The Update news of Maungdaw, September 6, 2012

Army collecting money from villagers
Maungdaw, Arakan State: Recently, an army check- post is established nearby Shwe Zaar bridge of Maungdaw Town.  Many Rohingya villagers have to cross the bridge to go to Maungdaw town. Nearby Shwe Zaaar Rohingya village, the army has been collecting Kyat 5000 per house excluding Rakhine village. The money is for their ( Amy’s ) ration. The money is collecting from the villagers while they have been suffering from acute food crisis as the authorities do not allow Rohingya people to buy food from the market. The curfew is only imposed to Rohingya community excluding Rakhine community, according to Town dwellers.
Owner pay for his own goats
Maungdaw, Arakan State:  An owner has paid money for his own goats to take back from the army which stationed at Nwah yon Taung ( Hor O Dil) school, according to a relative of goats owner.
“The two goats were taken away by the army while grazing in a field nearby his house.”
On August,25, in the morning, a group of army that were patrolling at the village, was taken away  two  goats of Zalal  Ahmed, from said village while grazing nearby a field.
On being informed, the owner of the goats went to the army out post and take back his goats after paying Kyat 1,800, said a close relative of the victim.

Four fishermen arrested by Nasaka:
Maungdaw, Arakan State:  Four fishermen were arrested by Burma border security force (Nasaka) on September 4, at night for fishing in the Naff River, which demarcates the Burma and Bangladesh, a relative of the fishermen said on condition of anonymity.
They went to the Naff River for fishing with nets after getting permission from the concerned Nasaka personnel. They gave two kg of fish and paid money to the Nasaka per head to obtain permission. However, they were arrested by the Nasaka at 11:00 pm and detained at the Nasaka camp and asked them to pay Kyat 50,000 per each for their release. But, the poor fishermen were not able to pay the money, so they are still in the camp.
The arrested fishermen were identified as—Abdu Shuker( 40), son of Boshor, Komile (25), son of Dil Mohamed, Osir Ullah (22), son of Fazal Ahmed. The three belong to   Nari bill west village of Maungdaw Township. Another fisherman named Abul Shama( 45) , hailed from Kular Bill village of Maungdaw Township, said a local elder.

Four Rohingya dead bodies found at Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State: A Rohingya female with her three children’s dead bodies were found in Maungdaw town by police and Hluntin on September 4, said an eyewitness from Maungdaw on condition of anonymity.
“The dead bodies were not identified who they were as the local villagers were not allowed to see the dead bodies. Some of the Rohingya villagers had seen the dead bodies that were floating in the creek – it is old stream, the western side of old Rohingya graveyard- and on the western side of the Maungdaw foot-ball ground. Local villagers were not allowed to take the dead bodies.”
However, the police and Hluntin picked up the dead bodies by a truck and brought to unknown place to bury, said a local youth who saw the event.
Rohingya community becomes fowls in front of the government authorities and they (authorities) become foxes. Whenever, the foxes (authorities) want to arrest, rape and kill the fowls (Rohingyas), they are able for hunting easily to the Rohingya community by keeping them in the houses, said an elder from Arakan state.
“The concerned relatives of the victims are not able to know where are .the victims who were arrested by authorities, whether they were killed or jailed or detained. Rohingyas are dying like street dogs.”

Rohingya youth catapulted in front of Maungdaw Hospital

Maungdaw, Arakan State:  A Rohingya youth catapulted by a Rakhine youth in front of the Maungdaw general hospital and from authorized pawn shop on September 2, while he was on the way to home after marketing from the Maungdaw market, said a neighbor of the victim.

The victim was identified as Shuna Meah (20), hailed from Bakah Gone Nah village of Maungdaw North. His forehead was seriously hit by the catapult and the iron ball entered to his head. As a result, he was fell down to the ground and some Rakhine youths came to the spot to carry the wounded body in the intention of hiding the body. But, luckily, a vehicle  of GE (army) came to the spot and rescued the victim and sent to nearby hospital for treatment. After treatment, the victim was sent to his villager by the Vehicle of GE (army).
“The Hluntin (riot police) was present while the incident was happened. The Hluntin also asked the Rakhine youths to keep the wounded body quickly in secret place, said a close relative of the victim.
On that day, the Rakhine youths also beaten up severely to a Rohingya shopkeeper, was selling rice  at Maungdaw market. However, he was rescued by some Rakhine women from the market, according to a shopkeeper of Maungdaw Town.

