No Excuse for Violence: Obama Tells Burma

[Zabaniyah]

Good....GOOD!

 

[fallstuff]

Ms Drama Queen believes in people power, so she will act in more racist way. I do think she will pull more to that side, possibly to the furthest end of that spectrum.

The Generals don't care about people power, hence at the very least it would be prudent to engage the Generals in the foreseeable future.

 

[Hammer-fist]

Egypt demands Myanmar to stop acts of violence committed against Rohingya in Myanmar


Friday, November 23, 2012 Egypt, Rohingya News No comments


Egypt has expressed is strong irritation towards the renewal of acts of violence committed against Muslims in Myanmar, and urged the authorities in Myanmar (formerly Burma) to take immediate, decisive action and bring to an end such acts of violence committed against (Burmese) Muslims who belong to the Rohingya ethicity.

A spokesman from the Egyptian Foreign Affairs Ministry, minister plenipotentiary Amro Rushdi said today that the Ministry yesterday summoned Myanmar's ambassador in Cairo and handed him an urgent message which carries Egypt's strong irritation from renewal of acts of violence against Muslims of the Rohingya ethic minority in Myanmar.

The spokesman said that the message included Egypt's demanding the government of Myanmar to take immediate, decisive actions in order to bring to an end such acts of violence which targeted the lives and properties of Muslims in Myanmar and also to bring the committers of such criminal acts before justice in addition to drastic solving the crisis in order to prevent the recurrence of such acts of violence and to stop all sorts of discrimination against Muslims from the Rohingya or from any other ethnicity.

-(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) --

Egypt demands Myanmar to stop acts of violence committed against Rohingya in Myanma ~ Rohingya Blogger












Organization of Islamic Countries, ministers head to Myanmar over Rohingya Muslims


Alisha Hassan | 21 November 2012 | 0 Comments

Western Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims face food shortages and ethnic violence.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is expected to finalize and arrange a visit to Myanmar for discussions on ways to resolve the crisis faced by minority Rohingya Muslims.

According to the OIC, the visit will be led by Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, and a number of foreign ministers from its member states.

“The ministers will assess the humanitarian needs of those affected by the violence in the Rakhine state, and also coordinate with the Myanmar authorities to develop a plan for it,” it said in a statement.

The visit is part of the resolutions adopted at the recent OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting in Djibouti.

The 39th CFM urged member states to intensify efforts in the restoration of the Rohingya Muslims’ nationality and citizenship rights, and the return of refugees, as soon as possible.

It comes as the situation for Myanmar’s Rohingya continues to face an uncertain future as violence continues in Rakhine state.

Malaysia, which has a large Rohingya refugee population, has been pushing for greater aid to the Muslim minority in Myanmar in recent months.

1Malaysia Putera Club’s main Humanitarian Mission team, led by President Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, was in Myanmar last month.

The 35-member team, said they were assisted by Prime Minister Najib Razak to gain permission to enter the country based on Malaysia’s close ties with Myanmar.

An estimated 500 tons of food, medicine and other items had been sent by ship followed by 14 volunteers on surveillance mission on September 29.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian mission included singer Irwan Shah Abdullah, better known as DJ Dave, as the representative of the 1Malaysia Artistes Foundation.

Since mid-June, Bangladesh authorities have admitted to forcing back at least 1,300 Rohingya trying to flee to Bangladesh, though the actual number is likely substantially higher, Human Rights Watch said. Rohingya are escaping killings, looting, and other sectarian violence in Arakan State, as well as abuses by the Burmese authorities, including ethnically motivated attacks and mass arrests.

A United Nations senior official expressed serious concern about reports of human rights violations committed by security forces in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, after clashes between its Buddhist and Muslim communities reportedly killed at least 78 people and displaced thousands in July.

“We have been receiving a stream of reports from independent sources alleging discriminatory and arbitrary responses by security forces, and even their instigation of and involvement in clashes,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said in a news release.

“Reports indicate that the initial swift response of the authorities to the communal violence may have turned into a crackdown targeting Muslims, in particular members of the Rohingya [Muslim] community,” she added.

According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the state, located in the country’s west, was triggered when an ethnic Rakhine woman was raped and murdered on May 28. This was followed by the killing of 10 Muslims by an unidentified mob on June 3.

