Approximately 10,500 Rohingya Muslims have taken shelter in India

[Hindustani78]

CHANDIGARH, September 07, 2017 21:20 IST
Updated: September 07, 2017 21:20 IST

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/dal-khalsas-plea-to-suu-kyi-on-rohingya/article19638019.ece

The Dal Khalsa, a radical Sikh organisation, has demanded that Myanmar’s State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi take immediate action to resolve the humanitarian crisis engulfing the Rohingya community.

The Dal Khalsa, in an open letter to her, has expressed concern over the alleged killings of Rohingya Muslims in the restive Rakhine State of Myanmar.

“The violence against the Muslim minority community has shocked us. It is appalling because the woman we knew believed cooperation and dialogue [non-violent tools] as the effective methods of conflict resolution. Regrettably, the alleged killings have battered the reputation of the Nobel Peace prize winner,” said Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh.

“As an organisation fighting for Sikh rights, the Dal Khalsa has always considered you [Aung San Suu Kyi] as a source of moral courage and steadfastness and supported your commitment to continue to fight for human rights,” he said.

“The people, the groups who admired you, supported you and voiced your cause are disappointed and disheartened the way Rohingya Muslims are being treated in an inhuman way,” he added.

“The situation cries for your urgent attention. The responsibility rests on you to resolve the humanitarian crisis engulfing the Muslim Rohingya minority and affecting the geopolitics of South Asia,” said Mr. Singh.

Students of Islamic Organisation and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind activists participate in a rally to protest against the alleged persecution of Rohingya Muslims near Myanmar Consulate in Kolkata on Thursday.

A Rohingya refugee woman loads the body of her son who died after their boat capsized in Bay of Bengal after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Teknaf, Bangladesh September 7, 2017.

Sep 07, 2017 15:07 IST

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Mohammad Salimullah (R) and Mohammad Shaqir are the two Rohingya refugees who have petitioned the Supreme Court about the proposed deportation. ‘We cannot be deported to a place where we will be killed for sure,’ he says. ‘Since August 25th, Rohingya in the Rakhine state have been massacred and their villages burnt... If the Indian government expects us to return to this situation, then it is against the tenets of humanity’, he added. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)

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Facing criticism over the plan, Kiren Rijiju replied saying, ‘I want to tell the international organisations whether the Rohingya are registered under the United Nations Human Rights Commission or not. They are illegal immigrants in India.’ Around 14,000 of the Rohingya living in India are registered with the UN refugee agency, making the rest illegal and liable to be sent back. India however, is not a signatory to UN conventions on refugees and no national law covers this issue. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)

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The Ministry of Home Affairs estimates 40,000 Rohingya in India. In August, minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju, told parliament that instructions for identifying and deporting illegal nationals including the Rohingya had been made. An attack on August 25, 2017 by the Rohingya insurgents on Myanmar’s forces prompted a ‘clearance operation’ which led to the killing of at least 400 people, arson and violence in Rakhine villages and the exodus of nearly 146,000 to Bangladesh. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)

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Noor Qasim says his home was burnt while his sister and her husband succumbed to death on August 27, 2017 during the recent upsurge in Myanmar. ‘Sending us back at this time is like rounding us up and killing us,’ he says in despair. ‘If India can welcome refugees from around the world, why deport the Rohingya?’, he asks. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)

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‘I was born in Burma. We left when I was 2 years old’, says 9- year-old Ubadul who studies at a madarsa in Shastri Park. The UNHCR says Rohingya refugees are spread across six locations in India — Jammu, Nuh in Haryana’s Mewat district, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Chennai. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)

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Noor Alam who communicated via a translator said that though he was able to flee to Delhi in December 2016, his sisters are still trapped in Myanmar. ‘I left because there was a wave of violence at that time. Whether my relatives in Myanmar will survive or not, I don't know. They are in God's hands now,’ he adds. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)

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20-year-old Tasmida who studies in Delhi says that the Indian government must ensure that if they are sent back, they receive the same freedoms in Myanmar as Indian citizens enjoy in their country. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)

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Mohammad Salimullah (R) and Mohammad Shaqir are the two Rohingya refugees who have petitioned the Supreme Court about the proposed deportation. ‘We cannot be deported to a place where we will be killed for sure,’ he says. ‘Since August 25th, Rohingya in the Rakhine state have been massacred and their villages burnt... If the Indian government expects us to return to this situation, then it is against the tenets of humanity’, he added. (Burhaan Kinu / HT Photo)

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/632061/myanmar-violence-may-have-killed.html

More than 1,000 people may already have been killed in Myanmar's Rakhine state, mostly members of the Muslim Rohingya minority, a senior United Nations representative said today -- around twice the government's figure.

