High ranking police officers sell looted rice in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State: High ranking police officers –District police head, Township police head with other junior polices-   are selling the rice which the police personnel and Rakhines loot rice from Rohingya shops since June 10, according to an elder from Maungdaw.

“The police officers are sending rice bags from ESB (Electricity supply station compound) to Mozeullah shop of Karee (Khanpara) village every day since June 27.”
“The police officers also sent rice bags to Kamal shop of same village daily since June 27.”
The police officers sent the rice bags by police vehicle to the shops daily 100 bags and collected money from Mozeullah and Kamal 20,000 kyats per bags.
U Myo Win – the district police head – has been going to the shops and collects the money of rice bags.
The rice bags are from Mohamed Younous (alas) Miniga, Shamshu from Shwezarr village and Ramzan Ali from Ward number 5 where more than 1500 bags of rice bags were looted by Rakhine along with police personnel from rice store behind of Maungdaw municipal  market, according to a shopkeeper from Maungdaw.
The authority are selling goods to the Rohingya again which were looted from Rohingya store in Maungdaw and store in the compound of ESB where most of staff are Rakhines and they all together with police looted goods from Rohingya stores.
It is also a big problem for Rohingya as the authority imposed emergence ACT which is only for Rohingya not for Rakhine in Arakan State. Rohingya are not able to go out of their home to finds out kitchen items for survival for their family.

Irony of Myanmar's 'Iron lady': Peace activist Aung San Suu Kyi indifferent to Rohingya Muslims' plight in Burma

'Peace activist' mum on persecution

Aung San Suu Kyi was a world hero but does she command the same respect? This is now a question being asked repeatedly due to her apathy towards the plight of Rohingya minority and her controversial statements about their citizenship status.


The world had stood by Suu Kyi and openly supported the pro-democracy woman who had been under house arrest by the military government in Myanmar but after her release and victory, her stand on the Rohingya issue has been shocking to say the least.


Worse, Rohingyas were getting killed in the rioting when she was on a tour to Europe. She didn't speak about the violence back home, issued no direct appeal to her people to stop violence and while newspapers said she was treated like 'Rockstar' and awarded doctorate, Suu Kyi made THE controversial statement. 


The 'iron' woman, who was supposed to have spoken for the rights of the community, has gone to the extent of questioning that if the minority indeed belongs to Burma. What can be the biggest irony? She was a hero for everyone but no more for me and perhaps many others. 

The Rohingyas, a stateless people, have been living in Myanmar for centuries until the military government in 1982 [through a citizenship law] decided to strip the off their nationality. The community that is termed by Amnesty and other agencies as one of the most persecuted in the world, is now termed 'outsider'. 


Rohingyas population estimates range from 8,00,000 to 1 million though it is suspected that the government figures are markedly less than the actual population. The community has faced hostility, prejudices and massacres for the last 60 years.

World Wakes up to the plight of Rohingyas

But the woman who suffered most at the hands of the military, seems to be in sync with the junta's [army] views about the Rohingyas who have been discriminated, oppressed and systematically forced out of Burma for decades.


Now pandering to popular sentiments, Suu Kyi has refrained from making any statement. No wonder, the Rohingyas are dejected and have lost hope from the woman they had supported and even vote for in election, aiming for change. Does she feel the Bamars would get upset if she speaks for Rohingyas!


That't what politicians do. But this is not expected from a leader of her stature. The ethnic riots between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims left nearly 90 dead while 90,000 were displaced. But she ket mum. Bangladesh didn't let fleeing Rohingyas, who wanted an asylum, and forced them to go back to their country. 


It was in this scenario that reporters during her tour to England, France, Ireland and other countries, asked her repeatedly on this humanitarian crisis. She kept mum and avoided a comment on this issue, even as the extent of violence had shaken her country.

Rohingya woman cries after her husband got killed

When she was not left with any alternative, she shrewdly said, "The rule of the law is needed". 


Is this you expect from a statesman, a Nobel prize winner or a world leader or a fighter? 


Newspapers were finally getting critical about the fact that her tour appeared more a celebration and PR exercise.


She seemed to echo the hardline sentiment that Rohingyas are illegal immigrants [refugees] in Myanmar. 


She finally said that Myanmar must clarify citizenship rules and that she was unsure whether Rohingyas could be regarded as Maynamar nationals. WHAT A SHAME!


The world is changing Ma'am. The fascist rule had somewhat managed to keep the country insulated but news about the clashes and genocides can't be suppressed any more. 

