Dalai Lama decries Buddhist attacks on Muslims in Myanmar

(Reuters) - Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday decried Buddhist monks' attacks on Muslims in Myanmar, saying killing in the name of religion was "unthinkable."

The Dalai Lama, a foremost Buddhist leader, told an audience at the University of Maryland at the start of a U.S. tour that the root of seemingly sectarian conflict was political, not spiritual.

"Really, killing people in the name of religion is unthinkable, very sad. Nowadays even Buddhists are involved in Burma," another name forMyanmar, with monks attacking Muslim mosques, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said after delivering the Anwar Sadat Lecture for Peace at the university.

"I think it is very sad," he said, adding, "I pray for them (the monks) to think of the face of Buddha," who had been a protector of Muslims.

A wave of sectarian violence erupted in March in the central Myanmar town of Meikhtila, causing 44 deaths and displacing an estimated 13,000 people, mostly Muslims.

A Reuters investigation found that radical Buddhist monks had been actively involved in the violence and in spreading anti-Muslim material around the country.

Sectarian clashes between Buddhists and Muslims, who make up about 5 percent of Myanmar's population, have erupted on several occasions since a quasi-civilian government took power in March 2011 after five decades of military dictatorship.

The 77-year-old Dalai Lama, whose name is Tenzin Gyatso, also urged his largely student audience of 15,000 to create a new world in the 21st century, saying that he was a man of the last century.

"That group of individuals of the 20th century are ready to say bye-bye," Tibet's most revered spiritual leader said. "You have the responsibility to create a new world based on the concept of one humanity."

China brands the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule of Tibet, as a separatist. The Dalai Lama says he is merely seeking more autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

The address in College Park, Maryland, was the start of a U.S. visit that includes stops in Oregon, Wisconsin, Kentucky and New Orleans, Louisiana.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Scott Malone and Kenneth Barry)

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#Yunus pitches for #Rohingyas

Bangladesh's Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, supported by former Timor-Leste president Ramos-Horta, has pitched in strongly for the persecuted Rohingyas of Myanmar.

"There is evidence that the Rohingya have been in present-day Myanmar since the 8th century,” the two wrote in Huffington Post. “It is incontrovertible that Muslim communities have existed in [Rakhine] State since the 15th century, added to by descendants of Bengalis migrating to Arakan [Rakhine] during colonial times.”

“The minority Muslim Rohingya continue to suffer unspeakable persecution, with more than 1,000 killed and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes just in recent months, apparently with the complicity and protection of security forces,” the two Nobel laureates wrote.

Ramos-Horta and Yunus also criticised Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Law which denied Rohingyas citizenship of Myanmar and forced on them severe restrictions of travel, marriage and reproduction by the State. Yunus and Ramos-Horta urged the Myanmar government to protect the Rohingyas and welcome them as full citizens of the country.

The outspoken support for the Muslim Rohingya minority group stands in contrast to the surprising silence maintained on the issue by Myanmar's own Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

It also goes against a recent comment made by Deputy Immigration and Population Minister Kyaw Kyaw Win on the Rohingyas.

Recently speaking at the House of Representatives in Naypyitaw, Win said that “there is no so-called Rohingya ethnic race in Myanmar.”

Myanmar president Thein Sein, a former army general, has said that the Rohingyas are not of Myanmar but are "illegal Bengali migrants". He pitched for deporting them to third countries.

Why Won't #Obama Speak Out for the #Rohingya?

Published on Monday, November 19, 2012 by Common Dreams
Why Won't Obama Speak Out for the Rohingya?
by Tom Andrews
U.S. President Barack Obama, left, meets with Myanmar's President Thein Sein at the Yangon Parliament building in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
Why is President Obama meeting with leaders in Burma who are systematically fomenting hatred and violence that has already claimed innocent lives, destroyed entire villages and displaced tens of thousands?

U.S. President Barack Obama, left, meets with Myanmar's President Thein Sein at the Yangon Parliament building in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
President Obama traveled to Burma to recognize progress that one of the most brutal regimes on the planet has made toward democracy. Now that modest improvements have been made or pledged by the regime, and Aung San Suu Kyi is free, the U.S. government has decided to lift the economic and diplomatic pressure that made reform in Burma possible.
That is bad news if you are part of an ethnic minority in Burma. And it is life threatening if you are a member of the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Systematic hate speech and entreaties for the local population to isolate and attack the Rohingya Muslim minority is pervasive in western Burma. The Burmese military stand aside or actively participate in attacks against innocent men, women and children. More than one hundred people have already lost their lives, tens of thousands have lost their homes, and over one hundred thousand have been displaced.
What is the U.S. government doing about it? Sunday, President Obama became the first President to visit Burma. He is there to recognize and congratulate the military dominated government for making modest reforms toward democracy. As hundreds of thousands of Rohingya continue to live in fear, President Obama is congratulating a government that wants to ethnically cleanse every one of them from Burma.
Burma's President, Thein Sein-who Obama will be sitting down to dine with-has been actively fomenting hatred against the Rohingya community. He has gone so far to ask the United Nations to help him ethnically cleanse Burma by forcing 800,000 Rohingya people out of their home villages and into refugee camps or out of the country altogether!
I saw what violence and persecution looks like first hand in Burma when I snuck into Kachin State last May. I saw entire villages abandoned, its population driven into makeshift camps filled with desperate people without adequate food, shelter of medical care. I spoke with families whose loved ones had been tortured, raped, incarcerated or killed by Burmese troops. Without international pressure on the regime, I know what the Rohingya are experiencing will only continue to get worse.
An entire people are under attack not because of what they have done but because of who they are. Instead of traveling to Burma, President Obama should be leading the call for a United Nations observer mission to investigate the violence in Rakhine State, deter the escalation of the violence and hold the perpetrators accountable. The leading role that the Obama administration played in scaling back sanctions on Burma obligates the U.S. government to act urgently to hold the Burmese government to its responsibilities to protect its ethnic populations.
We've seen these warning signs before. The hateful rhetoric of Rakhine monks is reminiscent of the hateful propaganda directed at the Tutsi population and their sympathizers leading up to, and during the Rwandan genocide. While renewing calls for their expulsion from Burma, several Rakhine monks have urged the local population to sever all relations with the Rohingya, including trade and the provision of humanitarian aid and have called on Rakhines to expose Rohingya sympathizers as national traitors, potentially exposing them to violent attacks.
There is no word to describe the response from the United States and the international community other than inadequate. The conditions that led to two major outbreaks of mass killings in the last few months are worsening daily. Greater loss of life and displacement are a certainty without a change of course.
In a day and age in which technology affords us the ability to connect with people across the world, we can no longer claim ignorance to the fact that the Rohingya people are being slaughtered, displaced, and terrorized. When we look back on the books of history, will this be another example of when we failed to show up or showed up too late?

