Three miles Nasaka checked post harrass Rohingyas in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State: The Burma border security force( Nasaka) personnel from three miles  checked post have been harassing  Rohingyas’ vehciles driver and Rohingya travelers , according to an elder from Maungdaw.

 “ The Nasaka from checked post  have been asking the drivers to bring their  ID ( White card) to go to the Buthidaung with passangers ( Rohingyas). The drivers have  to bring back the ID card from their home. It need them to return back to Maungdaw and go again with ID to go with vehciles  to Buthidaung.”

 “It is only need the Rohingya drivers , not for Rakhine drivers .”

 The system which the three miles checked post is using  not to travel with Rohingyas owned vehciles. Today, the three miles checked allowed only eight Rohingya vehciles to go Biuthidaung, saida driver from Maungdaw.

 “Most of Rohingyas are using Rohingyas’ owned vehciles  and the Rakhines vehciles are not getting passengers  for their vehciles to go Buthidaung. So, the Rakhine  vehciles owners used this kind of harassment to Rohingya community with the help of Nasaka.”

 The Rohingya who want to visit Buthidaung Jail need to process form 4  from Immangaration department. To get the form 4, all the Rohingyas have to pay 1000 kyats per head, said a Rohingya from Maungdaw who wants to see his brother in Buthidaung Jail.

 “The three mile checked post also asked to Rohingyas to bring the White ID cards together with form 4 , which made people very diffcult to return to their home  in different villages. It mean, Rohingyas lost time and money to travel to Buthidaung,”

Army commits robbery in Buthidaung Township

Buthidaung, Arakan State:  Army personnel from Battalion No.532  committed robbery to the villagers  of Pyin Hla village under  the Prapyin  Thein Tan village tract of Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, on the night of September 15 , according to a local elder who denied to be named.
On that day, at about mid night, a group of army numbering in twelve went to the said village and committed robbery to the villagers. After arrival at the village, the army forcibly entered the houses of rich villagers and arbitrary tortured the family members to show them –gold, ornaments, money and key without giving any allegation. They looted all the money, gold, ornaments from the villagers.
Besides, they also arrested eight villagers and brought to their camp because of not getting any money and gold ornaments from their houses.
The arrested villagers are identified as– two sons of Sham Shu namely -Fayazul Islam   ( 22), Kamal Hussain (18 ),  Amir Faizal (21), son of  Nuru,  Osman (25),son of Ayas, Gaffar Ullah (20), son of Noor Mohamed, two sons of Nurul Islam namely Sayed Islam (14), and Mohamed Shoyeb (22), and  Abdu Rahim (25), son of Basa Meah.  Later, they were released after taking Kyat 200,000 t0 300,000 per each, said a local business man.
The army also disrespected the Holy Quran in the village.  Villagers are shocked seeing the behavior of army, said an elder from the village
They (armies) are from the Military Operation Command (MOC) No. 15 of Buthidaung Township.
Another village elder said, “How the villagers will survive, if the army personnel commit robbery against the Rohingya villagers.” ##
Maungdaw Township:
Nur Hakim (30), son of Abdu Rajak, hailed from Ward No.4 of Maungdaw Town was arrested by police officer U Hla Thein of Maungdaw town police station today, in the morning from his village. His house had already been burned down by Rakhine mob in riots period. The police officer asked him to pay Kyat 300,000 three days before, but he refused to pay the money.  As a result, he was arrested by police today and detained in the police station, said a close relative of the victim.
Besides, Mohamed Khan(18), son of Mohamed Ali, hailed from Ward No.2  of Maungdaw  town was arrested by police officer U Hla Myint, yesterday at about 12:00 noon. Police officer asked Kyat 20,000 for his release, but he was unable to pay the money. So, he was still in detained in police custody, said one of his relatives preferring not to be named.

