Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) continue arrest Rohingyas in Arakan

Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) personnel, military and police are continuing arrest and harass the Rohingya Muslims in Maungdaw, said a local elder on condition of anonymity.

“Many Rohingyas were arrested over the allegation that they were involved in the recent communal violence which was happened in June 8.”

They arrested have been identified as Jaffar (50), son of Ullah Meah, Kamal Hussain (35), son Shormuluk, Sona Meah (40), son of Noor Ahmed. They all belong to Shwe Zarr village tract of Maungdaw. Besides, Kala Ahmed, hailed from Sikder Para (village tract) of Maungdaw town was also arrested. They were arrested by Nasaka and police on September 17 to 22, according to sources.

Among them, two were released after taking huge money by the Nasaka personnel of Shwe Zarr out-posts No. 14, under Maungdaw town, and Jaffar has been detained in the camp since September 17, as he was not able to fulfill Nasaka’s demand. As a result, he was severely tortured in the camp, sources added.

But, Kala Ahmed has been detained so far in the police camp of Maungdaw.

The situation of north Arakan is not developed and the persecutions against Rohingya are going on though the international communities are giving pressure to Burmese government. Meanwhile, all the Rohingya villagers are kept in the villages and are not allowed to go out from their villages. How will they survive without doing any works to support their family members? There are many laborers and poor family members, if they do not do works, from where they will get money. Now, they are starving. Why do the international communities do not take stern action against the government? , said a local elder preferring not to be named.

It seems that the Burmese government does not take any care to the international community. The concerned authorities are implementing their policies against the Rohingya community as they like, said a local leader from Maungdaw on condition of anonymity.

Roots of violence, hatred run deep | BENJAMIN ZAWACKI

The Rohingya problem in Myanmar stems from the systematic discrimination against this ethnic and religious minority.

MUCH has been written lately, either empathetically or as a challenge, of Myanmar’s “Rohingya problem”. Since early June, the Rohingya have borne the brunt of communal violence, human rights violations, and an urgent humanitarian situation in Rakhine State, and face an uncertain future. But when considered more closely, is that all? What really is the problem?

The events of this year, as well as the violent events of 1978, 1992, 2001, and 2009, are attributable to systemic discrimination against the Rohingya in Myanmar. That is, to a political, social, and economic system – manifested in law, policy, and practices – designed to discriminate against this ethnic and religious minority.

This system makes such direct violence against the Rohingya far more possible and likely than it would otherwise be. Further, in the eyes of the Myanmar authorities at least – as evidenced by the lack of accountability for the civilians and officials alike – discrimination also makes the violence and violations somehow justifiable. That is the problem.

In 1978’s “Dragon King” operation, the Myanmar army committed widespread killings and rape of Rohingya civilians and carried out the destruction of mosques and other religious persecution. That resulted in the exodus of an estimated 200,000 Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh.

A similar campaign of forced labour, summary executions, torture and rape in 1992 led to a similar number of Rohingyas again fleeing across the border.

In February 2001, communal violence between the Muslim and Buddhist populations in Sittwe resulted in an unknown number of people killed and Muslim property destroyed.

Late 2009 featured the pushing back by Thai authorities onto the high seas of several boats – lacking adequate food, water, and fuel – of Rohingyas in the Andaman Sea.

It is true that all of these events have similar, separate equivalents in countries in which systemic discrimination does not take place.

Yet in Myanmar such discrimination provides the violence with a ready-made antecedent, expressly approved by the state. Indeed, to varying degrees, the five seminal events noted above were simply exacerbations of this underlying discrimination.

It would overstate the causality to assert that if Myanmar had never put its system of discrimination against the Rohingya into place, these events would not have occurred. Eliminating it now, however, is urgently required for a sustainable future peace in Rakhine State and, equally important, is a human rights imperative.

The system’s anchor is the 1982 Citizenship Law, which in both design and implementation effectively denies the right to a nationality to the Rohingya population. It supercedes all previous citizenship regimes in Myanmar of 1947, 1948, and 1974.

The 1982 Citizenship Law creates three classes of citizens – full, associate, and naturalised – none of which has been conferred on the Rohingya. Full citizenship is reserved for those whose ancestors settled in Myanmar before the year 1823 or are among Myanmar’s more than 130 recognised national ethnic groups, of which the Rohingya is not one.

Associate citizens are those who were both eligible and applied for citizenship under the 1948 Union Citizenship Act. Requiring an awareness of the law that few Rohingya had and a level of proof that even fewer were able to provide, this included few Rohingya.