Village head arrested by police

Maungdaw, Arakan State:  A villager was arrested by police of Maungdaw Town on September 4, while he was going to the Maungdaw Town market.  He is the head of the hundred houses (Rainn Gown) of his village, said a close relative of the victim.
The arrestee was identified as Abul Hussain (50), son of Hamza, hailed from Ward N0.5 of Maungdaw Town.
He was arrested by the police officer U Maung Kyaw Than accompanied by three other police personnel.  After arrest, he was taken to the Maungdaw police station and his whereabouts is still unknown, said one of the relatives of the victim.
“A Town dweller said that he was arrested over the allegation that he was involved in the recent riots, which was occurred on June 8, at Maungaaw.”
Similarly, Mohamed Isque son of Hasson shrif of Myoma Khayoungdan village , was arrested today morning with false allegation of involved in the recent riots by police officer  Aung Kyaw Than from his home, according to his family.
“Police get a good chance to arrest Rohingya people, which is  recent riots between Rakhine and Rohingya communities .They ( police)  arrests Rohingya whom they want or they meet on the road and filed  with false and fabricated cases against them and send to jail or release after taking money. The higher authorities also let them to do any crimes against the Rohingya people, according to a local elder from Maungdaw.
In Maungdaw Town, the police officers such as— U Aung Kyaw Than, Tu Tu, U Hla Thein, U Aung Kyaw Kant and U Thet Naing Soe —- are the most notorious officers  and  give troubles to the Rohingya community. Daily, they arbitrary arrest, torture and extort money from the Town dwellers. They become heroes and rich men in Maungdaw Town. The higher concerned authorities did not take any action against them.  It is responsible for Arakan State police officer and the Home Minister of Burma, said a businessman from the locality who denied to be named.

An inside look into Burma's Rohingya conflict

In Burma's troubled Rakhine state, latest estimates put the number of "internally displaced persons" at more than 70,000 people.

Southeast Asia correspondent, Zoe Daniel, has had a rare opportunity to see for herself what is going inside Rakhine's borders.

Presenter: Richard Ewart

Correspondent: Zoe Daniel, South East Asia correspondent

DANIEL: The communities living in segregated circumstances, essentially the Muslim people are largely living in camps segregated from the ethnic Rakhine people who are still living in town, particularly in Sittwe which is the main city in Rakhine State. So as you said around 70-thousand displaced people are living both in those Muslim camps and also displaced Rakhine people are living in monasteries within the towns themselves. There's still a high level of tension between the communities to the point that the Muslim people are really not able to go into the towns to buy food supplies for example. They really are living outside the main community.

EWART: Now I gather that while you were down there that the officialdom was keeping a pretty close eye on what you were up to. So bearing that in mind I mean were you able to talk to officials, and if so what were they telling you?

DANIEL: Yes we were able to talk with officials and look while we were very closely monitored, we weren't prevented from doing anything, and we were able to speak with some local government officials, in particular we interviewed the Attorney General of Rakhine State who's involved in a community program to try to bridge the gap between the Rakhine people and the Muslim community. And he said that while at the moment they're pursuing this policy of segregation, he denies that they see that as a permanent solution, and this is one of the concerns that's obviously being raised about this idea of separating the two groups. He says that this has to be done at the moment because the tension remains very high. But they are hopeful that the communities can once again be integrated as soon as possible. I'd have to say though that I think that's going to be very difficult just because the level of tension remains very high, and that was extremely evident to us. In one instance a group of Muslim people from one of the camps came to the main market to buy supplies under guard of the riot police, and they were chased away by people wielding sticks and throwing stones, because of concern if they entered the market that could lead to violence, unrest and perhaps that the market may be burnt down or something similar to the sort of unrest that we saw back in June.

