Kaladan News ////// March 16, 2009

Kaladan News

March 16, 2009

Torture kills one injures another

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Military Intelligence or Sarapa arrested and tortured two brothers on false charges of selling amphetamine (WY) tablets or Yaba tablets from their medicine store in Maungdaw on March 5. After being released one died and another is in a critical condition, according to a shopkeeper in Maungdaw.

The two brothers are; Ziabul Haque (22) and Abu Taher (40), son of Abu Bakar from Zedi Pyin of Shweza Village Track of Maungdaw township.

Sarapa of Maungdaw, called the two brothers when they were going home from the market, and charged them with selling drugs from their medicine store, according to an aide of the Sarapa.

However, the arrestees denied their involvement in drugs business. So, they were kept at the Detention Center of Sarapa, with inadequate supply of food and the Sarapa did not allow their relatives to see them or to supply food. They were kept in camp till March Zaibul and Taher were taken to the Sarapa office and kept in the camp till March 11 where they were tortured day and night.

The Sarapa searched their shop and home, but could not find any illegal medicine or amphetamine or Yaba tablets.

After interrogation, when Sarapa did not find proof that the two brothers were drug smugglers they asked for 3.5 million Kyats for their release, said a close relative.

On March 11, the family members gave the money demanded to the concerned Sarapa, The two brothers were released, but they were unable to walk following torture.

They were sent to Maungdaw General Hospital for treatment, but, the doctor in-charge told family members that the two were in a critical condition and needed a better hospital to save them, according to relative.

So, the family members tried to send them to Chittagong for treatment, but, the doctor did not issue any medical report to proceed for their journey to Chittagong and the border trade agency didn’t issue passports without the report.

On March 14, they left Maungdaw, following an understanding with the Nasaka outpost, but Zaibul died after arriving in Teknaf, Bangladesh in the evening. At night, they crossed the Naf River again and went to Maungdaw from Bangladesh said a relative who came with them.

The body was buried in Maungdaw Town, after Namaz-e-Zanaza at about 11:00 am at maungdaw Idgha midan (field). About 4,000 villagers participated in his Namaz-e-Zanaza.

A close relative of the victim said, “Taher loss his younger brother, money and also he (Taher) is paralyzed in critical condition.”

In northrnArakan only the Rohingya community is charged with fabricated cases when the authorities want to extort money from someone. Zaibul and his brother were victims of this system. Some become paralyzed, fall ill or die, said a school teacher.

One of the village elders on seeing the body said, “There were many marks on his body. He was severely tortured, while he was in the Sarapa’s custody. They were released when they were almost dying.”

People of the Rohingya community, are often killed by the Nasaka (Burma’s border security force), the Sarapa and the Police indiscriminately.

Rohingya youths are often arrested and allegedly tortured and killed. Regarding the matter, no action was taken against the concerned authority, said another village elder requesting not to be named##

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Kaladan News

March 16, 2009

Fisherman dies at Nasaka Headquarters

Maungdaw, Arakan State: A fisherman died at the Nasaka Headquarters of Kyigan Pyin in Maungdaw Township, after he was injured in firing by the Nasaka on March 6, and was brought to the Nasaka headquarters for medical treatment, according to a family member.

The victim has been identified as Idris (35), son of Amir Hussain, and hailed from Shwe Zaar village tract of Maungdaw Township, Arakan State.

On February 26, at about 5;00 am, Burma’s border security force, Nasaka, shot dead two Rohingya fishermen and injured two others, while they were waiting on the river bank of Khair Para riverside, to load logs into row boats. The logs belonged to the Nasaka, said one of the fishermen, who managed to escape.

On that day, Nasaka of area No. 6 called some fishermen from nearby villages of Doliya Para, Bakar Gona, Kayan Khali and Shwe Zarr to load some logs into row boats to sell it in Bangladesh.

Therefore, some fishermen from the said villages had gone to the river bank, for loading the logs into boats.

On seeing the fishermen, two Rakhine villagers from a nearby village, who were going there to catch crabs from the river, immediately went to the Nasaka Headquarters and told them that there were some robbers on the river bank from Bangladesh. Hearing this, a group of Nasaka personnel, from the Headquarters, left for the spot. But, before reaching the spot, from a distance, the Nasaka fired on the fishermen indiscriminately hoping that they were robbers, while the fishermen were talking to each other, a schoolteacher said.

Two of the fishermen, Shoffi Ullah (18), son of Sayed Hussain and Nurul Islam (34), and son of Monu, died on the spot. Both of them belonged to Shwe Zarr village of Maungdaw Township, and two other brothers were injured, while the rest managed to escape. The two wounded fishermen, namely Idris and his younger brother were brought to Nasaka Headquarters, for medical treatment.