Likewise with naturalised citizenship, eligible for those who resided in Myanmar for five continuous years on or before 1948. Moreover, with all three classes, a Central Body has the discretion to deny citizenship even where the criteria are met.

The 1982 Citizenship Law’s discriminatory effects are also extremely consequential. The main one is that the Rohingya, lacking citizenship in Myanmar, have been rendered stateless, both unable to avail themselves of the protection of the state and – as has been the case for decades – subject to policies and practices which constitute violations of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

While not limited to Rohingyas, they are not imposed in the same manner and to the same degree on Buddhists or other Muslims in Rakhine State.

This is systemic discrimination. Laws, policies, and practices, though designed and carried out by people, are ultimately part of or attributable to a system that ensures discrimination even in the absence of discriminatory individuals.

And it is patently unlawful.

As a member of the United Nations, Myanmar is legally obliged to promote “universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”, as written in Articles 55 and 56 of the UN Charter.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – though admittedly not a binding document – provides in Article 2 that everyone is entitled to all the rights in the Declaration “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

It is clear that Myanmar, as a state party to this Convention, is in violation of its international legal obligations pertaining to the right of Rohingya children to a nationality.

Solutions? Myanmar should substantially amend the 1982 Citizenship Law or repeal and redraft it, such that the Rohingya are indisputably made citizens.

Rohingyas born in Myanmar who would otherwise be stateless should be granted citizenship, as should those who are not born there but are able to establish a genuine and effective link to the country.

Myanmar should also eliminate its policies and practices that discriminate against the Rohingya on the grounds of ethnicity and/or religion.

Myanmar’s “Rohingya problem” is almost entirely of its own making. More than any other single step, dismantling its system of discrimination would bring it closer to a solution.

Benjamin Zawacki is the South-East Asia Regional Representative of the International Development Law Organisation and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. The views expressed here are his own, adapted from remarks given earlier last week at “Plight of the Rohingya: Solutions?”, a conference organised by the Perdana Global Peace Foundation in Kuala Lumpur.

The Rohingya conundrum

Since May this year, Myanmar has witnessed an escalation in the simmering tension between two groups of people in Rakhine State. The violence between the Rakhine (also known as Arakan) and Rohingya (also known as Bengali) has led to the death of at least 88 people and displacement of thousands of others. Unofficial reports, however, put the number of deaths in the hundreds.

The immediate cause of the violence was the rape and murder of a Rakhine Buddhist woman on May 28 by three male Rohingya. This was followed by a retaliatory killing of 10 Muslims by a mob of Rakhine on June 3. It should be noted that tension between these two groups has existed for several decades.

Several questions are being routinely asked: Why has little apparently been done to resolve the conflict? Is there a possibility of reaching a permanent solution to this protracted problem? Much blame has also been directed at both the Myanmar government and the opposition, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

As members of the international community are trying to promote their own national interests in newly democratic Myanmar, sectarian violence such as we have seen in Rakhine State has not been paid serious attention, especially by Western powers.

While Human Rights Watch has criticised the Myanmar government for failing to prevent the initial unrest, majority Muslim nations, such as Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Malaysia have criticised what they allege is discrimination against the Rohingya based on their religious beliefs.

The sensitivity of the issue has silenced many from discussing it publicly. Even the internationally acclaimed human rights champion and leader of the democratic opposition, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has made only brief comments about the conflict, emphasising the need to establish an adequate citizenship law.

The root of the problem begins with the nomenclature itself. Although many of the Muslims in Rakhine State call themselves Rohingya, the Myanmar government and many of the country’s citizens call them illegal Bengali migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Since the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh have refused to accept them as their citizens, the Rohingya have automatically become stateless under international law. Under such circumstances, are there any possible solutions to the problem?

President U Thein Sein suggested that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) should consider resettling the Rohingya in other countries. Although such proposal may sound ideal to many, there would definitely be challenges in terms of implementation.

For example, will there be a nation or nations willing to welcome and embrace the million or so Rohingya people? Moreover, UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres has rejected the idea of resettlement. Even if the agency reconsidered its position, would the UNHCR offices in Myanmar and Bangladesh have adequate resources to process such a large number of people?

One possible solution is for the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh to reach an amicable arrangement to integrate the Rohingya population into their respective societies. There are about 800,000 Rohingya inside Myanmar and another 300,000 in Bangladesh.

This proposition also has its own challenges. Chiefly, will the indigenous Rakhine accept Rohingya as their fellow citizens and live peacefully with them? On the other hand, will the Bangladesh government change its policy and offer citizenship to the Rohingya?