EWART: So against that background I imagine that people on both sides I mean they're having to endure this sort of state of uneasy calm and not really knowing quite what the future holds for them?

DANIEL: Yes I think both sides are finding the situation extremely difficult. The Rakhine people who are still in their houses, so who didn't have their homes damaged in the violence are very fearful. There's a very high level of anxiety about what will happen next. The few thousand Rakhine people, I think the number now is three-and-a-half to four-thousand who are still living in monasteries because their homes were burnt, obviously have a very uncertain future and are unsure what permanent housing they will eventually be settled in and where that will be. The government is building some housing for them, but that will be some distance off. So they're all living together in very difficult conditions in very heavy rain in the monasteries. And then you have tens of thousands of Muslim people who are living in essentially makeshift camps separated from the main community in which they once worked and lived, unable to make an income, therefore totally dependent on food aid for example for survival. So it's a really very difficult situation for all the people in Rakhine State no matter what their background.

EWART: Now we were speaking on the program yesterday to Benedict Rogers, human rights advocate and author, he's written extensively on Burma, travelled there many times, sometimes when he wasn't supposed to be because of the blacklist of course that's existed. But he suggested that the army potentially are stirring the pot in Rakhine in an effort to maintain some sort of grip on power, to maintain their relevance. I mean did you see or hear anything to support that view?

DANIEL: Well I know that that view's been put about. I didn't see anything to support that view. Whether that was the case back in June though is sort of a different question. I think one potential issue that was happening in June was that many of the soldiers were of the Rakhine ethnic group. Now they've brought in other soldiers who are from different ethnic backgrounds who may not be as close to the issue. And they obviously have, because of the state of emergency that was declared there, there are many more military men on the ground there now. But what we saw was essentially the army and the police monitoring. There was no evidence of anyone really stirring anything up. But what is happening is that the communities are being kept separate in order to avoid any violence blowing up. But as I've already said the sustainability of that is highly questionable.

EWART: So therefore the chances for any kind of permanent settlement would appear to be at least as far away as ever?

DANIEL: I find it very difficult to see what the permanent resolution will be just because the average person that you speak to, be they Muslim or Rakhine, can't see themselves living peacefully with the other group again. Therefore how do you move forward? And whlie it's clearly questionable whether segregation of the communities is a permanent solution, I can in a way understand why authorities have done that, just simply to keep the peace for the moment while they try to work out what to do, because it really does appear to be still a tinderbox, and putting those communities back together at this point really does seem like it would be a bad idea.

EWART: And animosity that obviously exists between the two sides. I mean does that spread throughout society on both sides or is this being driven by a minority?

DANIEL: Look it's hard to say because obviously we're only able to speak to a limited number of people. But everyone we spoke to had this view. The view is very pervasive from the Rakhine side that the Muslim people don't belong there, that they have for example for many years, and this is an allegation, been attempting to recruit Rakhine people to Islam. There's a lot of negativity from the Rakhine side towards the Muslim people. To even use the term Rohingya, which is the term that the Muslim people use to describe themselves, really does raise the ire of the Rakhine people because they don't recognise that. And then the Muslim people very much feel that they've had very few rights for a long time and that they've been unfairly treated and repressed by the local community. So the debate on the face of it among the local people on both sides is completely polarised.

Rohingya Students Harassed | M.S. Anwar

How do you define a school on the first thought? What do you think a school is? You will not be wrong if you define it an institution where instruction is given, especially under a certain age of eighteen, an institution for instruction in a particular skill (or field) or a source of knowledge. But you will certainly be wrong if you eternally define it as the institution where good, noble, true and meritorious education is given or you think school anywhere give such kind of education. The schools in Burma have been the institutions where hatred towards different people, created stories and lies are taught. Such anti-social thoughts in the education system were introduced by the late dictator of Burma, Gen. Ne Win. 

