More Rohingyas arrested in Maundaw south

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Burma’s border security force (Nasaka) arrested more Rohingya Muslims with allegation that they were involved in violence of June in Maungdaw south, on October 13, said a villager on condition of anonymity.
“A group of Nasaka personnel went to the Barsara village tract under Nasaka area number 8 of Maungdaw  south and arrested two villagers – Mohamed Jalil (45), son of Abdullah and Jakaria (50), son of Noor Mohamed – while they were sleeping in their homes on October 13.”
After arrest, Mohamed Jalil was severely beaten up by the Nasaka personnel without any reason.  However, on that night, he was released after taking Kyat 100,000. But, Jakaria has been detaining in the Nasaka camp because he is unable to pay the Nasaka demand money, a schoolteacher  said who denied to be named.
Besides, on October 11, Nasaka personnel also arrested two villagers – Sayed Alam (30), son of Sirazul and Pir Ahmed (32), son of Jalal – hailed from Myint Hlut village tract of Maungdaw south. They have been tortured and detained in Nasaka area No. 8, said a local elder from Myint Hlut.
In similarly, Rashidullah (30), son of Abdu Rahim, hailed from Udaung village, Maungdaw south, was arrested by the Nasaka  of Udaung out-post under the Nasaka area  No. 8 on October 14 , according to a relative of the victim.
“The three Rohingya villagers- Syed Alam, Pir Ahmed and Rashidullah- are still detained in the Nasaka camp as they are not able to pay the Nasaka demanded money to be released.”
“They were also accused that they were involved in the riots.”
At present, Nasaka personnel accompanied by Village Administrator U Thein Maung (Rakhine) are harassing; extorting money from villagers, arbitrary arresting the Rohingya villager in Udaung village tract, said a reliable source.
The Nasaka and army in daily basis went to the Rohingya villages accompanied by local Natala – New settler- villagers of Maungdaw south and arresting the villagers. After arrest, villagers were tortured and extorted money. The security forces, occasionally, when they got chance, raped the women and girls while the Rohingya villagers are being locked in their villages since June and lack of medical treatment, said a youth from the locality.
Regarding this matter, why the international community is quite silent? , asked  a local elder.

Rohingyas become cattle less in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Natala (New settler) villagers are stealing Rohingyas’ cattle openly in Maungdaw since June riot which made the Rohingyas cattle less, according to an elder from Maungdaw south.
“The security forces are also helping the new settler for stealing the cattle while grazing near the forest.”
The Natala villagers took away four cattle from grazing field where many cattle were grazing at that time on October 14 evening. The cattle belong to Hamid Hussain, 40, hailed from Khonza Bill village  under Aley Than Kyaw  village tract, Maungdaw south, according to a local from Aley Than Kyaw.
“Hamid complained to the local Nasaka personnel under Nasaka area number 7  about his cattle which was taken by Natala, but the officer told him that they will investigate later, said a relative of Hamid.
Similarly, the armies who have been taking security measure in Maungdaw south were taken away 50 cows along with Natala villagers from Gudusara village of Maungdaw south, while grazing in the field without giving any information to the owners of the cattle, said one of the cattle owners preferring not be named.
“Why the army takes away these cows from the villagers while the villagers are facing acute crisis of food, movement restriction and always living in their villages for fear of arrest, “said a village elder that did not identified his name.
“The army also took away cattle, goats and fowls from the villagers with the collaboration of Natala villagers. Sometimes, they shot the cows and goats in the field and were taken to their camp. Occasionally, the army shot dead some of the villages when they met on the road. They have no difference between Rohingyas and animals.”
The army was sent to Maungdaw south to take extreme action against the Rohingya villagers as the concerned higher authority did not satisfy over the actions taking by Nasaka, police and Hluntin against the Rohingya villagers, a community leader from the locality said.
“When the army reached to Maungdaw south after June 8 violence, the villagers welcomed them hoping that the army will give protection from the persecutions of Nasaka and police. But, later, the villagers saw that army’s brutalities against the villagers are worse than the Nasaka’s ones.”
The army went to Nurula Para after arrival at Maungdaw south from Buthidaung, took out all the villagers including women and children and beat them severely. Some of the villagers were arrested and also looted goods, gold ornaments and cash from the villagers, local youth said on condition of anonymity.
The army has been giving troubles to the villagers of Maungdaw south such as—-arresting, torturing, killing, rape women and girls and looting goods from the villages. The army, Nasaka, police accompanied by Local Rakine villagers are giving troubles to these villages such as Gudusara, Horsara, Baggona, Aley Than Kyaw. Nurulla Para and Udaung, the local youth added.
Every day, Natal villagers with the help of army loot the properties, torturing  villagers, taking or stealing cattle and essentials of Rohingya Muslims in Maungdaw south, according to sources.
Sources also said that villagers are facing many difficulties to move from one place to another because of fear of arrest by Natala villagers, Nasaka, police and army.

