Sectarian violence erupts in Myanmar Curfew declared in town in Shan state following destruction of Muslim orphanage and mosque in latest outbreak of unrest.

Myanmar's government has called for calm after mobs burned down a Muslim orphanage, a mosque and shops during a new eruption of religious violence in the northeastern Shan state.
At least one person has died and four others were injured, state television said.
Authorities imposed a curfew late on Tuesday in Lashio, about 700km northeast of Yangon, after a mob of 200 local residents surrounded a local police station demanding they hand over a Muslim detainee.
Nay Win, 48, a Muslim from a nearby township, was arrested after allegedly setting fire to Aye Aye Win, 24, a Shan Buddhist, earlier in the day after the two had an altercation at a petrol station, Lashio police said.

The woman was admitted to hospital.

"According to witnesses, she was not burned seriously but has injuries on her face and arms," Sai Sam Min, a member of parliament from Lashio, said.

Jim Della-Giacoma, of the International Crisis Group, talks about the latest violence in Myanmar

Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Yangon, said the situation in Lashio had already been brought under control by police.
He said he had received reports that some officials in Lashio, including the fire department, "did very little" to stop the Buddhist mob from attacking Muslim establishments.
Myanmar's recent sectarian violence has been partly blamed on the 969 movement, launched in February by an extremist monk in Mandalay named Wirathu, who encourages Buddhists to shun Muslim-owned shops.
There are less than 2,000 Myanmar Muslims living in Lashio, sources said, of the city's estimated population of about 130,000.
Third outbreak
The incident in Shan state is the third outbreak of anti-Muslim violence to flare up in Myanmar this year.
On April 30, in Oakkan, about 100km north of Yangon, Buddhists went on a rampage after a Muslim woman allegedly bumped into a monk, breaking his begging bowl.

Curfew declared in town in Shan state following the attack.

One Muslim man was killed, and a mosque and 77 houses were set on fire.
In March at least 44 people were killed in sectarian strife in in Meiktila, 450km north of Yangon, where at least 8,000 people, most of them Muslims, were left homeless in riots prompted by an apparent row at a Muslim-owned gold shop.
Deadly unrest last year, mainly targeted at Rohingya Muslims in the western Rakhine state, left about 200 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.
Jim Della-Giacoma of the International Crisis Group says Myanmar needs to address the issue of sectarian violence before it gets worse.
"I think we are seeing a very weak law-enforcement and some poor nation-building," he told Al Jazeera from Jakarta, Indonesia.
"Anybody conducting violence should be punished.
"If you cannot keep these communities, be they Muslim, Christian, Hindu or Buddhist living together, then the future of the country is being challenged here".
Della-Giacoma said the violence could have the potential of spreading to Yangon if the sectarian issue was not resolved.

Nasaka officer threatens to seal all business to join the program of digital sign and photograph in Maungdaw south

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Burma border security force (Nasaka) commander of area number 7 threatened the Rohingya villagers to seal all their business if they didn’t join the program of digital signatures and photographs on May 24 meeting at high school of Alay Than Kyaw, said a village administration officer.

“The commander called all Rohingya villagers and village admin officers with members to Alay Than Kyaw high school, where he had given a speech “to join at their (authority) program of digital signatures and photographs which mention the race as Bengali, in the place of Rohingya.” The commander also threatened the villagers, he will seal all the business – fishing, farming and business- if not join the program.”
In the meeting, the Nasaka commander discussed many different issues with village leaders and administrators regarding the present situation of Arakan State, said an aide of Nasaka.
“If anyone doesn’t comply with the order, he/she will be punished according to the law and also will be imprisoned five years,” the commander added.
We don’t want to join the program as Arakan State government spokesperson U Win Myaing has insisted that recent household data collection for Muslim in Arakan, is related to next year’s census and preparation for the next coming census in 2014, where the UN Population Fund issued a statement on May 3 in which it said that “[h]ousehold data collection activities being undertaken in the camps, other sites in Sittwe, and other towns, Rakhine State, involving the update of family lists by teams composed of several government departments, are unrelated to the National Population and Housing Census scheduled for April 2014” and these activities are also not connected to the pilot census exercise that took place successfully from March 30 to April 10. Actual data collection for the 2014 National Population Census will take place from March 29 to April 10, 2014 in all parts of Myanmar. Every person present within the borders of Myanmar on the night of March 29, 2014 will be included in the census.” So, we did not want to participant the program for using us as Bengali in the name of Rohingya which authority trying to label us Bengali, said the villagers from Maungdaw south.
The commander also mention the recent Arakan State government imposed a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families, a policy that does not apply to Buddhists Rakhine in the area – Maungdaw and Buthidaung where Rohingyas are about 95 percent Muslim and comes amid accusations of ethnic cleansing in the aftermath of sectarian violence. But, this Law was issued sine long times when Nasaka started to control the marriage of Rohingya with these conditions and to extort money from Rohingya community. It is not a new one, but now it issued from state government, said a school teacher.
According to sources, Burma’s central government, Arakan State authorities and Arakanese politicians have long claimed that the Muslim population in the region is rapidly growing and pushing out local Buddhist communities.
Rohingyas villagers in northern Arakan State are now passing days and nights in panic for giving pressure to join the government program of digital sign and photograph by Nasaka, the politician said.
“They have no alternative way to go anywhere from Arakan soil, so they have to live at a big cage in Arakan State, Burma.

