More Rohingyas arrested in Maungdaw

Maunegdaw, Arakan State: Today, three Rohingya Muslims were arrested and detained again by the Burma’s border security force (Nasaka) at Maungdaw township over the allegation that they went to Bangladesh, said a local elder.
The arrested have been identified as Mohamed Shafi (21), son of Habi Rahaman, Azizullah (23), son of Abul Kalam and Habib Ullah (25), son of Abu Taher. They all belong to Soung Hodar Bill village of Kyandaung village tract of Maungdaw township.
According to a local villager, a group of Nasaka personnel from the Nasaka camp of Aley Than Kyaw accompanied by a collaborator Biala went to their homes at night and arrested them with the fabricated case while they were sleeping.
After arrest, they were severely beaten up on the spot and brought to their camp by the Nasaka personnel where they were detained in the camp and demanded Kyat 500,000 per each to be released.
Another villager said, they are poor, so they are not able to fulfill the Nasaka’s demand.
Besides, on September 25, six Rohingyas were arrested by the Nasaka personnel of Nasaka-out post camp of the Nasaka area No. 5 of Maungdaw north. Of them, two arrestees are identified as Moulvi Rashid, son of Sayed Hussain and Salim Ullah, son of Nukmal. Both of them hailed from Hoktuma village under the Ngkura village tract. They have been detained in the camp, so far.  Nasaka personnel demanded huge money for their release.
The Nasaka arrests the young Rohingya villagers and extorts money by giving fabricated and false allegation. It is a great human rights violation against the Rohingya community by using their power. In this way, there will be no Rohingya will be left out of the arrest, said a local leader with a great disappointment.

Army constructs three army camps at Maungdaw south

Maungdaw, Arakan State:  Burmese Armies are constructing three army camps at Maungdaw south and Rohingya villagers are forced to pay money, materials to those constructions, said an elder from the village.
“Today, the armies accompanied by Sayedullah (Nasaka agent from Aley Than Kyaw )   are collecting Kyat 10,000 and two-big bamboo per house. The villagers have to provide forced labor in future to build the army camps.”
The army has decided to build three camps, at the Aley Than Kyaw, Horsora and Kyauk Pandu (Shita Purika) villages of Maungdaw south.
There is an agreement between Burma and Bangladesh not to build any army camp within 16 miles from zero-line boundary. The Burmese army’s attempt to build army camps within the restricted border area is acceptable to Bangladesh or not. It is unknown to public, according to a trader from Maungdaw.
“If the army camps are built at the border, armies will be increased and the persecutions are also be amplified against the Rohingya villagers.”

Army daily commits robbery in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan Stae:  Army daily commits robbery to the villagers of Nurulla Para of Baggona village tract of Maungdaw Township, according to a local villager.
“Army that is appointed for the security  of villagers including Rohingya villagers and Rakhine villagers  commits robbery to the villagers of Nurula Para village with the co-operation of Natala villagers every day. “
They go to the village every day at night, and take away the properties what they get from the villagers. Even, they take away cattle, goats, fowls etc. Villagers believe that, army will gave protection to the Rohingya villagers, but they are the worse than the Nasaka personnel, said a female from the village.
“Rohingyas have no place to appraise the matter as they are the culprits and the judge of the matter.”
How the Rohingya will survive under the pressure of police, Hluntin, army, Sarapa, Nasaka, and local Rakhines, said villagers.
Villagers expressed their graved concern over the deteriorating the situation in Arakan, especially persecution of security forces in various ways. Restriction on movement, education is severely affecting to the Rohingya students, Villagers are barred from going to market to buy daily needs. When we will free from this big jail, said an old man.

Nasaka kills Rohingya youth at Maungdaw

Maungdaw Arakan State: A Rohingya youth was killed by the Burma border security force (Nasaka) of Kawar Bill Nasaka Headquarters yesterday night, according to a relative of the victim.
“The victim was identified as Mohamed Alam (35), son of Shofi Rahaman, hailed from Tharat Oo village of Maungdaw north. He was arrested by the Nasaka of  Kular bill Nasaka  personnel of Nasaka area No.6 of Maungdaw Township on September 15, from his house over the allegation that he was involved in the recent riot between Rakhine and Rohingya community.”
After arrest, he was brought to Kyigan Pyin (Kawar Bill) Nasaka headquarters, where he was severely tortured and detained. He is living at Maungdaw town and built a house and he became a business man. He is a very sincere man, so villagers always remember him, according to traders from Maungdaw.
However, yesterday he was killed by the Nasaka of Nasaka headquarters of Kyigan Pyin, and the dead body was not handed over to his parents, said a friend of the victim.
In this way, Rohingya business men, youths, Rohingya leaders and educated persons are arrested and killed by the security forces over the allegation of false and fabricated cases, said a leader from the locality.
Burmese government does not care international pressure, and implementing its plans and programs against the Rohingya community with the cooperation of State (Arakan State) government, the leader more added.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni for holistic solution to Rohingya problem

Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni has urged the OIC member states and the General Secretariat to contribute to addressing of the root causes of Rohingya problem.

