violence) is nothing new. It has been going on for some time, many years, in fact. All these years, there has been only discrimination, but the mass murders only started recently," said Abul Kasim, who fled Myanmar about a decade ago to escaped the mistreatment of Rohingyas by the Myanmar junta.

"They (army personnel) raped my cousin in front of me. They were hunting me down after realising I witnessed the incident. I couldn't take it any longer and decided to come to Malaysia to start a new life.

"I later learned that my cousin committed suicide." Abul Kasim was one of 30 Rohingyas who volunteered to pack supplies provided by Kelab Putera 1Malaysia, bound for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh next week.

"This is the only way I can help my fellow Rohingyas," he said. Abul Kasim said his father still lived in Yangon but had been stripped off all his property and land.

"My uncle still lives in villages near Arakan. From my last conversation with him, their homes have been burned and they are homeless," he said.

"We don't want anything from the government of Myanmar. We just want our freedom and citizenship." Abul Kasim said the Rohingyas who left Myanmar were not refugees trying to escape poverty as thought by many.

"It's not about money. We have millions worth of properties in Myanmar but they have been burnt down," he said.

"We were forced to travel all over the world, yet our hearts were never at peace because of what is happening."

He said he was hopeful that pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu-Kyi would be able to address the issue.

"We still support her. We understand her difficult situation."

Rohingyas shops owner lose their property in Maungdaw municipal market

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Rohingyas shops owner will lose their property for non-maintaining of shops by municipal office, according to a shop owner from market.

“The market was closed  by the authority since June 8 and the authority did not keep maintains the market since last year which the shop’s owners were complained for roof which was broken.”
“This year, the conflict between Rohingyas and Rakhines on June 8 and the market was totally closed and no one enter to the market and the owners were not able to control their shops while the raining. The  rain entered to the shops and destroyed all the goods inside the shops, especially the clothes shops.”
The municipal office open the market today morning from 7:00an to till noon. The shop’s owner went to the market and checked their shops. The shops were fully damaged by rain as the authority is not care the market. To save their goods, the owner try to carry some cloths to dry in their home,but the authority is not allow the goods from market. The cloths will be damaged if the cloths are  not dry on times,  said an elder from Maungdaw.
The authority only allowed the shops’ owner to carry 500,000 kyat cash from shops and the security personnel checked the owners when the go home. It is very difficult to owner for giving only 500,000 kyats to carry home.

Ground situation of northern Arakan State

Buthidaung Township:

The house of Mogul Ahmed, hailed from Phoneyu Lake village, under the Nasaka area No. 9 of Buthidaung south was robbed by army on August 19, at about 1:00 pm. The army robbed 50 Ticals of gold and Kyat 20 million after fastening all the family members, said a village elder from the village.
On August 7 and 8 in Kyangdang Village of Buthidaung Township, six girls including women were raped by army. They are identified Mostafa Khatun (35), daughter of  Abdul Hakim, Femani (40), wife of Subhan, Nur Ayesh (18), daughter of Eliyas, Afam (20), wife of Esague, Amina (16), daughter of Rafiqual Kader and Tasnima (19), wife Khaled Hussain. They severely beat up a female named Anzam (35), wife of Sayed Alam as she resisted the army’s attempt to rape and made hue and cry, according to a close relative of the victims.
The army, Nasaka, Hluntin and police raped many Rohingya women and girls since the violence was occurred in June 8.
“Taking the advantage of state of emergency and the act 144, the army, Nasaka, police Hluntin raped many Rohingya girls and women.  It is very strange that the state of emergency and the act 144 is only imposed to Rohingya community not to Rakhine community. Therefore, the Mogh freely attacked to Rohingya people with the help of police, Hlutin, Nasaka and army. What kind of emergency and the act 144 is?”
Maungdaw Township:
Yesterday morning, on August 23, a woman and her son were shot dead by the Nasaka. The victims belong to Godosara village of Maungdaw north. At first, the Nasaka shot to a cow owned by said female. So, she went to take her cow, but she was shot to death by the Nasaka. Seeing the event, her son went again to carry her mother, but this time also, Nasaka shot dead her son on the spot. This means, Nasaka killed the Rohingya people like birds after the new Nasaka director Lt Col Maung Maung Oo was appointed at Kawar Bill Nasaka Headquarters of Maungdaw, said a local trader from the village.
On August 22, in the evening, a Rohingya youth was stabbed by a Rakhine mob while he was riding a rickshaw at Maundaw town in front of the police, a youth said from Maungdaw.
Besides, on August 22, in the morning, a Rohingya youth named Sadek (15), son of Nasir Ahmed, hailed from Powet Chang village of Maugdaw township, went to his relative with a carrier of curry, but he was stopped near a Rakhine village by Nasaka accompanied by Rakhine villagers and seized his carrier of curry and sent him to his village again. The Nasaka ate all the curry and thrown his carrier to the paddy field, said a villager from the locality.
“In addition, another young Rohingya boy named Amran (16), son of Abu Kalam, hailed from Powet Chang new village of Maungdaw north was stopped nearby a Rakhine village by Nasaka while he was gong to his relative by riding a bicycle. He was severely beaten up and seized his bicycle.”
There is a Rakhine village between Rohingya villages and the Nasaka always stays at the village. Rohingya villagers have to cross the Rakhine village to go to other Rohingya villages. Taking this advantage, the Nasaka arbitrary harasses the Rohingya villagers while crossing the Rakhine village. They are looting—- goods, money and beat the travelers deliberately without finding any fault.
Besides, on August 23, the Natala villagers carried away pillars and other wood from Tha Yae Kone Dan Madrassa. The army provides full security to the Natala villagers, according to villagers.
On August 21, a Rohigya youth was severely beaten up by a group of Rakhine youths on the Shwe Zaar Bridge and leaving him on the bridge, the culprits ran away. It was done in front of the security police. However, a patrol car of Nasaka reached on the spot and picked up the victim and sent to Maungdaw general hospital for treatment, said a close relative of the victim.
The Nasaka personnel of Nasaka area No. 5, seized rice and chili from beggars on August 21 when they were crossing the Kular Bill-Nari Bill bridge. The Nasaka also collects Kyat 500 to 1,000 per head who crosses the bridge. This is the Nasaka out-post of Nasaka camp No. 12 of Nasaka area No.5, said a fisherman from nearby village.
“In similar way, the Nasaka personnel of area No. 6 also collect Kyat from the travelers who cross the Letpu Gong-Nari Bill Bridge of Maungdaw north.”
“The travelers who are not able to pay the money are fasten and later send to their camps and forced them to work in the camps. But, they are released before 5:00 pm.”
Rohingya people are kept in the house from 5:00pm to 7:00 am by imposing state of emergency and Act 144. Out of these curfew and state of emergency when people get out of the houses for their different purposes, Hluntin, police, army and Moghs arbitrary harass them on the road and elsewhere. Are these Rohingya people not human being? Why do the concerned authorities threaten as like as animals?, a village elder asked.
On August 22, at about 9:30 am, a group of Rakhine women and children with Muslim dress wandering in Maungdaw town by taxis and taking photographs by some civilian authorities to show the international community that the Rohingya people in Maungdaw Township were celebrating Eid-day (Eid festival) happily, said a local businessman.
“But, the authorities ordered to the Rohingya community not to celebrate Eid festival at mosque or Eidgha (big field). So, the Rohingya people were not able to celebrate Eid festival in northern Arakan.”
“Besides, Sarapa (Military Intelligence) with two cars went to the north of Maungdaw on Eid-day to take photographs of Eid celebration of Rohingya villages. But, they failed. As result, the Sarapa forcibly took some Rohingya villagers with Muslim dresses and forced them to pray in a mosque and took photographs in various angles. In this way, the Burmese authorities will try to show false documents to the International community that there is no religious discrimination in Burma.”
On August 19, the Nasaka personnel of Aung Mingla Nasaka camp of Maung Nama village tract of Nasaka area No. 6 of Maungdaw Township arrested Mohamed Solu (22), son of Amir Ahmed accompanied by six others. All belong to Maung Nama south village of Maungdaw township. They were arrested for driving an elephant herd from paddy field at noon. The paddy field was owned by one villager named Abu. The herd of the elephant destroyed over 5-acer of paddy field on the night, said a local farmer.
“However, the arrestees were released, on that day after paying Kyats 200,000 per head.”
“The Nasaka also arrested six others villagers who went to paddy field to join with first group to drive the elephant and were released after paying 100 bamboos per head.”
“It is learnt that all the arrestees are accused that they went to attack the Rakhine village.”
Rohingya villagers have no rights to protect their paddy field from destroying by elephant. It is clear that what kind of policy that the concerned authorities are using over the Rohingya community, said a politician from Maungdaw.
On August 21, twelve villagers, on August 23, four villagers and on August 24, eight villagers were arrested by Nasaka, police accompanied by Rakhines from the Udaung village of Maungdaw south. After arrest, they were severely tortured and sent to Nasaka camp of area No. 8 and detained, said a local elder.
Since August 22, five groups of Rakhine mobs, in turn, enter the Honsara village, destroying fence, cutting down old trees while the male villagers are absent. They (Rakhines) are holding long swords and enter the village with the help of police and Hluntin. Among the groups, there are at least 12 to 15 people in one group, said a youth from the village.
In similar way, since August 21, the Nasaka, police and Moghs have been arresting the Rohingya villagers. But, on August 24, four villagers from Kanpu village of Maungdaw Township were arrested by Nasaka.
On August 23, two Rohingya villagers were severely beaten up on Shwe Zaar Bridge by the Rakhine villagers of Aung Mingla village, said a town dweller.
Hakim Ali, hailed from Sambala village ( near Balu Khali) of Nasaka area No.3 and Abdu Sharif, the village chairman (village administrator) of Balu Khali under the Nasaka area No. 3 of Maungdaw township were severely tortured by army  for not providing young girls or women for their sexual enjoyment on August 21. They (villagers) were asked by army to provide them 10 girls or women per village, but the said village elders did not comply with their order, said a local elder.
On August 23, at about 11:30 p, Fokira Bazar was set on fire by some civilian Moghs and 31 shops including 3 big clothes shops .were burned down into ashes. Later, the security force and army went to the spot to see the situation.
On August 22, two dead bodies were found under the bridge of Khayakhali-Maungdaw by local villagers, but these bodies were not identified. People believe that they were killed recently, said a local elder.
On August 22, army destroyed a shop from Ghodora Bazar of Maungdaw Township and took away two goats and some fowls from the village.
On August 23, five villagers per village of Maungdaw north were called to Nasaka headquarters of Kawar Bill of Maungdaw township to train them, how to talk with the inquiry commissions that will come from Rangoon. They are the aides of Nasaka personnel. The villagers are very disappointed; the real report will not be reached to the hands of inquiry commission, said a school teachers
Rathedaung Township:
Most of the people from Tharapyin, Prynkhon, Kudan Gone, Thami Hla and Sango Daung villages of Rathedaung township have been taking shelter at Don Say Para and Shilkhli villages of Rathedaung west since one month ago as their villages were relocated by security forces and Rakhines. At present, they are facing acute food and shelter crisis. Some of the villagers had already been died of diseases and starvation. No NGOs and rations were reached at the place. So, the villagers requested to the NGOs and donors to help them immediately, otherwise, they will die soon. Villagers are not allowed to go out of their villages, according to a youth from Don Say Para.