Another possible solution is that Myanmar can amend its 1982 citizenship law to pave the way for the Rohingya to apply for citizenship. As Minister for Immigration and Population U Khin Yi told Radio Free Asia recently, under the existing law foreigners can apply for citizenship only if they are born in Myanmar, their parents and grandparents have lived and died in Myanmar, they are literate in Burmese and meet some additional criteria.

Finally, to prevent a further escalation in tensions, the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh need to secure their porous international borders to prevent illegal movements.

None of the above suggested policies are simple and easy to achieve. Despite the challenges and difficulties, the Rohingya issue cannot be ignored for too long. Without addressing the crux of the problem, the May incident and the violence it sparked could recur, with even more tragic consequences.

Until a solution is achieved, international institutions, such as the United Nations and Association of Southeast Asian Nations, should pressure the Myanmar government to take steps to resolve the problem of Rohingya statelessness in a holistic manner, rather than inciting, or allowing others to incite, hatred along religious or racial lines.

(Nehginpao Kipgen is general secretary of the United States-based Kuki International Forum. His research interests include political transition, democratisation, human rights, ethnic conflict and identity politics and he has written numerous peer-reviewed and non-academic articles on the politics of Myanmar and Asia.)

The Rise of a Eichmann’s Hell in Burma - (Part 2) | M.S Anwar

Operation against Rohingyas 

Since then, frequent operations against Rohingyas have been taking place in order to wipe out Rohingyas from Burma and that subsequently results extrajudicial killings, tortures, expulsions of Rohingyas and mass exodus of refugees. To name some of operations carried out against Rohingya population since 1962 are: 

1) Kyi Operation (1966) 

2) Ngazinka Operation (1967-69) 

3) Myat Mon Operation (1961-71) 

4) Major Aung Than Operation (1973) 

5) Sabe Operation (1974-78) 

6) Naga Min (King Dragon) Operation (1978-79) 

7) Shwe Hintha Operation (1978-80) 

8) Galone Operation (1979) 

9) New Citizenship Law in 1982 

10) Pyi Thaya Operation (1991-92) 

Among the operations above, Naga Min operation caused forced exodus of around 300,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh, while Pyi Thaya operation led an exodus of approximately 268,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh.[1] (AsianTribune Online Article, July 2012) The 1982 citizenship law of Burma, which was highly condemned internationally, stripped of citizenships from all Rohingyas. As a result of this, Rohingyas are still living in a stateless situation in their own ancestral land. 

Whether one believes or not, similar or worse kind of atrocities against Rohingyas in Arakan state of Burma is going on today and at this moment. But this time around, atrocities against and onslaught of Rohingyas has been systematically planned by Burmese regime and Buddhist extremist ally for a long time. Unlike atrocities in the past, Rohingyas are locked in Arakan and have silently been being silently killed. 

When the Campaign to Wipe Out Rohingyas Started? 

Though Rohingyas have been looked as strangers and unwanted people for decades by the xenophobes in Burma, the real anti-Rohingya campaigns that led to the current genocides started in November 2011. BBC reporter Anna Jones in October 2010 described Rohingyas as one of the minorities of Burma and of the world that high possibility of extinction. After more than one year of this report, it was made a mountain of a molehill by the extremist Rakhine politicians, some bigoted Rakhine intellectuals at home and abroad and some self-interested regime’s puppets. They further instigated anti-Rohingya movements and campaigns at home and abroad. 

The ultra-nationalists rulers throughout Burmese history left no stone unturned to erase the history of Rohingyas and to destroy their ancient religious and cultural monuments in their efforts to cleanse Rohingyas. Therefore, though Rohingyas have been living in Arakan state for centuries, they or their name, Rohingya had not known to the general Burmese people until recently. When the Burmese people came to know about Rohingyas, it was in a bad light. The tyrannical regime and Rakhine extremist did everything to portray Rohingyas to the Burmese people as the outsiders trying to invade the country and harming the country’s sovereignty. And their malicious efforts proved to be fruitful. 

Beginning of the Current Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingyas 

To one’s shocking surprise, on 28th May 2012, at a time when anti-Rohingya sentiment is running high among Rakhine population, the news of raping and killing of a Rakhine woman in Rambre allegedly by three Rohingya boys, an incident which had no eyewitnesses. Taking the situation and condition of the place where the crime took place into consideration, many analysts concluded that this incident was fabricated and masterminded by unknown powers to instigate racial riot. Even if the incident actually took place, it is a crime and all the criminals involved must be punished according to the law. 