However, the incident happened without the knowledge of the Nasaka personnel of Nasaka area No.6. After being informed about the matter, the Nasaka personnel of area No. 6 did not speak on behalf of the fishermen.

No one dared to inform the higher authorities regarding the matter, for fear of harassment by the Nasaka.

The two bodies were sent to Maungdaw police station for necessary action. Later, the bodies were sent to their relatives and buried in their local graveyards.

On March 3, Idris, the wounded fisherman, also died at the Nasaka Headquarters and the body was handed over to his relatives for burial. Before his death, his relatives were not allowed to see him. Idris’s younger brother is still at the Nasaka headquarters. If the Nasaka was sincere, the wounded people would be sent to Maungdaw General Hospital, where capable doctors and equipments were present, a close relative of the victim said.

The Nasaka killed the innocent Rohingya fishermen, without any hesitation and fear. What the reasons behind the action were is still unknown, a local villager said. ##

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Kaladan News

March 16, 2009

Forced labor heightens in Northern Arakan for border fencing project

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Compulsory labor is on the rise in Northern Arakan for the boundary fencing project with Bangladesh, since March 6, a businessman from Maungdaw South said on condition of anonymity.

The concerned authorities have been building up stocks of cement bags, iron rods, iron chains and other necessary materials for the fencing, by carrying them by boat from Sittwe(Akyab) to Maungdaw Township. Besides, some workers (Rakhine and Rohingya), including engineers and masons were also brought to Maungdaw from Sittwe (Akyab), the capital of Arakan State.

On March 5, the authority brought two bull-dozers to Maungdaw Town; one of them sank in the river near Nolbonia village, while crossing a river bridge. To pull out the bulldozer from the river, the authority forced nearby villagers to build a dam across the river to block the tide, so that the bulldozer could be prevented from turning rusty. Besides, all water pumps of the villages had been carried to the spot to pump out the water from the river. So, many villagers were forced to work on the river side, said another villager.

Some army personnel were also deployed in Maungdaw Township and they entered the villages and took away goats, fowls and vegetables from the villagers, without paying any money.

The villagers were asked to provide 15,000 bricks per village tract, from Maungdaw Township for fencing, a schoolteacher from the locality said.

Regarding the fencing, on March 14, an army officer from Military Operation Commands (MOC)-15 of Buthidaung Township visited Maungdaw Township and observed the fencing situation.

The authority has asked for laborers from villages through the VPDC members, to work for the project, to unload the cement bags and iron chains needed for the fencing, from the boats.

The concerned authority has ordered to provide laborers from nearby villages, to work daily for the project, where the authority would pay wages as per their work.

The project is being run by the Burmese border security force, or Nasaka and the local Arakanese people including Rohingya and Rakhine. They are going to build pillars with iron rods, cement and concrete.

The authority is going to fence from Anguemaw of Rathedaung Township to Amtahla of Maungdaw Township, through the bank of the Naff River on the Burmese side.

According to a village elder, forced labor will increase in future for fencing near the Burma-Bangladesh border. He also asked why the Burmese government was trying to fence the Burma-Bangladesh border, which required a lot of money, while it was facing a financial crisis. ##

KPN News Team
First News Agency dedicated for Rohingya Media

UN to Increase Focus on Burma's Muslim Migrants

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, March 13, 2009

RANGOON — The UN refugee agency said it will increase its focus on areas of Burma from which Muslim migrants have recently fled.

The announcement on Thursday came after High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres’ visit to the country, which began Saturday.

The group's plight gained widespread attention earlier this year following reports from the Indian Navy that hundreds were believed to have drowned after being sent out to sea in rickety boats by the Thai military.

Other Rohingyas were detained after landing in Thailand, and more came ashore in Indonesia, fanning regional concern they could become an economic burden.

Both Thailand and Indonesia refused to accept those who landed as refugees, and Burma's military government has agreed to accept them back only if they can prove their nationality. Rights groups have also urged against returning them to Burma, which they say persecutes minorities. The Rohingyas' status in Burma is particularly precarious because they do not hold full citizenship.

The UN said in a statement that Guterres traveled to Sittwe, capital of northwestern Arakan (Rakhine) State near the Bangladesh border, where most Rohingya are settled. It said he also visited Myeik, a southeastern port town on the Andaman Sea from which many refugees are believed to have departed.

"On the basis of his observations and the discussions held, the High Commissioner came to the conclusion that UNHCR's current level of activities in northern Rakhine State does not correspond to the actual needs and a decision was taken to upgrade the program with immediate effect," said the agency's statement, issued after Guterres' departure Thursday night.

It said the agency had agreed with the government "on the importance of a continued presence of UNHCR in northern Rakhine State and the South East."

