Authority again mass arrests in Northern Arakan

Maungdaw, Arakan State: The concerned authorities- police , Burma border security force (Nasaka) and army- have been arresting Rohingya community since  last Friday, according to a school teacher from Maungdaw.

The police officer from Three miles check point arrested 4 Rohingya from Samawna para near the Myothu Gyi villager yesterday evening at about 5:30, said an elder from Myothu Gyi village.
“The arrestees are living near the village primary school and they are Abdul Sukur, son of Reyaz, Abudl Sukur, son of Kala Meah , Rashid , son of Abdul Sukur and Putu son of Abdul Sukur.”
“Shadek Husson, son of Osman from Sawmawna para was arrested by Nasaka station near Natala ( Shetler) village yesterday at about 4;30 pm, but he was released after extorting 20,000 kyat.”
Similarly, Nasaka arrested Somi Ullah son of Dilu, Rahamat Ullah son of Dilu , Nur Hashim son of Basher and another  from Guna Para of Shwezarr Village yesterday.
On the other hand, Abul Bashar son of Zakawriya and Yasein  ( Converted from Rakhine) from Thanda village  were arrested yesterday by army but the relative are worried for them as the army toke them to the jungle and no information about them.
Besides, Abdullah son of Nurmal Hakhin, Habib Ullah, son of Sultan, Maghgul, son of Abdul Rashid and Foor Khan, son of  Ali Husson from Alay Than Kyaw were arrested by Nasaka  yesterday , according to an elder from Aly Than Kyaw.
In Buthidaung, the security force also are arresting Rohingya from Mosque and home since July 20. The arrestees are:-Husson Johar, Regional Development Association (RDA) secretary hailed from Ward number 3, Buthidaung , Yasin (Bamboo agent) from same Ward  were arrested by police today and the reason was unknown.
Syed Ahmed, son of Amir Rafique, Salim, son of Abdul Amin, Shakar, son of Sultan,Salim son of Faid Ahmed and Abdul Rahaman son of Abdul Malek  from Ywama village of Buthidaung were arrested by police for praying in Mosque yesterday afternoon, according to a trader from Buthidaung.
!8 Rohingyas from Railway Block of Buthidaung were arrested yesterday by police and another 43 Rohingyas from Ward number 7 were arrested from Mosque while they praying afternoon  today,

Myanmar refuses visa to Ansar Burney

LONDON: The Burmese embassy in London has refused the visa application of Ansar Burney, the United Nations former expert adviser on human rights. Ansar Burney had applied to visit the troubled country on a “fact-finding mission” but he was informed on Tuesday afternoon that his application cannot be entertained.

Burney told The News: “The embassy has told me that they are not allowing journalists and human rights activists in the country. I am completely gutted. This action proves that Burma has something to hide from the world. 

This action shows that reports of Muslims massacre in western Myanmar and Muslim Rohingyas are correct. I wanted to go there only to find facts about this case.”Burney had applied for visa last week and was told to collect it on Tuesday.

'World must offer help to Rohingyas'

Hundreds of Iranians have staged a rally to express solidarity with the ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and protest against mass slaughter of the community in the southeastern Asian state.

During the rally held in front of the UN office in Tehran on Tuesday, the Iranian demonstrators chanted slogans in condemnation of atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims, and demanded an immediate halt to the ongoing carnage in Myanmar. 

Iran has called on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to take immediate action and urge the Myanmar regime to put an end to the ongoing genocide and systematic violation of human rights of the Muslim people in the country. 

In a letter to addressed Pillay, Iran's permanent representative at UN's European Office in Geneva, Seyyed Mohammad Reza Sajjadi, has called for immediate and effective action by all concerned international organizations, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to condemn and call on the Myanmar regime to rapidly stop the “genocide and widespread and systematic violation of human rights of the innocent Muslim people of Myanmar.” 

He has also expressed deep concern over the continuation of rampant violence and pogrom of the Muslim people of Myanmar, including a remarkable number of women and children. 

Sajjadi stressed that the new wave of violence against Muslims in Myanmar, which has led to mass killing of hundreds of innocent civilians, destruction and burning of mosques and houses, and forceful expulsion of people from their homes has hurt the humane sentiments and caused deep concern among the international community and the world people. 

The government of Myanmar refuses to recognize the Rohingya Muslims, who it claims are not natives and classifies them as illegal migrants. This comes while the Rohingya are said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origin, who migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.

Myanmar’s President Thein Sein said on July 19 that the "only solution" to the plight of Rohingya Muslims is to send the country’s nearly one million Muslims -- which is one of the world's most persecuted minorities -- to refugee camps run by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 

However, the UN refugee agency has snubbed the idea of setting up refugee camps to accommodate the Rohingyas. 

"We will send them away if any third country would accept them," Sein added. "This is what we are thinking is the solution to the issue." 

Even Myanmar’s Western-sponsored democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has kept silent on atrocities perpetrated against the Rohingya Muslims.

Over the past two years, waves of ethnic Muslims have attempted to flee by boats in the face of systematic oppression by the Myanmar government.