Recognise Rohingya as citizens, Dr M tells Myanmar

FINDING RESOLUTION: Conference seeks solutions rather than to apportion blame, says Global Peace Foundation president

Perdana Global Peace Foundation president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad giving a keynote address at the International Conference ‘Plight of the Rohingya: Solution?’ international conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Pic by Mustaffa Kamal

KUALA LUMPUR: THE violence and conflict surrounding the Rohingya community can only be resolved when the Myanmar government recognises the group as citizens, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said. 

The former prime minister said yesterday the country's inability to accept the Rohingya as an indigenous group had led to years of discrimination, oppression and sectarian clashes, most recently seen in this year's ongoing riots between the predominantly Muslim ethnic minority and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.

"When one group is denied their rights, there will be clashes, there will be oppression.

"It is very unfortunate that people should be killed and houses burnt, simply because the Myanmar government refuses to recognise its own citizens," he said in his keynote address at the "Plight of the Rohingya: Solution?" international conference held at the Islamic Arts Museum yesterday.

Organised by the Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF), of which Dr Mahathir is president, the conference was held to discuss and formulate solutions to the conflict and problems surrounding the Rohingya community, which include persecution, statelessness, violence and mass displacement.

Dr Mahathir said the conference was held not to place blame or judgment on any party, but to find solutions to the conflict.

He said such clashes over ethnic differences and citizenship were similar to Malaysia's experience at the end of the British colonial era, when there was little clarity over the status of Indian and Chinese immigrants, in the country then known as Tanah Melayu.

"We had the same problems as Myanmar upon independence. Initially, many of the Chinese and Indian immigrants who had been brought over by the British returned to their homeland, especially after the 1929 recession.

"However, there were many others who had chosen to stay here, to live here, to regard Malaysia as their home.

"So, when we were struggling for independence, the indigenous people, the Malays, decided that they should accept the Chinese and Indians as citizens of a larger, united state."

He said the Malays had accepted others despite the fact that most of the new citizens had settled in the country for only three generations or less.

In contrast, he said, Myanmar has refused to recognise Rohingya despite the fact that they had settled in the Arakan region since the 8th century.

"If other countries can accept foreigners as citizens, we cannot see why Myanmar should have a policy that excludes a group that has been in the country for more than a thousand years."

He said Myanmar's laws had in turn created problems for other countries, such as Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia, where many Rohingya had been forced to take refuge.

"Myanmar has shown its willingness to be part of a world community, as seen through its membership and involvement in Asean. It has shown that it is ready to transform itself from an authoritarian state to a democracy, where the people have to right to choose their own leaders.

"So it would be a shame and a gross injustice if large segments of its population are denied this right."

International community should stop the violence against Rohingya Muslims | Bangladeshi diplomat

The senior Bangladeshi diplomat in Turkey

The senior Bangladeshi diplomat in Turkey has said the international community, with Turkey as a leading Muslim figure, should step forward to put an end to the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's Arakan state.

"The international community, I mean Muslim countries and Western countries who can afford, should come forward", Bangladeshi ambassador in Ankara Zulfiqur Rahman told AA in an exclusive interview.

"Bangladesh cannot do it alone, the international community, for example Turkey as a leading Muslim country should come forward," he said.

Rahman noted that Bangladesh had been facing the Rohingya Muslims issue for decades.

He said there had been two major migration flows from Arakan to Bangladesh in 1978 and 1991, as nearly 450,000 people had sought shelter in Bangladeshi territory.

The ambassador noted that most of these refugees had been sent back after talks between governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar, but in 2005 the Myanmar side had stopped the repatriation process.

We have two camps in Bangladesh and there are about 30,000 people still living there," he said, adding that there were about half a million Rohingya people who currently lived in Bangladesh as undocumented workers.
"We are actually in a big trouble. Because, we have been hosting these people on and off for the last 30 years and it is costing us huge," Rahman stated.

-Call for international assistance

The ambassador said the Bangladeshi government had decided that it could not take it anymore without international assistance.

"The international community is not coming forward, is not talking to the Myanmar government to find a permanent solution. This is an ethnic issue in Myanmar. Why people are fleeing their country? Nobody wants to leave their home. That's not their choice, they are forced to do that. So, international community should work with the Myanmar government to address that issue," he said.