"Perhaps about a thousand or more are already dead," said Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar. "This might be from both sides but it would be heavily concentrated on the Rohingya population."

In the last two weeks alone 164,000 mostly Rohingya civilians have fled to Bangladesh, overwhelming refugee camps that were already bursting at the seams.

Others have died, trying to flee the fighting in Rakhine state, where witnesses say entire villages have been burned since Rohingya militants launched a series of coordinated attacks on August 25, prompting a military-led crackdown.

The Rohingya have long been subjected to discrimination in mostly Buddhist Myanmar, which denies them citizenship and regards them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even if they have lived in the country for generations.

The figures given by Lee, a South Korean academic, in an interview in Seoul, are far higher than official tolls, which total 475.

In updated figures released by the authorities on Thursday, Myanmar said 6,600 Rohingya homes and 201 non-Muslim homes had been burned to the ground since August 25.

They added some 30 civilians had been killed -- seven Rohingyas, seven Hindus and 16 Rakhine Buddhists -- in the fighting.

Myanmar's army has previously said it has killed around 430 Rohingya militants. Authorities say they have lost 15 security personnel since the August attacks.

But Lee told AFP that "it's highly possible that it's underestimated numbers".

"The unfortunate thing, the serious thing is that we can't verify that now with no access. I think that it's going to be one of the worst disasters that the world and Myanmar has seen in recent years."

 

[Hindustani78]

http://aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/rohingya-turks-relations-date-back-to-1913/904468

By Sarp Ozer and Sinan Uslu

ANKARA

Rohingya Muslims had showed solidarity with Turks over a hundred years ago, dating back to the First World War, Deputy Prime Minister Fikri Isik said Friday, citing an archived document.

The document from the Ottoman Archive shows Rohingya’s deep solidarity with the Ottoman Empire.

Isik said the Rohingya had sent a total of 1,391 pounds ($1,833) for the relief of injured, orphans, widows and families of martyrs during the second Balkan War, which broke out among Balkan States to occupy the Ottoman land in 1913.

Ahmed Mawla Dawood, the head of Ottoman Relief Fund based in Myanmar's Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, had sent a letter to the Grand Vizier to congratulate him over the victory.

“I beg to confirm my cable of even date advising dispatch of a remittance by cable today an equivalent of ‎£1,391…,” Dawood said in the letter.

"I take this opportunity of congratulating your Highness and the members of your Cabinet and all my Turkish Co-religionists for the marvelous and magnificent fete of reoccupying Adrianople [today Edirne] and some of the lost territory and thus restoring the Prestige of the Ottoman Empire,” the letter read.

This letter marks Ottoman victory over Bulgarians when Ottomans retook the province of Edirne, northwestern Turkey.

“I also inform your Highness that the Mussulmans [Muslims] are jubilant over the restoration of lost territory and recent success of their Turkish brethren,” it said.



World's most persecuted people

The minister said Ottoman foreign office thanked Dawood for the contribution.

“The Rakhine Muslims, to whom we have extended a hand, had been mobilized in the past for our martyrs, injured and widows in our difficult times,” added Isik.

Rohingya, described by the UN as the world’s most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

Last October, following attacks on border posts in Rakhine’s Maungdaw district, Myanmar security forces launched a five-month crackdown in which, according to Rohingya groups, around 400 people were killed.

The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including infants and young children -- brutal beatings and disappearances committed by security personnel.

In a report, UN investigators said the human rights violations constituted crimes against humanity.

Fresh violence erupted in Myanmar's Rakhine state nearly two weeks ago when security forces launched an operation against the Rohingya community.

Bangladesh, which already hosted around 400,000 Rohingya refugees, has faced a fresh influx of refugees since the security operation was launched.

According to the UN, 270,000 Rohingya have sought refuge in Bangladesh as of Friday.

 

[Hindustani78]

RIYADH: Saudi Ambassador to Turkey Waleed Al-Khereiji said that the Kingdom has been standing by the side of the Rohingya Muslims for 70 years at the international level, and by providing assistance and donations.

The Kingdom is all about action, and not words. Nobody can claim that they have exerted more efforts for the Rohingya people than the Kingdom has during the past 70 years, as history stands witness that the Kingdom was one of the first states that supported their case at the international level and in the UN Human Rights Council.”