Minister orders reduction in the percentage of Rohingya population

Kaladan News

March 8, 2009

Minister orders reduction in the percentage of Rohingya population

Maungdaw, Arakan State: The Deputy Home Minister Brig-General Phone Swe has ordered Nasaka Commanders to reduce the population of Rohingya community by 75 percent to 25 percent on the Burma-Bangladesh border areas when the minister visited Taugbro Sub-town of Maungdaw Township on February 22, said a close Nasaka aide on condition of anonymity.

When the minister visited Taungbro sub-town in Maungdaw Township of Arakan State he asked the Nasaka Commanders about the extent of the population of Buddhist and Muslims Rohingya in Nasaka areas in Maungdaw Township.

Regarding this, the Nasaka Commanders said that the existing population of the Rohingya community is 75 percent while 25 percent of the population accounts for the Buddhist community. On learning that, the deputy home minister was very angry and had asked the Nasaka commanders what they have been doing all this time. He asked the Nasaka commanders that the population ratio must be 25 per vent Muslim Rohingya and 75 percent Buddhist within a short period.

After being encouraged by the higher authorities, the Nasaka commanders of Maungdaw Township have begun to step up harassment against the Rohingya community.

At present, in Nasaka area No. 3, about 40-Rohingya have been detained in the camp by registering false and fabricated cases against them. They were alleged to have roofed the houses, fenced the compound with bamboos, renovated walls (made of mud) of the houses, possessing mobile phones and have relatives in foreign countries, etc. The commander of the Nasaka area No.3 is Major Than Thay, of the Rakhine community is famous for his notorious activities. The commander was transferred to that Nasaka area on January 6, said a student requesting not to be named.

However, some of the arrestees were released after paying kyat 300,000 to 500,000 to the Nasaka officer and those who were unable to pay the demanded money are still in custody at the Nasaka camp. The arrestees are from Nasaka area No. 3. There are some Rohingyas detained in other Nasaka areas.

According to a village elder from the locality, Nasaka extorted kyat 50 million only from Nasaka area No.3 in three months. This matter had been told to the concerned higher authorities, but it has taken no action against the culprits.

The Nasaka registers false allegations and makes arbitrary arrests against the Rohingya community for money. They (Nasaka) know that if the Nasaka or police or concerned authorities harass the Rohingya community. They want the Rohingya to flee their motherland.

Some of the Rohingya people who have good relations with the Nasaka and police had asked them about the persecution against the Rohingyas, the authorities said, “If the Rohingyas are persecuted in such a way, they will flee the country. We want this, said a trader from the locality.

A businessman said, “This way if the concerned authorities continue their harassment against the Rohingya community, the existence of Rohingya community in Arakan will be at stake.” ##

KPN News Team
First News Agency dedicated for Rohingya Media

My Quotations

"How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here."

------PinK FloyD

“The bird perished in the flames:
but from the red egg in the nest
there fluttered aloft a new one
the one solitary phoenix bird”

------Hans Christian Anderson

“Please use your liberty to promote ours.”

------Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Rohingya migrants; Wake up America

Street Rose 1(Street Beggar) In Chittagong city
Imran Hassan, Age 4 years
Mother’s name - Anu Foir
Buthidong......Born in Tal, live in Tal, Near refugee camp,Teknaf, Bangladesh.

Street Rose 2 (Street Beggar) In Chittagong city
Md. Ilias, Age 4 years
Mother’s name Anjuman Ara
Father’s name Abu Samad
Naitad Dil,Maungdaw, Arakan, Myanmar.


Picture : Faisal Alam

Old Rohingya woman, suffering on her leg last one year. Without family to care for her and an unrecognized status that makes her ineligible for humanitarian aid. ( Faisal Alam )

Rohingya migrants

The article "Traumatized Rohingya flee squalid life in Bangladesh" (Feb. 15) leaves out some important background necessary for understanding the plight of the Rohingya.

In the early 1990s, over 250,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar to Bangladesh as result of intensified persecution by the Myanmar authorities. Over the course of the years, most of these refugees have been repatriated back to Myanmar, voluntarily and with the agreement of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Those who refused to be repatriated, about 20,000, are in the UNHCR supervised camp, which the article calls the "official" refugee camp, where conditions are basic, but liveable.

Because such a large percentage of the original Rohingya refugees went back home, the Bangladeshi and Thai governments feel justified in denying refugee status to subsequent arrivals from Myanmar, calling them economic migrants. These are the people living in squalid, sub-human conditions in Bangladesh and being treated in an undisputedly brutal manner in Thailand.

While these governments' justification for denying refugee status is ultimately questionable, this unfortunately is not the first case like this. Nevertheless, even in the unlikely situation that the Rohingya are shown to be economic migrants, their treatment by the Bangladeshi and Thai governments violates standards set by international human rights accords.