Soldiers loot Rohingya shop in Maungdaw north

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Around 40 soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion [LIB] 342 landed in Thee Chaung [Balukhali] village market, north of Maungdaw, at around 2.30 pm on August 22 and looted a shop in front of many shoppers and other witnesses, a local village administration officer reported.
“The LIB soldiers who operate alongside Burma’s border security force Nasaka looted the shop owned by Mohammed Ali. The personnel picked up some goods from the shop and refused to pay for them,” said the officer.
“As the shopkeeper insisted for payment the soldiers got angry and beat up the shopkeeper badly and he received serious injuries. Many around witnessed the incident but none dared to intervene.”
The officer reported the mischief by the soldiers to the Township and District Administration Officers in Maungdaw.
When the LIB 342 soldiers got to know that what they had done at the Thee Chaung shop was in the notice of the senior administration officers in Maungdaw, they began hunting for the village administration officer who had reported the incident to his bosses.
The LIB men called all the local village administration officers to their camp, interrogated them and located the officer who was responsible who was responsible for the original complaint.
The soldiers then beat up the officer badly. Another village administration officer who said, what the soldiers had done at the shop was not right, was also beaten up. The two injured officers were released with a warning that they should not dare report the incident of the beating to anyone. However the news of the torture of the two officers by the LIB soldiers leaked outside through an elderly villager of Thee Chaung.
In another case security forces ganged up with local Rakhines and set ablaze several shops owned by Rohingyas in Khamaung Zeik (Fokira Baazaar) village in northern Maungdaw on 22 August. The razing fire was stopped just before it could engulf shops own by the Rakhines.
Rohingyas said, the fire was part of a communal conspiracy aimed at weakening the Rohingyas and it was hatched by none other than some Rakhines. Goods worth some billions of kyats, that were stuffed in the Rohingya shops, were destroyed in the blaze, a Fokira Bazar shopkeeper said.

Myanmar Government Can’t Hide Its Crimes | Dr. Habib Siddiqui

In an article in the state-run New Light of Myanmar on Wednesday, August 22, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Myanmar, stated, “It is obvious that the violence in the Rakhine State are neither the conflict between two religious groups of different faith nor humanitarian issue.” “The incidents in the Rakhine State are sectarian conflicts which are purely internal affairs of a sovereign state. They are not relating to any kind of religious persecution or religious discrimination. Therefore, we will not accept, any attempt to politically regionalize or internationalize this conflict as a religious issue.” “The government of Myanmar has never practiced policy of violence against Muslims or any other faiths,” said the statement. “The government totally rejects accusations made by some organizations that the government is practicing such a policy of abuse.”

Well, I beg to differ with the Myanmar government. It is once again trying to whitewash its horrible record of racism and bigotry against the non-Buddhists (esp. the Rohingya) inside the country. When millions of inhabitants of the country are denied citizenship because of their race, ethnicity and faith, and such exclusion includes every Rohingya Muslim in spite of maintaining their existence in that country for hundreds of years, such claims are simply laughable. When a violent mob attacks a group of Burmese Tablighi Muslims (who were not even from the Rohingya community suspected in the death of a Rakhine woman) and lynches them to death in front of the members of the police forces, who do nothing to stop such horrendous crimes, it is difficult to sell such deep-seated hatred as anything but bigotry. How does the crime of a single individual (although no proof has yet been provided by the Myanmar government) become the justification for committing hate crimes against an entire ethnic group?

