No Excuse for Violence: Obama Tells Burma

[Hammer-fist]

CSW Urges Burma To Stop Military Offensive Against Kachin

Sat, 2012-12-29 05:42 — editor
News
London, 29 December, (Asiantribune.com):
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) today urged Burma’s military to end its offensive against the majority Christian Kachin people in northern Burma immediately, and called on the international community to put pressure on the government of Burma to engage in a meaningful political dialogue with the Kachin and other ethnic nationalities.

According to news reports, four jet fighters and two helicopter gunships were used this morning to attack Kachin Independence Army (KIA) troops close to their headquarters at Laiza, on the China-Burma border. The aerial attack follows several days of shelling and a significant increase in troop movement and fighting.

The Burma Army has been conducting a military offensive against the Kachin since June 2011, breaking a ceasefire that had lasted for 17 years. Over 100,000 civilians have been internally displaced since the war began, and the Burma Army has been accused of grave human rights violations, including rape, torture, destruction of villages, looting and desecration of churches, and killing civilians. The offensive has intensified severely in recent days.

Andrew Johnston, CSW’s Advocacy Director, said: “The dramatic escalation in the Burma Army’s assault on the Kachin is deeply disturbing. To launch aerial attacks and deploy fighter jets and helicopter gunships marks the most serious intensification in this conflict since the war began. The government of Burma must be urged to stop this offensive immediately, and engage in a genuine peace process. The KIA, and its political arm, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), are seeking autonomy and equal rights in a federal, democratic Burma, not secession, and have made clear their desire to talk. But they are demanding a genuine peace process, involving a political dialogue, to find a lasting solution to decades of war, not simply a ceasefire. “

“President Thein Sein and his government present an image of reform to the world, but how can reform be serious if it is accompani ed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships? Unless reform is accompanied by a genuine peace process, it will not lead to the lasting change Burma’s people desire and deserve. The international community must take this latest escalation very seriously, and must make it clear to Thein Sein that unless the Burma Army’s offensive stops and a peace process begins, international pressure will be applied” also Andrew Johnston pointed out.

- Asian Tribune -

CSW Urges Burma To Stop Military Offensive Against Kachin | Asian Tribune

Burmese fighter plane.









OIC chief to visit Myanmar to address Rohingya issue

Prof Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu speaks at a press conference in Jeddah. Photo: Arab News

Star Online Report
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said that he would soon visit Myanmar as the head of a high-level delegation including OIC foreign ministers as part of efforts to stop the attacks against Rohingya Muslims, reports the Arab News.

Addressing a press conference, he said the visit came in response to an invitation he received from Myanmar President Thein Sein, the Saudi Arabian newspaper said.

“We have not cancelled our pre-planned visit to Myanmar but it was postponed due to insecure conditions in the country,” he told Arab News.

Speaking about the upcoming OIC summit in Cairo, he said Syria, Palestine, Myanmar and Islamophobia would figure high on its agenda. “We are now in the process of making necessary preparations to make the summit successful,” the secretary-general said.

An Egyptian Foreign Ministry delegation recently visited OIC headquarters to discuss arrangements for the summit. An OIC team left for Egypt to discuss technical and logistical aspects of the conference.

Ihsanoglu highlighted Egypt’s important role in the Islamic world.

Referring to the situation in Syria, the OIC chief said the crisis has reached its final stage. However, he stressed that the international community should reach an agreement on ceasefire in order to find a political solution for the problem.

“The political solution should reflect the hopes and aspirations of Syrian people, should not repeat the mistake done in Iraq and preserve Syrian state institutions,” the secretary general said.

Asked about appointing a representative of the Syrian opposition council in the OIC, he said: “We have not yet discussed such a proposal.”

However, he pointed out that OIC was keeping in touch with the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces and other opposition groups.

Ihsanoglu had met with Ahmed Al-Khateeb, president of the coalition and George Sabra, head of the Syrian National Council, on the sidelines of the Friends of Syria meeting in Marrakech recently.

Both leaders had requested OIC’s political and humanitarian support.

“The Marrakech meeting declared its recognition of the National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people and this is a big political support reflecting the international community’s confidence in the new leadership,” the OIC chief said.

In a related development, Ihsanoglu disclosed plans to intensify humanitarian activities for Syrian people through a coalition of 30 relief organisations.