While the article is correct in describing the Rohingya's desperate situation, it does exaggerate the negative response of the international community. Small numbers of Rohingya have been resettled through UNHCR in Canada, New Zealand and Britain, with the expectation that more will follow.

Bruce Leimsidor, Venice Professor of Immigration Law Ca' Foscari University Former consultant to UNHCR on resettlement

Wake up America

In my French language class in Geneva, there are students from Ukraine, Russia, Holland, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Brazil, Albania, Cambodia, Lithuania, and a couple of other countries. I am the only American. When we did an exercise in which we suggested stereotypes about each other's countries, we had difficulty with all the countries except the U.S. My classmates stereotypes about Americans were not kind.

It was equally disturbing to get home and read David Brooks's column, "I Dream of Amsterdam" (Views, Feb. 18). It's discouraging to imagine that Brooks really believes that an appropriate definition of today's America is "a culture slowly refining itself" because nearly as many Americans would prefer to live in a community that has a Starbucks as one that has a McDonald's.

Brooks concludes by suggesting that Americans "still have a clear vision of the good life" despite the evidence he provides that the "good life" entails a car-dependent, overly indulgent, materialistic society.

It's time to reverse the ugly American stereotype and replace it with something a little more positive.

Patrick Mattimore, Gex, France

Source:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/20/opinion/edlet.php

Older Rohingya, like this woman, are in a desperate situation. She has been sick for weeks, without family to care for her and an unrecognized status that makes her ineligible for humanitarian aid.

(Greg Constantine )

Traumatized Rohingya flee squalid life in Bangladesh

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh: It's there in their faces, in the dark night of their eyes and in the sag and slump of their shoulders. It's unmistakable, the despair of the Rohingya, the fear for departed husbands and fathers, the daily abrasions of poverty, sadness and the world's indifference.

More than a quarter-million Rohingya - an ethnic Muslim minority from western Myanmar - have come here to southern Bangladesh to escape the hunger, humiliation and official brutalities in their homeland. Many have landed in a place called the Kutupalong Makeshift Camp.

It is an obscenity, this camp, a festering hell of lost hope and inhuman squalor. No water, power, schools or medicine. Occasional stoop-labor jobs carrying bricks or making salt. Huts made of leaves and branches. There is no music.

"The worst conditions you could imagine anywhere on earth," says a well-traveled international aid worker. "Total despair," says another.

These are the luxuries in the camp: a packet of cookies, a crayon, a new battery for an old radio, a small breeze on a sweltering night.

Difficult enough are their journeys from Myanmar to the camp. Even more dangerous are the attempts by thousands of Rohingya men and boys to emigrate each year, starting with perilous sea voyages to Thailand. After that comes an overland trek to Malaysia, a country that has become a kind of Muslim El Dorado for the Rohingya. There might be friends or family connections there, and perhaps jobs that allow for money to be sent to families back in the camps.

These trips often begin in leaky boats that are underpowered and overloaded. Hundreds of Rohingya die at sea each year, and hundreds more are rescued, adrift at sea, by navies in the region. And thousands are detained each year by the Thai authorities. Human rights groups were outraged recently when it became known that the Thai military had roughly detained several dozen Rohingya men on a remote island, then packed them into a boat with few provisions and towed them back out to sea.

"Pushbacks" is what aid workers are calling this tactic.

How to measure or comprehend the terror - or perhaps it's the love - that propels a man to leave his family, quite possibly forever, and climb penniless into a boat to find uncertain work a thousand miles away in a place where he knows he'll be both unwelcome and liable to arrest? For that matter, what hellish existence could send a family fleeing to a refugee camp where conditions resemble, charitably, the 12th century?

The Rohingya number about 750,000 in Myanmar. But the military junta does not recognize them as one of the 135 "national races" in the mostly Buddhist nation. And so, in the face of forced labor, arbitrary arrest, stolen land and even starvation, they flee to the makeshift camp. (An adjoining settlement of 20,000 residents has water, electricity and other basic services. Run by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, it is known as the official Kutupalong camp. Some Rohingya have lived there for more than a decade.)

Every day more Rohingya arrive at the Bangladeshi camps, stateless, sun-blasted refugees carrying their meager bundles. The newcomers, largely from Rakhine State in Myanmar, are often so traumatized that they're unable to tell aid workers what they have fled.

Another one million Rohingya are scattered about the world - there has been a major diaspora from South Asia in recent decades - and they have flung themselves from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan to Thailand to Indonesia. The men lay asphalt and pour cement in Riyadh. They haul fishing nets in the Andaman Sea. They pull rickshaws in Jakarta. The children, with their small hands, peel shrimp and weave carpets in Karachi.