Quite disgustingly and unexpectedly, Burmese state media spread the news using derogatory words against Muslims such as Kular (Note: Kular is a derogatory term for the people of Indian descends in Myanmar and most of the Muslims in Myanmar happen to be of Indian origin) and took it as a tool to trigger anti-Rohingya or anti-Muslim hatred among general public of Burma. As a result, on 3rd June 2012, a group of 300 Rakhine hooligans crashed 10 Muslim pilgrims to death nearby an immigration office in Taung Gote Township of Arakan. The deceased people were neither Rohingyas nor had any connection with the earlier incident and were just on their way back after finishing their religious efforts from Than Dwe in Arakan. (Note: according to some political analysts, these 300 people were not Rakhines but the people brought to the place by the members of the Ruling party, USDP. Their intention was to trigger a racial riot). 

Subsequently, on Friday 8th June 2012, Rohingyas in Maung Daw planned to demonstrate for the inhumane massacres of 10 Muslim pilgrims after the congregational prayer. But the authority was ratherin hurry and arrogant to disperse their prayers let alone allowing them to demonstrate. When Rohingyas failed to disperse, the authority started shooting at Rohingyas and one Rohingya died on the spot. His dead body was not returned and taken away by the authority. While the dispersed Rohingyas were running hither and thither, they got attacked from Rakhine extremists, Police, Security Forces and NaSaKa (Border Security Affairs). Honestly speaking, the fighting between Rakhines and Rohingyas was mutual for a few hours after violence had begun. 

Ongoing Situation in the Nazi Extermination Camp Called Arakan 

The fighting was followed by subsequent torching of the houses of both Rohingyas and Rakhines. According to many Rakhines and Rohingyas, they don’t know the people who actually started torching their houses and said they were strangers to the region. Many of them accuse the government to have plotted and conspired to create violence. But from the evening of 8th June 2012 onward and till today, Rohingyas have been one-sidedly being attacked by the authority in cooperation with Rakhine extremists. 

The Burmese Regime and Rakhine extremists have been carrying out atrocities against Rohingyas, committing rapes against their women (including under-aged girls), looting their properties, torching their houses and arbitrary extortion of money. Almost all of Rohingyas; houses, properties and villages were either burned down or destroyed in Sittwe, Rathedaung and Kyauktaw and other parts of Arakan. Thousands of Roingyas are made to live in the temporary tents full of mud and in sub-human condition. 

Besides, according to martial law declared in Arakan since June 10, Rohingyas have been locked in their houses infinitely not knowing when the law will be withdrawn. Rohingyas have almost lost their ways and access to foods and medicine due to the martial and boycott against them led by Rakhine Buddhist Monks. It has been already more than three months now. Many of them every day are dying due to starvation and different diseases. Shockingly, the martial law is only applied for Rohingyas and Rakhines are set free and can do any barbaric acts and all kinds of tortures against Rohingyas: stabbing, beating and looting etc. Unfortunately, humanitarian workers and their assistances are limited to only few regions. 

Their educated people and religious leaders are being arrested, mosques were locked down and there have been no prayer in the mosques, while many of religious sites such as mosques were destroyed using bulldozers. There have been no five times prayer and Juma’at prayer for more than three months. The arrested Rohingyas including under-aged children are locked up in police custodies, prisons and in many unknown locations where they are tortured through various means sometimes using Rakhine hooligans from outside and kept starved. Subsequently, many Rohingyas are dying in the lock-ups. 

On the one hand, the government and Rakhine extremists are committing genocides and carrying out ethnic cleansing and on the other hand, they have been lying and deceiving the world about the situation and trying to cover up their crimes against humanity through using the state media and social media like facebook and twitter. They are taking every step to put the international community in the dark by restricting International Media, Independent Observers and humanitarian workers to the region. 

Pro-Nazi Rallies in Mandalay, Burma 

The radical Monks like Wirathu, abbot of the Damma-Thahaaya School of Mandalay New Masuyein Monastery are happily spreading anti-Muslim propaganda throughout Burma. Not to forget that Wirathu is the one who has led the killing of Muslim families and burning Muslim houses in Kyauk Se Township in central Burma. 

They are holding rallies against Rohingyas which is much like Nazi rally. Very recently, radical Monks protested against Rohingyas in Mandalay, the cultural centre of Burma. They condemned human rights organizations, NGOs etc and backed the President Thein Sein’s proposal to put all Rohingyas in the camps and subsequently send them to third countries as if Rohingyas have not been living there from the time of immemorial. They demanded that Nationalism must be given priority over humanism and human rights. 