“We are now in contact with Turkey to open a humanitarian office in the country to follow the condition of Syrian refugees and coordinate relief work,” the secretary general said.

Referring to the armed groups in Mali, he said: “We are totally against exploiting Islam for killing and terrorising people. We have appointed an envoy to deal with Malian crisis.”

OIC chief to visit Myanmar to address Rohingya issue

 

[Hammer-fist]

UN expresses concern over Burma's Muslims and human rights abuses


Raluca

By Raluca Besliu
Dec 25, 2012 in Politics
5 comments

The UN General Assembly (GA) unanimously passed a resolution that simultaneously salutes the positive changes in Burma and expresses concern over the rising violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine state.
The resolution calls on the Burmese government to improve the situation of the Muslim Rohingya minority and protect all their human rights, including their right to a nationality.
The 800,000 Rohingyas living in Rakhine state face widespread resentment, as they are considered to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh deserving no rights or sympathy. The worst communal violence in a generation between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists took place in June and late October and led to the death of around 200 people as well as the displacement of around 110,000 people, most of whom were Muslims.
The GA-adopted resolution is identical to the one approved in November by the GA Third Committee focusing on social, cultural and humanitarian topics. Burma dismissed the report for containing multiple allegations that needed verification.
After the current resolution’s passing, a representatives from Burma's mission to the UN stressed that it accepted the resolution, but refused to consider the Rohingyas as an ethnic group. Nevertheless, he stressed that the right to citizenship has been and will never be denied to anyone in line with the law of the land.
While acknowledging the Burmese efforts toward political reform and democratisation, the resolution deplored continuing violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as urged the government to adopt measures to solve these problems. Moreover, it
called for the release of political prisoners as well as for ending the ongoing armed conflict in Kachin State, where ethnic Kachin insurgents are fighting against the national army. The UN claimed that it has been unable to provide assistance to over 40,000 people, because it is prohibited from accessing areas controlled by the rebels.


Read more: UN expresses concern over Burma's Muslims and human rights abuses

 

[Hammer-fist]

Burma will bring the hideous Kachin-war into 2013


By Zin Linn Dec 31, 2012 12:14AM UTC

1 Comment and 11 Reactions

The civil war between Kachin Independence Army and government armed forces has turn out to be more and more ruthless since news of fierce fighting cover largely even in the social media. Behind the scene of reforms, government army has increasingly sped up its offensive war to a new phase. Burma Army has been attacking the ethnic Kachin rebels’ frontline outpost fiercely since Christmas Day.

It is appalling because the government has used not only heavy artillery but also enforced gunship-helicopters and jet-fighters in this military operation against the ethnic Kachin rebels. The news about government airstrike is hitting the headlines through the media, and civil-based organizations and some peace-supporters fear the battle will lead to a humanitarian crisis following 75,000 to 100,000 Kachin natives have fled their homes to seek shelter in the woodland.

Four fighter jets and two helicopters took part in air-attack on rebel positions near Laiza, the Kachin Independence Organization’s de facto capital on 28 December, according to the Kachin News Group (KNG). Government military planes hit KIO positions in Lajayang, a key town situated less than 10 miles south of Laiza headquarters. The fatalities were unknown due to air-strike, as said by KIO officials in the area.

Thousands gathered in Yangon, Myanmar on Sept. 21, 2012 to commemorate the International Day of Peace and impel the government to end hostilities in the northern region of Kachin. Photo: Khin Maung Win (AP)

The fresh attacks on KIO locations near Laiza come just days after Burma Army’s Northern Commander sent a letter to the KIO HQ. The letter signed by Brig-Gen Tun Tun Naung demands KIO to pull out its troops stationed around Lajayang immediately. However, the KIO rejected Tun Tun Naung’s demand, by saying it will not withdraw from Lajayang or any other areas of strategic value in and around the Laiza.

According to the media reports, currently there are around 40,000 refugees in the KIO controlled area. Those refugees are facing food as well as medicine shortage because of government troops’ enclosure. The government imposed blockade preventing the UN and its agencies from delivering rations to refugee camps located in KIO controlled territory.