Religious violence erupts in Myanmar Curfew declared in town in Shan state following destruction of Muslim orphanage and mosque in latest outbreak of unrest.

Myanmar's government has called for calm after mobs burned down a Muslim orphanage, a mosque and shops during a new eruption of religious violence in the northeastern Shan state.
Authorities imposed a curfew late on Tuesday in Lashio, about 700km northeast of Yangon, after a mob of 200 local residents surrounded a local police station demanding they hand over a Muslim detainee.
Nay Win, 48, a Muslim from a nearby township, was arrested after allegedly setting fire to Aye Aye Win, 24, a Shan Buddhist, earlier in the day after the two had an altercation at a petrol station, Lashio police said.

The woman was admitted to hospital.

"According to witnesses, she was not burned seriously but has injuries on her face and arms," Sai Sam Min, a member of parliament from Lashio, said.

Jim Della-Giacoma, of the International Crisis Group, talks about the latest violence in Myanmar

"We imposed the curfew at 9pm (14:30 GMT) on Tuesday to control the angry mob which included Buddhist monks," a police station spokesman, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

"A mosque and a religious school and some houses were destroyed by the mob, but there were no deaths or injuries".
Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Yangon, said the situation in Lashio had already been brought under control by police.
He said he had received reports that some officials in Lashio, including the fire department, "did very little" to stop the Buddhist mob from attacking Muslim establishments.
Myanmar's recent sectarian violence has been partly blamed on the 969 movement, launched in February by an extremist monk in Mandalay named Wirathu, who encourages Buddhists to shun Muslim-owned shops.
There are less than 2,000 Myanmar Muslims living in Lashio, sources said, of the city's estimated population of about 130,000.
Third outbreak
The incident in Shan state is the third outbreak of anti-Muslim violence to flare up in Myanmar this year.
On April 30, in Oakkan, about 100km north of Yangon, Buddhists went on a rampage after a Muslim woman allegedly bumped into a monk, breaking his begging bowl.

Curfew declared in town in Shan state following the attack.

One Muslim man was killed, and a mosque and 77 houses were set on fire.
In March at least 44 people were killed in sectarian strife in in Meiktila, 450km north of Yangon, where at least 8,000 people, most of them Muslims, were left homeless in riots prompted by an apparent row at a Muslim-owned gold shop.
Deadly unrest last year, mainly targeted at Rohingya Muslims in the western Rakhine state, left about 200 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.
Jim Della-Giacoma of the International Crisis Group says Myanmar needs to address the issue of sectarian violence before it gets worse.
"I think we are seeing a very weak law-enforcement and some poor nation-building," he told Al Jazeera from Jakarta, Indonesia.
"Anybody conducting violence should be punished.
"If you cannot keep these communities, be they Muslim, Christian, Hindu or Buddhist living together, then the future of the country is being challenged here".
Della-Giacoma said the violence could have the potential of spreading to Yangon if the sectarian issue was not resolved

Limiting Myanmar's Rohingya?

We ask if recent government measures are a violation of human rights, or a justifiable means to maintain security. Inside Story Last Modified: 27 May 2013 13:09 Email Print Share Feedback