Commenting on the latest incidents in Arakan, Rahman said this time Bangladesh told those trying to flee Myanmar not to cross the border, provided them with humanitarian aid on the river and sent them back. 

"In principle, we decided that it is time for the international community to work with Myanmar, rather than with the government Bangladesh. Because, we cannot do anything to improve the situation in Myanmar," he said.

Rahman said Bangladesh was a small country with a population of 160 million, "We cannot afford to take more people actually. That is pure and simple," he said. 

"With all our sympathy for these Muslim people across our border who have some similarities with us in terms of religion and language, we think that it is the time the international community looks at the issue very seriously and take the steps so that these people can go back to their home country," Rahman noted.

The ambassador said Myanmar was now going through a transition process in terms of democratization and it was a good time to talk to the government of Myanmar to accept the Rohingya people as citizens and grant them rights.

"The international community should work with all the leaders in Myanmar and tell them 'These are your people and citizens, you have to take them as your citizens'," he said.

Rahman also said the official process between Bangladesh and Myanmar on the return of the Rohingya to Arakan had started, but it did not proceed well despite promises at highest level. 

"We are in a very difficult situation. These are our Muslim population, we cannot ignore them, but also we cannot host them for indefinite future. There should be a solution and the only honorable solution is that they should be able to go back to their home with honor and dignity, and giving them all the rights," the ambassador said.

Even aid workers are not safe from Rohingya-Rakhine clashes | Daniel Wynn

More than three months have passed since violent clashes erupted between Buddhist Rakhines and Rohingya Muslims in Western Myanmar.

Though the humanitarian conditions among the refugees of that violence have improved in recent weeks, the mutual hatred and suspicion between the two communities persists as reports of new violence emerge.

In Sittwe, the provincial capital, the Rakhine majority has reached an informal consensus that Rohingyas uprooted by the violence and now living in makeshift camps outside the town will not be allowed to return for any reason.

On September 4, a small group of Rohingyas came to Sittwe’s largest market to buy produce, accompanied by riot police for their protection.

As soon as news spread of their presence, a group of Rakhines armed with sticks came out to meet them and police moved quickly to return the Rohingyas to their camp on the outskirts of the town.

“We cannot let in any Rohingyas in the town again who are always plotting against us,” said Khin San Mu, a Rakhine shopper at the market. He added that the Rakhine shopkeepers would not sell anything to the Rohingyas even when they offered to pay twice the going price.

Animosity towards the Rohingyas has been so intense that even aid workers from international relief organizations operating in the region, many of whom are Muslims and mistakenly identified as Indian, have been the targets of mob attacks.

Ko Shine, a Muslim man from Yangon working as part of the Malaysian Relief Agency, was beaten last week on a street in Sittwe by a group of Rakhines in broad daylight and was forced to leave the town. He suffered minor head injuries.

“I would not go back again to Rakhine state,” said Ko Shine, who is now back in Yangon and receiving medical treatment for his injuries.

However, the violence has also affected the Rakhine community.

Rohingyas reportedly attacked two Rakhine men in separate incidents last week. One of the victims was later found dead in a paddy field.

These attacks took place as members of the state-backed Commission of Inquiry into violence in the state made their first visit to the region.

A member of the commission, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the conflict on racial and religious lines was so complex, there was no easy solution to integrate the two communities.

Oo Hla Thein, attorney general for Rakhine state, said the official policy of integration has faced fierce local opposition from Rakhines.

“We want both communities to live in peaceful co-existence again,” he said. But what can we do when the local population is against it?”

For now, nearly 60,000 Rohingyas and 5,000 Buddhist Rakhines whose houses were burned down in the conflict are still homeless and living on food aid from the UN and other aid agencies.

“We want to go back to our homes and get recognized as full citizens. But we have no idea when that can happen,” said Mahmud Tayab, a 26-year-old Rohingya refugee.