Refugees International has warned tensions between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese military has reached boiling point after a 17-year cease fire agreement broke down in June 2011 in Kachin state. The camps remain inaccessible to aid organizations and the United Nations from within. Access routes exist from China, but Beijing is reluctant to host any refugees as it doesn’t want to be seen as dabbling in a neighbor’s internal affairs.

During her four-day visit to Burma in first week of December 2012, the United Nation’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, has spoken about urgent access to some 40,000 people in northern Burma who have been displaced by fighting between government troops and the KIA. Ms Amos said that the Burmese military has permitted only limited aid motor vehicles into the conflict area.

President U Thein Sein received a delegation led by UN Under-Secretary- General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Baroness Valerie Amos, at the Presidential Palace, 6 December 2012. (Photo: Myanmar President Office)

“For almost six months now, the UN has not been able to provide assistance to almost 40,000 people as we are not permitted to go to KIA-controlled areas,” the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, told a news conference, according to the UN News Centre.

During her four day visit to Burma, Ms. Valerie Amos raised the issue of internally displaced people in Kachin State with the President and her concern about the lack of humanitarian access in the conflict zone.

“We hope the Government will give us permission to travel to these areas and provide the aid that is so desperately needed,” Ms. Amos added.

Even though the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ms. Amos has made a candid call, the atmosphere along the battlefield looks like denying access to the UN Agency. In fact, it is a duty of the current government to provide humanitarian assistance to thousands of war refugees and internally displaced populations in various ethnic states.

In December 2011, President Thein Sein has issued an order to Burma’s Commander-in-Chief to halt the offensive against the KIO. However, the war continues and people continue to run for their lives. So, the order of the President is not ruled upon the military chief.

One of the biggest problems in Burma is the armed forces’ failure to recognize truces with ethnic rebels – truces that were agreed by the army’s own government. It is not clear whether the government is saying one thing and doing another or the soldiers themselves are going against their head of state. Nevertheless, human rights violations of Burmese soldiers in ethnic states must be taken responsibility by both military chief and the head of state since the abuses are inexcusable breaches of international laws.

According to the ground situation, President Thein Sein alone may not have enough power to allow the UN to resume aid delivery or to stop the war in Kachin state. It will certainly be in the hands of the eleven-member National Defense and Security Council in which military chief is the most important player by constitution.

Hence, the unjust and inhumane war launched by the military-faction may not be stopped easily while the Western democracies undeservedly honor the military-controlled government as a reformist regime. In the absence of worldwide sympathy, war victims in Kachin state will have to face a manmade disaster in the year 2013.

Burma will bring the hideous Kachin-war into 2013 | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent

 

[Hammer-fist]

Far From Home, Arakan Rebels Fight on Kachin Frontline

The Arakan Army logo shows an osprey half-covered with a red seven-pointed star, with two NATO-logo-like four-pointed stars on either side. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy)


LAIZA, Kachin State—A little-known rebel group of Buddhist soldiers from western Burma are fighting alongside mostly Christian Kachin soldiers in the country’s far north, as a war with the government’s army for greater autonomy and basic rights continues to escalate.

“We are the Arakan Army,” says Dr. Nyo Twan Awng, the militia’s second-in-command.

The rebel group from Arakan State in the country’s west comprises “400 to 500 soldiers,” says the doctor, of which over half have trained or fought in Burma’s northern Kachin State since the group’s founding in 2008 and the resumption of war in Kachin in mid-2011.

Right now Nyo Twan Awng and nine colleagues are staying in territory held by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of Burma’s largest ethnic minority militias.

The KIA is currently fighting the Burma Army at scattered outposts across the rugged northern region, mostly in areas close to the Burma-China frontier, in a war that casts a pall over the much-lauded political and economic reforms undertaken by the Burmese government.

“The government is the same as before,” contends Nyo Twan Awng. “The generals just change their uniforms to suits to look civilian.”

The Arakan Army (AA) has fought “on the front line” since the collapse of ceasefire between the KIA and the government army in June 2011, says Nyo Twan Awng. “We have a common enemy, and the KIA are our friends.”

With his arms folded, 32-year-old Nyo Twan Awng, a Rangoon-trained medical doctor, displays the AA logo, an osprey half-covered with a red seven-pointed star, with two NATO logo-like four-pointed stars on either side.