The Rohingya Muslims of Myamnar have been described as some of the world's least wanted, and most persecuted, people. Now, a government-appointed commission has declared that their rapidly growing population represents a serious threat that makes ethnic Buddhists feel insecure. Hundreds of people have been killed, and many Muslim villages burned down, in communal violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state over the past year. Rights groups have accused the government of an organised campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya, and now, local officials have limited family size in the townships of Buthidaung and Maundaw to two children and banned polygamy. The restrictions will apply only to Rohingya Muslims, and not to any other ethnic group. They have been classified as stateless since 1982, and last July, the government did not include them on an official list of 135 recognised ethnic groups. This is actually to drive out the Rohingya people from Arakan, this is an ethnic cleansing policy against the Rohingya people … a kind of diversion that distracts the attention of Rohingya genocide from [the] international community. Tun Khin, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK That means they cannot claim Myanmar citizenship, they cannot travel without permission, they cannot own land, and now, some of them cannot have more than two children. Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to speak out strongly in defence of the Muslim community. But she was drawn in after seven Muslim men were convicted on Tuesday of killing a Buddhist monk during unrest in March. They were handed sentences of between two years to life in prison, and violence spread to 15 other towns and villages. No Buddhists have been charged. "There is no transparency in Myanmar's justice system and the administrative branch has too much influence. The judicial system has to be independent to be credible," Suu Kyi declared. "We must forge a new and more inclusive national identity. Myanmar people of all ethnic backgrounds and all faiths - Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and other - must feel part of this new national identity. We must end all forms of discrimination and we must ensure that not only that intercommunal violence is brought to a halt, but that all perpetrators are brought to justice."Myanmar has been raising its profile on the international stage. Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, arrived on Friday for the first visit by a Japanese leader for 36 years. And last week, Myanmar's president became the first leader to visit the White House in nearly half a century - making this commitment: And it drew this response from the US president: "I also shared with President Sein our deep concern about communal violence that has been directed at Muslim communities inside of Myanmar, the displacement of people, the violence directed towards them needs to stop and we are prepared to work in any ways that we can with both the government of Myanmar and the international community to assure that people are getting the help that they need, but more importantly, that their rights and their dignity is recognised over the long term." So, are these actions by Myanmar's government a violation of human rights, or a justifiable measure to maintain security? To discuss this, Inside Story, with presenter, Jane Dutton, is joined by guests: Tun Khin, a human rights activist and president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK; and Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at Human Rights Watch.

Nasaka officer threatens to seal all business to join the program of digital sign and photograph in Maungdaw south

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Burma border security force (Nasaka) commander of area number 7 threatened the Rohingya villagers to seal all their business if they didn’t join the program of digital signatures and photographs on May 24 meeting at high school of Alay Than Kyaw, said a village administration officer.

“The commander called all Rohingya villagers and village admin officers with members to Alay Than Kyaw high school, where he had given a speech “to join at their (authority) program of digital signatures and photographs which mention the race as Bengali, in the place of Rohingya.” The commander also threatened the villagers, he will seal all the business – fishing, farming and business- if not join the program.”
In the meeting, the Nasaka commander discussed many different issues with village leaders and administrators regarding the present situation of Arakan State, said an aide of Nasaka.
“If anyone doesn’t comply with the order, he/she will be punished according to the law and also will be imprisoned five years,” the commander added.
We don’t want to join the program as Arakan State government spokesperson U Win Myaing has insisted that recent household data collection for Muslim in Arakan, is related to next year’s census and preparation for the next coming census in 2014, where the UN Population Fund issued a statement on May 3 in which it said that “[h]ousehold data collection activities being undertaken in the camps, other sites in Sittwe, and other towns, Rakhine State, involving the update of family lists by teams composed of several government departments, are unrelated to the National Population and Housing Census scheduled for April 2014” and these activities are also not connected to the pilot census exercise that took place successfully from March 30 to April 10. Actual data collection for the 2014 National Population Census will take place from March 29 to April 10, 2014 in all parts of Myanmar. Every person present within the borders of Myanmar on the night of March 29, 2014 will be included in the census.” So, we did not want to participant the program for using us as Bengali in the name of Rohingya which authority trying to label us Bengali, said the villagers from Maungdaw south.
The commander also mention the recent Arakan State government imposed a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families, a policy that does not apply to Buddhists Rakhine in the area – Maungdaw and Buthidaung where Rohingyas are about 95 percent Muslim and comes amid accusations of ethnic cleansing in the aftermath of sectarian violence. But, this Law was issued sine long times when Nasaka started to control the marriage of Rohingya with these conditions and to extort money from Rohingya community. It is not a new one, but now it issued from state government, said a school teacher.
According to sources, Burma’s central government, Arakan State authorities and Arakanese politicians have long claimed that the Muslim population in the region is rapidly growing and pushing out local Buddhist communities.
Rohingyas villagers in northern Arakan State are now passing days and nights in panic for giving pressure to join the government program of digital sign and photograph by Nasaka, the politician said.
“They have no alternative way to go anywhere from Arakan soil, so they have to live at a big cage in Arakan State, Burma.