When the members of the state-run riot police (Lon Htin) selectively shoots to kill members of the Rohingya community when they had gathered for a funeral service and being provoked by a hostile rock-throwing, stick and knife-wielding Rakhine crowd, no one is fooled by such government explanation. When the members of the border security force NASAKA and Lon Htin are seen (and there are plenty of video tapes available in the Internet) to participate in burning Rohingya homes, businesses and villages, and killing them simply because they are different racially and religiously, if it is not a government sponsored persecution of a Muslim religious community, what is?

When Rakhine Buddhist mobs led by Buddhist monks attack and set fire to several Muslim shops, restaurants and mosques, and kill unarmed Rohingya men and children, while the local authorities (police and the Army) did nothing to intervene nor did the fire-fighters come to their aid, how can one deny or evade responsibility for such collusion?

When the political and military leadership within Myanmar and the Rakhine state promote hatred and xenophobia, and practice open discrimination while encouraging and providing material support to the Buddhist extremists to commit acts of violence including rape of Rohingya Muslim girls and women, it is ludicrous to hide such obvious signs of religious persecution or discrimination.

When the Rakhine Buddhist monks allow their monasteries to be used for hording lethal arms, and disallow the life-saving food items to be sold to and block humanitarian assistance from reaching the starving Rohingya people, it is criminal to ignore the ugly fact that racism and bigotry against the Rohingyas have become an acceptable national project towards their total elimination that is enthusiastically supported and participated by an overwhelming majority within the Buddhist population.

Even a Muslim Rohingya is denied his/her right to reproduction. They cannot get married without government approval, which usually does not happen unless the government official is bribed heftily. US photographer Greg Constantine has recently released a book of black and white photography titled “Exiled to Nowhere: Burma’s Rohingya.” He relates the story of 20-year-old Kashida who had to “flee to Bangladesh with her husband. The Burmese authorities had denied her permission to get married, but when they discovered she had married in secret and was pregnant they took away all her family’s money and cows and goats. They forced Kashida to have an abortion, telling her: “This is not your country; you don’t have the right to reproduce here.” In Mr. Constantine’s book there are plenty of such human stories for anyone to verify the truth of the suffering of the Rohingya people.

What excuse does the Myanmar government have to offer on such monumental crimes against a religious minority?

When the government forces not only allow the slaughter of the unarmed Rohingya but also participate in the gang rape of Rohingya women as a weapon of war so that they are pushed out of the country, and then the fleeing people are shot at — there is a name for such a crime – it is called ethnic cleansing, which has been going on for decades. For the information of the Myanmar government, the United Nations define ‘ethnic cleansing’ as “Purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.”

The Buddhist Myanmar has been practicing this crime for decades against many of the marginalized races and ethnic groups since the state got its independence from Britain in 1948. And of course, the Rohingyas have been the worst victims of this state policy. Per my count, there have been at least two dozen major campaigns to wipe out Muslim identity in Myanmar. As a result of such an on-again and off-again, slow but steady elimination strategy, nearly half the Rohingya population has been pushed out of the country and tens of thousands slaughtered, while the world almost forgot their sad plight. The ‘stubborn’ Rohingyas who continue to live inside this living hell are subjected to the worst forms of persecution and discrimination mankind has ever witnessed in the post-colonial era.

Towards transformational change of the multi-faith and multi-ethnic country to a unitary Burman dominated Buddhist country, there have been a systemic strategy since the days Ne Win (actually, one can go back to the time of Buddhist fanatic king Boddawpaya in 1784) to destroy religious monuments and insignia of other faiths. It is, therefore, not by chance that hardly a single historic mosque stands erect in Myanmar today. The state of Arakan whose shoreline once used to be dotted with Muslim shrines and mosques are now bereft of those Islamic symbolisms. The old Sandi Khan mosque (named after the very Muslim General who came to restore the throne of the fleeing Arakanese king Narameikhla in 1430 CE is long destroyed. Even the ancient Han Tha mosque did not survive Myanmarism. Along with the Taungoo Railway station mosque, this historical mosque was razed to the ground on May 18, 2001 by bulldozers owned by the previous SPDC military junta. How about Akyab’s historic Badr Makam mosque? [It is no accident either that Muslim sounding names of towns and places like Akyab (including that of Arakan state) have systematically been Burmanized to erase that Islamic connectivity.]

No religion can effectively survive or function without its places of worship. Every time a riot is initiated (often with full cooperation of the regime), the first targets are usually the mosques and madrasas because these are the only remaining institutions in Myanmar that are connected with the Islamic faith. [The Rohingya children are barred from government education beyond primary level, nor do they have freedom of movement.] And what is worse: mosques and Muslim graveyards are routinely closed down, destroyed or desecrated to make room for Buddhist model towns or expensive pagodas, where the Muslims must pay for such construction projects. [As I write, hundreds of Muslim mosques have been demolished or burned in the latest episode. All the mosques have been closed down without allowing Muslims to pray inside. So, no one could pray even on the Eid day, the happiest of Islamic festivals.]