“The four points represent the historic Arakan dynasties,” says Nyo Twan Awng. The last such kingdom fell to an invading Burmese imperial force in 1784. Since then, Arakan has been ruled by either British colonialists or Burmese.

Asked why the AA was established—if it sought greater autonomy for Arakan State or even independence—Nyo Twan Awng says the organization’s purpose is “to protect our Arakan people, and to establish peace and justice and freedom and development.”

“As for the political status of Arakan, that is for the Arakan people to decide,” he adds.

Asked his opinion of the reforms in Burma, he wrinkles his brow. “You know my thoughts about this government,” he says.

And when it comes to Burma’s best-known politician, he is dismissive. “Aung San Suu Kyi is Burmese, she doesn’t know about the ethnic people,” he says. “She speaks many words but does nothing.”

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticized for not addressing the war in Kachin State, and for giving evasive-sounding replies when asked her views on the riots and pogroms in Arakan State, where since June tens of thousands of civilians, mostly Rohingya Muslims, have been driven from their homes in communal violence.

Suu Kyi has received criticism from Arakanese politicians—notably the Rakhine Nationalalities Development Party (RNDP)—for not taking a harsh enough line against the Rohingya.

Burma’s government says the Rohingya are not entitled to citizenship, according to a 1982 law, and many Burmese view the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

“It is a complicated issue,” Nyo Twan Awng says of the recent violence in Arakan State and the position of Rohingya in Burmese society.

In July, President Thein Sein floated a controversial idea that the Rohingya be resettled en masse to third countries.

“It should be done something like this, yes,” Nyo Twan Awng says, nodding in agreement.

Asked about the AA’s future plans, he says, “We have members scattered all along the Thailand, India and Bangladesh borders,” but does not say if or when the group will coalesce in Arakan State.

Far From Home, Arakan Rebels Fight on Kachin Frontline | The Irrawaddy Magazine



Comments on the site:

Shwe Yoe

December 28, 2012 - 7:50 am

The Burmese military is not just fighting the KIA but all the ethnic groups in the northern front. All ethnics are allied. When the Kachins are attacked, it means they attacked the Union. There are all armies from all ethnics including ABSDF. If the Thein Sein administration keeps fighting the KIA, the backlash will destroy the Union spirit so badly. Arakanese soldiers are the the only group there to help but all ethnic armies are there too.

and...

Ayokso

December 28, 2012 - 2:56 pm

Why is the Myanmar government failing so miserably to obtain a ceasefire in the Kachin State? Accusing the Kachins ( your own young brother in reality ) for their lack of cooperation is no excuse, and everyone thoughtful person can see that. It is up to the more powerful big brother to do “everything” – even the seemingly impossible – to win the peace. A clean military victory is just a pipe dream. The question is – is the Tatmadaw willing to commit wholesale slaughter and genocide to achieve the impossible goal? Think of the consequences! And there is NO WAY to militarily defend pipelines and commerce with neighboring countries like China and Thailand; nor the electric power supply to the big cities inside the country – if the Ethnic Resistance groups are determined to destroy them. The present Government is a Two-Headed Monster in that the President is not the Commander-In-Chief. The nation’s leadership needs to pull the country in the same direction – not pull it apart!

 

[Hammer-fist]

1. The Bamars are ethnic supremacists who cannot accept the idea of ethnic equality.

2. Rakhine Buddhists have gone to help their brothers and allies the Kachins (fellow Mongoloids) against the Bamar army.

Buddhists helping Christians to fight other Buddhists.

3. The Rakhine fighters are anti-Muslim, anti-Rohingya and anti-Bangladeshi.

Bangladeshi nationalists and our security forces who are responsible for protecting our country from enemies (external and internal i.e. traitors) must be aware that ultimately these Rakhine fighters (as highlighted above) want to ethnically cleanse Rohingyas in to Bangladesh.

If the Bamars and Rakhines keep on fighting each other that it weakens both of them, so they cannot massacre Muslims this is good news.

NB: There is speculation that the US may have a Kosova/East Timor scenario for Arakan. If the Bamars do not keep the country stable and thus ready for investment the US is even more likely to forget about relying upon a stable Burma and opt for an independent Arakan to block China from the bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.