“The Kingdom has also condemned Myanmar’s government for denying the Rohingya people citizenship since 1982, considering them illegal immigrants. Thus, the Rohingya people have been restricted from freedom of movement and the simplest human rights, including food and health care services.

health rehabilitation and educational programs, and started receiving refugees in 1948. Today, there are 300,000 Rohingya people in the Kingdom.”

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http://www.arabnews.com/node/1158116/world

KABUL: Thousands of Afghans held protests on Friday to condemn the violence against the Muslims of Rohingya. The protesters blamed the world for failing to stop the abuse that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands to flee Myanmar over the past two weeks.

The protests were the largest thus far and were held in at least six towns and cities, including the capital, Kabul.
There were no immediate reports of violence from any of the protests which coincide with rising anti-Western sentiments in Afghanistan. Many Afghans see the West as ignoring abuses against Muslims all over the world, and also blaming the US for waging war in a number of Muslim countries.

“The silence of the West is questionable. We are witnessing a genocide and Western leaders, who normally raise voice against abuses affecting non-Muslims, are silent about the killings of Muslims in Myanmar,” said Ahmad Ultaf, a 28-year old man in Kabul.

The marchers, which included a group of women in Kabul, went by the main UN compound and submitted a resolution demanding the guilty be punished and that a fact-finding mission be dispatched from Muslim countries and the UN.

The abuses against Rohingya Muslims have been dominating discussions among Afghans, some of whom even called for the Taliban and Daesh to go to Myanmar to save Muslims there instead of fighting in Afghanistan.

Both the Afghan government and the Taliban, who lead the insurgency against the government and US-led troops, have condemned the violence in Myanmar and those responsible for it. Apparently preoccupied by the standoff in North Korea, Western leaders have so far appeared reluctant to speak out strongly about the abuse.

“Do not connive in the genocide in Myanmar. It is time to act, to save humanity, regardless of religion and ethnicity,” said another Kabul protester Shah Mahmoud.

 

[Hindustani78]

Rohingya refugees in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...ngya-crisis/article19651473.ece?homepage=true
Bangladesh has called for U.N. action.
Bangladesh, which has seen an influx of Rohingya refugees from the neighbouring Myanmar in recent days, is facing a policy predicament over how to deal with the crisis.

About 2,70,000 Rohingya Muslims are estimated to have entered Bangladesh in recent weeks as Myanmar security troops carry out an “anti-insurgency” operation in the Rakhine State. Many more are waiting on the borders. Prior to this, some 5,00,000 Rohingya people have already come to Bangladesh and settled in refugee camps.

Bangladesh’s society appears to be sharply divided over the refugee crisis. Pro-Islamist groups argue that the Rohingya Muslims are facing ethnic cleansing in Myanmar.

The Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its Islamist allies addressed a human chain in Dhaka on Friday against the persecution of Rohingya. Another section, including the secular parties, sees it as a humanitarian problem, not a religious one. They are also alarmed by the Rohingya militancy, and believe it is supported by global Islamists, with help from Pakistan.

Both sides, however, urge the government to do more to address the crisis. Rohingya, who are not even granted citizenship in Myanmar, are seen as illegal immigrants.

Diplomatic efforts
Diplomatic sources told The Hindu that Bangladesh has begun diplomatic efforts aimed at addressing the crisis, including holding talks with India and China. Both countries maintain “very close” relations with Myanmar, and have not condemned the violence against Rohingya, said one diplomat.

Referring to the August 25 attacks on Myanmar security camps by insurgents, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently said: “Bangladesh never supported such kind of acts. But the way the Myanmar government is reacting is creating problems for Bangladesh.”

Dhaka’s main request to Myanmar to take back the refugees has so far fallen on deaf ears. As part of its diplomatic efforts, Dhaka has circulated “evidence” of atrocities by Myanmar troops among UN bodies and other organisations, asking them to put pressure on Myanmar, said the sources.

Dhaka has also offered support to the recommendations made by a commission headed by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, which included the formation of an “international safe zone” for Rohingya under UN supervision.

Diplomats say Bangladesh is looking for a peaceful solution despite Myanmar’s non-reciprocity. They hope that the UN General Assembly, which will convene on September 12, may adopt a motion condemning Myanmar’s actions on the Rohingya, and put pressure on the country to take back the refugees.

Rohingya scuffle to get aid material from local volunteers at Kutupalong, Bangladesh | Photo Credit: AP
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bangladesh-briefs-india-on-rohingya/article19652333.ece

India on Saturday expressed concern regarding the ongoing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine province that has triggered an exodus of the Rohingya into Bangladesh, and said that the situation should be dealt with “restraint” and “maturity”. The statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs asked for protection of the civilian population in Rakhine.