These Monks were the same Monks who fought against evil Burmese dictators and for Justice in 2007. But this time, they are demonstrating for expulsion of a whole race of more than 1 Million. What one can realize here is that these Monks want Justice but for their own kind of people or race. One point to be noted here is that there are ideological similarities and commonness between Fascists German and Radical Monks in Burma. Fascist Germans were ultra-nationalists who worked for their own people. So are these Monks! To these radical Monks and extremist Buddhists, Rohingyas are inferior human beings.

ARU-DG calls on Myanmar Government to be the facilitator of peace, not a party to violence; and dialogue is the key

Arakan Rohingya Union Director General, Professor Dr. Wakar Uddin, urged the international community, including Malaysia, to be persistent in exerting pressure on the Myanmar government to permanently cease hostility toward the Rohingya ethnic minority in Myanmar and reinstate their citizenship with ethnic rights.

Dr. Uddin cautioned that there are significant numbers of ultra-nationalist hardliners in Myanmar Government; thus it is not likely to respond to scattered messages coming from individual countries or a few organizations. "Countries need to come together and put concerted pressure on the Myanmar government to stop their systematic and persistent genocide of the Rohingya people in the Rakhine state of Myanmar”.

 

"We need a multi-track approach. Not only from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) speaking up, but the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the United Nations (UN) should come forward with stronger message on one theme – give Rohingya all their ethnic rights and cease all the human right abuses permanently, and condemn the violence towards the Rohingya Muslims," Dr. Uddin urged at the international conference "Plight of the Rohingya: Solutions?" in Kuala Lumpur. He urged for a concerted international intervention effort to save the Rohingya people and that it should be continued and sustained until the problem is solved.

He called for a probe by United Nations to the massacre of Rohingya, and long term deployment of international monitoring teams and media in Rohingya regions in Arakan State. Dr. Uddin warned that the single most serious threat to security of Rohingya people in Arakan at this moment is the Rakhine Police force that is arresting hundreds of Rohingya arbitrarily and committing harsh treatments, torture, and cold blooded murders of Rohingya. He also deplored the rapes and violence against Rohingya women committed by Rakhine forces.

Dr. Uddin’s message to Myanmar government was “resolve the issues through dialogue between Rohingya leadership and the Burmese government, and other entities in Myanmar such as other political parties and ethnic minorities - even with Rakhine elements if they are interested in peaceful coexistence with Rohingya in Arakan”.

A home for the Rohingyas | Rueben Dudley

HAVING had the opportunity, as part of the UN multi-agency assistance programme, to extensively interact with the Rohingyas in Myanmar and in the refugee camps, I have come to know the Rohingyas as a highly resilient, intelligent, skilful and hard-working people. They have survived for many years on meagre resources, extreme limitations and in the face of danger and exploitation.

The Rohingyas are descendants of those from the undivided Indian subcontinent who settled in what's now the Arakan region of Myanmar. It was only several hundred years later when the borders of Burma and later Bangladesh were drawn, that the Rohingyas found themselves on one side or the other. However, those who had settled for generations in what then became the Rakhine state remained there until the Rakhine Buddhist community began to see them as "outsiders".

Soon the differences between them escalated, and with the involvement of the Myanmar military junta led to the systematic persecution and violence against the Rohingyas with thousands of them fleeing to nearby countries.

The Rohingyas in Myanmar, under a law passed almost 30 years ago, are termed as "residents" and do not qualify as citizens since they are not Myanmar by ethnic ancestral birth. As such, they cannot own land or enjoy the right to any health or education benefits or engage in economic activities.

Several thousand Rohingyas who fled Myanmar, live in ghettos and refugee camps in Bangladesh (approximately 300,000) and in areas along the Thai-Myanmar border (about 100,000), while they are also refugees in Pakistan, India, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. As refugees, their plight in many of these countries is as dire.

For the past four decades, the Rohingya issue has been discussed, without any concrete outcomes, while their predicament has worsened to the point of being one of the worst humanitarian calamities of our time.

Many well-meaning solutions have been put forward, ranging from persuading, or even compelling, the Myanmar government to accept the Rohingyas as citizens, to their resettlement in third countries.

There are even calls for Aung San Suu Kyi to demand the right of citizenship for the Rohingyas. Suu Kyi has made it clear that every genuine refugee must have the right to return and be treated in accordance with international law. But, more than that, she has said that everyone concerned must continue to work actively with Myanmar for a solution.