Rohingya beaten up by army and Natala villagers

Maungdaw, Arakan State: A Rohingya villager was severely beaten up and became senseless  by army and Natala villagers, at Maungdaw south while he was returning home after  collecting firewood from nearby forest, said a close relative of the victim.
“The victim was identified as Abdu Karim (28), son of Abdu Goffar, hailed from Gudu Sara village of Maungdaw Township.”
On that day, at about 2:00pm, the victim was going to nearby forest for collecting fire wood. When he was returning home after collecting fire wood, army accompanied by a group of Natala villagers arrested him and was severely tortured till he became unconscious. And then he was hung to a tree to be seen by people, said another relative on condition of anonymity.
At about 4:00 pm, being informed, his relatives accompanied by some villagers went to the Nasaka camp of Padaung and gave the information about the event. So, a group of Nasaka along with the villagers went to the spot to bring the unconscious man.
A village elder said, “The army and the Natala villagers looted our property, committed robbery and killing villagers occasionally. But they are not given punishment by the concerned higher authority.  What is the matter?
Rohingya villagers in Maungdaw south have been locked in their villages since June this year after the sectarian violence. How do the villagers will survive without doing any works?, and also they do not get any support from any quarter, asked a local elder.
Though the Act 144 is imposed by the central government in nine townships of Arakan state, it is only imposed to Rohingya community. But, Rakhine community is able to do demonstration with mass people in any part of the Rakhine state. It makes me very strange, said an elder.

Nasaka checks family lists in Maungdaw south

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) checked every family lists, houses and shops in Maungdaw south recently, said an aide of Nasaka from Aley Than Kyaw.
“Nasaka personnel checked every family houses and shops who built new houses and shops after communal violence.”
Yesterday, a group Nasaka personnel from the Nasaka area No. 7 went to the Khonza Bill village tract of Maungdaw south and checked every house. The Nasaka also checked family lists and houses in Aley Than Kyaw village tract earlier. But, Nasaka found new building houses and shops in Khonza Bill during the checking. But they built the houses and shops after taking proper permission from the Township Administrator office, said a reliable source.
Some owners of the houses are identified as Kabir Ahmed (30), Sayed Karim (32), Azam Ullah (30), Aman Ullah (35) and Toyub (28), hailed from Khonza Bill under Aley Than Kyaw village tract of Maungdaw south.
Of them, Toyub gave Kyat 20,000 to the Nasaka personnel, but other four villagers were not able to give money to the Nasaka personnel, so their family lists were taken away by the Nasaka personnel. However, the Nasaka told their family members to be present in the Nasaka camp today, said a source.
An elder said from Aley Than Kyaw,” It is nothing, but extortion of money from Rohingya villagers indirectly.”
“How long, we, the Rohingya villagers will survive under the yoke of quasi-civilian government.

Myanmar Police receive license for robbery in Arakan

On 16th October, 2012, at around 10:00am, a Rohingya, Esuf (F) U Aman Ullah, 30 years, from Alel Than Kyaw, Mawttu La Ywa, Maungdaw south, was arrested by a policeman, Win Than Oo (Du Ray Oak- One Star in rank), Camp-in-charge for Maw Ra Waddy Police Camp, while the victim was having a tea in the teashop of Rofique in Alel Than Kyaw market. The arrester meaninglessly demanded one million Kyat from the arrestee soon after the incident occurred. As the arrestee was unable to comply the demand of the said police, the police hand-capped and brought the victim to his camp. According to the report received in the evening, he was sent to Maungdaw downtown Police Station. The arrester informed the family of the arrestee that the victim will be released immediately if five lakhs (half million Kyat) of cash money is given to the arrester. This is not the only incident occurred on Rohingyas. These types of incidents have been being occurred before and after the violence in Rakhine State upon Rohingyas.