The plight of Rohingyas in Myanmar, the international community and Aung Sung Suu Kyi

Now, the US, the European Union (EU) and others close their eyes to the plight of Rohingyas with the excuse that any intervention may thwart the process of democratization 

The latest spate of ethnic violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority perpetrated by Buddhist majority in the Rakhine state of Myanmar has largely been ignored by international media and therefore, very few people around the world are aware of it.

Many of us, living in neighbouring countries to Myanmar, don’t even have a clear idea of what exactly happened to the Rohingya people after ethnic violence broke out in Rakhine state on June 8. The scanty media coverage has mainly shed light on Rohingyas fleeing in large numbers by rickety boat, and pleading for entry into Bangladesh. Due to the heavy blockade by the Bangladesh authorities, these boatloads of haggard Rohingyas failed to land ashore in Bangladesh and were forced to turn their boats back to Myanmar with hunger, thirst and possible death ahead of them. 

One heart-breaking picture shared hundreds of times on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media shows a Rohingya man pleading with officers of the Bangladesh Border Guards with folded hands and a weeping face for shelter in Bangladesh. It clearly invokes the suffering of those targeted in the recent week of sectarian violence in Myanmar. However, this is not the first time that Rohingya people have fled across the border to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape the violence in Rakhine state. 

In 1978, over two million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh when the Myanmar government launched an operation under the code name of ‘Naga Min' (DragonKing) to expel illegal immigrants from its territory. The operation particularly targeted the Rohingya Muslims through killing, widespread rape, looting, forced labour, arbitrary arrest, burning homes and religious sites. Again in 1991-1992, nearly a quarter of a million Rohingyas took shelter in Bangladesh, following a dramatic increase of forced labour, torture, rape and summary executions committed by both Myanmar military and local Rakhine Buddhists. The ultimate purpose of these heinous crimes against Rohingyas was to make them invisible in their motherland.

Although the Rohingya Muslim people have been living in Myanmar since the 8th century, they are seen as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh by the Myanmar government and have been denied citizenship for decades. It is an unfortunate fact that the local Rakhine Buddhist population is heavily mis-led by their military government into considering the Rohingyas as aliens and treating them with hostility. There is, in fact, well-documented evidence that Rohingyas were once legitimate citizens of the Union of Burma under Article 3 of the Aung San-Attle Treaty (1947) and the First Schedule to the Burma Independence Act, 1947. They even had their own political parties and representation in the parliament, cabinet and peoples’ councils of different levels during the democratic period from 1948 to 1962. But in 1982, twenty years after the coup d'état, General Ne Win’s military regime redefined the citizenship law which has made the Rohingyas effectively stateless. 

Apart from being stateless, they are subject to ongoing restrictions on their fundamental rights. The United Nations has described the Rohingyas as the most oppressed ethnic minority group in the world. The question is, what role does the international community play in stopping the systematic repression of the Rohingya population? The simple answer is none! In the past, the US, the European Union (EU) and others have kept their mouths shut, letting the military regime do what they want. Now, they close their eyes to the plight of Rohingyas with the excuse that any intervention may thwart the process of democratization.

As the current president Thein Sein is pro-reformist, now is surely the right time to apply international pressure to his regime to ensure recognition of the rights of the Rohingya people. Analysts say the international community will not intervene now because they are afraid of losing their possible investment in Myanmar’s oil and gas sectors. Thre is only one recourse: to raise global awareness of the citizenship rights and other basic human rights of the Rohingyas.

This may in some way influence the international community to do something about the Rohingya issue. The Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi can play a very effective role in this regard by speaking up for the rights of Rohingyas in different international forums. However, it is disappointing that Suu Kyi has not expressed a very clear position on the stateless Rohingyas. She didn't even address the issue in her recent 40-minute Nobel oration at Oslo. 

The Rohingyas, along with many others, hoped that the democracy icon would raise the issue of their plight during her two-week tour of Europe. But Suu Kyi’s Oslo press conference on June 18, 2012 offered a balancing act on the Rohingya issue. She herself is not sure about the nationality status of Rohingya Muslims. She said: ‎"Bangladesh says that they are not ours and Burma says that they are not ours and these poor people get shuffled around. So we have to have rule of law, we have to know what the law is and we have to make sure that it is properly implemented.” 

This is, of course, a statement by Suu Kyi trying not to offend the military government and also the majority Buddhist community. She is in fact fully aware that the current law does not recognize the Rohingyas as citizens of Myanmar. Nicholas Farrelly, a research fellow at Australian National University, says that if she fails to tackle the subject she will risk disappointing those who "crave her leadership". Yet support for the Rohingya, "risks alienating some Burmese Buddhists". But as a veteran human rights defender, can she remain silent on the sufferings of her own people? She must act now to curb the long-running sectarian violence against Rohingyas and also to find a rational solution to the complex citizenship issue, by involving the local Rakhine Buddhists, different ethnic groups, the military government as well as the international community in seeking a solution.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has written to Burmese President Thein Sein

Rohingya refugee Rehana Begum holds her child as she hides in a house in Teknaf, Bangladesh, on June 17, 2012. She said her family fled mass burning of houses and violence in Burma, setting out in a wooden boat for neighbouring Bangladesh. They were pushed back three times by border guards, but finally made it on their fourth attempt and are now hiding with local villagers to avoid being arrested. (PHOTO: Reuters)

WASHINGTON—The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has written to Burmese President Thein Sein, urging him to address the plight of the Rohingya minority community in accordance with the accepted practices of international human rights.