3-Rohingya detained in Maungdaw south

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Burma border security force (Nasaka) arrested three Rohingyas and detained in the custody of Nasaka area number 7, on May 22, a villager told the Kaladanpress from Aley Than Kyaw on condition of anonymity.

“The villagers were arrested from a house by a group of Nasaka personnel yesterday, at about 11:00 pm while they were watching a small television like game monitor. If anyone watches it, no need to take permission from concerned authorities.”
According to sources, a group of Nasaka personnel went to Khonza Bill village at night without knowledge of villagers and checked the houses which one they doubt.
They (Nasaka) went to Hafizullah’s house and told to open the door but he didn’t open the door for fear of arrest. Later, Nasaka personnel forcibly entered the house and arrested them during three persons were met on the spot. After arrest, they were severely beaten on the spot.
The arrested were identified as Hafizullah (30), son of Ismail, Younus (23), son of Md. Korim of Khonza Bill villager and Kamal (20), son of Islam, hailed from Udaung village under the Maungdaw Township. Younus is Hafizullah’s friend, but Kamal went to visit his relative house from Udaung, said a relative of a victim.
However, Kamal and Younus were released after taking 100,000 Kyat by Nasaka personnel later.
But, Hafizullah has been detained in Nasaka custody since yesterday night because he was unable to fulfill Nasaka’s demand which Nasaka demanded him to pay money 700,000 Kyat, the relative more said.

32 bodies recovered at coastline in Teknaf

Teknaf, Bangladesh: Bangladesh Coast guard personnel recovered 32 bodies from the coastline at Teknaf union, under the Cox‘s Bazar district yesterday afternoon and today, Additional police Commissioner of Cox’s Bazar, said.

The dead bodies recovered at coastline in Teknaf
A trawler had capsized with 100 Rohingyas in Burma, on May 14, at night, and that the 32 dead might be among the victims of the accident, said a local named Habib from Shapuri Dip of Bangladesh.
All the 32 victims are Burmese nationals, had set off for Malaysia from Teknaf on Wednesday.
Of them, 12 are children, 6 women and others are adult males. They also found Kyat 40,000 from their clothes, the Teknaf police said.
Among the dead bodies, there was a woman clasping her baby at her chest, said Kala from Teknaf who saw the dead bodies after recovering from the sea yesterday.
The local people spotted the bodies afloat along the coastline between Baharchara and Sabrang in the afternoon. They informed the local chairman and the police, who later recovered the bodies.
Police had recovered 24 bodies with the help of the local people from the Bay of Bengal. “Some of the bodies are decomposed,” the Teknaf police sub-inspector Didarul  Ferdous said.
More bodies were still floating near the coast. The recovered dead bodies have been buried today, a local said from Teknaf.
Some local source said, the agents for Malaysia sea voyage are organizing the Rohingya people from Maungdaw and Buthidaung- facing human rights violation in their own lands and thinking their lives are in danger – fled from their land to Malaysia by sea route. Recently, Akbas from Pranpru - a ferrymen, Mohamed Siddique from Kyauk Hlaikar (Dargadil) and Jafor Alam from Taungbro Letwe (Daybona) are transporting people from Pranpru to St. Martin outside where the big boat were waiting for Rohingya people. These victims were the same people -the Malaysia agents sent them to St.Martin for boat- and capsized near the mouth of Naf River.
“The agents had connection with Burma Border Security force ( Nasaka) to get out from Pranpru to St. Martin outside where big boat were waiting for people. The agents had given to Nasaka 30,000 kyat per head when they sent people to Malaysia.”
“The dead bodies were not from the boat which capsized off near Pauktaw as it is so far to reach the Bangladesh coast and Maungdaw inside Naf River.  The Pauktaw dead bodies will go to the Bay of Bengal or near the Akyab coast,” said a fishermen who has long experiment in the sea, from Teknaf. 
Besides, eight bodies were also recovered by local people nearby Aley Than Kyaw village of Maungdaw coastline yesterday morning and the dead bodies were buried by the local villagers, said a local villager from Maungdaw south.
A youth from Maungdaw said, “Why do the Rohingya people flee for Malaysia leaving their relatives in motherland with rickety boats under the terrible weather? It is necessary to consider for the international community.”
In Burma, a boat carrying about 100 Rohingyas capsized on May 13, at the start of a mass evacuation from low-lying region in Pauktaw Township to high land when Cyclone Mahasen started approaching the coast after cyclone warning organizations issued an alert of convection in the Bay forming into a low and then a cyclonic storm after May 10.