The very policeman had taken Fifty Thousand Kyat from another Rohingya on 14th October, 2012, by arresting the victim, Mohammed Ali (F) U Jamal, 52 years from the same village aforementioned. Interesting as well as funny that the said policeman told the victim after release that he arrested him just to get money as a help.

Even disables inescapable from Police and Police Family

Hla Myint (One Star rank in Police) is an in-charge for Crimes Detection Group in Maungdaw Police Force, who and whose family live in Ward-1, Jetty Road, by hiring an apartment on second floor of U Shobbir’s Building. Near the ground floor of that building, his wife sells a pretending betel shop. In reality, by taking protection from her husband, she involves in many types of both legal and illegal businesses, such as servicing Bengla illegal mobile phone, selling Yaba tablets (famous as ‘WY’), and so on. Just for show as legal business, she also sells seasonal fruits and vegetables. As a businessman, she has interaction with different people including many Rohingyas. A Rohingya, who is the son-in-law of Mohammed Alom (F) U Futunnya from Ka Nyin Tan (Shiddah Fara), Maungdaw suburb, has some deals with her. Mohammed Alom is a dumb (cannot speak since born) and he works as a labourer in Ka Nyin Tan market. Before the violence in Maungdaw, the son-in-law of the dumb had bought some oranges from her and he had to pay back some amount of money to her. For this deal, her husband, Hla Myint, searched for the debtor. When he was not found, Hla Myint arrested the debtor’s father-in-law, who is a dumb as detailed above. After the arrest, Hla Myint brought the victim to his private hired apartment and the victim was inhumanly tortured the whole night. When Hla Myint observed that the victim seemed to be dying soon, he called two of his colleagues who are policemen as well, and handed over the victim to his colleagues to bring to police station in order to keep in detention. The fortune of the victim was unknown till reporting time.

Sacrificed animals to be sent to Arakan

Most of the requests for the meat of animals to be sacrificed at next week's Feast of Sacrifice in the Islamic world came to humanitarian aid organizations for Arakan.

Chairman of the Executive Board of the Dost Eli Association, based in Konya province, Mehmet Secer said that they began accepting donations as part of the Feast of Sacrifice.

"90 percent of those making donations want their donation to be sent to Arakan state in Myanmar. Last year, most people wanted their donations to be sent to Somalia and in the year before that most people wanted their donations to go to Pakistan. There is high interest in Arakan where Muslims there face poverty and massacres. We expect to receive 2,000 donations overseas. One thousand of them would be sent to Arakan," Secer stressed.

On the other hand, Director of the Konya branch of Kimse Yok Mu Association, Hasan Kiratli said that they would assist animal sacrificing in 70 countries.

Deputy Chairman of the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (IHH), Durmus Aydin said that they had been organizing animal sacrifices for the past 20 years.

"We will sacrifice animals in 101 countries and regions across the globe," Aydin also said.

What is the Feast of Sacrifice

The Sacrifice Feast in Turkey is a four-day religious festival. The Sacrifice Feast traditions in Turkey include sacrificing an animal in a special ritual, visiting relatives and helping the poor.

The Sacrifice Feast is one of the oldest Islamic holidays in Turkey. It commemorates the story about Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) who showed obedience to God by agreeing to sacrifice his son. God then sent him a ram to be sacrificed instead. The Sacrifice Feast comes about 70 days after the Ramadan Feast. According to old belief it is unlucky to get married or start a new business in the period between these two holidays.

Traditionally, on the first day of the Sacrifice Feast in Turkey, men of each family go to a mosque for a special morning prayer. Then the sacrifice ritual begins. In some regions in Turkey, people paint the sacrificial animal with henna and adorn it with ribbons. The butcher reads a prayer before slaughtering the animal. Families share about two-thirds of the animal-s meat with relatives and neighbors, and they traditionally give about one-third to the poor.