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Tom Andrews, a former Member of Congress from the first Congressional District of Maine, is President and Chief Executive Officer of United to End Genocide. Tom most recently served as National Director of Win Without War, a coalition of forty-two national membership organizations including the National Council of Churches, the NAACP, the National Organization of Women, the Sierra Club, and MoveOn.  He is also co-founder of New Security Action.

#ASEAN chief: #Rohingya issue could destabilize the region

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan urges the international community to take a more effective stance and faster pace in helping settle Myanmar’s Rohingya problem, since the conflict poses strategic and security challenges that could destabilize Southeast Asia.

“They are now under tremendous pressure, pain and suffering. If the international community, including ASEAN, are not able to relieve that pressure and pain, conceivably, [the 1.5 million of Rohingyas could become radicalized and the entire region could be destabilized, including the Malacca Straits,” Surin said in Jakarta on Monday.

If they became radicalized, he said, the area risked becoming a zone of violence that could damage cooperation in ASEAN and East Asia. “I think it has wider strategic and security implications.” 

He also saw potential dangers for the major sea-lane of the Malacca Straits. The area serves as the main shipping channel between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, linking major Asian economies such as India, China, Japan and South Korea.

Myanmar’s government said on Monday it had boosted security in the western state hit by ethnic unrest as the number of displaced rose to 28,000, most of whom were Muslims.

The latest violence between ethnic Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists, which began Oct. 21, killed at least 84 people and injured 129 more, according to Myanmar’s government. Human rights groups believe the true toll could be far higher.

When asked about concrete ways ASEAN could prevent a worsening of the situation, Surin urged ASEAN to engage in humanitarian efforts, as had been done when Myanmar was hit by cyclone Nargis in 2008. “I think ASEAN is in the position to repeat what we had done in cyclone Nargis, that was humanitarian engagement — relieve them from the suffering.”

He also noted that help and support to relieve people from poverty, dislocation, displacement, should be extended to all sides, the Rohingya and the Rakhine people. “Let’s see what we can do to relieve them from poverty, shortages of food, shelter and sanitation.”

Matters regarding security, political, human rights and democracy issues, Surin said, would be the work of the government in Myanmar and the relevant international agencies. 

Surin also underlined that the Rohingya problem was not a religious conflict between Muslim and Buddhist. “It is strategic and security issue. We have to be extremely careful.” 

Rakhine state spokesman Myo Thant said that security had been stepped up in the state, with additional police and soldiers deployed, but he declined to give details.

The UN Development Program’s resident representative director in Myanmar, Ashok Nigam, said the figure of 28,000 displaced people was likely to rise because some who had fled along the coast by boat had yet to be counted.

An estimated 27,300 of those displaced were Muslims, Nigam said, adding that the UN figure was based on statistics from local authorities.

Human Rights Watch has said that the Rohingyas have suffered the brunt of the latest violence.

Tensions have simmered in the region since clashes first broke out in June, displacing 75,000 people — also mostly Muslims.

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#Myanmar fighting kills 84, displaces at least 22,500

By the CNN Wire Staff

People have been displaced across Rahkine state in western Myanmar.

Some fled from the violence by boat

Hong Kong (CNN) -- The death toll from fighting between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar last week has risen to 84 and at least 22,500 people have been displaced by the sectarian violence, state media and the United Nations say.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said on Monday that 129 people were also injured during the violence, which erupted on October 21 and has cast a pall over recent reforms in the Asian nation.

However, the paper added that no new clashes had been reported since Sunday and the areas affected had returned to "normalcy."

Following a visit to five townships where the fighting took place, Ashok Nigam, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Myanmar, on Sunday said his team had seen "large-scale" destruction of houses and the displaced were in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

The swath of arson, the group said, stretched over 35 acres and included houseboats and floating barges. It added that local police shot at Muslims trying to put out the fires.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said the government in Myanmar has done little to address the root causes of the violence and the discriminatory treatment that many Rohingya face.

"Extremists in both communities have been empowered by a lack of accountability where people involved in sectarian violence haven't been bought to justice so it's a very, very bad situation and one that is getting worse," he told CNN.

The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority who say they have been persecuted by the Myanmar military during its decades of authoritarian rule. Myanmar doesn't recognize them as citizens.

Unrest between the Rohingya and majority Buddhists has tested President Thein Sein's administration, which is trying to seek reconciliation with Myanmar's different ethnic groups and move the country toward more democratic governance.

The government has sent extra security into the troubled region and declared a state of emergency. The president's office warned Thursday that "manipulators" behind the violence can expect to be found and prosecuted.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, speaking in Parliament on Friday, called for a greater security presence and urged authorities to investigate suspected human rights offenses.

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#Hague calls for end to 'terrible violence in #Burma'

Foreign Secretary William Hague calls for peace in Burma's Rakhine state, after the destruction of settlements occupied by Muslim Rohingyas following fierce fighting with Buddhists.

In a statement, Mr Hague said: "Our ambassador is in constant contact with the Burmese government.
"He spoke to the president’s office earlier today to express our grave concerns about recent developments and our readiness to assist at both a humanitarian and diplomatic level in the search for a sustainable solution to this long running issue."
It follows claims of intense fighting in the past week and satellite images from Human Rights Watch that show the widespread destruction of a predominantly Rohingya Muslim part of Kyaukpyu, one of several areas in Rakhine state.
This is where battles between Rohingyas and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists threaten to derail the country's fragile democratic transition.
Members of the Muslim Rohingya community say that more than 100 Rohingya were killed on Tuesday and 440 houses burnt by ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in a village called Yaing Thay, in the northern part of the state.
Local Rohingya have accused the police of participating in the violence and shooting members of their community. Speaking to Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel 4 News, Tun Khin from the Burmese Rohingya Oraganisation in the UK said the kiling amounts to "ethnic cleansing".

Read more from Channel 4 News' Asia Correspondent John Sparks who has been reporting on the Burma crisis since June

The allegations continue - community leaders claim 350 homes, two mosques and a madrassa were burnt in the village of Thayet Oat on 22 October and they say 200 Rohingya houses were burnt in a place called Aung Dine later that same day.
Although the claims have not been independently verified, if true the events would be the worst outbreak of violence since June when fighting left some 75,000 Rohingya and 5,000 Buddhists homeless.

Mr Hague said:
"The UK calls again on all parties to cease the violence and for the Burmese authorities to take all necessary measures to guarantee security in the region. We also call for supplies of humanitarian support to be able to reach all those who need it without delay.
"The UK is at the forefront of the international community's efforts to address the current crisis and to reach a sustainable settlement which respects the legitimate rights of all those who live in Rakhine.
"I have raised this issue with the Burmese foreign minister and continue to do so; we most recently discussed it when we met last month.
"I hope that we will soon see an end to this terrible violence and that peace will return to Rakhine state."