“We would urge that the situation in Rakhine state be handled with restraint and maturity, focussing on the welfare of the civilian population alongside those of the security forces.,” said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement.

The statement from India came, hours after Bangladesh briefed India about the measures it took to deal with the Rohingya influx from Myanmar. During a meeting with Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, Dhaka’s envoy to India, Syed Muazzem Ali briefed on the plight of the Rohingya because of the military crackdown against them in Myanmar.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...-grows-at-a-rohingya-camp/article19651812.ece

A group of 94 refugees, young and old, belonging to 19 Rohingya families, live in fear at a designated camp in Kancheepuram district as deportation moves gain ground. On September 4, in New Delhi, the Centre refused to give an undertaking that it would stop any measure to deport the Rohingya just because the case is in the Supreme Court. The court has asked the government to give a response on its stand on September 11.

When did they arrive?
Soon after the 2012 spell of violence against the Rohingya in the western province of Rakhine, Myanmar, a group of five families, 32 in all, arrived in Chennai from Kolkata by train. They had reached Kolkata by road through Bangladesh, to which they had fled in a boat. Since 2012, the numbers went up and down. Last year, some persons, living in Jammu and Kashmir, joined them, while some others left for Kerala. At present, of the 94 refugees in all, there are 52 minors. All of them have been registered with the Chennai office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Where do the refugees live?
The Rohingya families have been accommodated on the premises of an old, unimpressive 35-year-old structure in Kelambakkam, 30 km from Chennai, in the neighbouring district of Kancheepuram. The structure was originally built to serve as a cyclone-shelter. Loosely placed sheds, made of wood, plastic and cloth, occupy the open space surrounding the structure and 15 refugees are staying in these sheds.

When UNHCR officials came to know of the presence of the Rohingya in different parts of Chennai in 2015, they sought the support of the Tamil Nadu government, which agreed to locate them in the Kelambakkam shelter.

The Rohingya find Kelambakkam a convenient place to live as it is a bustling suburb with a huge corporate hospital, a nursing home and some information technology firms. Most of the men of the camp have got jobs. Just across the road on which their camp is situated lies a primary health centre, where the refugees go in times of need. “All the eligible children of the camp are going to a panchayat primary school to have free education and the school is about half-a-km away,” points out Noorqaidah, a 17-year-old dropout, who has three sisters and two brothers, all younger.

Talking of the amenities, Ms. Noorqaidah, who speaks in functional Tamil, has only one point to make. “Originally, we had four toilets. Two are not working. Are two toilets enough for all of us,” she asks. Noor Mohammed, leader of the Rohingya community, says, “I request the authorities to provide us better accommodation.”

Are they aware of Myanmar events?
With the only television set they had developing a snag, Ms. Noorqaidah says the inmates are keeping track of what is happening in Myanmar through mobile phones and social media. After a pause, she admits that all the adults in the camp are “extremely worried” about the latest outbreak of violence in their province. At Rakhine, violence has escalated in the last two weeks, forcing thousands of Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.

“None of them is sleeping properly these days. Some of them break down,” she says.

What if they are deported?
“We do not know anything. I have not heard anything of that sort,” says Mr. Noor Mohammed. But Ms. Noorqaidah is perturbed. “Where will we go? Does this world not have any place for us?” She points out that only after the situation in Myanmar turned unbearable did her community flee the southeast Asian country.

“If the problem subsides there, we would love to go back to our place,” adds the community leader.

 

[Hindustani78]

 

[Hindustani78]

Thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Rakhine have entered Bangladesh over the past two weeks. | Photo Credit: Haroon Habib

http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...-everywhere/article19655929.ece?homepage=true

Government sources say around 100 babies were born in the no-man’s land near the border during the past two weeks
Salimullah, the primary earning member of an eight-member family in Myanmar’s Rakhine, crossed the border over to Bangladesh last week. Fleeing violence in the trouble-hit Rakhine state, Mr. Salimullah, 40, hoped that he would at least be safe in Bangladesh. But ever since he reached the country, Mr. Salimullah has been spending days and nights on the Kutupalang Dhal road in Ukhia, a sub-district in Cox’s Bazar.

“We have no option but to be on the roadside. The camps are full. We have no food except some biscuits and bread given by local aid workers,” Mr. Salimulla told The Hindu on Sunday afternoon.