But no country claims the Rohingya. No country welcomes them. For many, Islam is the only sanctuary left. "They still have faith," says an aid worker, "that Allah will protect them."

This article was reported by a reporter for the International Herald Tribune in Cox's Bazar and by Mark McDonald in Hong Kong. It was written by McDonald.

Source :

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/15/asia/rohingya.php

Two women arrested on false charges by Buthidaung police

Kaladan News

March 4, 2009

Two women arrested on false charges by Buthidaung police

Buthidaung, Arakan State: Two women were arrested from a village home by the police of Buthidaung Town on February 15, on false allegations of extortion of money, a close relative of one of the victims said.

The women have been identified as wife of Abdul Malek (45), son of Abdul Rajak, who hail from Wara Kyun (Wari Aung) village of Buthidaung Township, and Lal Moti (35), wife of Fakir Ahmed, who hail from the same village.

On that night, a group of policemen led by police officer U Tin Oo, went to Wara Kyun (Wari Aung) village by a motor boat and arrested the two women in the absence of their husbands. Sensing the presence of the police, Abdul Malek fled from the house. After that they were brought to Buthidaung police station and detained in police custody.

Abdul Malek was accused of borrowing Kyat 100,000 from police officer U Tin Oo. So, the police went to his house to arrest him to get the money. But, he did not borrow any money from the police officer. It was a fabricated case against him. In the absence of Abdul Malek, his wife was arrested, some local villagers said.

Lal Moti was arrested in the absence of her husband Fokir Ahmed. He has no case against him, but he was not present while the police raided his house, a relative of Lal Moti said.

On February 16, however, the two arrestees were released after 24 hours detention in police custody. Abdul Malek’s wife had to pay Kyat 300,000 and Lal Moti had to pay Kyat 60,000 for their release. The Rohingya community is afraid of women staying in government custody for too long for fear of assault by the authority.

Earlier, the police or Nasaka did not arrest women, but since the last two years, the concerned authorities arrest women in the absence of their husbands, said a local trader requesting not to be named. ##

KPN News Team
First News Agency dedicated for Rohingya Media

Press Release: Burmese military regime lied at the ASEAN Summit‏

ARAKAN ROHINGYA NATIONAL ORGANISATION

ARAKAN, BURMA
Press Release

(1st March 2009)

Burmese military regime lied at the ASEAN Summit

We condemn the SPDC and its Foreign Minister Nyan Win for calling the Rohingya boatpeople ‘Bengalis’ at the ASEAN Summit in Thailand. This is a crafty tactic to hoodwink the ASEAN leaders and the international community to continue denying the ethic rights of the Rohingya.

ASEAN should be firm in its commitment to practice and promote human rights within the region. ASEAN leaders should take every care not to encourage SPDC’s wily trick directly or indirectly lest it will simply accelerate Rohingya extermination and grave human rights violations across the country.

In rebutting the reckless remark of SPDC’s Foreign Minister, we emphatically state that all the boatpeople from Arakan are Rohingyas by all standards. The Rohingya are proud to have resemblance with Bengalis. Since early settlers of Arakan were Indo-Aryan or a people similar to that of Bengal, Rohingya do not disclaim their genealogical link with Bengali. However, Rohingya people have grown with distinct ethnic characteristics in Arakan, from peoples of different ethnical background, over the past several centuries of socio-cultural interactions with geo-political situations, trade and economic relations.

The Rohingya people have long history and their settlement in Arakan has predated the arrivals and settlements of many other peoples and races now inhabiting Arakan and Burma. Francis Buchanan had given a description of Rohingya language spoken in Arakan and said he met Rohingya in 1795 at Ava, the capital of the Burmese kingdom.

Can SPDC show a pure blooded racial group in the whole of Burma? The answer is undoubtedly “No”. That is why the first President of the Union of Burma Sao Shwe Theik categorically stated, “Muslims of Arakan certainly belong to one of the indigenous races of Burma. In fact, there is no pure indigenous race in Burma, if they do not belong to indigenous races of Burma, we also cannot be taken as indigenous races of Burma”.

Based on Arakan reality, the Rohingya were recognised as one of the many ethnic nationalities of the Union of Burma by the then parliamentary government (1948-62).Therefore, their boatpeople cannot be branded Bengalis or non-Rohingyas or non-nationals. The SPDC is an illegitimate military regime and its statement is illegal itself. But the Rohingya remains as Rohingya until dooms day.

At this critical juncture, we urge upon the ASEAN to exercise its good offices for an efficacious solution of the long standing Rohingya problem while allowing the Rohingya leaders to discuss with the ASEAN leaders.