In recent years, some Turkish people started making donations to charity organizations instead of sacrificing animals. Many people in Turkey take special care to help the poor during the Sacrifice Feast.

People usually wear their best clothes during the Sacrifice Feast. They welcome guests to their homes or visit relatives or friends during the holiday. Many people in Turkey reserve the first day of the feast for visiting their closest relatives. Young people greet their older relatives and neighbors by kissing their hand as a sign of respect. Some people in Turkey may use the four-day holiday to go on a vacation.

Myanmar Government says it won’t allow Organization of Islamic Cooperation to open liaison office

 Myanmar’s government will not allow the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to open a liaison office after thousands of Buddhist monks and laypeople marched to protest the plan.

Sectarian tensions have been running high in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state after clashes in June between Rakhine Buddhists and Bengali Rohingya Muslims which left nearly 90 people dead and displaced tens of thousands. Muslim mosques and Buddhist temples were burned down during the unrest.

Myanmar’s state press had reported that the government and the OIC agreed last month to open an office in Yangon to provide aid for people displaced by the fighting, and the OIC sent a team to investigate the violence.

On Monday, the Information Ministry cited the President’s Office as saying that “the opening of the OIC office will not be allowed as it is contradictory to the aspirations of the people.”

The OIC has 57 member states and seeks to be the voice of the Islamic world.

The anti-OIC protests were held in four Myanmar cities, including Yangon, the country’s largest city, where about 5,000 people participated. Some said they were marching to safeguard Buddhism.

Holding banners reading “We don’t want OIC” and “Long live Buddhism,” the protesters marched from the Shwedagon pagoda to Sule pagoda in the city center, shouting slogans against the OIC and paralyzing traffic in the area.

Similar protests were staged in the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe and the second-largest city, Mandalay.

Reflecting widespread public opinion, the head of an influential privately owned news magazine, Weekly Eleven, said there was no need for an OIC office because “we are not a member of the OIC and we are not an Islamic country.”

“If the OIC wants to provide humanitarian aid, they can do so through NGOs or the U.N.,” Than Htut Aung told The Associated Press. “The opening of an OIC office amounts to inflaming further tension between Rakhine people and the Bengalis, and we will not allow the opening of an OIC office in Myanmar.”

US military officials arrive in Myanmar

A delegation of more than 30 US military and civilian officials has arrived in Myanmar at the weekend, in Washington’s most comprehensive push yet to engage with Myanmar’s military and government.

The visit by 22 senior officials with support staff highlights a growing debate, in Europe and in other western countries, about greater engagement with the military, which for decades ruled the country with scant regard for human rights, prompting many governments to impose harsh sanctions.

The US maintained military attachés in Myanmar – even in the years when it imposed sanctions. However, the participation of senior US military officers such as Lt Gen Francis Wiercinski, head of the US Army’s Pacific command, in this week’s visit reflects the growing view in Washington that the support of Myanmar’s military is essential to any lasting reforms, or peace agreements with ethnic minorities.

In a recent report, the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies suggested that the US should start bilateral programmes of training and exchange visits as a precursor to normalising military relations.

This week’s visit follows successful trips to the US last month of President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate and opposition leader who has indicated she welcomed the idea of US engagement with the military.

Myanmar’s government has forged ceasefire agreements with 10 of 11 main ethnic rebel groups. However, fighting continues in northern Kachin state amid reports of military offensives and displacement of villagers.

Even as the government struggles to engage Kachin commanders in peace talks, tensions within other large ethnic groups, particularly the Karen National Union on Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand, have raised concerns about the fragility of agreements signed in the past eight months.

“This visit makes perfect sense,” said Thant Myint-U, who is involved in the government’s peace efforts. “It would be counterproductive for the peace process to proceed without involving Myanmar’s military.”

At the same time as the US delegation’s visit to Myanmar this week, William Burns, deputy secretary of state will also hold high-level talks. Other US officials include Vikram Singh, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, Derek Mitchell, US ambassador to Myanmar, and other senior officials from the state department, National Security Council, homeland security department, and USAid. They are due to meet Thein Sein, Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the military, and other senior officials.