Like Mr. Salimullah, tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Rakhine have entered Bangladesh over the past two weeks. The refugee camps in Kutupalang and Nayapara in Cox’s Bazar are already overcrowded, forcing new refugees to stay on the roadside.

On the Ukhia-Teknaf road, which leads up to Leda on the Myanmar border, The Hindu met hundreds of people, including women, children and elderly. Some of them have set up makeshift tents using old clothes and polythene. “Please help me, forget about us, my kid will die if I don’t get milk or food,” Khaleda Begum, a young mother, told this reporter, carrying her newborn baby.

Ms. Begum and her husband fled Mongodu in Rakhine as Myanmar security forces launched an “anti-insurgency” operation. “They burnt our village and we had to flee,” she said with tears rolling down her cheeks. In Bangladesh, like many others, they had to take roadside shelter.

Government sources said around 100 babies were born in the no-man’s land near the border during the past two weeks, without any medical attention and in unsafe and unhygienic conditions. “Unless they [children] are picked up from roads and taken to hospitals, they are sure to die,” a local official said.

Babies were born in the no-man’s land near the border without any medical attention and in unsafe and unhygienic conditions, government sources said. | Photo Credit: Haroon Habib



Bangladesh was already hosting 5,00,000 Rohingya refugees who fled violence in Rakhine over the past several years before the latest crisis broke out. The new wave of refugee influx started after Myanmar security forces started an operation in Rakhine following an insurgent attack on police camps on August 24. Some 3,00,000 Rohingya have entered Bangladesh since late August, according to government officials and aid agencies.

The people stranded on the border do not have enough food or medicines, according to aid agencies. Many of them are still trying to cross the mountains, dense bush and rice fields to reach Bangladesh. Several of them get shot while trying to cross the border or get wounded in landmine explosions.

Thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Rakhine have entered Bangladesh over the past two weeks. | Photo Credit: Haroon Habib

A total of 86 Rohingyas have been admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital over the past few weeks, mostly wounded by gunfire or landmine explosions. Two of them have died. Besides, at least 89 people have drowned while trying to reach Bangladesh via water.

The U.N. Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh on Saturday appealed for aid, saying the aid agencies working in Ukhia and Teknaf urgently needed $77 million to cope with the situation.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who said the county was giving humanitarian assistance to the hapless people, has also urged Myanmar to take back the refugees the soonest. She will visit the Kutupalang refugee camp in Ukhia on September 12.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-disaster-next-door/article19656058.ece?homepage=true

India’s stance on the Rohingya refugees undermines its ties with Bangladesh and its regional leadership

In a span of two weeks, almost 300,000 Rohingya have crossed over to Bangladesh from the northern Rakhine state in Myanmar, putting Bangladesh under immense strain and compelling the refugees to find shelter in squalid, unsanitary camps scattered along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. Excluded from the 135 officially recognised ethnic groups, the Rohingya have been harassed and hounded by the Myanmar authorities for decades. The latest surge follows attacks on police posts by an extremist Rohingya group in late August and military action. While the Myanmar authorities claim that 400 lives have been lost, advocates cite double this number.

Where is the spirit?
The flight of the Rohingya has quickened in the past two weeks, but Rohingya refugees have been trying to find a home outside their native Rakhine for years now, braving human traffickers and fraught conditions on rickety, overcrowded boats. The Rohingya have also sought refuge in India where they have been shunned, denied basic public services and deemed by authorities as ‘the undesirables’.

While the government has called them to be illegal immigrants and trespassers, the fact is that India, throughout its history, has been generously accommodative towards refugees in the neighbourhood fleeing persecution, which includes Parsis, Tibetans, Afghans, Sri Lankan Tamils, and Bangladeshis during the war of liberation in 1971. India has prided itself in its tradition of Atithi Devo Bhava (the guest is equivalent to god).

The stance on the Rohingya issue by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his recent visit to Myanmar, has been disappointing and is contradictory to the values of hospitality and inclusiveness that India stands for. South Asia, particularly Bangladesh, which has been most affected by the crisis, was hopeful that Mr. Modi would express concern about the humanitarian crisis with Myanmar’s State Councillor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Instead, he was seen empathising with Myanmar, and the joint statement at the end of the visit said: “India stands with Myanmar over the issue of violence in the Rakhine state which has led to loss of innocent lives.” In doing so, he overlooked the atrocious crimes committed in the neighbourhood and almost turned a blind eye to both the untold sufferings caused to the refugees fleeing persecution and the resulting difficulties that a resource-constrained country such as Bangladesh has been put to — a country which Indian politicians and officials frequently refer to as a role model of friendship in India’s neighbourhood.

