Humanitarian aids need Mrauk- U

Mrauk- U, Arakan State:  The humanitarian aids are needed to supply urgent in the village of Zula Para ( a Rohingya village) of Maruk- U as the condition of village is very serious of foods crises , according to a villager of Maruk- U.
“In our village, we had 430 houses before burning by Rakhine mobs on October 23 and now we have only 7 houses remaining.”

“Nearly 100 villagers are killed from our village and we are able to bury 68 dead bodies and the rest dead bodies are missing.”
“At present, we are living at our old village and making temporary tents with bamboo and straw, hay, grass and leaves. The military is giving us full security. But, we do not get any help from outside, even water. So, we are facing food crisis and medicine.”
The local Rakhine villagers do not sell us anything and the security force also does not help us to get ration. We are not allowed to go out of the village. We are living like in a jail, said a villager from the locality.
“We are getting food only from our paddy fields.  We take paddy from our fields, and pounded to get rice.  We cook it and eat it without salt, chili, vegetables, and oil,” said a local youth.
“Therefore, we want the rations for our survival from international community. We do not hope to get ration from our government because, it wants us to be starved and dead.”
The Thein Sein government and Arakan State government officials only are supplying aids to Rakhines community not to us. So we need aids from any groups who want to help us to save the reaming villagers, said an elder from village.

More dead bodies floating in the sea

Chittagong, Bangladesh:  More than 30 dead bodies are floating near Saint Martin Island in the Bay of Bengal today morning, according to fishermen who went to the sea for fishing.
“We found 30 dead bodies of people, which are floating in the Bay of Bengal, are not recognized who are they, maybe Rohingya refugee –fleeing from central Arakan- or the boat people – which sunk last week of October- and no one was rescued this dead bodies.”

“We informed to the authorities of Bangldesh and informed also to the people of Maungdaw about the dead bodies to save the dead bodies to bury, but still we don’t see anyone do it.”
“We are trying to get permission from Bangladesh authority to save and bury, but no.”
“But, thousands of boats go out to sea for fishing every day. We have asked them to watch out for bodies,” said Lieutenant Badruddoza, a coastguard commander in Teknaf on the southeast tip of Bangladesh.
“The desperate families of the missing passengers have also been searching for bodies,” he added.
If these dead bodies are from sinking boat, they are mostly Bangladeshi and a few are Rohingya –only 40, said Kalam, a fishing trawler Mazi (leader) from Shapuri Dip.
“If these dead bodies are from fleeing boats, they are died for starvation as no water, no foods and no medicines. They were not allowing in Burma or Bangladesh to land. The Burmese government did not allow them to land when they arrived at Maungdaw south and kept them on the boat in the sea.”
The Rohingya from central are floating in the sea as the Burmese and Bangldeshi governments are not allowing them to land. So, more boats – more than 35 boats stranded near Akyab and nearly 40 boats are stranded near Saint Martin Island. 4 boats land in Maungdaw south, but Burmese authority didn’t allow them to take shelter. UNHCR tried to set up a temporary camp for these boat people- Rohingyas, said a politician from Maungdaw.
The head of the Muslim community in Minbya denied that they instigated the unrest and some people were already planning for violence and the family was merely a scapegoat, according to The Irrawaddy.
The government has reported that 28,000 people have been made homeless during the recent violence, which started on Oct.21, while a total of 2,950 houses, 14 religious buildings and eight rice mills were razed to the ground. Eighty-eight people have been confirmed dead while 129 have been hospitalized as carnage raged across nine townships, according to official figures.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that there could be even more displaced people as the numbers of those who fled could not be verified.
Vivian Tan, spokesperson for the UNHCR in Bangkok, said “We believe that there could be more people displaced because some fled to the hills. But we do not know how many. Around 6,000 people got on fishing boats. They are trying to find a safe place to land so they can get some help.”

Fresh News on Arakan Genocidal Attack on Rohingyas

From : Kyauk Nimaw 

Received : 31.10.2012 at 4:35 pm [Amsterdam time] 

Kyaw Kyaw reported the followings on phone conversation: 

Kyaw Kyaw is an Rakhine Ethnic, a son of intellectual Rakhine , who loves sharing humanly value and lives peacefully with all other religions especially with Rohingya and the fellow –habitants. 