Let's be clear. No refugee return in history has succeeded on the basis of compelling a country, against its wishes, to accept the refugees back. Even if the present Myanmar government is willing, there is no guarantee that the Rakhine Buddhist community will accept the Rohingyas to live on equal terms with them.

As the Myanmar government has shown its willingness to consider those who can be granted citizenship status and rights, it would be prudent for the international community to pursue that option, ensuring that Rohingyas in Myanmar and those who return and be accepted as citizens, are afforded the same privileges as other citizens.

The Rohingyas whom the Myanmar authorities will not accept for whatever reason, will have no choice but to be assisted for third country resettlement.

It is imperative that the international community, in particular the UN and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) address this humanitarian crisis with urgency and find a workable solution to this progressive extinction of the Rohingyas.

Asenal Football Star "Abou Diaby" Join Rohingya Seminar in London, UK

Charity Dinner was held last Friday in London Muslim Center. The Charity dinner was organized by Muslim Aid. Many NGOs and British Muslim communities attended to the dinner including Arsenal & France Football Star Abou Diaby. There are about 600 people attended to the charity dinner . 

BROUK President Tun Khin and Arsenal & France Football Star Abou Diaby gave speech during the dinner.

Arsenal Football star said he was concerned injustice going on Rohingya people of Burma. He thanks to organisations and attendees joining to the dinner urged to keep continue to support Rohingya's cause. 

BROUK President Tun Khin Said : 

Recent violence was well- planned by State Government led by RNDP and Thein Sein’s Central government .During the violence Police Officer, Security Forces and Rakhine carried out attacks on the Muslim Rohingyas in the streets and villages of and Rathedaung where almost all the Rohingya villages and houses were burned down or destroyed. 

A curfew has been imposed in the troubled areas. The Rakhine equipped with lethal weapons and set free to attack Rohingya Muslims. Police and security forces opened fire on Muslims’ homes at random, even in the dead of night. 

Those Rohingyas killed or shot dead were taken away by the security forces. The dead bodies have not been returned to their families. The dead bodies were reportedly burned into ashes or thrown into the sea. There were reports of dead bodies floating in the water. 

When state-sponsored violence started UN agencies, UNHCR and NGOs engaged in humanitarian and relief operations had left Arakan as the government warned them could not ensure their security. In the absence of evidence, the Rakhine extremists or security forces, \police carried out their genocidal actions without the knowledge of the outside world. 

People are dying every day because they do not have any food. Many people have been arrested, beaten and killed when they went out to buy food. They have become starving refugees in their homes. Thousands of people are facing starvation in the countryside remote areas. 

BROUK President Tun Khin appealed organizations that were attended, “We, Rohingyas need urgent safety, security and Humanitarian aid in Arakan State. President Thein Sein government and State Government (RNDP) systematically preplanned to take place the recent violence to eliminate Rohingya people of Arakan. We urgently need Humanitarian intervention in Arakan State. We called on all Muslim countries to ensure that the establishment of such an investigation is included in the text of the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly resolution on Burma, and in the text of the next United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on Burma” 

BROUK President finally urged to put pressure on Thein Sein government to provide safety and Security along with to restore ethnic Rohingya and citizenship rights”

President Thein Sein’s New York Visit And Elimination Of The Rohingya Minority

On August 29th, the U.S. government waived travel sanctions against U Thein Sein, Burma’s President and former general of Burma’s dissolved military regime, allowing him to travel freely during his visit to the UN General Assembly this month. The United States also eased economic sanctions against Burma this year, allowing U.S. businesses to invest in the heavily sanctioned country.

The Obama Administration hopes to encourage further reforms by lifting sanctions. But in doing so, it is overlooking the suffering of a group the UN designates as one of the world’s most heavily persecuted communities, the Rohingya Muslims. When President Thein Sein makes his visit to New York next week, U.S. government officials should constructively press him on the Rohingya issue.

Visa and financial restrictions against certain Burmese government officials, members of their families, and their business associates;

Asset freezes;

Prohibitions on importation of Burmese goods; and

Restrictions on bilateral and multilateral assistance to Burma.

Beyond the now lifted travel sanction for Thein Sein, the United States maintains a number of sanctions against Burma, including:

Sanctions against Burma began in the 1990s following the military junta’s, Tatmadaw’s, violent suppression of popular protests. They continue todayin light of the government’s general disregard for the human rights and civil liberties. The recent easing off of sanctions are a reward for initiatives championed by President Thein Sein since August 2011, including deregulating the media, freeing political prisoners and halting the country’s controversial Chinese-led hydropower project.