Pillay called for a prompt, independent investigation, noting that the crisis reflects the long-standing and systemic discrimination against the Rohingya Muslim community, who are not recognized by the Government and remain stateless.

“The government has a responsibility to prevent and punish violent acts, irrespective of which ethnic or religious group is responsible, without discrimination and in accordance with the rule of law,” Pillay said.

She also called on national leaders to speak out against discrimination, the exclusion of minorities and racist attitudes, and in support of equal rights for all in Myanmar. She also stressed that the UN was making an effort to assist and protect all communities in Rakhine state.

“Prejudice and violence against members of ethnic and religious minorities run the risk of dividing the country in its commendable national reconciliation efforts, undermine national solidarity, and upset prospects of peace-building,” Pillay said.

Meanwhile, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is delivering aid to the more than 30,000 people that were affected by the violence.

“As we speak, additional tents are being airlifted from the Republic of Korea to meet urgent shelter needs on the ground,” a UNHCR spokesperson, Andrej Mahecic, told reporters in Geneva.

Organization of Islamic Countries, ministers head to Myanmar over Rohingya Muslims

 

[Hammer-fist]

Hammer - The OIC are monitoring the situation and the head of the OIC himself is visiting Burma.

If the Burmese regime does not stop its persecution of Rohingyas (it ethnically cleansed some villages last month) then the likelihood of military intervention will grow.

This would be the first ever use of military force in the history of the OIC, but from what I understand the possibility of using military force was discussed a few months back.

The other scenario is that Rohingya military operations against the fascist junta will continue and escalate, and ultimately northern Arakan (mainly Muslim) may secede.

If as some suspect there is an American hand in this to block China from accessing the bay of Bengal via Sittwe (the capital of Arakan) we may even see Rohingya guerillas take territory as far as Sittwe itself.

Burmese hardliners angered with the capture of 3 Burmese soldiers apparently by Rohingya guerillas have even called for military action against Bangladesh, if that were to happen then the Burmese military would be history. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia would get involved and the US may even use Bangladesh/Rohingyas to capture most of Arakan from the pro-Chinese Burmese junta.

This is smart power play by the Americans and huge pressure on the Burmese junta and ultimately on China itself.

 

[eastwatch]

Apart from Rohingya issue, I think, it would be much wiser for US to follow a policy of,

1) Not allowing a route to China to Sittwe. Because, it will cause Burma to succumb under the direct weight of China, which is certainly an unwelcome prospect which US will not relish.

2) Allowing a Cox's Bazaar-Burma-Kunming route. This will put China in a more complex situation because it will have to deal with two countries supported by US. It is a kind of check and balance approach.

The last thing US wants is a Chinese naval base in the BoB that will be connected to Kunming via roads. But, I have a gutt feeling USA is discouraging Burma from allowing a Chinese trade route to Cox's Bazaar, too. US wants a weaker China bottled inside itself. Considering China's role in the west Pacific I do not regret a bottled China, but I will certainly want a Chinese assistance in BD's development projects.

 

[Hammer-fist]

U.N. committee expresses concern for Myanmar's Muslims


By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS | Mon Nov 26, 2012 10:02pm GMT

(Reuters) - A committee of the U.N. General Assembly expressed serious concern on Monday over violence in Myanmar between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists and called upon the government to address reports of human rights abuses by some authorities.

The 193-nation General Assembly's Third Committee, which focuses on rights issues, approved by consensus a non-binding resolution, which Myanmar said contained a "litany of sweeping allegations, accuracies of which have yet to be verified."

Outbreaks of violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and the Rohingyas have killed dozens and displaced thousands since June. Rights groups also have accused Myanmar security forces of killing, raping and arresting Rohingyas after the riots. Myanmar said it exercised "maximum restraint" to quell the violence.

The U.N. resolution "expressing particular concern about the situation of the Rohingya minority in Rakhine state, urges the government to take action to bring about an improvement in their situation and to protect all their human rights, including their right to a nationality."

At least 800,000 Muslim Rohingya live in Rakhine State along the coast of western Myanmar. But Buddhist Rakhines and other Burmese view them as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh who deserve neither rights nor sympathy.

The Myanmar mission to the United Nations told the Third Committee that while it accepted the resolution, it objected to the Rohingya being referred to as a minority.