'If we stayed, we would have been killed' #Rohingy #Brrma

Refugees accuse Burmese government of ignoring ethnic cleansing: 'If we stayed, we would have been killed'


Refugees accuse Burma's civilian government of standing by as dozens die in communal violence

When the fire truck arrived at his burning village in Burma's western Rakhine state late last Monday, local teacher Khin Maung Kyi thought help had finally come. Muslim villagers in Kyauk Pyu township had been battling the blaze for hours, after a petrol bomb attack by their Buddhist neighbours. But instead of dousing the flames with water, Khin Maung Kyi claims that the firemen sprayed the fire with petrol.

"The firemen threw petrol on the flames, as if it was water! The authorities are one-sided. We can never trust them," he said. Last Wednesday, the entire Muslim community in Kyauk Pyu decided to flee in their fishing boats, joining thousands of others trying to escape a new outbreak of communal violence between the majority Buddhist Rakhine population and the Muslim Rohingya.

"The first sign of trouble was when our Rakhine neighbours began to leave their homes. Then at 8pm [on Monday] we heard the ringing of a bell. Soon after, a car turned up full of Rakhine," said Khin Maung Kyi, 64. "They threw petrol bombs at our homes and then sped away. When we tried to put the fires out, the Rakhine attacked us with swords and spears."

Satellite images of Kyauk Pyu and its coastal surrounds, released by Human Rights Watch at the weekend, show the extent of the devastation. Where once there were houseboats and floating barges moored along a harbour town packed with houses, now there is charred desolation, with 811 homes and other structures destroyed.

"If we had stayed, we would have been killed," said Khin Maung Kyi. "This is like Bosnia. This is ethnic cleansing." The violence stems from an incident in May, when a Rakhine Buddhist woman was raped and killed, allegedly by three Muslim men.

A few days later, 10 Muslims were killed on a bus. In the violence that followed, around 100 people were killed, and 100,000 fled to camps in and around the state capital, Sittwe – the vast majority of them Muslim Rohingyas, an ethnic minority described by the United Nations as one of the most oppressed groups in the world. While tensions calmed for a few months, unrest flared again last week, with at least 67 people killed.

The violence in Rakhine state has placed the new civilian government in a difficult position, as it emerges from decades of dictatorship. There is widespread hatred in Burma of the Rohingya, who are considered illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. But accusations from abroad of ethnic cleansing are not what the government needs when it trying to attract foreign investment and diplomatic recognition. A recent report by Human Rights Watch accused the government of "both failing to intervene to stop sectarian violence and directly participating in abuses". Villagers fleeing the stricken areas say police have opened fire indiscriminately, injuring both Muslims and Buddhists.

"At first the army protected us," said Mohammed Salim, 31, who fled Pauk Taw township. "But the Nasaka border security force told us this is Rakhine land and we should leave. If anything happened, they couldn't protect us. They refused to take any responsibility for our safety."

A spokesman for Burma's President, Thein Sein, told the BBC at the weekend that "there have been incidents of whole villages and parts of the towns being burnt down in Rakhine state", and said police had been deployed to restore order. The government has in the past denied any abuses in the area, and said security forces act with "maximum restraint".

Buddhist residents of Rakhine also speak of atrocities against them. In the grounds of a Buddhist monastery in Sittwe, mother-of-three Ma May Than, 34, feeds balls of rice to her daughter. She fled Pauk Thaw and arrived here on Saturday. "The Muslims are buying and making diesel to set fire to our houses," she claimed. "They surrounded our village and tried to set it on fire. We were so afraid, so all the women and children from our village have come here. There's no way we can ever live together again."

While the inaccessibility of the worst-hit regions, and the long history of animosity between the communities, make the claims and counter claims difficult to verify, the scale of the exodus speaks of the horrors on the ground. UN and government officials said yesterday that 20,000 more people – mostly Muslims – had fled the latest violence. Some have set up makeshift shelters on the beaches, while other pack into already crowded refugee camps. Those who fled and made it ashore also allege that the authorities have prevented boatloads of Rohingya from landing on the coast near Sittwe. At least 20 boats from Kyauk Pyu were held offshore on Thursday. Villagers who had made it to land said two women had given birth on the boats and two people had died. Former residents of Pauk Taw said that a government ferry had rammed their fishing boats at sea, with dozens drowning. Officials at the ferry's jetty in Sittwe refused to answer questions about the incident.

The inhabitants from Number 3 and Number 4 village in Pauk Taw fled on Monday. "The violence began on 23 June, when the Rakhine set fire to our homes. The security forces intervened and fired at both sides. Two Rakhine were injured. But that didn't stop them," said Noor Nahar, 27. "They threw stones, bamboo and spears at our homes the whole night. We didn't dare to go outside."

So when violence flared again this month, the Muslims of Pauk Taw decided it was safer to leave, and set sail in their fishing boats with their families. They left just in time: the latest rumour around Sittwe is that their village is now up in flames as well.

The violence began in May, when a Rakhine woman was raped and killed, allegedly by Muslims
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#UN says 22,000 displaced in latest #Myanmar unrest

SITTWE, Myanmar — Victims of Myanmar's latest explosion of Muslim-Buddhist violence fled to already packed displacement camps along the country's western coast, with a top U.N. official saying the unrest has forced more than 22,000 people from their homes.

State television reported the casualty toll has risen to 84 dead and 129 injured over the past week in nine townships in Rakhine state. The figures have not been broken down by ethnic group, but New York-based Human Rights Watch has said Rohingya Muslims bore the brunt of the unrest and the true death toll may be far higher.

On Sunday, wooden boats carrying some refugees arrived outside the state capital, Sittwe. The people trudged to the Thechaung camp, already home to thousands of Rohingya who took refuge there after a previous wave of violence in June.

"I fled my hometown, Pauktaw, on Friday because there is no security at all," said 42-year-old fisherman Maung Myint, who arrived on a boat carrying 40 other people, including his wife and six children. "My house was burned to ashes and I have no money left."

Another Muslim refugee said she fled her village, Kyaukphyu, on Thursday after attackers set her home on fire.
"We don't feel safe," said 40-year-old Zainabi, a fish seller who left with her two sons, aged 12 and 14. "I wish the violence would stop so we can live peacefully."

Human Rights Watch released dramatic satellite imagery of Kyaukphyu on Saturday showing a vast, predominantly Rohingya swath of the village in ashes. The destruction included more than 800 buildings and floating barges.

There were no reports of new violence Sunday. It was unclear what sparked the latest clashes, but ill will between Muslims and Buddhists in Rakhine state goes back decades and has its roots in a dispute over the Rohingya's origins. Although many Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations, they are seen as foreign intruders who came from Bangladesh to steal scarce land.

Today, the Rohingya also face official discrimination, a policy encouraged by Myanmar's previous military regimes to enlist popular support among other groups. A 1984 law formally excluded them as one of the country's 135 ethnicities, meaning most are denied basic civil rights and are deprived of citizenship.