In the letter, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu sought assurances from the Burmese president for the safety and security of the Rohingyas as citizens of the country, and called for an end to all intimidation and oppression against them. Ihsanoglu also called on Thein Sein to take appropriate steps to carry out prompt and effective investigations of the atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims since June 3, and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Ihsanoglu assured Then Sein of the OIC’s readiness to cooperate with the Burmese government to advise and assist in the repatriation process of Muslim ethnic minority in the country and to help create a climate of trust and confidence.

OIC letters were also sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, urging them to use their good offices and influence with the Burmese government to bring about an immediate resolution of the issue.

Earlier this month, Ihsanoglu had strongly condemned the alleged repression and violation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims in Arakan State, resulting in the deaths of innocent civilians, and the burning of their homes and mosques.

Ihsanoglu made no mention of the allegations that Rohingyas had carried out reciprocal acts against Arakanese Buddhists.

Noting that the recent restoration of democracy in the country had raised hopes in the international community that oppression against Rohingya Muslims citizens would end and that they would be able to enjoy equal rights and opportunities, the OIC secretary-general, however, said that the recent violence against them had caused great alarm and concern to the international Muslim community.

The OIC said it was “shocked by the unfortunate remarks” of President Thein Sein disowning Rohingya Muslims as citizens of Burma.

The 57-member OIC includes all the nations of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia and other countries with strong Muslim populations, encompassing some 1.6 billion people worldwide.

In its mandate, the OIC says it seeks to safeguard the well-being of Muslims around the world. It has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, and has criticized Israel for its continuous use of state terrorism over the years. It has accused Thailand of committing human rights abuses against its Muslim minority in the southern states of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani. And India’s membership is blocked, vetoed by Pakistan, due to its occupation of parts of Kashmir.

In 1999, the bloc adopted the OIC Convention on Combating International Terrorism. It does not recognize groups such as al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but does allow observer status to the Moro National Liberation Front, thereby blocking the membership of the Philippines.

Asean wants ‘explanation’ Rohingya issue

Asean has asked Burma for a “full explanation” on the sectarian unrest in Arakan State, Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said on Wednesday.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is seeking an explanation from Asean-member Burma about recent ethnic violence targeting the minority Rohingya group, mostly Muslims, that erupted in June claiming up to 78 lives and destroying up to 3,000 homes and businesses.

The ongoing violence has driven many Rohingyas from their homes in Burma’s northern and western states, and sent up to 50,000 into refugee camps and displaced tens of thousands more, many of whom have tried to flee to Bangladesh and neighboring countries.

“There will be a full explanation from Myanmar because this is an important and critical issue for Asean as a community,” said Surin Pitsuwan.

He said a response would be given at the United Nations headquarters in New York in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Surin said Asean had talked with Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, but said, “We haven’t heard anything specific or concrete on the matter.”

Burma’s does not recognize Muslim Rohingyas as citizens. Bangladesh, where up to 30,000 Rohingyas live in UN refugee camps, says the issue is Burma’s problem, and it wants the Rohingyas repatriated.

Burma’s President Thein Sein has asked the UN to provide for the Rohingyas in resettlement camps or to help repatriate them to third countries, saying they are not part of Burma’s ethnic minorities. The UN says Rohingyas are among the most discriminated ethnic minorities in the world.

Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday called for laws to protect the rights of the country’s ethnic minorities in her inaugural address to the fledgling Parliament.

The Rohingya issue is likely to prove to be one of the most serious challenges confronting the newly elected government of Thein Sein. Most Burmese, who are mainly Buddhist, believe the minority is not Burmese. The issue has festered in the country for decades, with periodic violence and clashes between the two groups.

Rohingyas Face ‘Genocide’, Says Indonesia House Speaker

House Speaker Marzuki Alie

By Ryan Dagur

House Speaker Marzuki Alie today said the UN must address what he called “genocide” against minority Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar’s westernmost Rakhine State.

In a written statement to Metrovnews.com, Alie said that Indonesia – the current chair of ASEAN – must be proactive in urging Myanmar to respect human rights and end ethnic tension following a series of clashes in recent months that have left Muslims and Buddhists dead, prompting many Rohingyas to flee.

Burma

“Such genocide and exile of the Rohingya Muslims resulting in their lack of nationality is the inhumane behavior of the state,” he said.

The former military government in Myanmar has in the past been accused of denying Rohingyas citizenship and free access to food in an area that has remained largely off limits to foreigners, including aid agencies.

Harsh treatment has prompted hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas to cross the border with Bangladesh over the past two decades where many now live as refugees. Myanmar’s government has in the past considered Rohingyas to be Bangladeshi, while Dhaka says they are from Myanmar.

Rohingyas have also headed for predominantly Muslim Indonesia. Last week, 16 Rohingyas were arrested by police in West Java after heading to Indonesia by boat.