"There has been no such ethnic group as Rohingya among the ethnic groups of Myanmar," a representative of Myanmar's U.N. mission said. "Despite this fact, the right to citizenship for any member or community has been and will never be denied if they are in line with the law of the land."

NOT PERSECUTION

A Reuters investigation into the wave of sectarian assaults painted a picture of organized attacks against the Muslim community. During an historic visit to Myanmar last week, U.S. President Barack Obama called for an end to incitement and violence.

"Violence in Rakhine state was just a violent communal clash affecting both sides of the community. It is not an issue of religious persecution," the Myanmar representative told the Third Committee.

During the past year, Myanmar has introduced the most sweeping reforms in the former British colony since a 1962 military coup. A semi-civilian government stacked with former generals has allowed elections, eased rules on protests and freed dissidents.

"Any shortcomings in the human rights field are being addressed through legal reform processes and legal reform mechanisms, including the national human rights commission," said the Myanmar representative.

The U.N. resolution also "urges the government to accelerate its efforts to address discrimination, human rights violations, violence, displacement and economic deprivation affecting various ethnic minorities" and expresses deep concern about an armed conflict in Kachin state.

Myanmar President Thein Sein has ordered troops in Kachin State not to attack the rebels, but has allowed them to defend themselves. The conflict there resurfaced in June 2011, scuttling a 16-year truce and displacing an estimated 50,000 people.

The Third Committee, which includes all members of the General Assembly, is also scheduled to debate resolutions on Iran, Syria and North Korea. A special General Assembly session next month is expected to formally adopt all recently approved committee resolutions.

(Editing by Paul Simao)

U.N. committee expresses concern for Myanmar's Muslims | Reuters

 

[Hammer-fist]

Burma army artillery expert dies in Hpakant accident

In News Post 28 November 2012 Last Updated on 28 November 2012 By KNG Hits: 0


HPAKANT, BURMA — Four Burma army personnel, including an artillery expert, died last week following a munitions accident at a military base in Kachin state's jade rich Hpakant (also Hpakan, Phakant) district, the Kachin News Group has learned.

According to a source with close ties to the military the Russian-trained artillery officer and three subordinates were killed on November 21 when the 105mm howitzer shell they were attempting to fire exploded prematurely. At least four other soldiers are believed to have been injured by the explosion. The ultimate cause of the accident which took place at the Hpakant Military Strategy Command (MSC) remains unknown.

The lethal incident occurred as government forces engaged in heavy shelling of Kahcin Independence Army (KIA) positions in Maw Mau Bum, about 3 miles north-west of the Hpakant MSC, according to a KIA officer whose post was on the receiving end of numerous shells last week. The accident may have caused significant damage to the base as no more shells have been fired from Hpakant MSC since the day the alleged mishap occurred.

Local residents tell KNG that they saw government troops bury the bodies of at least three people very near to the base shortly after the explosion, a common practice for the military while operating on the frontline.

Burma's military deployed the artillery battalion to which the late troops are believed to have belonged to, shortly after the end of August when a large explosion occurred at a mine belonging to the Wai Aung Kaba Company where government forces were stationed. The August blast which was triggered by KIA guerrilla action killed more than 100 government troops, according to a local KIA officer from the group's Battalion 6.


http://www.kachinnews.com/news/2443-burma-army-artillery-expert-dies-in-hpakant-accident.html


Hammer

1. The Burmese are weak and poorly trained.

2. They are severely demoralized as many are conscripts who do not wish to be sent to possibly die fighting Kachins.

3. The junta are corrupt and are controlled by generals who use the army to further their private business interests.

4. A properly equipped Rohingya force (forget even the regular Bangladeshi army) could smash the Burmese army in Arakan.

The Rohingya could replicate what Shan, Mon, Karen and other ethnic rebel groups have done in Burma and create their own de facto independent statelets.

 

[Hammer-fist]

Kachin refugee camp burned down by Burma Army

MUSE, BURMA --- Troops from Burma's military operating in northern Shan state set an internally displaced person's (IDP) camp on fire on Wednesday. The camp located near Pangsai was almost completely destroyed according to eyewitnesses who described the perpetrators as being from the army's Infantry Battalion No. 240.

The camp situated close to the Burma-China border was serving as a temporary home for families displaced by fighting between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the army. Those living at the camp were from the nearby villages of Kawng Sahte, Hpai Kawng, Kawng Ra and Hka Leng.