Neighboring Bangladesh, which also does not recognize the Rohingya as citizens, says thousands of Rohingya refugees have sought to flee there by boat. Its policy, however, is to refuse them entry.

Rights groups say Myanmar's failure to address the root causes of the crisis means the situation may worsen.

Over the weekend, Border Affairs Minister Lt. General Thein Htay traveled to the affected areas with the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, Ashok Nigam.

Nigam said 22,587 were displaced and they included both Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, but he gave no breakdown.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Sunday while visiting Thechaung camp, Nigam said getting aid to the new wave of displaced people will be a challenge as some fled on boats and others have sought refuge on isolated hilltops.

"The situation is certainly very grave and we are working with the government to provide urgent aid to these people," he said.

Some 4,600 homes were also destroyed, according to the U.N, which said it had begun distributing emergency food and shelter supplies to refugees.

The latest unrest pushes the total displaced to nearly 100,000 since the clashes in June, when at least 90 people died and 3,000 homes were destroyed. About 75,000 people, mostly Rohingya, have lived in refugee camps since then.

"It is critically important that the government ensures that the rule of law prevails, prevents any further spreading of this violence and continues to communicate strong messages of harmony," Nigam said in a statement later Sunday.

"The violence, fear and mistrust are contrary to the democratic transition and economic and social development that Myanmar is committed to," Nigam said. "It should not become an impediment to progress."

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Associated Press writers Aye Aye Win in Yangon and Todd Pitman in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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No end in sight to the sufferings of 'the world's most persecuted minority' - Burma's #Rohingya Muslims

Nearly 75,000 of those made homeless during inter-communal conflict in June and transferred to temporary camps are living in conditions “worse than animals”, according to the Rohingya Human Rights Association in Bangkok

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There is no end in sight to the sufferings of what the UN has called “the world's most persecuted minority” - the Rohingya Muslims of Arakan state, in the far west of Burma.

Nearly 75,000 of those made homeless during inter-communal conflict in June and transferred to temporary camps are living in conditions “worse than animals”, according to the Rohingya Human Rights Association in Bangkok. In some of the camps 100 people are sharing a single latrine, and many are reportedly falling ill with diarrhoea and fever.

But the camp-dwellers may be the lucky ones: according to Tun Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, hundreds of thousands more Rohingya in northern parts of Arakan state, where outsiders are not permitted to travel, are being deliberately bottled up in their homes by security forces and antagonistic locals. Meanwhile in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan state, fire broke out in the grounds of the centuries-old central mosque, allegedly started by the Muslim community’s enemies. The extent of the damage is disputed.

The ghost of General Ne Win still haunts the country he tyrannised for so long. Most of Burma’s 130-plus minorities have been brutalised at one time or another by the Burmese army during its half-century of domination, but the Rohingya is the only major one barred from citizenship in the Citizenship Law introduced in 1982.

For Ne Win, a Burman chauvinist who did everything he could to ensure that the majority community faced no serious challenges to its power, this was perhaps second best to expelling them en masse – the fate of 300,000 ethnic Indians settled, many for generations, in Rangoon and other cities, who were sent penniless to their “homes”. But the consequences of the Rohingya’s legal marginalisation continue to rumble on today: on 12 July Burma’s new strongman President Thein Sein, hailed in Washington in recent days as a courageous reformer, said he wanted the Rohingya removed. “We will send them away,” he said, “if any third country would accept them.”

The pogrom of Rohingyas in June, the killings and house burnings that drove 100,000 of them from their homes, caught the outside world on the hop, coinciding as it did with real breakthroughs in the country’s reform process. It occurred precisely as Aung San Suu Kyi started travelling for the first time since 1988, visiting Thailand, Norway, Britain and most recently the US, picking up medals and prizes awarded long ago for her humanitarian stand. Meanwhile the Potemkin-like parliament in Naypyidaw, mostly packed with military stooges elected in the grotesquely fixed polls of 2010, started behaving like a real legislative body, challenging the executive, holding vigorous debates. Democracy, it seemed, was beginning to find its feet.

Meanwhile a community whose roots in the country go back at least two centuries – the term “Rooinga” was first mentioned by a British historian in 1799 – and probably much further, was being targeted for the most cold-blooded attempt at ethnic cleansing since Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic bombarded downtown Sarajevo.

The uncomfortable fact is that these two phenomena – the flourishing of Burmese democracy and the brutal crackdown on a community long stigmatised as alien – are closely related.

In the by-elections held in Burma in April, Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won 43 of the 44 seats it contested. These were the first fair polls since the NLD won a landslide – ignored by the military – in 1990. The fact that they were relatively free and fair showed that President Thein Sein recognised that if Burma wished to continue to improve its ties with the rest of the world, it could not go on fixing elections as it had done in 2010.

His problem was that in April the party he leads, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the military’s proxy, was trounced everywhere it stood. If this result was repeated in the general elections in 2015, it would be swept into the dustbin of history. Somehow the USDP must tear the support of the masses from the grip of Ms Suu Kyi and her colleagues.

It has tried to do so in a way that is as ugly as it is effective: by appealing to the strong chauvinistic vein in the majority population, manufacturing (Rohingyas claim) a local atrocity – the rape and murder of a non-Rohingya girl – then orchestrating the vicious reaction. Thein Sein is now reaping the reward: crowds greeting him as a hero, monks demonstrating in Mandalay demanding the Rohingyas’ expulsion.

Aung San Suu Kyi – who was persuaded to enter politics by a Muslim poet, Maung Thaw Ka – knows that if she speaks out against the persecution of the Rohingya she risks alienating at a stroke the millions who love and support her. Thein Sein knows it too. Negotiating this conundrum and emerging with both the support of the Burmese millions and the respect of the world may be the biggest challenge she has yet faced.

Burmese Rohingya Group Issues Strong Condemnation Letter

Salem-News.com

Advocates say Burma's government is not taking any action intentionally.

Police stand in from of a mosque in Akyab, Arakan State, Myanmar. Courtesy: Facebook

(MILWAUKEE, WI) - We, the members of the Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association (BRAFA) strongly condemn the burning of the 800 years old ancient Akyab central mosque (Jamei Masjid) on the date of October 07, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. in Akyab (Sittwe) by a group of Rakhine Buddhist extremist in the collaboration with the Burmese security forces- Hluntin and police.

On the basis of available authentic information by phone, the security forces blocked those Rohingya people who were approaching to extinguish the fire from nearby area the mosque and let loose the extremist Rakhine Buddhists to burn down even the other houses and guesthouse inside the compound of the central mosque.

Besides burning the central mosque in Akyab, about 3,000 Buddhist Rakhine extremist surrounded remaining the Rohingya villages Aung Mingala and Maueik to attack, killing and to destroy whole villages at any time according to the source from Akyab.