Outside of the government, the US group will meet leaders of ethnic groups. These groups will include Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists from the western coastal state of Rakhine (formerly Arakan), where sectarian violence broke out in June. They will also meet trade unions and religious groups, as well as members of Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and Generation 88, a group of former political prisoners.

● Myanmar’s ruling United Solidarity and Development party opened a three-day national meeting over the weekend to elect officials and appoint a chairman to replace Thein Sein, who vacated the role when he won the presidency early last year. The party will also discuss strategy for the 2015 presidential election.

U Htay Oo, the general secretary, told The Myanmar Times, an independent English-language newspaper, that the USDP would greatly expand its two main leadership committees and make other moves to “improve organisation”.

The weekly newspaper cited senior party sources as saying that the speaker of the lower house, Thura Shwe Mann, would be chosen as leader. The party will choose more than 200 executive committee members at the gathering, 35 of whom will be appointed to the central executive committee.

The USDP has been beset by tensions since losing by-elections on April 1 to Ms Suu Kyi’s party, which won 43 of 45 parliamentary seats.

Myanmar bans OIC from opening office for Rohingya Muslims

Myanmar's President Thein Sein has blocked the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) from opening an office for Rohingya Muslims, an official says.

Sein will not allow the opening of an office in the country "because it is not in accordance with the people's desires," said an official from the president’s office on Monday.


Sein made the decision after thousands of monks took to the streets in several cities to protest against his willingness to help Rohingya Muslims in the crisis-stricken Rakhine state in the west.
Shouting and holding banners reading "No OIC", the protesters said they would not accept any OIC office in the country.

Rohingya Muslims are currently under a brutal siege by the extremist Buddhists in the areas of the state capital Sittwe as well as the city of Maungdaw in the Rakhine state, according to recent reports.

Reports also say some 650 Rohingyas have been killed in the Rakhine state in the recent months. This is while 1,200 others are missing and some 80,000 more have been displaced.

The Buddhist-majority government of Myanmar refuses to recognize Rohingyas and has classified them as illegal migrants, even though they are said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origin, who migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.

According to reports, thousands of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims are living in dire conditions in refugee camps after government forces and Buddhist extremists started burning down their villages on August 10.

The UN human rights authorities blame Myanmar’s security forces for the violence, who are believed to have been targeting the Muslims rather than bringing the ethnic violence to an end in the country.

Rohingya Refugees want ID card and Travel Document as "Myanmar Rohingya"

Today Rohingya are in critical situation not only in Myanmar but even in other countries where we think we will be safe. Among them one of the worst is Bangladesh where Rohingyas are living in dire situation. Why can’t we raise our voice for them, peacefully and logically. We are dying in our own country as well as in other countries too. While we are unable to save our lives inside our country, we can at least do something for the peoples who are suffering in other countries. It is our advice to our leaders that if we can outcry collectively with some of these 3 points.

 

 1. We have spoken many Rohingya Refugees who said that they want to return to Myanmar as soon as their Citizenship Rights and Civil Liberties are guaranteed. Until these rights are guaranteed in Myanmar, they want to stay, work and educate their children in other countries. They feel that Bangladesh is too poor and the elite, administration and media in Bangladesh are very unfriendly. So they usually try to go to Arab countries, Malaysia, Singapore, Europe and USA. They need ID card as Myanmar Rohingya and want to travel with genuine legal travel documents. But at present for traveling to other countries they are obliged to obtain Bangladeshi Passports with false identity as Bangladesh National.

 

2. We think, international community should find out ways to convince Myanmar government to restore full citizenship rights and civil liberties of Rohingyas in Myanmar and expedite the process of voluntary repatriation of the Myanmar Refugees.

3. ID Card and Travel Document should be issued to all Rohingya Refugees and asylum seekers in Bangladesh – whether documented or undocumented. Otherwise, these Rohingya refugees may become stateless permanently, and Myanmar Junta’s cruelty & Human Rights abuses will increase and their military ambition may bolster to threaten the security of its neighbors.

Mohamed Ibrahim 

European Rohingya Council 

(Secretary) 

Media, Information and Organizing