While some refugees from Pangsai have fled to China doing so is increasingly risky. According to local aid groups Chinese authorities have since August deported an estimated 6,000 refugees back to Burma.

The burning of the IDP camp appears to have been carried out in retaliation for casualties the Burma army unit suffered earlier on in the day at the hands of the KIO affiliated civilian militia, the Mungshawa Hpyen Hpung (MHH). At least 10 soldiers were killed and an additional 6 were injured during the clashes which took place Tuesday morning at the largely abandoned Hpai Kawng village, according to Zau Seng, an officer from the MHH. The MHH whose name translates as the People's Army is made up local villagers, MHH units often fight alongside Kachin Independence Army (KIA) troops.

At least 20 men from Hpai Kawng village were detained by government troops earlier this week. According to area residents the arrested villagers are being held at the local Kachin Baptist church which is now occupied by the army.

Kachin refugee camp burned down by Burma Army - Kachin News Group

 

[Hammer-fist]

AP Exclusive: Myanmar verifying Muslim citizenship


By By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press – 10 hours ago
SIN THET MAW, Myanmar (AP) — Guarded by rifle-toting police, immigration authorities in western Myanmar have launched a major operation aimed at settling an explosive question at the heart of the biggest crisis the government has faced since beginning its nascent transition to democracy last year.
It's a question that has helped fuel two bloody spasms of sectarian unrest between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims since June, and it comes down to one simple thing: Who has the right to be a citizen of Myanmar, and who does not?
A team of Associated Press journalists that traveled recently to the remote island village of Sin Thet Maw, a maze of bamboo huts without electricity in Myanmar's volatile west, found government immigration officials in the midst of a painstaking, census-like operation aimed at verifying the citizenship of Muslims living there, one family at a time.
Armed with pens, stacks of paper and hand-drawn maps, they worked around low wooden tables that sat in the dirt, collecting information about birth dates and places, parents and grandparents — vital details of life and death spanning three generations.
The operation began quietly with no public announcement in the township of Pauktaw on Nov. 8, of which the village of Sin Thet Maw is a part. It will eventually be carried out across all of Rakhine state, the coastal territory where nearly 200 people have died in the last five months, and 110,000 more, mostly Muslims, have fled.
The Thailand-based advocacy group, the Arakan Project, warns the results could be used to definitively rule out citizenship for the Rohingya, who have suffered discrimination for decades and are widely viewed as foreigners from Bangladesh. Muslims in Sin Thet Maw echoed those concerns, and said they had not been told what the operation was for.
"What we know is that they don't want us here," said one 34-year-old Muslim named Zaw Win, who said his family had lived in Sin Thet Maw since 1918.
So far, more than 2,000 Muslim families have gone through the process, but no "illegal settlers have been found," said state spokesman Win Myaing.
It was not immediately clear, however, what would happen to anyone deemed to be illegal. Win Myaing declined to say whether they could deported or not. Bangladesh has regularly turned back Rohingya refugees, as have other countries, including Thailand.
Few issues in Myanmar are as sensitive as this.
The conflict has galvanized an almost nationalistic furor against the Rohingya, who majority Buddhists believe are trying to steal scarce land and forcibly spread the Islamic faith. Myanmar's recent transition to democratic rule has opened the way for monks to stage anti-Rohingya protests as an exercise in freedom of expression, and for vicious anti-Rohingya rants to swamp Internet forums.
In the nearby town of Pauktaw, where all that remains of a once-significant Muslim community are the ashes of charred homes and blackened palm trees, the hatred is clear. Graffiti scrawled inside a destroyed mosque ominously warns that the "Rakhine will drink Kalar blood." Kalar is a derogatory epithet commonly used to refer to Muslims here.
Myanmar's reformist leader, President Thein Sein, had set a harsh tone over the summer, saying that "it is impossible to accept those Rohingya who are not our ethnic nationals."
But this month, he appeared to change course, penning an unprecedented and politically risky letter to the U.N. promising to consider new rights for the Rohingya for the first time.
In the letter, Thein Sein said his government would address contentious issues "ranging from resettlement of displaced populations to granting of citizenship," but he gave no timeline and stopped short of fully committing to naturalize them.
The operation observed by the AP in Sin Thet Maw appeared to be part of an effort to resolve the issue.