We hold the President Thein Sein of the Burmese Union Government is fully responsible for failure to restore peace and security in Akyab (Sittwe) and all affected areas in Arakan State even though the President Thein Sein promised in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to solve the problems of the Arakanese Rohingya people according to international norms.

The Burmese Government is not taking any action intentionally, whereas the Government was able to control the 1988 student led nationwide pro-democracy uprising, so, it is clear manifestation the involvement of Burmese security forces with Rakhine extremist group in the burning of historical Akyab central mosque and houses of Muslims in the daylight.

In this context, we, the members of the Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association (BRAFA) strongly demand President Thein Sein of Burmese Government to stop all violence and burning of Muslim holy place (Mosque) and the houses of the Muslims of Arakan without any delay and also ask the Government for the establishment of peace and security in the affected areas of Arakan State-Burma.

Provided to Salem-News.com by
The Executive Committee
Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association (BRAFA)
United States of America.

UN envoy Nambiar discusses Rakhine State aid with Thein Sein

United Nations special envoy to Burma Vijay Nambiar met with Burmese President Thein Sein on Thursday to discuss Rakhine State and a range of other topics, said the President's Office.

President Thein Sein received a delegation led by UNSG’s Special Adviser on Burma Vijay Nambiar at the Credentials Hall of the Presidential Palace on Friday, September 13, 2012. Photo: President's office

The talks focused on Burma-UN cooperation in providing assistance to riot victims in Rakhine State, including arrangements for advance aid teams representing Turkey, Indonesia, the United States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to assess the Rakhine situation.

Other topics included security and the rule of law being enforced in the state to prevent similar recurrences and arrangements for the rehabilitation of the victims.

Nambiar, a special adviser to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Under-Secretary-General, is currently on his fourth visit to Burma.

The two sides also discussed socio-economic development projects including fulfilling the UN Millennium Goals.

President Thein Sein's upcoming attendance at the 67th UN General Assembly in New York, expected at the end of September, was also discussed.

Nambiar, an Indian diplomat who was appointed UN special envoy to Burma in 2010, has been Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff since January 2007.

Source

Turkey prepared to help refugees in Arakan State

Tents set up for internally displaced people on the side of the road in Thet Kel Pyin camp, Rakhine state, Burma. Photo: OCHA

Sittwe (Mizzima) – A seven-person delegation led by Turkish Ambassador to Burma Murat Yavuz Ates visited Sittwe [Sittway] and met with the Arakan [Rakhine] State government last week, while providing immediate aid to displaced 

persons in government camps.

The ambassador met with Arakan State Chief Minister Hla Maung Tin and also visited Mingan village, Kyaukphyu Township, and provided medicine and bags of rice to Arakanese refugees. The delegation also provided 2,228 bags of rice to refugees in Thakkaypyin village in Sittwe Township.

Recent weeks have seen a wave of international officials visiting Rakhine State to access the situation and to determine the areas needs.

A delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), led by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, visited the Bawduba Rohingya refugee camp in Sittwe, a Muslim Quarter [Aung Mingala] and the Arakanese refugee camp in Sutaungpyace Temple on Sept. 10.

On Sept. 8, a 11-person delegation led by the US Department of State Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Joe Yun, the US ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell and UNHCR representative Hans ten Feld visited refugee camps in Maungdaw.

Officials said six houses and 122 temporary tents have been constructed for refugees in Mawyawaddy village in Maungdaw Township; 122 dwellings totaling 463 people were put up at a relief camp in the Alalthankyaw village; and 38 houses and 79 temporary tents had been built for refugees in Shweyinaye village, state-run newspapers reported on Tuesday.

Seventy-six households totaling 266 people have been constructed in the “4-mile” camp and Parahita camp in Maungdaw, said reports.

Source

Rohingyas meet US envoy in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State:  The Rohingya community from Maungdaw met with US envoy in Nyoung Chaung village, Maungdaw today, at about 10:30am, according to an elder from Maungdaw.




The US envoy visited Aung Mangala refugee camp and discussed detail situation of their life in the camp and during the riots period.

“The US envoy to Burma, Mr. Derek J. Mitchell with   Mr. Joseph Y. Yun is Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, the U.S. Department of State and others visited – Shel Kali village of Maungdaw south, Shweyinaye  and Nyoung Chang village of  Maungdaw, today morning  and left  Maungdaw at about 11;30 am.”

The US envoy is also accompanied by high level officers of Arakan State government, concerned authorities of Maungdaw with Shamshul Haque and Anam, the members of Regional Development Association (RDA) as interpreters, said an official from Maungdaw.

The US envoy flied with helicopter over Maungdaw and landed at Nyoung Change village where they visited the new settlers ( Natala) village – Shweyinaye – and while backed to helicopter , the envoy met an old man in the village street  who wanted to express his willing to the envoy ,but he was unable to explain about the life of Rohingya community, said an elder from village.

“The interpreters are not giving any explanation of the old man.  But, Shamshu Islam – a  student from the village- explained the expressions of the old man  where the student got a chance to explain about Rohingya situation in northern Arakan to the envoy. The envoy asked the student about their village, when it was built, who are living in the village, is there any Mosque and school in the village and so on. “

“Our village was built since 200 years ago and all the villagers are Rohingya community. There are more than 7,000 people living and all the Mosques are locked by authority after riots. We have only  one primary school where teaches only class one to four, but now, it was also closed since June 8. Our homes and properties are destroyed, looted and burned down by authorities and Rakhines together. We are not allowed to go to the market to buy foods for our families. Now, we are facing shortage of foods and no UN, INGOs are giving us any foods, the relief goods are only going to Rakhine community. No shelters for Rohingyas IDPs in northern Arakan, all the shelters are being built for Rakhines. So, we request to all international community to help us foods, shelters and security,” said the student.

“We are facing daily harassments from security forces – police, army, Hluntin and Nasaka – that blocked our daily life struggles. The police are always arresting our Rohingyas with false and fabricated allegation and they are helping the Rakhine community to attack us.”

“I will be faced so many disturbance from concerned authorities for talking with you ( envoy) and giving explanation about the situation of Rohingya community .”

The US envoy visited Arakan State government officials and refugee camps where the envoy discussed about the situation of their life struggle in the riots since June 8 and camps to the Rohingyas yesterday in Akyab. The US envoy also met the Rohingya refugee of Aung Mangala and discussed detail situation of their life in the camp.

No Rohingyas IDPs camps in northern Arakan

Maungdaw, Arakan State:  The concerned authority of Maungdaw are not allowing any camps for Internal Displace peoples (IDPs) of Rohingyas who lost their homes and property in recent riot which occurred in June, according to an elder from Maungdaw.

“300 families from Maung Nah ( Sa OH Brang) village of Buthidaung township was uprooted  by security forces  and looted all their property. The security forces drove out the Rohingya families from the area to Maungdaw. But, the Burma border security force (Nasaka) again drove out them to the Buthidaung. Now, the Rohingyas families are staying at Nan Yah Gone (Mein Gee Si) village without any home as the security forces are not allowing them to enter to their village. The Rohingyas become IDPs in their own land. No authority is going to build for them temporary accommodations.”