French activists rally in support of Rohingya Muslims

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - People have held a rally in Paris in support of minority Rohingya Muslims who have been mistreated by Myanmar government.

People gathered in the French capital to call for an end to discrimination and sectarian violence against Rohingya Muslims. The protesters held signs reading “Stop the killing of Muslims in Burma,” and “Don’t kill my brother.”

The Buddhist-majority government of Myanmar refuses to recognize Rohingyas, claiming they are not native to the country. This is while the Rohingyas migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.

Hundreds of Rohingyas have been killed in recent months, with thousands more being displaced following rising concerns over a state-sponsored ethnic cleansing of Rohingya population in Myanmar.

“First of all their survival is very important. If we have no rights to survive on our homelands then democracy and human rights is nothing for us,” a pro-Rohingya activist, Maung Hla Aung, said.

“Local authorities as well as the police control each and every house of Rohingya people,” he added while describing the violent acts against Rohingyas.

Last month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the Myanmar government for the killing of minority Rohingya Muslims during a recent wave of sectarian violence in the country.

The UN earlier said that decades of discrimination have left the Rohingyas stateless, with Myanmar implementing restrictions on their movement and withholding land rights, education and public services.

“They are denied the citizenships, they are replaced, I think 3000 of Rohingyas are placed in camps, and in these camps one out of 5 children can’t live longer than 5 years,” said a French protester.

The protester criticized Myanmar’s Nobel Peace Prize winner and leading politician Aung San Suu Kyi for not taking enough actions to stop the violence, saying, “A woman who has been detained for her political views should have compassion to other people.”

‘Plight of the Rohingya’ Conference Held in Kuala Lumpur

A one-day conference on the situation of Rohingya Muslims in Burma’s Arakan State was scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday, according to the New Straits Times. Former PM Mahathir Mohamad was to deliver the keynote address, with other speakers including Burmese academic Dr Maung Zarni and Palestine Solidarity Campaign Thailand chairman Stuart Ward. Maung Kyaw Nu, president of the Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand, said the purpose of the event was “to seek justice” for Rohingyas killed in recent communal violence in western Burma.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON THE PLIGHT OF THE ROHINGYA: SOLUTION?
KUALA LUMPUR
17 SEPTEMBER 2012

RESOLUTION

The “International Conference on the Plight of the Rohingya: Solution ” was convened by the Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 17 September 2012.

The Conference was attended by participants comprising representatives from the diplomatic corps, international organisations, parliamentarians, human rights groups, academia, civil society, non-governmental organisations and media, as well as leaders of Rohingya organisations from several countries.

YABhg Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia and President of PGPF, delivered the Keynote Speech.

Other prominent Speakers included as in the appendix.

We, the undersigned organisations and undersigned participants of the Conference;

Acknowledging the minority Muslim Rohingya are an ethnic group numbering more than 1 million presently residing in the Rakhine state of Myanmar,

Recognising that Rohingyas have been living in Myanmar for centuries and had been recognised as full-fledged citizens of the state of Burma (Myanmar) by previous governments of Burma, the international community and the authorities during the British colonial period.

Mindful of the decision of the government of Myanmar to effectively strip the Rohingyas of citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law,

Observing with serious concern that the Rakhine Buddhist community and in particular the Rohingya Muslim community suffered from sectarian violence that erupted in Rakhine State in June 2012,

Observing the current tragic situation facing the Rohingya including violent acts of oppression and human rights violations by state security forces, widespread discrimination by the dominant ethnic Burman society, threats to their security by hostile local Rakhine populations, and continued statelessness that makes them highly vulnerable to abuses,

Concerned over the thousands of displaced and stateless Rohingyas living in Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Australia, India, Japan, Pakistan, the Middle East and throughout the world,

Gravely concerned that the government of Myanmar has failed to observe its responsibility to fulfil its international human rights and humanitarian obligations with respect to the Rohingyas

Fully cognisant of systematic crimes against the Rohingya community such as killings, forced labour, rape, and denial of access to adequate humanitarian aid,