Yet, as the Burmese government moves forward on these specific reforms, it continues to oppress its ethnic minorities, especially the Rohingya Muslims. Rohingya have lived in Burma’s Rakhine state for centuries, but Burmese authorities have viewed them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and successive Burmese governments have denied them citizenship. The Rohingya people who account for about 4% of the total Muslim population in Burma, are subjected to forced labor, extortion, restricted movement, the absence of residence rights, inequitable marriage regulations and land confiscation, amongst other constraints. With the passage of the 1982 Citizenship Act, they were officially rendered stateless.

In June, long simmering tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine erupted into violence sparked by the alleged rape of a Buddhist woman by three Muslim men. The mob violence against Rohingya communities that followed this incident culminated in cries for a Rohingya-free Burma.

Historically, as this incident indicates, the Burmese government has not only failed in its responsibility to uphold the rule of law, it has also systematically failed to protect this stateless minority from targeted attacks and has itself been accused of pursuing a policy of persecution toward Rohingya. Human rights monitoring organizations have documented cases of Burmese security forces committing killings, rape, and mass arrests of Rohingya Muslims. Witnesses have recounted security forces torching their houses, looting, killing, and rounding up unarmed Rohingyas who have now been disappeared. Moreover, humanitarian agencies trying to provide aid have been threatened and their work brought to a standstill, depriving thousands of food, medical care and shelter.

The government made its intentions clear in July when President Thein Sein met the UN High Commission for Refugees Antonio Guterres and suggested that the only solution was to send the Rohingya to UN-administered camps or to a third country. Meanwhile, some 650 Rohingyas have been massacred, 1,200 are missing, and more than 80,000 are displaced. Fleeing from increasing discrimination and systematic persecution, thousands seek refuge in Bangladesh only to be rejected once again. Bangladesh has turned back more than 1,300 Rohingya refugees and banned humanitarian aid to the more than 200,000 Rohingya Muslims already in the country.

After many decades of political and economic isolation, the recent wave of reforms by President Thein Sein, steps that have ushered in hope of democratic reform, seem to be motivated by the government’s desire for international legitimacy and removal of economic sanctions. However promising these reforms may be, they do not relinquish Burma’s new government from its obligations under international law that require the state to protect its ethnic minorities – including the Rohingya. In fact, such pluralism and socio-political inclusion would be seen as an essential cornerstone to delivering real democratic reform.

The United States can play a critical role in preventing ethnic cleansing of Rohingya by addressing this issue directly with the Burmese government and through its newly created Atrocity Prevention Board, which should closely monitor this community as potentially at risk for mass atrocities. During President Thein Sein’s upcoming trip to New York for the U.N. General Assembly meeting, the United States Government should be clear that more decisive action is needed to fulfill Burma’s international obligation to protect the Rohingya. They must also make clear to President Thein Sein that he must hold accountable security forces guilty of targeting the group. The U.S. should leave no doubt that the lifting of U.S. sanctions will depend on President Thein Sein’s actual delivery on the full and broad panoply of promised reforms, including protection of all minorities. While easing of sanctions acts as an incentive to reformists in Burma, the United States must not ignore the plight of the Rohingya.

Letter to the U.S. Senators and Congressmen on Suu Kyi's visit to the USA

In an open letter to the US Senators and Congressmen Dr. Habib Siddiqui has urged the U.S. Congress not to lift its ban on any trade and commerce with Myanmar until a fundamental change takes place positively impacting the lives of those Rohingya and other minorities, guaranteeing their citizenship as equals and rights and privileges restored and secured.

Given below the full text of the letter by Dr. Habib Siddiqui :

Dear Congressman/Senator,

I was rather surprised to learn of the decision of the U.S. Congress to bestow its highest honor - the Congressional Medal of Honor to Suu Kyi of Myanmar. Through her silence and equivocation during the latest Rohingya crisis she has proven that she does not deserve such an honor, and that she is not a serious partner for either human rights or democracy. She remains a fanatic and racist Burman Buddhist, very similar to the very regime that she complained about while in house arrest.

In its entire history, racism and bigotry have defined, and sadly, continue to define Myanmar and there is no place for non-Buddhists in that Buddhist majority country of 56 million people today.