Similarly, Rohingyas from Rathedaung township move to Maungdaw south, staying in the jungle or village under the trees  since last month. No accommodations are made for them by authority of Maungdaw. These Rohingyas are not able to stay in their villages of Rathedaung for their security. Rakhine community from Rathedaung are always trying to attack the Rohingyas community.The security personnel- police, Nasaka, Hluntin and army are not giving protection  to them. So, the Rohingyas left their home town  to Maungdaw where they have  no accommodations to live or temporary tents for them, said a village admin officer from Maungdaw south.

The governmental team led by Union Minister for Ministry of Border Affairs accompanied by representatives of UN Agencies and INGOs had made the field trips to Arakan State for three times, having access for the humanitarian assistance to the affected persons from both communities – Rohingya and Rakhine.

The delegations main purpose of visiting is for restoration of peace and stability and to provide the emergency relief for the affected persons of both communities as first trip on 13- 17 June and the group again visited Arakan on 27- 29 June for sustaining of relief campaign and promoting to resettlement stage, establishing and imitating the resettlement plan for the affected persons with Coordination on  Humanitarian Assistance  from the International communities and progressing the resettlement campaign, normalization initiatives between the community on 16-18 July as last visiting the area, according to Access to the Humanitarian Assistance report of U Thein Sein government.

But, U Thein Sein government didn’t provide any assistance to Rohingyas from northern Arakan and only provided to Rakhine who are not most effected than Rohingyas in northern Arakan. The authority is showing the new settler ( Natala ) villagers who were settled on Rohingya lands by government. How many family effected in the recent riot? There are only 222 shelters and 400 tents from UNHCR while 128 shelters from CARE. Where is shelther for Rohingyas who are IDPS from Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung, The reliefs goods also for only Rakhine community  from northern Arakan , not for Rohingyas, Why, is the Rohingyas are not  including in UN categories  to get relifs? Now , again, the authority is creating new IDPs – hill people, Maungdaw north Rakhine and outside of northern Arakan – along the roadside of Maungdaw Aley Than Kyaw highway with UNHCR provide tents, according to a school teacher from Maungdaw.

“Two load trucks of Rakhine from Maungdaw north arrived at Young Chang village where they started looting and stealing animals from Rohingya community of Young Chaung. The security force are not charging any action against them.”

“The UN and INGos are only providing  relief goods to Akyab of Rohingyas and what about other side of Rohingyas who are living in Mrauk-U, Minbya, Kyauktaw, Paucktaw and Kyauknimaw. No, INGOs or UN didn’t visit this place to look after for these Rohingyas.”

In Maungdaw, Rohingyas who lost their home in the recent riot, are living beside of the Rohingyas’ home and they are not getting any help from any quarters.  Most of Rohingyas in Maungdaw are going starvation for shortage of foods, Most Rohingya who are working as a day labors effected more, said an elder from Maungdaw.

Source

The history and plight of the Rohingyas

Susan Marie Public Relations Posted August 18, 2012

The Rohingyas are one of the most persecuted communities in the world. Although, they have been living in the state of Arakan since the 8th century (which is now part of Burma), the Rohingyas have been under extreme scrutiny by the Burmese government. They haven’t been recognized as citizens of The Union of Burma since Burmese independence in 1948, instead they are known as ‘non citizens’.

The Burmese Junta have discriminated the Rohingya because:
•    They are not similar in looks
•    Speak a different language
•    Have a different religion.

As a means of clamping down on the Rohingya, the Junta has restricted even the most basic of rights such as education, marriage and citizenship.

The Burmese government endorses the Burmese culture and the Buddhist faith for their national citizens; the Rohingyas fall outside of this ideal criteria because they want to retain their own culture and the Muslim faith. As a result, the Rohingyas, sidelined and marginalized, have to live with their derogatory national status of ‘non-citizens’.

Between 1978 and 1992, approximately 200,000 Rohingyas left Burma to escape the tyranny of the Burmese military. Most of them moved to southern Bangladesh where they remain as refugees. In one of the most densely populated countries in the world, life in Bangladesh proved just as hard as it did in Burma.

In Bangladesh, the Rohingyas are faced with hardly any protection from their host country. A burden to the densely populated country, the Rohingyas are denied humanitarian aid which forces them to turn to other means of income such as drug trafficking.

There is one registered camp situated meters away from the registered camp where 90,000 refugees live. Another camp 15 miles away, in Leda Bazaar where approximately 25,000 Rohingya live, is where Restless Beings focus has been.

In 1962, the Rohingyas were systematically denied of political, civil, economic and social human rights. Today, the Rohingyas in Burma cannot commute from one village to another due to the security forces known as ‘Nasaka’ that patrol their movement at various checkpoints. This affects their education and access to medication.

Rohingyas are denied citizenship despite living in Arakan for centuries because Muslims are portrayed as ‘relics of a colonial past’. This stems from the fact that Muslims supported the British during the colonial period because they were promised autonomy in Rakhine previously known as Arakan.

Rohingyas have been subject to the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war, forced labour, and land confiscation. Over 3,500 villages have been destroyed since 1996.

Similar to the Rohingyas living in Burma, the Rohingya refugees are limited in their movement and subject to exploitation. In refugee camps, the Rohingya women are victims of sexual violence, children are denied education and there is limited access to health and medical aid.

The hostile environment for Rohingyas in Bangladesh urges the refugees in Bangladesh and Burma to seek help in other parts of Asia such as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia; however, these parts are not usually welcoming.

Update from Restless Beings

Reports have been flooding in this afternoon of a new wave of attacks on Rohingya this afternoon leaving hundreds homeless and looking for shelter on foot during torrential monsoon rains whilst others were left dead. The recent clashes have been reported from 4 villages near Rauthedoung were as many as 12 have been killed with 1,000 Rohingya displaced as well as in 3 villages south of Maungdaw where 3 people have been killed this Thursday, August 16, 2012.

In the minutes leading up to sunset as many Rohingya were preparing to open their fasts (Ramadhan) hundreds of Rakhine activists armed with sticks, batons and other weaponry forced their way into Rohingya houses in three adjacent villages. As the villagers attempted to fight back against the Rakhine who had violated their homes, Lun Htin and Nasaka (Burmese armed forces and paramilitary) opened live rounds of fire on the villagers.

Three men and one woman have been shot dead whilst many others have been injured. In total the three entire villages are being evacuated with the Rohingya unsure of where they are to move to next. Whilst one of the sources was describing the events, shooting and wailing could be heard in the background.

In a separate incident, but most likely part of this new wave of violence, four villages near Rathedoung were attacked late last night, Wednesday, leaving more than 12 dead and over 1,000 Rohingya displaced. Similar to incidents in Maungdaw today, Rakhine had attacked the villages and were backed up by Burmese armed forces and paramilitary servicemen.