Bangladesh’s burden
International relief agencies in Bangladesh such as the office of the UNHCR and the World Food Programme are struggling to attend to the large number of refugees arriving each day on foot or by boat (picture shows refugees at the border, at Teknaf, Bangladesh). Bangladesh, itself one of the world’s most densely populated nations, has hosted more than 600,000 Rohingya compared to 40,000 by India. Initially, hesitant to open borders along the Naf river, Bangladesh has now started allowing in refugees.

Through the International Committee of the Red Cross, Dhaka has proposed that Myanmar secure areas in Rakhine under international relief agency supervision, but there has been no response so far from Myanmar. Bangladesh has plans of making another 607 hectares of land available near the Myanmar border for camps to accommodate refugees. It has also urged the international community to put pressure on Myanmar to take back the refugees and stop the violence against them. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently said: “It affects a country’s dignity when tens of thousands of its own nationals are fleeing home to take refuge outside.”

On the other side of the fence
Last Friday, India’s move to dissociate itself from the Bali Declaration adopted at the World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development in Indonesia, and which called “on all parties to contribute to the restoration of stability and security ... respect human rights of all people in Rakhine State regardless of their faith and ethnicity, as well as facilitate safe access for humanitarian assistance”, puts into question its respect for human rights and the treatment of minorities. It weakens India’s moral authority to speak for minorities in other parts of its neighbourhood. Interestingly Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka joined the declaration.

In his 2015 visit to Bangladesh, Mr. Modi used eloquent phrases to describe the India-Bangladesh friendship. Since 2009, Bangladesh has emerged as one of India’s most trusted neighbours, with Dhaka addressing almost all of New Delhi’s security concerns. This includes cracking down on cross-border terrorism and insurgency conducted against India from Bangladeshi soil. The India-Bangladesh border today is one of the safest for India, enabling massive redeployment of its vital border resources for other purposes. Despite this, Bangladesh has neither received water from the Teesta or support in times of humanitarian crisis from its biggest neighbour.

Ironically, when Bangladesh procured two submarines from China, indicating the growing economic and defence ties between the two countries, New Delhi rushed its then Union Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, to Dhaka to elevate military cooperation. Such promptness is missing when it comes to supporting Bangladesh when it is overcome by helpless refuges persecuted at home and accepted by none. The world does not expect Myanmar’s other big neighbour, China, to be vocal about the atrocities being committed, but as the upholder of democratic values, India has a unique opportunity to demonstrate statesmanship and regional leadership by mediating a solution to the Rohingya crisis on the basis of a report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State headed by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and set up by none other than Ms. Suu Kyi.

While Myanmar is an important factor in India’s ocean diplomacy and a valuable stakeholder in its ‘Look East’ Policy, India’s nonchalant attitude towards the humanitarian plight of the Rohingya reflects inadequate moral leadership and an inability to rise to the occasion as expected from a regional power vying to enhance its influence in the neighbourhood. One of the reasons why India, despite its enviable soft power and formidable hard power, fails to generate confidence in the region, including with friends such as Bangladesh, is its complex geopolitics based more on political opportunism and economic interests as opposed to principles and values, practised consistently. This must be food for thought for India.

Prof. Syed Munir Khasru is Chairman of the international think tank, The Institute for Policy, Advocacy, and Governance (IPAG). E-mail: munir.khasru@ipag.org

 

[Hindustani78]

People from Muslim community and members of peoples’ organisations participating in a rally opposing sending back Rohingya Muslims to Burma. | Photo Credit: Mohd Arif;Mohd Arif

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/protect-the-rohingya-muslims/article19656510.ece


Demanding the Union Government to provide protection for Rohyingya Muslims and not to send them back forcibly, several minorities held a rally and dharna in the district headquarters on Sunday. They alleged that the Myanmar Government had been stooping to the level of genocide and it needs to be stopped immediately. Representatives of different organisations participated in the programme on Sunday.

 

[Cat Shannon]

Send them back. Send them BACK.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...eikh-hasina-tells-myanmar/article19671872.ece

‘Atrocities violation of human rights’
Describing the atrocities on Rohingyas as “violation of human rights”, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged Myanmar to safely take their nationals back to their land.

“Stop violence against innocent people,” Ms. Hasina said adding that though Bangladesh would provide refuge to those coming in on humanitarian grounds, they would eventually have to go back to their country.