The so-called reform movement inside Myanmar, initiated by Thein Sein, remains all a part of a very calculated gimmick to lift official bans against Myanmar, which requires hard cash to get out of being the poorest country in the ASEAN. Suu Kyi was released by the civilian-dressed military regime so that she could work as its emissary. And that is what Suu Kyi has been doing to promote Myanmarism - an explosive cocktail of ultra-nationalism and Buddhist religious fanaticism. In this new Myanmarism, there is no place for people of other races, ethnic backgrounds and religions.

No, Myanmar does not deserve any benefit from our nation. Minorities like the Rohingya have been declared stateless, courtesy of a racist law - Burma Citizenship Law of 1982. As a result of this national project towards ethnic cleansing, half the 4 million Rohingyas have been pushed out of the country since 1962 who now live as unwanted refugees in places like Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and UAE. And this in spite of the fact that they were one of the early inhabitants of the land of Arakan since time immemorial, predating Burmese or Tibeto-Burman influx to the soil of Arakan. The other half lives in the living hell inside Myanmar with no right of movement, education, health, safety, employment, property, marriage, religion, etc. The government does not honor any of the 30 rights of the UNDHR when it comes to the Rohingya and other persecuted minorities. It still holds on to the 1982 Citizenship Law and nullifies citizenship of millions simply because they are not Buddhists. It forces slave labor and even kills anyone suspected of being Rohingya. It is no accident that per UN and international agencies, the Rohingyas are considered the worst persecuted people on earth.

And yet, Suu Kyi is fine with such a marginalization of the Rohingya. What a shameful attitude for someone to be honored with a Nobel Prize for Peace, and now this Congressional Medal of Honor! These awards are becoming jokes like putting a pearl necklace on a swine!

Dear sir, as a result of government cover-ups, we may never know how many Rohingyas were killed during the latest pogrom that started in June of this year by a joint coordinated force of Buddhist mob and security forces. As a result, there is hardly a Rohingya town or village that is intact. They have been destroyed beyond recognition and look like as if they are bomb-ravaged places after a war. Not a single Rohingya place of worship is open; they are mostly burned down and demolished. The Rohingya-owned stores were looted and later gutted to fire.

Their homes were burned to ashes, and their paddy fields set on fire - forcing more than 200,000 internally displaced Rohingyas to live without any shelter or roof over their head. Not a single government aid came to them. Worse yet, the local Buddhist Rakhines (including racist monks) obstructed the sale of food and other necessities to these Rohingya victims.

And yet, the so-called Democracy Icon - Suu Kyi shamelessly did not utter a single word of condemnation against such gross violations of human rights. She is okay with such a savage 1982 law - formed during the dictator Ne Win's era - that nullified citizenship of millions of Rohingya people simply because they are non-Buddhists. Simply put, she is a Buddhist fanatic. She has been sent by the regime to soften the US attitude.

I would like to urge the U.S. Congress not to lift its ban on any trade and commerce with Myanmar until a fundamental change takes place positively impacting the lives of those Rohingya and other minorities, guaranteeing their citizenship as equals and rights and privileges restored and secured. If Suu Kyi is serious about Myanmar's future, let her behave like a leader that shuns racism and bigotry advocating for a change with the 1982 Citizenship Law, thus ensuring rights of the Rohingya people. She can't promote trade with Myanmar when it is still locked up in its savage past of racism and bigotry. For the U.S. to fall for such a gimmick would be utterly foolish!

Regards,

Habib Siddiqui

Amid UN Excitement at Aung San Suu Kyi, Rohingya Forgotten? | Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 21 -- After Aung San Suu Kyi met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday morning, a floor below a throng of media and even Ambassadors gathered. There was a smattering of applause as Aung San Suu Kyi walked from the elevator to the adjacent rostrums at the stakeout. 

ASSK, as many here call her, was in the past a UN staff member, and now an icon. But still more messy questions exist, such as her silence on the plight of the Rohingya in Myanmar, or Burma, as some here call it. 

Ban Ki-moon's summary of their meeting did not mention the issue; nor did ASSK or the questions Ban's spokesman selected. Yes, ASSK is in context a rare UN good news or success story. But particularly for that reason, questions of the stateless Rohingya who suffer religious prejudice in majority Buddhist Myanmar as Muslim should not be swept under the rug. Watch this site. 

Footnote: In the crowd awaiting ASSK was the Permanent Representative of New Zealand, with his cell phone out to take a photo. Such is the star power of ASSK. Then, just after the stakeout, a meeting of the Latin American grouping CELAC was suspended, with "no consensus" after a Paraguay arrival. But that's another story - watch this site.