He added: 

‘Rohingyas in Kyauk Nimaw have already determined not to run away from their ancestral homeland and rather prefer to die facing the ultimate consequences against attacks by Rakhine extremists and security forces as well. They have already taken the engines out of the boats to strengthen their ‘determination’ against the fleeing’. 

On this subject, one of the military officers asked the Rohingyas why they were not fleeing to their country, Bangladesh. Maulana Abukalam, a Muslim leader responded to the military officer,’ This is our own country, we love dying here, do you too want to kill us in collaboration with the Rakhines?’. Then the military officer assures that they will provide the protection as possible as they could. Then 20 minutes later, the Rakhine extremists mob dispersed. 

On the previous day( 30/10/2012) early morning, the Rakhine extremists- mob, with new faces, normally hired ones from other towns, launched a new attack on the Muslims despite of the Military and security presence . This time the military and the security force tried their best as they promised to defend the mob but failed against the huge bloodthirsty Rakhine extremists. Finally the military force marked a Red line and warned whoever crossed would be shot. Then some 30 Rakhines ( new faces – hired ones) who ignored the redline and warning were shot dead. 

On a phone conversation with a Rohingya resident named U Hamid from Kyauk Phyu who is currently sheltering in Sandong of Sittwe told that he received a phone call from his very friend, District commissioner ( Police), and he asked help, protection. He replied negative as the Central Command warned him not to interfere. 

Hamid also told that local Rakhines and Rohingyas are living for thousands year friendly, respectfully to each other till the historic day of the attack by unfamiliar Rakhine terrorists. Hamid seriously and surprisingly mentioned that two days before the attack on Rohingyas took place, military moved all local Rakhines to Monestary from Amla Quarter, Myo Thik, Than Phan Chaung. Because Hamid thinks that Rakhines could have helped Rohingyas during attack as happened in Akyab. Then Military dragged Rohingyas from their houses to an opened field and looted all properties from their houses including gold. After two days military brought Rakhines back to their houses. 

Furthermore Military keeps the route of Yangon for Rohingyas open aiming systematically Rohingya cleanses from Arakan, said Hamid. As the result, about 30 Rihingyas went to Rangoon by paying 100’000 Kyats per person to escape genocidal acts on them.

Myanmar 'rejects talks' on ethnic violence

ASEAN chief says offer turned down, even as tension between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims simmers in Rakhine state.

Myanmar has rejected an offer by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to open talks aimed at quelling deadly communal violence there, according to the regional bloc's chief. Surin Pitsuwan said on Tuesday he proposed setting up tripartite talks between ASEAN,  the UN and Myanmar's government to prevent the violence from having a broader regional impact. But he said Myanmar turned down the offer to discuss the bloodshed in the western Rakhine state that has led to about 180 deaths since June. The bloodshed has pitted Buddhists against minority Rohingya Muslims. "Myanmar believes it is their internal matter, but your internal matter could be ours the next day if you are not careful," Surin, ASEAN's secretary-general, said after delivering a speech at a forum in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. Fresh fighting in Rakhine this month resulted in another 88 people being killed and added to the thousands of homes torched, with tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims now living in overcrowded camps. Higher toll feared Rights groups fear the actual number killed could be much higher. “Around 100,000 people have been displaced since the fighting started back in June,” Al Jazeera’s Wayne Hay reported from Sittwe, capital of Rakhine state. Most of those displaced lost their homes when they were burned down in what they say is a deliberate attempt by the predominantly Buddhist government to drive them out of the country. “There were security forces present before the latest violence started,” Muhamed Juhar, a Rohingya Muslim, told Al Jazeera. "But when the fighting came to our town, there was no security. When they did arrive, it was too late and they also shot into the crowds of Muslims." In Sittwe Hospital, there was proof that someone had been using guns, but the injured told a different story about how the violence unfolded. “We got into a fight with the Muslims when we were on our way to go fishing. They came out of their houses and attacked us with swords,” said Aung Than, a Buddhist suffering from a bullet to the head. Myanmar's quasi-civilian government, which has been praised by Western nations for a series of democratic reforms after decades of outright military rule, has imposed emergency rule in response to continued tension in the region. And while Buddhists remain free to move about the state, the Rohingya are becoming increasingly restricted, our correspondent said. Myanmar's 800,000 Rohingya, a Muslim minority, are viewed as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh by the government and many Myanmar citizens. The Rohingya have long been considered by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.