Visiting the biggest Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhia’s Kutupalang here, Ms. Hasina categorically said what was happening in Myanmar was “inhuman, a violation of human rights.” “It is difficult to stem one’s tears when we see the situation. People deserve to live like human beings. Why should they suffer so?”

Before distributing relief materials to the refugees who arrived in droves since the Myanmar military allegedly began an offensive, Ms. Hasina said Bangladesh only wanted “peace and good relations” with its neighbours, however, that it could not accept “unjust acts” the Myanmar government was committing.

“Still, the fire is burning there...people can’t find out their family members...the bodies of infants and women are floating on the Naf River, these go completely against humanity and are violation of human rights,” the Prime Minister said. “What are the crimes these innocent children, women and people have committed...we can’t tolerate such activities,” she said.

“Give them a safe place to live in their homeland. The international community should put pressure on Myanmar as they’re committing such atrocities on Rohingya people. This has to be stopped,” Ms. Hasina added.

“We will do what we can to provide support. Our humanity compels us to stand by them in these sad times. It is because of this that we have allowed them to take refuge in Bangladesh. We will make arrangements for them until the Myanmar government is ready to take them back.”

Ms. Hasina also questioned Myanmar’s decision to change its laws and prevent its 1.1 million Rohingya residents from receiving citizenship.

She condemned the attacks by insurgents on the Myanmar border police and the military. “Let those who created this situation see the effect the violence has had on their own mothers, sisters and children. Their wrongdoing has forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. They should have discussed their problems with the government.”

Earlier in the day, Ms. Hasina told the national Parliament that the country would take up the Rohingya issue with the United Nations General Assembly.

According to United Nations, while exodus is still continuing, a total of 370,000 Rohingyas have already fled Myanmar for Bangladesh. The UN International Organization for Migration chief spokesman Leonard Doyle said on Tuesday, "The system is clearly at full stretch and needs all the support it can get. "

 

[Hindustani78]

A demonstrator holds a poster during a protest against the treatment of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, as they try to march towards Myanmar embassy, in New Delhi on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: AFP

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ngyas-to-sc/article19677239.ece?homepage=true

The petition, filed through Mohammad Yunus, describes the life of an average Rohingya in Jammu.

About 7,000 Rohingya living in 23 settlements across Jammu have moved the Supreme Court, saying there is not a single terrorist amidst them and they deserve to be treated with dignity by the government.

Applications have been filed in the Supreme Court alleging that Rohingya are a national security threat, and they should be deported. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has asked the Centre to clarify its position. The case came to the apex court following a government move to deport Rohingya. The court is scheduled to hear the issue on September 18.

“All 7,000 Rohingya have nothing to do with terrorism,” the community, represented by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, said.

The petition, filed through Mohammad Yunus, a Rohingya, describes the life of an average Rohingya in Jammu.

It said there has not been a single allegation of terrorism against any Rohingya ever since the community began living in Jammu. “Not a single one of them [Rohingya] has ever engaged in any terrorist activity,” the petition said.

It describes the frequency of police checks in their settlements. “The local police have for over a year conducted interrogation of all the Rohingya and have taken full details of each family. The local police have inspected the settlements several times every month. All the Rohingya cooperate with the police and give them all the required information,” the petition said.

It said, branding Rohingya as terrorists was both unfair and discriminatory. They asked the court to intervene with the government to treat the community with some dignity, to not displace the community, which has undergone years of persecution in their own native land of Myanmar.

“The approximately 7,000 Rohingya reside peacefully on privately owned lands owned and rented out by Indian nationals, most of whom are Hindus. The Rohingya are paying rent to these landlords on a timely basis. None of the landlords have ever voiced any complaints or objections about the conduct of their Rohingya tenants,” the petition said.

The petition said all the 7,000 Rohingya were “interrogated” extensively by the UNHCR, their statements verified before declaring them as refugees.

“All of them fled their country of origin i.e. Myanmar due to fear of persecution and are not the illegal immigrants in India. Most of these families have been residing peacefully in Jammu since 2008. The Rohingya have a well-founded fear of persecution in the country of their origin on account of their minority ethnic community status,” the petition said.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Defence
14-September, 2017 19:52 IST
Operation Insaaniyat

Humanitarian Assistance to Bangladesh on Account of Influx of Refugees

A humanitarian crisis arose in Bangladesh due to heavy influx of refugees from neighbouring Myanmar. The government of India has decided to assist Bangladesh in this crisis by sending relief material. The Indian Air Force was tasked to airlift the relief material from India to Bangladesh. One C-17 Globemaster strategic heavy lift cargo aircraft was positioned at short notice at Delhi on 13 Sep 17 to airlift 55 Tons of relief material to Chittagong, Bangladesh. This aircraft was loaded overnight with relief material consisting of critical daily necessities viz., rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, ready to eat meals, mosquito nets etc.