The forces pushed the Rohingya villages from their homes, across the river and now the camp of 1,000 are moving north through mountainous terrains and during monsoon season looking for shelter. 12 people have been confirmed dead – 8 were shot dead and 4 more have lost their lives battling against the elements whilst being shelter less.

As international media have recently been reporting from the region and as an aid deal has been agreed by the President with OIC, this is seen as the final, brutal wave against the Rohingya during the recent clashes. It is feared that this move will be drawn out over many days surely; many more lives will be lost.

Minority Shows Burma Has a Long Way to Go

By Emily Rauhala
 

Muslim residents carry their belongings as they evacuate their houses amid ongoing violence in Sittwe, capital of Burma's western state of Rakhine, on June 12, 2012

 The callous handling of sectarian violence in Arakan reminds us that the country's transition is far from complete

For much of the past five decades, Burma has been a byword for political repression. The generals that seized power in 1962 ruled with fearsome, often reckless, authority, stomping out dissent and turning one of Asia’s breadbaskets into a barren, hungry place. In the past two years, the story changed. The men in green handed power to a quasi-civilian government, promising to end the country’s isolation. In April, the world watched Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi lead the National League for Democracy to a near sweep in by-elections hailed as a landmark for the Southeast Asian nation. Suu Kyi, long incarcerated by the junta, was now a parliamentarian acceptable to the regime. The nation’s own reversal, it seemed, was only a matter of time.

But a recent spate of violence in the country’s northwest reminds us that Burma’s transition is far from complete. Even as the West relaxes sanctions and investors flock to Rangoon, swaths of the country seethe. Since June, clashes between ethnic Arakan Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Arakan (also called Rakhine state) have left at least 78 people dead and tens of thousands displaced. An investigation by Human Rights Watch found government forces did little to quell the violence, leaving terrified villagers to defend themselves with sharpened sticks and homemade spears. Worse, police and paramilitary forces have since launched a crackdown on Rohingya, conducting violent sweeps, opening fire on villagers and arresting large numbers of Muslim men and boys.

(PHOTOS: Sectarian Unrest in Burma)

The uncomfortable truth is that in Arakan, at least, the new Burma looks a lot like the old. This patchwork nation is still split along sectarian lines, still divided by history, geography and language. Military men still hold key positions in government. And whereas reformers might have spoken out, many are staying silent, turning away as Arakan burns. Fact is, most of Burma’s people don’t see the Rohingya as part of the country’s ethnic fabric. Asked about the Rohingya, President Thein Sein, a former general, suggested refugee camps or mass expulsion as “solutions.” “The government claims it is committed to ending ethnic strife and abuse,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement accompanying the group’s 56-page report on the crisis. “But recent events in Arakan state demonstrate that state-sponsored persecution and discrimination persist.”

The immediate cause of the unrest was the alleged May 28 rape and murder of an ethnic Arakan woman, allegedly at the hands of three Muslim men. Word of the killing spread quickly, hastened by pamphlets steeped in anti-Muslim propaganda. On June 3, Arakan villagers in a neighboring township stopped a bus and murdered 10 Muslims onboard. Within the week, riots broke out in at least two cities to the north, Human Rights Watch found, escalating an ongoing cycle of mob violence. In the regional capital, Sittwe, most of the Rohingya are gone. The Muslim quarter sits shuttered. “It’s like looking at the aftermath of a natural disaster,” an unnamed Channel 4 News correspondent said, surveying the damage in a dispatch from the city. “Except human beings did this.”

In many ways, the conflict has been brewing for years. The Arakanese and the Rohingya live, literally and figuratively, at Burma’s periphery. The coastal state, which traces the Bay of Bengal to the Bangladesh border, is separated from the rest of the country by mountains. It is poor, even by Burma’s standards, and most of its residents are minorities in a country dominated by the ethnic Burmese of the heartland to the east. Like the Rohingya, and indeed most of Burma’s minorities, the Arakanese suffered immensely under military rule. Unlike the Rohingya, they are citizens. If there is common ground to be found between Naypyidaw and Arakan, it is the belief that Rohingya don’t belong in Burma.

(MORE: Will Ethnic Violence Kill Burma’s Fragile Reforms?)

The Rohingya are among the most isolated and oppressed people in the world. The end of British colonial rule left them stateless, sandwiched between present-day Burma and Bangladesh. Though many trace their Bay of Bengal roots back centuries, the Burmese government insists they are illegal South Asian migrants, relics of colonial times. They have never been recognized as one of Burma’s 135 indigenous races and have routinely been denied the right to travel, marry or work. The ruling junta played on nativist sentiment, stoking racial hatred. A Burmese diplomat once called them “ugly ogres.” Many still see them as outsiders bent on stealing Buddhist lands.

The suspicion is such that even Burmese activists seem afraid, or unwilling, to speak out. Suu Kyi, the symbolic heart of the country’s opposition, has been accused of dodging questions on the matter. While touring Europe in June, she responded to a query about the crisis by saying, obliquely, that she does not know if the Rohingya are Burmese. Absent opposition from inside Burma, Muslim groups from Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Turkey have rallied behind the Rohingya cause. The Burmese government last week agreed to aid from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, but maintains that the conflict is nonsectarian. In a way, of course, it’s right: this is, at its heart, a matter of basic rights and government accountability. On both counts, the new Burma has far to go.

(PHOTOS: Aung San Suu Kyi Travels Abroad for the First Time in 24 Years)
Emily Rauhala is an Associate Editor at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @emilyrauhala. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME

Foreign Secretary stresses need to end violence in Burma

Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke about ongoing violence in Burma

“The UK, as ever, stands ready to assist the government of Burma in its efforts to develop Rakhine State, to share our knowledge and experience of tackling the many complex and long-standing issues to be overcome and, as Burma continues its path towards establishing full democracy,  to support an inclusive political settlement that protects the rights of all members of the local population.

“Whilst the reform process has already borne many fruits, we remain seriously concerned about the nature and extent of the recent violence. We have urged the government to resolve the crisis by taking effective and lawful steps to prevent any further violence, in accordance with international human rights law. We have also called upon the communities based there to act with restraint. We have done the same with our international partners, and in international institutions, such as the European Union and the United Nations.

“We join Mr Quintana in stressing the need to end the violence; to grant full and unhindered humanitarian access to the areas affected; to allow the affected communities to safely return to their homes; and to support the restitution of property that was seriously damaged or destroyed. We encourage the government to ensure that it treats the affected communities fairly and equitably and to ensure that the authorities prevent any further bloodshed. There is also a need to seek a long term solution to the problems they face in a manner which recognises their human rights, including their right to nationality, and to take effective steps which prevents any further forced or involuntary displacement and which does not leave them permanently displaced.