By law, anyone whose forefathers lived in Myanmar prior to independence in 1948 has the right to apply for citizenship. But in practice, most Rohingya have been unable to. They must typically obtain permission to travel, and sometimes even to marry.
Discrimination has made it hard to obtain key documents like birth certificates, according to rights groups. Many Rohingya, having migrated here during the era of British colonial rule, speak a Bengali dialect and resemble Muslim Bangladeshis, with darker skin than other ethnic groups in Myanmar.
The road to naturalization grew more difficult with a 1982 citizenship law that excluded the Rohingya from a list of the nation's 135 recognized ethnicities. Since Bangladesh also rejects them, the move effectively rendered the Rohingya living in Myanmar stateless — a population the U.N. estimates at 800,000.
The issue is so fraught that even the word "Rohingya" itself is widely disputed. Buddhists say the term was made up to obscure the Muslim population's South Asian heritage; they do not accept the Rohingya as a separate ethnic group, and instead call them "Bengali" — a reference to the belief they are in fact Bangladeshis who entered illegally.
While some Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations and have documents to prove it, others arrived more recently. There is little distinction between these two groups, though. During the last official census in 1983, the Rohingya were excluded.
In places like Sit Thet Maw, Rakhine Buddhist elders believe they are on the front line of a population explosion, and they are worried.
Some 70 years ago, there were about 1,000 Buddhist and 100 Muslim inhabitants here, according to Said Thar Tun Maung, a 59-year-old Rakhine who works as a local government administrator. Today, the Buddhists are a minority: They number just 1,900, compared to 4,000 Rohingya residents.
Tun Maung blamed the demographic changes on higher birth rates among Muslim families, and the illegal arrival of new migrants hunting for fertile farmland and good fishing. Several thousand more Muslims arrived in October after Rakhine mobs burned their homes in the town of Kyaukphyu, swelling the Muslim population here even further. The refugees' presence is considered temporary — they are currently camped along the beach beside their ships.
"This is our land," Tun Maung said. But "it's slowly being taken away from us, and nobody is doing anything to stop it."
The AP team that visited Sin Thet Maw observed four-man government teams conducting interviews with dozens of Muslim families. The Rohingya live in a separate part of Sin Thet Maw that is completely segregated from the Buddhist side of the village by a wide field running hundreds of meters (yards) inland.
Most of those interviewed had temporary national registration cards that were issued by authorities ahead of elections in 2010 in an apparent effort to secure their support. The cards granted the Rohingya the right to vote, but they were stamped with a major caveat that read: "Not proof of citizenship." Most also showed government-issued forms on which their family members had been registered.
There was one question, though, that the officers did not ask — the one that mattered above all the rest. It was represented on the forms by a blank line beside the entry: "Race/Nationality."
After each interview, the officers filled in the empty space with the words: "Bengali," or, "Bengali/Islam."
The consequence of such answers is unclear. One officer, Kyi San, said only: "We're collecting data, not making decisions on nationality."
But several Muslims interviewed by the AP complained that officers refused to classify them as Rohingya, declaring that "the Rohingya do not exist." One man said he was beaten after refusing to sign a form identifying himself as Bengali.
"Being Bengali means we can be arrested and deported. It means we aren't part of this country," said Zaw Win, one of the Muslims who had been interrogated. "We are not Bengali. We are Rohingya."

Associated Press writers Aye Aye Win and Yadana Htun contributed to this report.

The Associated Press: AP Exclusive: Myanmar verifying Muslim citizenship

Hammer: It seems the Burmese junta might be seeking to "legally" declare the Rohingyas as Bengalis and then ethnically cleanse them.

The Muslim bloc (OIC) will not accept this and nor will Bangladesh.

If war breaks out between Bangladesh and Burma the 56 member OIC will support Bangladesh and most importantly Turkey, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

 

[Hammer-fist]

Kaman Muslims Raise Concerns of Wider Conflict



Violence Forces Burmese Muslims Out of Kyaukphyu
Burmese Courts Hand Down Hefty Sentences In Ethnic Clashes

TEXT SIZE
Daniel Schearf
November 29, 2012

SITTWE, BURMA — Communal fighting in Burma's western Rakhine State has focused on the plight of the Rohingya, a persecuted and stateless Muslim minority. But the ethnic Kaman, another Muslim group recognized as citizens, were also involved in the clashes, raising concerns of a wider religious conflict.