As Dr. Shwe Lu Maung alias Shahnawaz Khan has noted in his book – The Price of Silence: Muslim-Buddhist War of Bangladesh and Myanmar – A Social Darwinist’s Analysis – the policy of the successive rulers in Myanmar for centuries has been to make “golden temple shiny shiny, stomach though empty empty.” Every Myanmar ruler that has come to power has always tried to outdo his predecessor by trying to build a bigger and more expensive pagoda so as to prove his unwavering ties with the Buddhist faith and people, most often however at the expense of other faiths and faithful followers.

Interested reader may like to read the reports from a multitude of human rights groups, plus the U.S. State Department’s annual report on Myanmar, or my books (esp., The Forgotten Rohingya: Their Struggle for Human Rights in Burma) to comprehend the colossal record of crime of the Myanmar government against the Rohingya Muslims.

The reports emerging from the Rakhine state, verified by several human rights groups, clearly show the regime’s dirty hands in targeted elimination of the Rohingya people. This was also obvious from the assessment made by Navi Pillay of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who said, “We have been receiving a stream of reports from independent sources alleging discriminatory and arbitrary responses by security forces, and even their instigation of and involvement in clashes.” “Reports indicate that the initial swift response of the authorities to the communal violence may have turned into a crackdown targeting Muslims, in particular members of the Rohingya community,” she said (July 27, 2012).

Benjamin Zawacki of the Amnesty International told BBC, “Most cases have meant targeted attacks on the minority Rohingya population and they were bearing the brunt of most of that communal violence in June and they continue to bear the lion’s share of the violations perpetrated by the state security forces.” “While the restoration of order, security, and the protection of human rights is necessary, most arrests appear to have been arbitrary and discriminatory, violating the rights to liberty and to freedom from discrimination on grounds of religion,” Amnesty said in a statement.

Similarly, Phil Robertson, Deputy Director, Asia Division, Human Rights Watch, said “state security forces and local Arakan communities worked together to target Rohingya communities, committing killings, rapes, and mass arrests.” On June 23, in a village near the town of Maungdaw, security forces pursued and opened fire on two dozen Rohingya villagers who had been hiding from the violence in fields and forest areas. Witnesses in Maungdaw township described several instances in which Rakhine men wielding sticks and swords accompanied the security forces in raids on Rohingya villages.

Not too long ago, a coalition of human rights group, led by Refugees International, the Arakan Project, and the Equal Rights Trust, issued a joint statement saying: “In Myanmar, what began as inter-communal violence has evolved into large scale state-sponsored violence against the Rohingya.” “Many Rohingya continue to be victims of violence and cannot leave their homes for fear of persecution, and are thus deprived of their livelihood and most basic needs,” said the advocacy groups.

To, thus, say that the government of Myanmar has ‘never practiced policy of violence against Muslims or any other faiths’ or that there is ‘no religious persecution or discrimination’ is like saying that ‘violence is peace’ and ‘persecution is love’! With more than 100,000 internally displaced Rohingyas, it is also a grave humanitarian issue. With such hypocritical words, the Myanmar government can neither hope to hoodwink anyone nor evade its responsibility for being the author and executioner for its crimes against humanity.

Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director, Human Rights Watch, noted weeks ago, “Deadly violence in Arakan State is spiraling out of control under the government’s watch. Opening the area to independent international observers would put all sides on notice that they were being closely watched.” The UN and other human rights monitoring groups have also requested Myanmar government to allow international observers to be posted, but to no avail. Its reluctance points to the fact that the regime wants to hide its on-going crime against the Rohingya people.

Lately, President Thein Sein has announced the formation of a 27-member inquiry commission to submit a report on this latest pogrom. One may recall that soon after the pogrom had started in June, he promised a similar inquiry report by June 30, which, however, never saw the light. The inclusion of racists like Dr. Aye Maung, Khin Maung Swe, Aye Tha Aung, Zarganar, and Ko Ko Gyi, who had played an active role in the latest pogrom against the Rohingya people, once again shows that Thein Sein is not serious about fact-finding but only about international image. It is a face-saving measure to withstand international pressure. He is trying to buy time and hope that commotion would calm down so that he could rekindle the fire of extinction some time later.

As I have noted many times, at the heart of the on-going eliminationist project against Rohingyas and other persecuted minorities lies Burma’s notorious 1982 Citizenship Law, written during hateful dictator Ne Win era. It is sad to see that how such a blueprint for racial and religious discrimination and eventual elimination has now become an acceptable law even by the so-called democracy leaders. No one inside Myanmar is crying out foul for its violations of each of the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, not even Suu Kyi Aris, once touted as a voice of conscience for humanity. The recent tragedy has shown her real color and those of her NLD colleagues. They are basically neo-Fascists who are no better than the very regime that they want to unseat. That is what a national project for elimination would do to a nation!