“Furthermore, we also join Mr Quintana in calling for the release of all those people who have been arbitrarily detained, irrespective of their ethnic background, and express the need for the government to carry out an independent, fair and prompt investigation in to the violence, in particular the allegations of serious crimes within the communities and human rights violations by the security forces, and for those found guilty of such crimes and human rights violations to be held accountable. In addition we repeat our calls on the government to release and rehabilitate all remaining political prisoners.”

What is Shocking” in Ethnic Cleansing against Muslims in Burma

Monday, 13 August 2012

by Dr. Nazila Isgandarova, Contributor

Prime Minister Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdogan and daughter Sumeyye Edogan visited Myanmar with a great hope to break the Ramadan fast with the Arakan Muslims in the camps in Sittwe. The main question before the Turkish delegates to Myanmar is to get accurate information about the situation and to figure out what Turkey can do in terms of providing humanitarian aid to people afflicted by the events. 

Few days ago, Mrs. Emine Erdogan expressed her horror on what she had heard and called it “unbelievable” and “shocking.” What is “unbelievable” is manyfold:

First, the world, including the Turkish people, strongly believed that the religion Buddhism is a peaceful religion and its followers are peaceful people with integrity and serenity. Second, the world continues to be silent about the human tragedy in the region. 

What’s going in the region is just an ethnic cleansing, which has been common throughout the 20th century in Burma against Muslims. The majority of the Buddhist population of the country see themselves as a powerful nation and recognized the right to themselves to attack and chase off the Muslim residents, who were seen as “subordinates” and “aliens” in the country. 

The ethnic cleansing against Muslims in Burma became worse due to the actions elites and political actors. They were able to ignite the emotions of Burmese Buddhists against Muslims so well that the peaceful followers of Buddhism did not abstain from torturing, raping, and burning Muslims to death. 

Mrs. Emine Erdogan was right when she described the events horrible and shocking. She actually wanted to ask why individuals chose to sink to such savagery against their own lifelong neighbours? 

The answer to the question is hidden in the reasons of ethnic cleansing against Muslims in Burma. 

Ethnic cleansing is an action to force people, even all traces of them from a concrete territory. Many ethnic cleansing acts involve genocide. Genocide is an intentional killing of an ethnic, religious or national group. However, what is horrible, as Mrs. Erdogan expressed, is that ethnic cleansing is done in such a way that it instills terror in Muslims, so they flee and fear to return. 

So, the Buddhist nationalists in Arakan chose a horrible way to instill such a fear in Muslims. They were forced out in most brutal fashion and hunger, disease, and the pains of displacement take many lives. However, the most horrible part of any ethnic cleansing against Muslim women in Arakan was the sexual violence. 

The horrible stories about the Arakan women indicate that the Burmese Buddhists consciously decided to rape Muslim women collectively because women constitute the biological core of Muslims in Burma. They also carry a heavy task of passing on the Muslim cultural and spiritual values to their children. 

Mrs. Erdogan was right when she described the violence as “unbelievable” and “shocking,” because rape became one of the tools of ethnic cleansing against Muslims in Arakan, a way to terrorize them and make sure they did not come back to Burma again. 

Rape is a form of punishment and insult the pride of all people regardless of their religion and ethnicity. Unfortunately, it became an emblem of the ethnic cleansing against Muslims in Burma and a shameful part of the history of Burmese people.

Journal of Turkish Weekly

Bringing Myanmar killers to justice tops summit agenda

DAMMAM: SIRAJ WAHAB

Sunday 12 August 2012

The ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is one of the key issues to be discussed at the Islamic solidarity summit convened by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in Makkah on Aug. 14-15.

With just two days to go for the conclave of the world’s most important Muslim leaders in the most holy city, pressure is mounting on Myanmar’s military junta to allow international and Islamic relief agencies access to the besieged Muslim population of the Arakan province.

Two important delegations to Myanmar — one led by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the other by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation — this week have revealed signs of panic and desperation among the junta’s top leadership.

“They have been caught out and have now realized that what they have done to Rohingya Muslims constitutes a war crime,” one of the diplomats at the Jeddah-based OIC told Arab News.

“There is no doubt that the state was and possibly still is involved in the planned pogrom of Arakan Muslims, and they are now trying to reach out to the Muslim world to lessen the impact of the expected robust and unified Muslim response at the Makkah summit,” he said.

Besides Davutoglu, the Turkish delegation included Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s wife Emine and daughter Sumeyye. The delegation called on Myanmar President U Thein Sein and Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin and visited Rohingya Muslims staying in the Banduba refugee camp where more than 8,500 Rohingya Muslims have taken shelter.

The delegates received a first-hand account of what exactly happened to the Rohingya Muslims. They talked to a number of victims, and at one point, according to reports in the Turkish media, the prime minister’s wife was reduced to tears while listening an account being recounted by an affected Rohingya Muslim woman.

Davutoglu later told journalists that he would present his findings to the Muslim leaders at the Makkah summit. His findings will hold the key to the future course of action from the Muslim world at the summit.

According to a top Jeddah-based diplomat, there are a number of measures that the Muslim world can think of against Myanmar.

“We can haul the country’s top military leadership, including President Thein Sein and the Arakan provincial head, to the International Court of Justice in The Hague and try them like Solobodan Milosevic and other Serbian leadership,” he said. “Among the other viable options are that of approaching the UN Security Council and UN Human Rights Council.”

The diplomat also hinted at pressurizing and persuading the world’s leading powers to constitute an international peace-keeping force to save the Rohingya Muslims from being obliterated and uprooted from their historic homeland.

The OIC delegation to Myanmar was headed by former Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla. Among others, it included OIC Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Atta Manan Bakhiet and presidents of the Qatari Red Crescent and Kuwaiti International Humanitarian Commission.

The OIC delegates conveyed to President Thein Sein of the outrage in the Muslim world at the deplorable humanitarian conditions in the Arakan province of Myanmar.

The delegation asked for access to Muslim humanitarian organizations to provide emergency aid to inhabitants of the worst-hit Arakan province “without any religious discrimination.”

According to a press note issued by the OIC yesterday, Myanmar president welcomed the OIC delegation and stated that that what had happened was not a direct result of religious differences. Instead, he blamed the massacre on what he called as “social problems between various ethnicities in the province.”

Thein Sein pointed out to the OIC delegates that the international media distorted the events and presented wrong information and exaggerated the killings.

“President Thein Sein stressed his eagerness for the Muslim world in particular to know the truth about what occurred in Arakan, and he mentioned that he had sent an invitation to OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu recently to visit Myanmar to observe the real situation in the affected province,” said the OIC press note.

The president welcomed the OIC humanitarian delegation to Arakan and agreed to allow the OIC and its partner organizations to provide humanitarian aid to the province in an urgent manner and to open an office in the region in coordination with the central government in Yangon and the local authorities in the province.

He instructed the relevant ministries to sign an agreement with the OIC to complete the arrangements.