As the ethnic cleansing going on against Rohingyas in Arakan, the schools mainly High Schools in the violence hit areas such as Maung Daw, Buthidaung and Akyab etc had been closed. Recently, few High Schools in Buthidaung and Maung Daw were resumed. But an awkward and shocking thing is that Rakhine students and Rohingya students are segregated. How many of you could have imagined segregations in schools especially in today’s era of great civilization? The classes for Rakhine students are enrolled from 7 AM to 11AM and that of Rohingya students are from 12 Noon to 4PM. The more shocking things which can paralyze your brain for a while are going on against Rohingya students. Rohingya students have been constantly harassed in the high schools today. [Note: 1) Most of the high school students in Myanmar are under the age of 18 and hence not adults. 2) There are hardly any Rohingya teachers in the middle schools or high schools in Myanmar] 

Rohingya students are constantly insulted by the Rakhine teachers in schools. Rakhine teachers harass them saying “you people are not one of us. You people are supposed to hand over to third countries and will be done so. Why do you come to our schools?” Besides, they are forced to salute and bow down in front of the national flags. (Note: Bowing down anyone but God is against the Islamic belief.) Those who fail to bow down in front of the flag are manhandled and forced to do so by holding and pressing their scruffs (or napes) by the school authority. Sometimes, they are taken to the headmaster office, insulted and beaten. Therefore, they have been directly attempting to their belief and attacking their religion. 

When some Rohingya students in Maung Daw High School questioned why they had (have) to bow down in front of the flag, the headmaster replied that it was the direction from the authorities of the Higher Education. In inability to bear up anymore insults in the segregated classes, Rohingya students are not attending schools any longer. While penning down this piece, I broke into tears many times hearing and feeling how under-aged Rohingya students are demoralized and dehumanized in an school (High School of Maung Daw as an instance) where I, myself, have studied and passed my university entrance examination. Of course, there were discriminations against Rohingya students at our time but not to that extreme degree as it is today. After all, what do the under-aged students know and have to do with problems going on in Arakan? Why are they treated so badly? I can just say that they are treated so because they look different from the mainstream Mongoloid people and practice a different religion in an overwhelmingly Buddhist country full of fanatic followers. 

I still wonder what kind of institutions they actually are! What knowledge do they pass over to the people? In the segregated classes aimed for the future, students can achieve nothing but the inheritance of extreme hatred and fanaticism which will ultimately prompt more violence. By demoralizing and dehumanizing under-aged Rohingyas students in schools, regarded as the source of knowledge that are extremely valued by societies, the status of Rohingyas being human is insulted and assaulted!!! 

Mohammed Sheikh Anwar is an activist studying Bachelor of Arts in Business Studies at Westminster International College, Malaysia.

Australians to assist handling of Rohingya landings in Thailand

PHUKET: The Commissioner of the Thai Immigration Bureau announced yesterday that immigration officials from Australia will assist Thai officials in their handling of ethnic Rohingya refugees who enter Thai territorial waters illegally.

“They have a serious problem with Rohingya and Sri Lankans illegally entering their country,” Lt Gen Wiboon Bangphamai explained to the meeting of ASEAN immigration chiefs held at the Hilton Phuket Acadia Resort and Spa.

“We have the same problem. Once Rohingya arrive, we have to provide them basic assistance including food, water, propane and some money. We waste a lot of money every year on this issue alone…We usually take them to Songkhla, from which they are allowed to continue on their way to their preferred destination,” he added.

Gen Wiboon explained that Rohingya and Sri Lankans entering Thai waters were usually bound for Australia or New Zealand, which have signed an agreement with the United Nations to allow such arrivals to apply for citizenship.

“If they can make it to those countries, the authorities there have to take care of these people. Thailand is used as a transit route to the Rohingya’s preferred destinations. We would like to stop that,” he said.

Gen Wiboon delivered the news at the combined 16th ASEAN Directors-General of Immigration Departments and Head of Consular Affairs Divisions of the Ministries of the Foreign Affairs (16th DGICM) and the 8th ASEAN Immigration Intelligent Forum (8th AIIF) conference at the Hilton Phuket.

The five-day ASEAN conference, which began on Monday, is scheduled to conclude tomorrow.