She also called for the rehabilitation of internally displaced Rohingya population and reconciliation between the Muslims and non-Muslim communities in the North Rakhine State of Myanmar.

The minister was addressing the first meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Rohingya Muslim Minority held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, according to a message received here on Thursday.

Dipu Moni said Bangladesh has been extremely sensitive and supportive to the humanitarian plight of the Myanmar Muslims in North Rakhine State. 

Under strict compliance of the principle of non-refoulement, she said, Bangladesh has been hosting hundreds of thousand of Rohingya refugees on Bangladesh soil in cooperation with UNHCR.

The Foreign Minister stated that it is important to address the issues of citizenship rights of Rohinghyas, and their continued trafficking and emigration. 

“While citizenship rights are at the core of the problem, a large number of them have left the North Rakhine State for secured livelihood opportunities in Bangladesh, Asean and Gulf countries, she said. 

She emphasized that these two issues deserve comprehensive solutions for the sake of peace and stability of the Rakhine state.

The Foreign Minister commended the OIC Secretary General for dispatching a high-level delegation to Myanmar earlier this month under the directives of the recently held 4th Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference. 

She expressed satisfaction over the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the Myanmar government and the OIC General Secretariat to implement humanitarian programme for the benefit of all communities living in the Rakhine state. 

She hoped that such institutional avenues for engagement and cooperation with Myanmar government will lead to long-term partnership, whereby OIC member-states can make investments for sustainable socioeconomic development and livelihood opportunities for both the communities in the Rakhine state in the interest of peace, harmony and prosperity.

The OIC Contact Group on Rohingya Muslim Minority was established by the decision of the 4th Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference held in Makkah on August 14-15 this year. 

Members of this Contact Group are Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Senegal, Djibouti, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey and Afghanistan. 

The report of this Contact Group will be presented to the Annual Coordination Meeting of Foreign Ministers of OIC countries to be held at the UN Headquarters in New York on 28 September 2012 on the fringe of the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Foreign Minister also held a bilateral meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar at the United Nations Headquarters on Wednesday. 

The two Foreign Ministers reviewed bilateral relations and exchanged views on issues of common interest at the UN and other multilateral fora.

Gross Human Rights Violations in Buthidaung Jail | M.S Anwar

Thursday, September 27, 2012 ,There has been a discussion and debate going on in Nay Pyi Daw, Burma, regarding the crises in Arakan. But the hot topic in the discussion has been existence or non-existence of Rohingyas in the history of Arakan. Although, previously, Burmese regime has blatantly lied that there is no Rohingya race in Burma saying it didn’t exist in the past. Now, through the debate, government has reached a point that it can’t deny Rohingyas any longer especially after considering Arakan history. The government can’t accept Rohingyas either as there is stern opposition of fascist Rakhine extremists who want to wipe out Rohingyas and their history.

Yet, today many Rakhine extremist leaders have a feeling that they will lose the debate going on in Nay Pyi Daw and hence they themselves might need to recognize Rohingyas in the future. Therefore, they have been implementing many plans against Rohingyas resulting from their meetings all over Arakan. Two significant steps they have taken against Rohingyas: the authority in Maung Daw are making more arbitrary arrests this time with the permission of the district judge of Muang Daw and sending them to Buthidaung Jail, and the authorities in Buthidaung jail are killing Rohingyas detained through inhumane tortures so that they can reduce the number of Rohingyas in Arakan. There have been thousands of Rohingyas detained in the prison for no reason. (Note: Judge in Maung Daw Distric Court, Authorities in the Jail, People in Police Force and Security Forces etc in Arakan are made up of Rakhines only) 

Now, mass killings and grave human rights violations are being carrying out against them in the jail. For instances, authorities in the jail are cutting off or burning the penises of Rohingyas, forcing them to have homo-sex with one another (recently a similar case took place against some Kachin youths), cutting off or pulling out their finger nails, severely beating them, keeping them nude all the time, keeping them without foods and water for days. When they are given foods once in many days, it is on the ground with their hands tied at their backs. Authorities in the jail force them through immense torture to exclaim that they are animals and that’s why they have to eat like animals. 

But this time, it has already been four days that Rohingyas in the prison are without foods and water. No need to wonder what is happening with them. What makes my heart bleed is not that Rohingyas are being killed but the way they are being killed. 

In short, according to Rohingyas in Arakan, the situation of Rohingyas in the prison is worse than that of Jews once in Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camps. In the fear of losing the debate in Nay Pyi Daw, Rakhine extremists (both in the government and outside) are rushing to kill Rohingyas as many as possible in the remaining they may have. Therefore, an urgent systematic investigation comprised of international criminal experts into Rohingya detention centers in Arakan is a dire need to prevent the crimes against humanity taking place. Or else, it will be another man-made catastrophe that can be prevented in time. And people will regret later for not doing so. 