An earring is all that 74-year-old Muslim Ma Yay Phyu has left. She and her family fled communal fighting in Rakhine state by boat, but it sank and four family members died, including her husband.

"I don’t know why they attacked us," she recalled. "We never fought with them before. We used to live together in the same village."

Ma Yay Phyu is among the 100,000 people displaced in Rakhine. But, unlike the vast majority, she is not a Rohingya Muslim, she is Kaman.

Although the Rohingya are rejected by Burma's Buddhist majority as illegal Bengali migrants, Kaman are a recognized Muslim minority with citizenship rights.

Ethnic Kaman and religious leader U Thar Din says, after mosques were burned down, the clashes changed from racist to religious.

"If the government cannot control it, violence might happen again," he said. "We will not be patient at all. We are alive to die. Everyone will die one day. Muslims will not be patient at all."

Many Rakhine Buddhists who sought refuge in temples fail to distinguish between Rohingya and Kaman.

May Kyaw Mar, 55, says the two groups teamed up to attack them and burn their homes.

"Bengalis created the problem. Local [Kaman] Muslims also created the problem. They both are the same."

​​
Some Buddhist leaders are feeding hatred against Muslims, including the Kaman. U Bat Di Ya, the head monk at the Than Phyu Monastery, uses the ethnic slur "Kular," meaning dark-skin, to describe Rohingya.

"Kaman are also Kular," he said. "They are a kind of Kular race. They are the same blood. When incidents happen they unite with Kular, they don't stay on the Rakhine side."

President Thein Sein rebuked Buddhist leaders for anti-Muslim rhetoric. Nonetheless, Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing rejects the view that tensions have become religious.

"This is not a religious problem. This is not about ethnicity. I believe that only some extremist groups are creating the problems from behind the scenes," he noted.

Aye Nu Sein, spokeswoman for the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, rejects accusations they instigated violence against Muslims.

"Although Kaman are Muslims, they have the right to be a citizen of the country," she said. "Some Bengalis pretend to be Kaman, in order to get citizenship by taking advantage of their similarity of religion. We Rakhine call them 'fake Kaman.'"

Meanwhile, most Kaman say that although they have the right to citizenship, corrupt officials demand high fees that not all can afford.

They also show their prejudice. One woman has a national identification card with "Kaman from Pakistan" written on it by an immigration official, despite her being born in Burma and never having traveled to Pakistan.

Kaman Muslims Raise Concerns of Wider Conflict

 

[Hammer-fist]

Why Delhi should care about the Rohingya

|
Jayshree Bajoria : Fri Nov 30 2012, 00:18 hrs



It is in India’s interest to encourage Burma’s efforts to reconcile with its ethnic minorities

Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to India this month spotlighted the shared histories between the two nations and the need for a stronger alliance between them. A new reform agenda and Suu Kyi’s election to parliament offers New Delhi a chance to recalibrate its Burma policy to include greater focus on human rights, rule of law and democratic governance.

Burma is crucial to India’s stability in the Northeast. India’s decision to cooperate with Burma’s military regime, replacing its previous unequivocal support for Suu Kyi and her democracy movement, a choice that she said “saddened her,” was in a large part to ensure that Northeast insurgent groups are denied a safe haven. The decision was also based on India’s need for energy resources and the competition with China for Burma’s oil and gas riches. It is thus in India’s interest to encourage and support Burma’s efforts to reconcile with its ethnic minorities and develop the border regions, currently some of the poorest in both countries. To this end, the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Arakan State in western Burma should worry Delhi.

Sectarian violence — in an area where Indian oil and gas firms have sizeable investments — has displaced more than one lakh people, mostly Rohingya. The violence between ethnic Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in June and again in October killed an unknown number and forced thousands of desperate Rohingya to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, which has sealed its borders. The Rohingya, effectively denied citizenship under Burma’s 1982 citizenship law, remain one of world’s most persecuted minorities.