I would appreciate the thoughts of Bangladeshi nationalists including:
@iajdani
@CaPtAiN_pLaNeT
@eastwatch
@asad71

and others on this important issue.

 

[T-Rex]

I would appreciate the thoughts of Bangladeshi nationalists including:
@iajdani
@CaPtAiN_pLaNeT
@eastwatch
@asad71

and others on this important issue.

My foot, these are RAW nationalists like you .

 

[asad71]

1. The signs are clear. USA/West want to establish a Kosovo / E Timor in Arakan so that she can continue to play a dominant role in this sub-region. Arkan is a strategic piece of territory, whether considered in context of defense or owing to the fact that the hinterland off Arakan coast is rich in natural resources.

2. The effort to unite various Rohingya groups under an umbrella called ARU (Arakan Rohingya Unity) was taken by US State Deptt. This unity was achieved through OIC and EUROBURMA, a Brussels based NGO. ARU Secy Gen Dr Waqruddin teaches at an US University. He is a US citizen. RSO Chief Dr Yunus and ARNO Chief Nurul Islam are both old. There is a vacuum in leadership after them, and Waqaruddin could be easily catapulted in to fill that void.

3. India, ASEAN, Australia and OIC are factors that USA need to consider in this move. All would cooperate including India who would be keen to deny emergence of a pro-Chinese Arakan.

 

[animelive]

My foot, these are RAW nationalists like you .

Blaming people without knowing there background. Aren't you directly going against your religion?

 

[eastwatch]

A separate and independent Arakan is the only option left for the muslim countries. Kosovo is the best example lying in front of the Rohingyas. The issue should be solved in that way. Muslim nations (minus Hasina's Bangladesh) should vie for this kind of solution.

 

[bronxbull]

Suu kyi is a racist. I thought she is educated. But, she went to England to study. This how she proved herself not knowing the history of Arakan and its Rohingya people when she called them Bangladeshi immigrants. In reality, Barmans are the immigrants in Arakan. Arakan was no part of Burma and barmans have no business there. They should vacate that land and give the Rohingyas autonomy to rule their own land.

Then why did jinnah not ask for it?

Jinnah indeed got something which is worse than a moth eaten pakistan.

 

[Hammer-fist]

Let's leave Jinnah out of it please and other historical issues.

This is a very current and real issue for us Bangladeshis and the rest of the Muslim world and even in fact India, where members of civil society are commendably arguing for Rohingya rights.

Ok on to the points raised by Bangladeshi nationalists such as Asad71 and Eastwatch.

1. The whole Arakan issue is very complex.

Arakan (Rakhine state) is now majority Buddhist and Rakhine, apart from the northern areas close to Bangladesh. The state as a whole is 1/4 Muslim and 3/4 non-Muslim.

There are 2 solutions:

a: An independent Arakan state comprising the province as it is now and overwhelmingly Buddhist but with rights and autonomy for the Muslim north.

b: An independent Rohingya state consisting of the northern parts of Arakan which are mainly Muslim.

Option B may be realistic.


2. The Hasina Wajid regime and the Awami League are generally anti-Rohingya and we can expect nothing to be done whilst they are in power (another 12 months or so). So we must look to Muslim states such as Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and others to help Rohingyas which is what they are doing. Credit to Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran for supporting Rohingya rights.

3. If Rohingyas are restored their 1982 citizenship and are part of Burma then we Bangladeshis have no problem with Burma and wish to have friendship with them, mutual co-operation and trade.

We are not an aggressive nation, but a peaceful one.

If pushed however we will react, as our enemies have found out the hard way.

 

[T-Rex]

Blaming people without knowing there background. Aren't you directly going against your religion?

So, we don't know your background but you know ours, right? Morons like you are so 'clever'!!!!!

 

[DarkPrince]

So, we don't know your background but you know ours, right? Morons like you are so 'clever'!!!!!

he's only 16-17 years old

 

[animelive]

So, we don't know your background but you know ours, right? Morons like you are so 'clever'!!!!!

Are you born stupid? Did i call you any names? no, who is it being all extremist calling me awami thug and stuffs? Your behaviour speaks lot about you, yet i am refraining from badmouthing you. Learn to have some decency.

he's only 16-17 years old

17, thankyou

 

[T-Rex]

Are you born stupid?

Since you are a born genius, of course, I must be born stupid!