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

The Rise of a Eichmann’s Hell in Burma-(Part 3) | M.S Anwar

 Recently, President Thein Sein claimed “the riot in the region is not religious but communal. International community and media are politicizing the matter,” while they have been instigating violence against Rohingya and propagating racial hatred among general Burmese people and to turn them against Rohingyas by using Buddhism as a tool. Government and Rakhine extremists accuse Rohingyas to be threats and dangers to Buddhism. Therefore, Rohingyas need to be cleansed. 

Moreover, President Thein Sein recently in an interview to VOA said “Bengalis (his own term for Rohingyas) have been living there for generations. We have been considering modifying 1982 citizenship law.” Is it not contradictory to his earlier statement to UNHCR Chief Antonio Gutterres “they are recent Bengali Immigrants and the only solution to the problem is to settle them in third countries?” Burmese government and Rakhine extremist in home and abroad are leaving no stone unturned to deceive the world. They are forcefully or by other means using members of Hindu society (who look like Rohingyas) and taking pictures and making video showing their daily activities to portray that the situation in Arakan has become peaceful and come to normality. Hence, no investigations are needed, no observers and media to sent and not even humanitarian assistances, at a time when they continuously committing crimes against Rohingyas. 

When UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana visited Arakan, Burmese authorities organized some Hindus and few of their puppets from Rohingya community to meet and lie to him. Besides, he was not given free access to meet Rohingya people. The similar case happened with Turkish Foreign Misnister Ahmet Davutglo when he visited Sittwe, Arakan. The government vetted translator mistranslated and omitted the important words of a Rohingya victim in the translation. 

On 17th August 2012, Thein Sein released an 18-paged statement in which he said “some political parties, monks and individuals incited extreme racial hatred and encouraged people to commit irrational racial attacks against Bengali Muslims (his own term for Rohingya Muslims).” What is this? Is it not contradictory to his earlier statements? Is not he an oxymoron? 

By the time Human Rights Watch (HRW) exposed the involvement of the government in the crimes, President Thein Sein has rather hastily set up an inquiry commission by himself to investigate the ongoing crises in Arakan. How can one expect impartial investigations when the culprits who started this ugly racism and committed all these crimes themselves have taken charge of the investigations? One should wonder who will be the ultimate sufferers as a result of this investigation when the people in the government itself are criminals. The commission visited violence hit regions and went back. But they could not meet the real victims, Rohingyas. When some Rohingyas invited the commission (on phone) to come to their places and see their actual situation, a member of the commission replied “we don’t have any authority to go to wherever we wish and we can only visit the places that the government wishes. In fact, cheating is not new to the Burmese government. They are famous for that even among Burmese community. But international community should not fall into their traps. 

Conclusion 

Though the situation in Arakan now is externally portrayed as it calmed down, the atrocities against Rohingyas and the holocaust in the Burmese version of Eichmann’s hell are still on. Yet, sadly, their plights can hardly draw any international attention as especially Western Powers who claim to be Human Rights champions are quiet. 

After all, why are they carrying out all atrocities against Rohingyas? It is particularly because of political gains of both Burmese regimes and Rakhine extremist leaders. As for the regime, they have successfully diverted public attentions from the poltical and economic crises they were having, depopularized Daw Aung San Suu Kyi among some segments of Burmese society and international communtiy, gained much required public supports, discredited international media and convinced general Burmese that only Military can protect the country. As for the Rakhine extremists, they are on their way to successfully root out Rohingyas who have become the major hindrance to their achieving an independent Arakan. 

Pro-fascists segment of Burmese society hate Rohingyas generally for two reasons: they look different from the mainstream Mongoloid people and practice a different religion. Rohingyas are of Indo-Arayan descendents known as one of the earliest settlers of Arakan and practice Islam. The Burmese Regime is heavily influenced by Nazi ideology of racial purification. And the regime brainwashed most members of Burmese society with their racist ideology. Hitler tried to wipe out Jews who are racially, religiously and ideologically different from Nazi German. Burmese regime is on their effort to wipe out Rohingyas because they (Rohingyas) are racially, religiously and ideologically different from them. And Adolf Eichmann was the in charge of the Exterminations Camps for Jews known as Eichmann’s Hell. Thein Sein and his ally, Dr. Aye Maung, the chairman of Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP) are the in-charges of Extermination Camps for Rohingyas, the Burmese version of Eichmann’s Hell. 

It is up to International Community and all the concerned quarters to let this continue until Rohingyas are wiped out or to stop the crimes against humanity. It is the high time for all of us to realize the crimes of these generation criminals and Neo-Fascists and to bring them into international criminal court of justice (ICCJ) in an effort to stop the crimes on the earth forever. 

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