That day I saw the group on Facebook group 'I have no respect left for you Aung San Suu Kyi...'.A leading newspaper questions, 'Has Suu Kyi lost that moral voice?' 


It is no bravery to get aligned to right-wing forces for minor gains. Nationalism becomes Jingoism easily. It takes a GANDHI to counter populist mood and use the leader's moral authority to say things that may not appear nice [and to go against the tide]. 


So those who compared you to the great Nelson Mandela, may have to do a rethink now. As an activist you struggled, spent a lifetime fighting oppressive forces. People put faith in you but you let us down. 


Your tour is over and soon you will be back to Yangon [formerly Rangoon]. If you don't speak for the victims, just because they look like Bengalis, you will be considered an accomplice in letting this persecution go on. 


We urge you to make amends and take steps for reconciliation between Rohingya and the rest. Isn't it time for you to live up to your own reputation and redeem yourself?

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.

Call for Respect and Tolerance Amid Violence in Burma’s Arakan State

Editor’s Note: Below the author shares her experience, observations and opinion regarding the outbreak of violence in Burma’s Arakan State (also called Rakhine State). The recent fighting has cost the lives of dozens of people and forced tens of thousands to flee.
By Sandi Aung
Recent images of fighting in Burma’s Arakan State, the home of my ancestors, has deeply saddened me. I am struck by the loss of life, the violence and the livelihoods destroyed. But, I am also disturbed by how little the social and economic conditions have changed.
I still remember the faces of people, like the Rakhine and Rohingya, that surrounded me when I was 5 years old living in the state and, later, when I returned to visit as a college student. The conditions captured in the recent images—the boats, villages, buildings and streets — sadly, look the same as when I was there more than 20 years ago.
While growing up in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, I remember going to the neighborhood market with my grandmother and buying grocery items from both Rakhine and Rohingya merchants. The Rohingya were around me in my daily life, serving as hired hands for businesses, selling fish and vegetables at the market and selling snacks and traditional medicines. I would see Rohingya women walking down the streets wearing longyi (traditional woman’s wear in Burma) with scarves around their necks and faces representing their Muslim faith.
As a child, I was always told that Muslims, the Rohingya, were immigrants from Bangladesh. Isolated incidents of violence between individuals from both sides would happen from time to time — sometimes escalating into riots. Growing up, I was indifferent to the problem.
I had a chance to visit Bangladesh back in the early 2000s, and met some Rohingya women who were living outside of camps (I wasn’t able to visit the camps themselves) in utter poverty. They could barely speak Bengali or other tribal dialects used in Bangladesh. Their stories were shared through the hard-work of translation:

left with several children because husband never came back (not knowing what had happened to him), making a living by breaking big cement pieces at the construction sites, selling vegetables or selling any creatures that can be dug out from the mud,  to feed themselves.

They said they wanted to go home, pointing toward Arakan state.
I thought to myself that, if they had indeed just crossed the border to live in Arakan state, shouldn’t they be feeling comfortable because they were back at home, safe and sound in a Muslim community? Why go back to the territory dominated by Buddhists who have discriminated against them for centuries?
Differences along ethnic and racial lines are common across the world, but it is wrong and unacceptable for people to use these differences as justification for killing, looting, and other forms of abuses. Even worse, is tolerating such behaviors for years.
So what spurred the recent outbreak of violence?
To me, it was a perfect storm in the making for years — the absence of the rule of law, the lack of civic education and severely limited economic opportunities. All of this has been coupled with the strain of living under a repressive regime for decades.  While I appreciate the international community’s concerns, I don’t welcome finger-pointing or blaming one group over another. Yes, individuals from both sides who committed the crimes should be brought to justice. But, labeling the crisis as “Buddhists” vs. “Muslims” or “Rakhine” vs. “Rohingya” simply exacerbates the divide. The leaders of both sides, with access to international media, have called out loudly for their own causes. They are sitting in their comfortable homes while ordinary people were out on the streets fleeing from violence, possibly triggered by their words.
It’s time for everyone to take a step back. It’s too bad that we have left this wound unhealed for this long and what a shame for a country known to have fought so hard for democracy! But, here is a chance: let’s show the international community that we belong to a democratic world by treating everyone with respect regardless of their ethnicity, color, religion or legal status. Let’s keep the debate in the peaceful forums represented by all parties through a democratic process and by keeping an open mind.
Yes, it will be a difficult emotional process for all of us, but it’s the right thing to do and necessary for the country to move forward.
Sandi is a native of Burma and a graduate of  University of Yangon and University of Notre Dame.  She is an educator and currently lives in Conway, Arkansas.