If the Myanmar government is serious about bringing about a positive change towards inclusion, its 1982 Law needs to be amended or dumped altogether so that Rohingyas are not rendered stateless. Amnesty International says, “Under international human rights law and standards, no one may be left or rendered stateless.”

And this is also the recommendation from the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana. He has stressed the need for the authorities to take steps to address the “long-standing issues of deprivation of citizenship, freedom of movement, and other fundamental rights” that plague the welfare of the Rohingya people. There is no better time to amend the 1982 Law than now.

Is Thein Sein government ready to truly reform its 1982 Law that violates international human rights law and standards? If not now, when? Without such steps, he can’t escape being labeled as an executioner of an apartheid policy that leads to exclusion, discrimination, persecution and elimination. That is war crime in my book!

Indonesian Red Cross sends team to Myanmar

JAKARTA: The Indonesian Red Cross sent a team of aid workers on Saturday to western Myanmar, where deadly sectarian violence in June left dozens dead and thousands of mostly Muslim Rohingya displaced.

The eight-member team took off in a military jet from an airbase in the capital Jakarta in the morning with 500 hygiene kits, 3,000 blankets and 10,000 sarongs for the first phase of their mission.

"This is an agreement between the president of Myanmar and the Indonesian Red Cross," Indonesian Red Cross chief Jusuf Kalla told reporters.

"We expect the team to stay for around a year, but that will depend on coordination with the government and other Red Cross and Red Crescent teams."

Sectarian violence between Buddhists and Rohingya has flared in Rakhine state, where clashes in June left around 80 people dead, according to official estimates deemed low by rights groups.

Villages were razed and an estimated 70,000 people, the majority of them Rohingya, were left displaced in government-run camps and shelters.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused Myanmar forces of opening fire on Rohingya, as well as committing rape and standing by as rival mobs attacked each other.

Myanmar has set up a commission to probe the clashes after facing heavy criticism from rights groups.

Decades of discrimination have left the Rohingya stateless and they are viewed by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.

Myanmar communal bloodshed leaves deep scars | Anna O'Connor

The riots broke out in June after a Buddhist woman was allegedly raped and murdered by a group of Rohingya men 

SITTWE, Myanmar — Charred stumps and scattered rubbish are all that remain of a once-bustling community in strife-torn western Myanmar, just one of many razed to the ground in recent communal violence.

The clashes which broke out in June between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims have left dozens of people dead and torn apart communities, forcing tens of thousands on both sides to seek refuge in dusty camps and shelters.

Nawseema Har Tu Fa said she fled her village after it was torched during the wave of violence that turned longtime neighbours into bitter enemies.

"We had no problem with the Buddhist people before. We never quarrelled with them before. We lived together, we used to speak. We went to the market every day together," she recounted in a village near the Rakhine state capital Sittwe where many Rohingya have sought sanctuary.

"The main reason we came here is to protect our children, otherwise they might have died there."

An estimated 70,000 people -- 50,000 Rohingya and 20,000 Buddhists -- are in emergency accommodation in the Sittwe area, police told an AFP reporter who visited the remote region near the border with Bangladesh.

They languish in camps or cramped monasteries, dependent on food handouts.

"There are no houses or shelter in their own villages, they were all burned down, so that's why they are here," said Soe Myint, manager of the Kaung Dokar refugee camp, one of six Rohingya camps in Sittwe.

Almost 90 people, both Buddhists and Rohingya, were killed during the violence in June, according to official figures which rights groups fear grossly underestimate the real toll.

The riots broke out after a Buddhist woman was allegedly raped and murdered by a group of Rohingya men.

Access to affected areas is restricted by the authorities, which say that the situation has been relatively calm in recent weeks.

But officials reported that renewed clashes left several people dead earlier this month, underscoring the tinderbox atmosphere.

Rohingya driven from their homes are not allowed to leave the camps -- ostensibly for their own safety. But the restriction has left the Rohingya community out of work and reliant on World Food Programme supplies.

"We do not have enough food, as we do not have the possibility to go to Sittwe downtown to buy everything we need," said displaced Rohingya Abu Shukur.

Faced with heavy criticism from rights groups and outcry from the Muslim world after the unrest, Myanmar's government has denied accusations of abuse of Rohingya villagers by security forces in Rakhine.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused Myanmar forces of opening fire on Rohingya during the June outbreak of unrest, as well as committing rape and standing by as rival mobs attacked each other.

Speaking a dialect similar to one in neighbouring Bangladesh, the Rohingya are seen as illegal immigrants by the Myanmar government and many Burmese, who describe them as "Bengalis" or "kalar" -- a derogatory term for Muslims.

"Successive governments and regimes have taken in the Muslim kalar, illegally allowing them in" in return for bribes, said senior monk Oo Ku Maar Ka, the head of Gade Chay Monastery.