The C-17 carrying relief material departed early morning on 14 Sep 17 and routed via Kolkata to pick up additional load. The material was delivered at Chittagong, Bangladesh at 1245 hours on 14 Sep 17. One more C-17 is scheduled to airlift additional relief material to Bangladesh. The Indian Air Force rose to the challenge and played a pivotal role to further strengthen the close ties of friendship between India and Bangladesh.

*********

 

[Hindustani78]

Agartala, September 14, 2017 19:54 IST
Updated: September 14, 2017 19:58 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...st-rohingya/article19684867.ece?homepage=true

Protesters gather in Agartala, Tripura objecting to the treatment of Rohingya in Myanmar | Photo Credit: Abhisek Saha

The peaceful rally was organised by the Tripura State unit of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind
Thousands of Muslims took to the streets of Agartala on Thursday to protest the alleged atrocities on Rohingya in Myanmar. The protestors slammed the State Counselor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi for allowing oppression and persecution against the religious minority.

“Hang Suu Kyi for ongoing genocide, mass rape and forceful eviction of Rohingyas”, they shouted. They held placards with pictures on the plight of the evacuees who now number up to 300,000 in southeast Bangladesh.

Traffic came to a grinding halt in the city for an hour due to the huge rally organised by the Tripura State unit of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind. Protestors from across the State joined in.

“Our central body already expressed serious concern over coordinated atrocities against Rohingya people and appealed for intervention of world powers to save Muslims in Buddhist majority Myanmar”, said a local leader of Hind.

There was huge deployment of security forces in the city for the protest programme which ended peacefully. Besides Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, some other organisations planned protests over violence against Rohingya in Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Tripura police said there has not been any report of Rohingya infiltration through any border route in the State. “There were detection of Rohingyas under Passport Act in the past, but none was found in recent days”, a senior police official told The Hindu.

He said most of the detainees earlier sneaked into the State from Bangladesh for their onward journey to Delhi or Jammu where a sizeable number of Rohingya refugees live.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...-bangladesh/article19682581.ece?homepage=true

The first consignment of India’s assistance comes days after Dhaka briefed New Delhi about the problems arising due to the influx of Rohingya refugees.
India on Thursday sent 53 tonnes of relief materials to Bangladesh for Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar, who poured into this country following the ethnic violence in the neighbouring Buddhist-majority nation.

The first consignment of India’s assistance comes days after Dhaka briefed New Delhi about the problems arising due to the influx of Rohingya refugees.

Bangladesh High Commissioner in New Delhi Syed Muazzem Ali had met Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar last week and discussed the issue of Rohingya in detail.

Operation Insaniyat
“In response to the humanitarian crisis being faced on account of the large influx of refugees into Bangladesh, Government of India has decided to extend assistance to Bangladesh,” External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi said in a statement.

The relief material consists of items required urgently by the affected people, namely rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, tea, ready to eat noodles, biscuits, mosquito nets etc, it said.

“Operation Insaniyat: High Commission handed over 1st consignment humanitarian assistance by India to Bangladesh,” the mission tweeted.

“1st consignment of #Indian humanitarian assistance of 53 MT for #Bangladeshi arrives under Operation #Insaniyat @SushmaSwaraj,” it said.

India will provide 7,000 tonnes of relief materials to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader received the materials from Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla after an Indian aircraft carrying the assistance landed at southeastern port city of Chittagong.

The mission said Quader likened the aid to India’s assistance to Bangladesh during the 1971 Liberation War.

Big influx of refugees
Bangladesh, which is facing a big influx of Rohingya from Myanmar, has called on the international community to intervene and put pressure on Myanmar to address the exodus.

According to the UN estimates, over 379,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state into Bangladesh since August 25 when a fresh wave of violence erupted.

According to media reports, the violence began when Rohingya militants attacked police posts in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state.

Rohingya residents — a stateless mostly-Muslim minority in a Buddhist-majority nation — allege that the military and Rakhine Buddhists responded with a brutal campaign against them, according to the reports.

Bangladesh had earlier said the new influx of Rohingya refugees is an unbearable additional burden on the country which has been hosting around 400,000 Myanmar nationals who had to leave their country in the past due to communal violence and repeated military operations.