For more information,

please contact:

Nurul Islam,

AFK Jilani,

http://www.rohingya.org/

Nasaka kills 2 Rohingya villagers, wounds 3 others in Maungdaw

Kaladan News

March 2, 2009

Nasaka kills 2 Rohingya villagers, wounds 3 others in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Burma’s border security force (Nasaka) shot dead two Rohingya villagers and injured three others, while they were going to the Khair Para riverside, to load logs into row boats on February 26, at about 5:00 pm. The logs allegedly belonged to the Nasaka, a relative of the victims said, on condition of anonymity.

Earlier, the Nasaka of area No.6 collected some logs of teak and had already been selling it to some teak smugglers at huge profits. This was known to the higher authority, so to avoid trouble, Nasaka called some villagers from Doliya Para, Bakar Gona (Holar Baga), Kayan Khali and Shwe Zarr to load some logs into row boats to sell it in Bangladesh.

As a result, some of the villagers, mostly fishermen from these villages were going to the river bank to load the logs into boats. However, the Nasaka were already in ambush position and fired on the villagers indiscriminately, while the villagers were approaching the place saying that they were robbers, who had come to steal the logs.

Two of the villagers died on the spot, and three others were injured and the rest, however, managed to escape. The three injured villagers have been taken for medical treatment to Maungdaw General Hospital.

The Nasaka shot the villagers at Khair Para Ghat (riverside) of Khair Para village of Maungdaw Township. The Nasaka personnel belonged to notorious Nasaka Commander Major Kyi Hlaing’s Nasaka area No.6.

If the Nasaka could show the higher authorities that they had seized a number of logs, along with some robbers, they would surely get promotion. But, the Rohingya community has been suffering from indiscriminate persecution continuously, a schoolteacher from the locality said.

None of the villagers dared to inform the higher authorities of the matter for fear of reprisal by the Nasaka.

The bodies were sent to Maungdaw police station for necessary action. Later, the bodies were sent to their relatives and buried in the local graveyard. ##


KPN News Team
First News Agency dedicated for Rohingya Media

Report for Commission on International Religious Freedom

Report for Commission on International Religious Freedom

Testimony by Chris Lewa

Coordinator,

The Arakan Project

To the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom December 3, 2007

Mr. Chair, Honorable Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank you for inviting me before this commission. Having worked with ethnic people from Burma and, more specifically with the Rohingya minority for the last 7 years, I am honored to offer a testimony today.

Arakan State of Burma is by far the most tense and explosive region of the country. The refugee outflows to Bangladesh in 1978 and again in 1991/92, each of about 250,000 Rohingya, did not result from counter-insurgency strategies as it is the case along the Thai-Burma border, but is the direct outcome of policies of discrimination, oppression and exclusion against the Rohingya population.

The Rohingya Muslims are a minority group estimated at about 800,000 in the northern part of Arakan State adjacent to Bangladesh. They are ethnically and religiously related to the Chittagonians of southern Bangladesh. They have been rendered stateless, officially on the basis of their ethnicity. The 1982 Citizenship Law deprived them of legal status because they do not feature among the 135 national races, which had settled in Burma prior to 1823, the start of the British colonisation of Arakan. There is no doubt that their religious identity plays a preponderant factor in the discrimination they are subject to. In 1998, in response to UNHCR, the then Secretary-1 wrote, "these people are not originally from Myanmar" [...] "they are racially, ethnically, culturally different from the other national races in our country. Their language as well as religion is also different”.

Communal tensions are prevalent between Muslim and Buddhist communities in Arakan and such violence has been exacerbated by the divide-and-rule tactics of the military regime, denying all rights to the Muslim population while posing as protectors of the Buddhist community.

However, during the recent protests in Sittwe. Muslims did join the monks’ processions.

As non-citizens, the Rohingya do not have freedom of movement. They need permission to go from one village to another and they are prohibited from traveling beyond the 3 townships of North Arakan. These restrictions seriously limit their access to employment, markets as well as health care and education facilities. Chronic malnutrition peaks at 60% and illiteracy rate at 80%. They are also barred from the civil service. They need to obtain permission to marry and their lands are confiscated to establish model villages for resettling of poor Buddhist families from other parts of Burma. The Rohingya are compelled to live in a state of poverty and deliberate underdevelopment, facing oppression and discrimination and without any legal status. Therefore they have only their Muslim faith to turn to for spiritual support and violations of their religious freedoms have been particularly resented.