Echoing the various concerns about the mistreatment and fate of the Rohingya held by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and citizens concerned with global humanitarian issues,

Noting with disappointment the absence of a comprehensive solution in addressing the plight of the Rohingya,

Seriously concerned with the consequences of a prolonged non-resolution of the Rohingya issue including the segregation of displaced Rohingya in the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe, the continued lack of humanitarian access and sufficient aid to displaced Rohingya, and spill-over effects on neighbouring South Asian and ASEAN member countries,

Recognising the political and ethno-religious nature of the issue and human rights dimensions that require determined action by Myanmar’s leadership with the support of the people,

Unequivocally agree to;

Strongly condemn the continuing acts of violence, rape, beatings, burning of dwellings, killings, arbitrary arrests, detentions and enforced disappearances of the Rohingya,

Strongly deplore all forms of oppression, suppression, persecution, discrimination, intimidation and severe restrictions against the Rohingya on the grounds of ethnicity and religion,

Call on the government of Myanmar to recognise the legitimate rights of the Rohingyas to live in peace, to move freely within the country, and create conditions for the safe and voluntary return of displaced Rohingya to their homes or alternative locations of their choosing without persecution or discrimination including respect for the rights to shelter, food, water, health care, education and basic sanitation according to international human rights law, norms and standards,

Call on the government of Myanmar to amend the 1982 Citizenship Act to recognise or grant citizenship to persons of Rohingya ethnicity on the same basis as others with genuine and effective links to Myanmar by reasons such as birth, residency or descent, and treat them as equal citizens under International and Burmese Law. Ensure, in accordance to Article 7 of the convention on the Rights of the Child, that Rohingya children have the right to acquire a nationality where otherwise they would be stateless,

Strongly urge the government of Myanmar to stabilise the situation in the Rakhine state and to take the necessary administrative actions to protect, safeguard and uphold the lives, dignity and property of the Rohingyas as well as legally recognising them as one of Myanmar’s ethnic groups on the same basis as other ethnic group,

Call upon the government of Myanmar to carry out full and fair investigations and, where warranted, conduct trials meeting international due process standards against those individuals and state security forces who were responsible for criminal offenses, including rape, killings, arson and looting, during sectarian violence in Rakhine state,

Take note of the government of Myanmar’s decision to establish a 27- member Commission to probe the sectarian violence and recommend steps to resolve the crisis,

Welcome the government of Myanmar’s decision to allow diplomatic missions, independent observers and fact-finding teams including those from the OIC, ASEAN and the Perdana Global Peace Foundation to visit Rakhine state to ascertain the situation affecting the Rohingya,

Urge the government of Myanmar to recognise the multi-ethnic reality of the country and that its failure to resolve the Rohingya problem will undermine its current reform and progress towards national reconciliation, democracy and prosperity,

Call on Aung San Syu Kyi and the National League for Democracy Party as well as other political parties to promote ethnic rights and equality in Myanmar and take an unequivocal and proactive role in ending the plight of the Rohingyas,

Request the governments of Bangladesh and other destination countries to provide temporary protection to the Rohingya and to allow the international community to provide food and other humanitarian assistance to them pending a political solution of the Rohingya problem,

Urge ASEAN, to play a more proactive, substantive and effective role in resolving the Rohingya problem in the interest of regional peace and stability,

Call on Muslim groups and communities to show due solidarity and exert pressure on their governments, UN agencies civil and faith – based societies to actively support the rights of the Rohingya,

Strongly encourage ASEAN and OIC’s efforts in bringing up the Rohingya issue to the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York,

Call on the UN to facilitate the establishment of a ‘cordon sanitaire’ for internally displaced Rohingyas to provide a safe and humane environment for the victims pending the attainment of a political solution,

Convey a copy of the Resolution to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, President of Myanmar, the Secretary General of ASEAN, the Secretary General of the OIC and the Secretary General of the United Nations.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
17 September 2012