In a report sent to Myanmar's parliament earlier this month, the country's reformist President Thein Sein accused Buddhist monks, politicians and other ethnic Rakhine figures of kindling hatred towards the Rohingya.

"Rakhine people are continuously thinking to terrorise the Bengali Muslims living across the country," he said, adding that ethnic Rakhine could not envisage sharing their land with people they consider foreigners.

"They cannot consider a situation in which the Bengali Muslims can be citizens," the president said according to the report, which was seen by AFP.

Myanmar recently announced it had set up a new commission to establish the cause of the sectarian clashes and recommend measures to ease tensions and find "ways for peaceful coexistence".

For now that appears a distant goal as deep mistrust poisons relations between the segregated communities.

"We knew the ones who burned down our houses," said Saw Saw, one of thousands of displaced Rakhine Buddhists sheltering in local monasteries. "If Rohingya from outside come in then it will be even worse."

U.S. Ambassador in Myanmar Speaks Out on Rohingya

U.S Ambassador Derek Mitchell, US Based Rohingya Organization Chairman Prof. Dr. Wakar Uddin, and BRANA Information Secretary Nay San Oo at the State Department , Washington DC  on May 11,2012

By Patrick Barta

YANGON—Intolerance toward Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar has dented some Americans’ perceptions of the country, but hasn’t significantly altered Washington’s views on easing sanctions, the U.S.’s new ambassador in Yangon said.

Like other Western nations, the U.S. has eased some sanctions against Myanmar in recent months, and has signaled it could take further steps to reward Myanmar if its recent round of political and economic reforms continues. But even as relations between the two countries warm, sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas that left at least 88 people dead and displaced thousands of others has added a new strain.

“I have to say it did surprise us to the degree that there would be violence so quickly, that it would spread so terribly,” said U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar Derek Mitchell in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.

“I don’t think it affects our view on sanctions,” he went on. “It just means we have an even more complex challenge ahead of us in the country.”

Mr. Mitchell said the Rohingya conflicts were particularly troubling because they revealed deeper issues of injustice in the country than those usually considered by the international community. In the past, international leaders focused much of their attention on alleged human-rights abuses by the Myanmar military and government. But in the case of the Rohingyas, much of the discrimination comes from everyday citizens, some questioning the right of the Rohingyas merely to live in the country.

“It’s unfortunate when you see the depths of intolerance and discrimination….among citizens,” Mr. Mitchell said—including “people who otherwise you would think of as progressive and who have fought so long for civil rights,” such as Buddhist monks.

As a result, the concerns raised by the recent violence are “broader than what our traditional concern is, which is the system, or the government, or the military,” he said. “This had to do with the deep-seated intolerance that seemed to be within the society writ large. So I think that’s where the deep disappointment came. And it creates a division between them and us to a degree.”

In a statement issued Tuesday and circulated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Thursday, Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs blasted what it called “false and fabricated news reporting” on the Rohingya clashes, which it described as “purely internal affairs of a sovereign state.” The violence was “not relating to any kind of religious persecution or religious discrimination,” it said, but rather related to a conflict between two communities following a criminal act, widely reported as a rape of a Buddhist woman.

“Therefore,” the statement said, “we will not accept any attempt to politically regionalize or internationalize this conflict as a religious issue.”

Mr. Mitchell said U.S. officials were sensitive to the feelings among Buddhists in Western Myanmar that they, too, have suffered in recent years, and that international organizations focus too heavily on Rohingya concerns.

But he said that doesn’t mitigate the need to aid the Rohingyas, who have struggled for many years to find a home in a region where no government seems to want them. Myanmar excludes them from citizenship laws and restricts their movements and activities, including marriage. Myanmar officials argue that many Rohingyas are living illegally in the country, and say they have done their best to protect them.

The “Rohingya are oppressed by everybody,” Mr. Mitchell said. “These people are stateless. They have nowhere to turn. And it is not going to be lost on the international community.”

Even so, it’s unclear how much leverage U.S. officials will have to pressure the Myanmar government to expand rights for Rohingyas so long as momentum builds to keep easing sanctions. Although the U.S. continues to ban Myanmar imports and maintains some other restrictions, it recently suspended sanctions blocking U.S. investment, and U.S. companies are moving quickly to step up their involvement there.

To investigate the latest violence, Myanmar officials have established a commission whose 27 members include former student activists, representatives from political parties and even some government critics who spent time in jail as political prisoners. The well-known comedian known as Zarganar is a member, as is activist Ko Ko Gyi, who helped lead student protests against the old military regime in 1988. The commission is supposed to submit its findings by Sept. 17.

Although some international organizations applauded the creation of the commission, others remain skeptical. In a joint statement issued last week, a group of international Rohingya associations including the Burmese Rohingya Organisation U.K. said they believe the commission “will not be credible and truly independent” unless Rohingya representatives are added to its membership, which it said included people who had “directly or indirectly” fueled the violence. The groups called for a U.N. commission of inquiry.