More specifically, their rights to practice their religion have been abused in the following ways:

1. Forcible closure of mosques and madrasahs

In July and August 2006, the Burmese authorities ordered the closure of a large number of mosques and madrasahs throughout North Arakan. The reasons stated were either that these mosques had been built or renovated without official permission or that the mosque committee could not provide evidence of the origin of their funds. In North Buthidaung, 8 mosques were issued notice to close down in mid-2006 and, at the end of 2006, another 17 mosques, madrasahs and maktabs were ordered to be destroyed. The first 8 mosques were demolished by local Muslim villagers on the order of the NaSaKa (border security forces) and when the villagers refused to do so for fear of God, the NaSaKa destroyed them themselves. One of these 8 mosques was later reconstructed with original building materials after the mosque committee had launched a petition campaign and paid a large bribe to the authorities. The 17 other religious establishments were finally saved from destruction, expect for a big mosque in Goat Pi. To date, two of them, one in Krin Tha Mar and one in Ba Da Gar still remained closed. The NaSaKa locked them and arrested two members of the mosque committee in each village.

In Rathedaung Township and South Maungdaw, the authorities also locked several mosques and madrasahs, at least three in February and March 2007 (in Du Chee Yar Tan, Thinn Baw Kway and Gaw Dhu Thar Ya). Although these were small mosques used for Namaj (the 5 daily prayers) and their closure did not affect the Friday congregation for Jumma prayer, children had to stop their Koranic education.

Some mosques and madrassahs previously ordered for closure or destruction have now been re-opened but only after large bribes were paid to the authorities.

2. Prohibition to erect new mosques and to repair existing ones

The Rohingya are not allowed to build new mosques or madrasahs nor to extend or repair existing religious buildings. As a result, many mosques are left in a state of dilapidation.

In Buthidaung, no mosque received permission for repair work this year, not even to replace a damaged beam. In Maungdaw, some mosques received verbal permission for maintenance against the payment of a high bribe but, as soon as the officer who gave this verbal permission was transferred, rehabilitation had to be stopped.

Since February 2007, the NaSaKa as well as Immigration and the Religious Affairs Department have started a survey of all mosques and madrasahs in villages of North Arakan. The mosque committee had to pay 50,000 Kyat each (US$50) to cover the costs of the survey. The surveyors listed the size of each building, construction materials used, the number of ablution pools, etc. and took photographs of the religious buildings. Then they hung a board at each mosque with all these details so that any subsequent verification could immediately identify any modification and renovation to the building.

During the survey exercise, the NaSaKa extorted large sums of money. [For example, the mosque committee of Du Chee Yar Tan had to pay 5 million Kyat (US$5,000) in March for repairing a wall, the committee of one of the madrassahs in Maung Hna Ma also paid 5 million Kyat for replacing several wooden posts eaten by vermin.]

3. Detention for repairing religious buildings without permission

According to our latest findings, in Buthidaung North, at least 10 people, including 2 religious clerics, and in Maungdaw South 4 people are currently jailed for renovating a mosque or a madrasah without official permission. They have been charged under the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act, Section 5 (j), for “affecting the morality or conduct of the public or a group of people in a way that would undermine the security of the Union or the restoration of law and order” and sentenced for 1 to 2 years. [Most political prisoners in Burma are charged under the same law which has also been used against Rohingya people who have overstayed their travel permit.]

4. Disturbance during religious celebrations

Although demonstrations and protests did not spread to North Arakan, the Burmese authorities recently implemented new restrictive measures against any religious congregation, including Muslims who now face difficulties to assemble for the Jumma prayer on Fridays. During Qurbani Eid celebrations, Rohingya must obtain permission to slaughter sacrificial cows and to delete the animal from their cattle list, which they have to pay for either in cash or in meat. Moreover, Muslims are compelled to hand over the skin of the sacrificial cow to the NaSaKa when religious traditions principles dictate it should only be donated to orphans and the very poor.

5. Forced labour

As opposed to the rest of Burma, in Northern Arakan State, non-Muslims are usually exempt from this duty. Muslims are forced to build pagodas and Buddhist monasteries, in particular for the construction of 'model villages'.

6. Marriage permission

Rohingya couples need to obtain a permission to marry and, if they marry unofficially (a religious wedding is not considered as an official marriage), they are at risk of being arrested and jailed. These measures are only imposed on Rohingya Muslims and only in North Arakan. Muslim men, with the exception of religious leaders, must shave their beard to be allowed to marry and couples need to sign a declaration they won't have more than 2 children. These are two new regulations imposed since October 2005.

Recommendations

• The resentment spread by these policies combined with sheer poverty are conducive to radicalisation. They have also lead to the continuous movements of Rohingya out of Burma to Bangladesh as well as through Bangladesh by boat to Thailand and Malaysia, thus becoming a regional problem. Therefore, U.S. policy makers should consider the unique situation of the Rohingya in formulating U.S. policy to promote human rights.
• International humanitarian agencies are providing essential assistance and emergency relief in North Arakan. Direct aid delivery is necessary to alleviate the impact of such policies but agencies such as the World Food Program do not have enough funding to feed up to 50% of the extremely vulnerable families. The U.S. government should provide more financial support for humanitarian action inside Burma, particularly for the UNHCR and the WFP.
• The U.S. has generously resettled a large number of Burmese refugees from Thailand and Malaysia. Unfortunately, the Rohingya have been excluded from the U.S. resettlement programs so far. Resettling Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh and Malaysia should be considered as a durable humanitarian solution promoted by the U.S.
  