Unfortunately, Suu Kyi has also failed to speak out on the abuses against the Rohingya. While in India, she reiterated her position that violence has been committed by both sides and she prefers not to “take sides.” But in reality, no one is asking her to take sides. Speaking out about the abuses and discrimination against the Rohingya, the killings, destruction of their property, of which there is hard evidence, is not taking sides. It is merely standing up for fundamental human rights. Sectarian violence has devastated both the Arakanese and Rohingya populations, but as Human Rights Watch and others have documented, it is the Rohingya who have been targeted by state security forces. The Rohingya are also in dire need of food, shelter and medical care after the government restricted humanitarian access to Arakan’s displaced Muslim communities.

Suu Kyi, during an interview to an Indian news channel, said that those entitled to citizenship should be given the “full rights of citizens.” At the same time, she called for an end to the illegal immigration of the Rohingya from Bangladesh. She has said nothing meaningful on Rohingya statelessness.

While the government and much of Burmese society rejects the claims of the Rohingya to Burmese citizenship, the fact remains that there have been Muslim inhabitants in western Burma for centuries. Suu Kyi also failed to put the current violence in context: Rohingya have faced decades of state-sponsored discrimination and abuses that encourages intolerance and violence from the general population.

Just before US President Barack Obama’s visit to Burma on November 19, the Burmese government announced measures toward more openness, including addressing the violence in Arakan. It said it will take decisive action to prevent violent attacks against civilians; hold accountable the perpetrators of such attacks; and work with the international community to meet the humanitarian needs of the people. Crucially, it promised to “address contentious political dimensions, ranging from resettlement of displaced populations to granting of citizenship.”

This is a welcome step toward improving human rights of everyone in Burma, and India should work to make sure that these promises of reform are implemented. India is in an enviable position, where it has good relations with the new government in Burma and strong emotional ties with Suu Kyi. It should use this wisely to push for a more democratic Burma where the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities can enjoy equal rights.

The writer is a Delhi-based South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch

Why Delhi should care about the Rohingya - Indian Express

 

[Zabaniyah]

^^^Meh, they won't do anything.

Best not to count anything on them unless something concrete comes from their.

 

[Hammer-fist]

Outside pressure does make a difference and has already started to do so.

1. Burmese regime have stopped their pogroms and ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas for now due to outside pressure and scrutiny.

2. Allowed Turkish, Iranian, Indonesian, OIC officials to visit Arakan.

3. Speaking of restoring citizenship to the Rohingyas (whether they do remains to be seen as they are habitual liars).

They are extremely scared by the huge reaction from the entire Muslim world over what the Burmese regarded as an insignificant and contemptible group of people no one cared about.

Egypt for example is just one Muslim country and could physically with its navy block all Burmese ships from the Suez canal (not sure if "legally" they could do that, but just an example).

 

[Hammer-fist]

CLARIFICATION ON PLIGHT OF ROHINGYA MUSLIMS SOUGHT FROM SUU KYI

Inside India


Muslim organisations demanded clarification from Aung San Suu Kyi on the issue of state sponsored violence in Burma against Rohingya Muslims. Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) with some other organisations on a joint platform “Joint Forum of the Concerned” protested in front of Lady Shri Ram College in the capital where Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate and “champion of democracy” was delivering a lecture. Protesters displayed placards with pictures of brutal killing of Rohingyas along with the misleading and racist comments of Suu Kyi on the issue. It is to be noted that thousands of Muslims were massacred and lakhs rendered homeless in what has been called as a blood bath that started early this year. Su Kyi who is now opposition leader of the Burmese parliament herself had been the victim of state oppressions and has championed the cause of human rights, but her silence on this issue was not only surprising but condemnable.

Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, President AIMMM, Mujtaba Farooq, convener Coordination Committee of Indian Muslims, Dr. Tasleem Ahmad Rahmani, President Muslim Political Council of India, Mohammad Ahmad, Secretary Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Maulana Abdul Wahhab Khilji, President Indian Islahi Movement, Dr. Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, Member AIMPLB, Prof. MH Jawaharullah, President TMMK and Lateef Mohd Khan, General Sec. Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee, Hyderabad have issued a joint press release urging Suu Kyi to take the massacre of Muslims in Burma seriously and stop the military government from spilling the blood of innocent Muslim.

CLARIFICATION ON PLIGHT OF ROHINGYA MUSLIMS SOUGHT FROM SUU KYI

Bamar racist & supremacist Aung San Su Kyi is facing pressure and condemnation for her anti-Rohingya rhetoric.

 

[alaungphaya]

What utter bullshit being posted on this thread. I don't even know where to begin.