Breaking news: June 29, 2012

No relief for Rohingya in Maungdaw

Two helicopters with relief goods arrived yesterday in Maungdaw and all the relief goods are kept in Myoma monastery where the relief goods were distributed to the Rakhines who are not taking shelter as refugees. Most Rakhines have homes and foods but they receive the relief from distribution centers. The authority setup three centers in Maungdaw – Myoma monastery, Myo Oo Pagoda monastery and Ward number 5 junctions “Community hall for Buddha religious purposes.”

The relief goods are not distributed to the Rohingya community and has no plan to distribute relief to them. Most of the Rohingya community who are living inside town and nearby town are facing foods shortage and some become starvation which will be danger for this community in the future and will die.
Still not able to pray Juma  in Maungdaw
Maungdaw authorities are still blocking Rohingya community to pray Juma in the Mosques in Maungdaw Township.
Authority extracts forced labor to build new Natala villages
The concerned authorities forcibly extract forced labor from Rohingya community to build new Natala villages where the concerned authority paid only 1000 kyat and one kilogram of rice per day where normally one labor gets more than 2000 kyat. No foods or water are provided during the working period.

Myanmar ethnic alliance says Rohingya “not Burmese

Malaysia’s Rohingyas protest violence in Myanmar.

KUALA LUMPUR: Adding anger to an already tense situation in Myanmar, a group of 8 ethnic parties currently allied have said the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority are not considered an ethnic minority.
The statement by the group’s reiterated their position adopted in 2005.
It comes as the Rohingya minority in the country face waves of attacks and reported massacres in the Western Arakan area of the country.
“‘Rohingya’ is not to be recognized as a nationality,” said a statement by the National Democratic Front (NDF), saying it wanted its views to be known to “the people at home and in foreign lands” because of the sectarian violence that has erupted in Rakhine State, claiming nearly 80 lives since May 28.
Some 800,000 Rohingyas live in Burma, where the government considers them illegal immigrants and denies them citizenship. Most Burmese call Rohingya “Bengali.”
NDF Secretary Khun Oh said, “Even before the current conflict, there has been frequent conflict between Rakhine and Bengalis,” referring to the Rohingyas as people from Bangladesh.
The NDF statement said the violence, which saw up to 3,000 homes and businesses burned, was a result of poor immigration regulations and enforcement.
However, Khun Oh told local media that some Rohingyas could be granted Burmese citizenship if they met appropriate qualifications, such as knowledge of the national language.
The stateless community has struggled to find a positive way of life as many fled violence in Myanmar in the early 1980s.
The Rohingyas said the flare up of violence in Myanmar has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people in the past three decades and they want an end to the alleged atrocities.
They want a UN peacekeeping force as well as a medical team to be sent there immediately.
Many fear that thousands of Rohingyas may be heading towards a crisis situation without food, shelter and medication.

Egypt activists to protest at Myanmar embassy over Rohingya attacks

Western Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims face food shortages and ethnic violence.

CAIRO: Egyptian rights activists announced their solidarity with the under attack Muslim Rohingya community in Arakan, Myanmar, and plan to protest outside the Myanmar embassy later on Thursday.
“We are against exterminating peoples for their religion or beliefs,” said the invitation to action.
“The Arakan region has seen some serious human rights violations since the beginning of June where Muslims were attacked by Buddhists.”
The activists plan to gather in the upscale Cairo neighborhood of Zamalek at 5 PM to protest the ethnic violence outside of the embassy.
Some 30 Rohingya have been killed in violent clashes in Myanmar as a result of ethnic violence with Buddhists in the Western area.
The stateless community has struggled to find a positive way of life as many fled violence in Myanmar in the early 1980s.
The Rohingyas said the flare up of violence in Myanmar has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people in the past three decades and they want an end to the alleged atrocities.
They want a UN peacekeeping force as well as a medical team to be sent there immediately.
Many fear that thousands of Rohingyas may be heading towards a crisis situation without food, shelter and medication.