• http://www.uscirf.gov/events/ hearings/ 2007/december/ 120307_saffron6_ lewa.html

60 years of genocide against the Muslims in Burma

by Ali Ahmad
Muslimedia - March 16-31, 1997

Although human rights activists groups have spoken out against the injustices by Burma's military regime , SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council), little awareness of the brutalities against Burmese Muslims have concerned the Muslim world. Since the pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988, and likewise the western interest for a new democratic state in Asia, Burma has finally captured the attention of the media. Even then, however, the media's bias only reports the democratic progress by Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, and falls way short of covering the killings, rapes, and torturing of Burma's peaceful inhabitants. To a lesser extent, if not non-existent, the atrocities against Burmese Muslims are rarely mentioned.

Until shortly after Britain colonized Burma in 1886, Muslims and Buddhists had lived peacefully. Britain's creation of hostility for the Muslims led Buddhists to the anti-Muslim riots in 1938 which resulted in the massacre of nearly 30,000 Muslims and the burning of 113 mosques. Further north in the state of Arakan (Rakhine), Muslims were forced out of Burma to Bengal after the slaughter of 100,000 Muslims. After independence in 1948 and under U Nu's Ministry, built up hostility towards Muslims created operations like Naga Min and BTF (Burma Territorial Force) resulting in deaths totaling over 80,000 Muslims.

In 1961, U Nu declared Buddhism as the state religion forcing Buddhist teaching and culture on many of the Muslims. By a military coup, General Ne Win seized hold of Burma in 1962 and declared her as a socialist country, thus lifting the declaration of Buddhism as the state religion. In 1982, Ne Win redefined citizenship so that the Rohingya, Muslims who had inhabited northern Burma as early as 788, were considered illegal aliens. This made northern Arakan grounds for ruthless killing sprees and as a result many of the Rohingya were forced to flee to Bangladesh. In 1988, the anti-government and pro-democracy movements forced Ne Win to step down, and after a few leadership changes, the power went back into the hands of the military under General Saw Maung. In 1990, Burma had its first free multi-party election in 30 years which resulted in the democracy movement leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to victor. Refusing to relinquish their power, the military regime, SLORC, placed Suu Kyi under house arrest.

The current military regime has tried to portray itself as the unifying factor of Burma by giving themselves the title SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council). However, what was once the richest nation in southeast Asia, since 1988 Burma has been declared by the UN as one of the world's least developed countries. Likewise, while SLORC claims of its "restoration" of Burma, SLORC spends 40 percent of the national budget on the military aimed to combat its own people. Its claim to "law and order" forces nearly a million people to slave labour, 40,000 women and girls to prostitution, 300,000 people to flee to neighboring countries, and 1.5 million to be displaced from their homes within Burma.

SLORC has shown no tolerance of Muslims either. In 1992, SLORC went on an a rampage to force, or kill, the Rohingya Muslims out of Burma. Youth were herded into warehouses where reports of 700 Muslim youth suffocated. During prayer, SLORC troops shot down a mosque martyring 200 Muslims. The amount of Muslim women and girls raped during 1992 were higher than any other minority group in Burma. Mosques were destroyed, looted, and burned. Over 225,000 Rohingyas that year fled to Bangladesh.

The US has had hypocritical action against SLORC. The same day the US State Department condemned SLORC's killing and torture of political activists and ethnic minorities, UNOCAL paid a $7 million bonus in a contract with SLORC to expand their operations in Burma. American business support of SLORC, such as UNOCAL's, could have easily been hindered had the US imposed stricter sanctions on SLORC. However, it would seem obvious that the US's interest lies elsewhere, especially after Senator Feinstein, who after consulting with Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Defense Secretary Cohen, concluded that economic sanctions should only be imposed in cases such as apartheid in South Africa because "the only ones that are hurt are the people who need help." Yet, she warned SLORC's generals that harming Suu Kyi would result in these actions.

Many of the minority ethnic groups in Burma have signed cease-fire agreements with SLORC. The Rohingya Solidarity Alliance, the strongest unified Muslim military front in Burma, has continued their struggle and has been fighting for the independence of Arakan from SLORC's oppressive hand without signing such treaties. The Muslim struggles in Burma have produced martyrs that have fed the hearts of other Muslims with courage.