In its latest statement on the violence, Myanmar’s government said it had created the 27-member commission “with a view to exposing the real cause of the incident and to give advice for the national interest.” It added that the government is “working closely” with the international community to bring relief to areas affected by the violence.

Current Situation on Arakan (Aug 23,2012 ) | M.S. Anwar

Maung Daw, Arakan Stateယ24th August  2012

“Around 1AM on 23rd August 2012, military and security forces along with many Rakhine hooligans torched Rohingyas’ shops in Foira Baazaar Village (Kamok Seik Rua) of northern Maung Daw. Consequently, around 40 Rohingyas’ shops were burned. It is believed that each of the shops was worth around 1 billion Kyats. Therefore, all of the shops were worth around Kyats 40 billion. This place was quiet and unaffected in last June and July because the villagers tried to avoid any kind of violence as much as possible. But Rakhine extremists did not want to see the stable situation of the village and therefore did the destructions of Rohingyas’ properties” said a Rohingya youth from Maung Daw. 

“Besides, on 21st August 2012 around 11pm, in Tharay Kunbaung village tract, some Rakhine extremists in collaboration with security forces, military and police destroyed an ancient mosque called Khala Masjid. When Rohingyas tried to prevent the destructions, military fired at them. Fortunately, no one died due to Military’s firing. If Rohingyas are not religiously targeted, then why are they destroying Mosques?” said a victimized Rohingya from the village. He further exclaimed that in the future, Rakhines might not be able to do more atrocitie because there may be the presence of humanitarian workers, non-Rakhine people and investigations. That may be the reasons why Rakhines recently speeded up their atrocities against Rohingyas and destroying and looting their properties within the remaining time. 

According to local Rohingyas in Maung Daw, since last few days, Rakhines have been rushing to set up temporary camps (tents) in rural areas of Maung Daw. The few affected Rakhines during the riot are kept safe and sound in the monasteries in the area. But now even unaffected Rakhines and rich ones are planning to move to the camps for one to two days during the visit of inquiry commission set up by the President U Thein Sein. Though one cannot expect impartial investigations when the culprits who started this ugly racism and committed all the crimes themselves against Rohingyas have taken charge of the investigations, yet, reportedly, the members of Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP) raised some objections against involvement of some people in the Inquiry Commission Team. Previously, the inquiry was supposed to be done within a month. Now it is delayed and will be done in three months. They are deliberately delaying the inquiry so that they can cover up all the ongoing crimes against Rohingyas and further delay the forthcoming general assembly in United Nation regarding Rohingyas’ case. 

Elsewhere, according to an internal source, Rakhine terrorists have been bringing the weapons such as guns and hand bombs etc into Arakan. They are keeping it in the places such as Rakhine monasteries and other secret places all over Arakan. They might have secret plans and want to make full use of the situation to achieve their long awaited dream of having independent Arakan.

The Dalai Lama expressed concern over Rohingya Muslim in Burma

DHARAMSHALA, August 23: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama has written a letter to Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, expressing his concerns over the outbreak of communal violence in Burma.

In the letter, the Dalai Lama said that he was “deeply saddened” and remains “very concerned” with the violence inflicted on the Rohingya Muslims.

The two Nobel laureates had recently met in London, England on July 19, for the first time. 

The Tibetan spiritual leader also directed his representative in the Indian capital, Tempa Tsering, to meet the Ambassador of Myanmar. The Embassy, however, is yet to schedule the meeting.

Details of the letter were made public by Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay during his meeting with Syed Yahya Bukhari, President, Jama Masjid United Forum on Wednesday at the latter’s residence on the auspicious occasion of Eid.

Two mainstream Urdu print media, the Daily Sahafat and The Inquilab, were also present at the hour-long discussions during which Dr Sangay expressed his heartfelt Eid greetings to Bukhari and the Muslim community.

The elected Tibetan leader also sought to clear misunderstandings within certain sections of the Muslim community on Tibetans by presenting a copy of the 2010 Kyegudo earthquake photo which has been “mistakenly or deliberately” used by some websites to create negative perceptions.

Indonesia sends special envoy for Rohingya to address Arakan violence

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and  former vice president Jusuf Kalla  

Aug 22, 2012 

Indonesia has appointed former vice president Jusuf Kalla as a special envoy to help address sectarian violence in Burma's Rakhine state.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the move was a form of "solidarity with our Rohingya brothers".

Mr Kalla, who is chairman of the Indonesian Red Cross, is expected to arrive in Burma on September 8.

"It started as a personal conflict, and going to a political conflict, and then going to an ethnic conflict and it will be a religious conflict," Mr Kalla told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program.

"As an humanitarian, Asian, Muslim country, it should be our duty to assist and to participate to support the government there in stopping this violence."

Burma recently allowed the Indonesian Red Cross, along with other international humanitarian agencies, to send aid to refugees forced to flee the deadly conflicts between Rohingyas and Rakhines that have left at least 87 dead.