Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing - Updates & Discussions

[Banglar Bir]

Lonely, yet we do not walk alone

Rohingya refugees line up for relief aid at the Nayapara refugee camp in Teknaf. Photo: AFP
Nizamuddin Ahmed
The position of Russia is bullish at best because the Kremlin machinery does not have the eye to see the human destruction in the Rakhine State of Myanmar; yet there have been protests in Moscow, and arrests too, with Chechen Republic's Ramzan Kadyrov contemplating a nuclear strike.

China (playing the “internal matter” card to mask its Belt and Road Initiative) takes a little time, as it did in 1971, to understand the situation in Bangladesh because its radar, some say, is slow to detect friends. Interestingly, across China's border province of Yunnan, Myanmar's Kachin and Shan populations have been restive for over fifty-five years.

India's position is “clear haay” because of its heavy investment in Myanmar for its “Act East” policy. Modi shook hands with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi after her out-of-her-control army launched the bloody carnage, and Sushma Swaraj is jetting to and fro to keep intact, even if by cementing, Indira Gandhi's pledge of lasting Dhaka-Delhi friendship.

In her most recent visit to Dhaka, the Indian external affairs minister said that “normalcy” can only be restored after all the refugees in Bangladesh return to Myanmar, not uttering “Rohingya”, which should please Naypyidaw. Suu Kyi is a Jawaharlal Nehru Awardee and Bhagwan Mahavir World Peace winner.

Two are permanent members of the UN Security Council and the third is a contender, despite which for the first time in nine years the 15-strong council unanimously expressed on September 13 “concern about reports of excessive violence during the security operations and called for immediate steps to end the violence in Rakhine, de-escalate the situation, re-establish law and order, ensure the protection of civilians.” One can vaguely read “the brutality of Burma” between those lines.

Holding on to her Nobel Peace Prize by the apology of tradition that the award has never been rescinded, the “military prisoner” has lost face. Oxford University's St Hugh's College has removed Suu Kyi's portrait from public display in a decision that followed students voting. She will also be stripped of the Freedom of the City of Oxford after the city council voted unanimously, saying it was “no longer appropriate” to celebrate the de facto leader of Myanmar.

UK decided last month to suspend all engagement, including training, with the Myanmar until military action against civilians in Rakhine State stopped. Notwithstanding Brexit, the European Union will cut back contacts with Myanmar's top generals in a first step to increase sanctions over the vicious army offensive. This follows an existing EU embargo on arms and equipment “that can be used for internal repression”. Suu Kyi had been bestowed with European Parliament's Sakharov Prize.

The US has condemned atrocities against Rohingya Muslims and in late October was considering new sanctions because the atrocities committed are tantamount to “ethnic cleansing”, which the French President Emmanuel Macron has called genocide. Present and past Myanmar military leaders have also been barred from visiting the states, only one year after decades-long trade sanctions against the secretive and isolated regime were lifted to set the stage for democracy. Suu Kyi is a US Congressional Gold Medallist.

Professor Muhammad Yunus—among the first Nobel laureates to speak out against the atrocities being committed against the Rohingya—penned an open letter to the UNSC asking the latter to intervene. Archbishop Desmond Tutu also condemned fellow Nobel peace prize awardee Suu Kyi with the words “Silence is too high a price”. Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai condemned the tragic and shameful treatment of the Rohingya. Suu Kyi is a recipient of the Swedish Olof Palme Prize.

In December last year, several Nobel laureates called for the “international community as a whole to speak out much more strongly” as “a human tragedy amounting to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity” was unfolding in Myanmar, a disturbed country with over a hundred different ethnic communities.

It appears the 400,000-strong Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces) were looking for an excuse to pounce on the Rohingya to depopulate the Rakhine State as per the country's 1982 constitutional amendment. It can now be confirmed that the country (where the military has a stranglehold on the civil society) has backtracked from marching towards democracy. Isolation is addictive.

While some in Dhaka's sceptic opposition are accusing the Hasina government of failing in international diplomacy, the savoir-faire with which the prime minister has won the hearts beyond boundaries is evident even among world leaders. In fact, the people of Bangladesh can take a bow. Here we must add plaudits for our government officers who have done a splendid job thus far by managing the colossal task of providing for over six lakh additional people, sick and weary, hungry and homeless, in a few thousand acres of land, amidst the rain.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi was sent to Myanmar to urge the government to halt deadly violence against the Muslim-majority Rohingya amid growing anger in the world's most populous Muslim nation. She also visited Dhaka to assure Bangladesh of its humanitarian support.

In addition to Germany providing humanitarian aid, its Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that Germany supports the recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission under the leadership of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a “good starting point”. Suu Kyi has been honoured with the Norwegian human rights award, the Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize.

The Arab world has been stirred too. Saudi's King Salman has ordered the payment of USD 15 million aid for the Rohingya refugees. The Saudi Cabinet renewed the Kingdom's calls on the international community to take urgent action to stop the attacks and to allow the Myanmar Muslim-minority their basic human rights. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told the UN General Assembly, “My country is gravely concerned and condemns the policy of repression and forced displacement carried out by the government of Myanmar against the Rohingya minority.”

As part of its USD 100,000 intervention for Rohingya refugees, Qatar Red Crescent Society also aims to vaccinate children and fund public catering centres for the refugees.

UNHCR chartered a Boeing 777 to deliver family tents, shelter materials, jerry cans, blankets, sleeping mats and other essential items as emergency relief for 25,000 refugees—1/24th of the total number fleeing from Suu Kyi, who won UNESCO's International Simón Bolívar Prize.

Indian Air Force used Chittagong's Shah Amanat International Airport to deliver India's massive 7,000-tonne relief assurance for Bangladesh. Another flight carrying 14 tonnes of relief materials from Morocco also landed at Chittagong. The Indonesian ambassador to Dhaka Rina Prihtyasmiarsi Soemarno handed over tents, blankets, rice and sugar at Chittagong.

Malaysia was strongly vocal, saying that Myanmar had denied permission for the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the Rohingya Muslims and, more disappointingly, killed Rohingya women and children. Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Malaysia could not accept the Myanmar crackdown on the Rohingya community and wanted the issue to be resolved democratically and by international standards.

Most recently, United Nations investigator Yanghee Lee acknowledged that there were “well-documented accounts of killings, rapes, burned villages and forced displacement” of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

In spite of overwhelming global denouncement of Myanmar and yet disappointing international relief for the Rohingya, despite widespread condemnation of Suu Kyi and yet regionalised concern based on strategic self-interest, regardless of bravado verbalisation by world bodies and leaders, and yet no effective socioeconomic action plan, there is reason to believe we are not the only friends of a marginalised ethnic population. We do not walk alone.
Dr Nizamuddin Ahmed is a practising architect, a Commonwealth Scholar and a Fellow, a Baden-Powell Fellow Scout Leader, and a Major Donor Rotarian.
http://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/chintito-1995/lonely-yet-we-do-not-walk-alone-1483006

 

[Banglar Bir]

Bernicat backs 1992 deal for Rohingya verification
Saturday, 28 October 2017

US Ambassador Marcia Bernicat has backed the Rohingya verification criteria based on principles agreed between Bangladesh and Myanmar in 1992 when the two countries inked an agreement for return of the persecuted Muslim-majority people.

According to her, the 1992 deal of Rohingya repatriation can have additional characteristics considering the changed situation.

“It is the two governments to decide,” she told a local online newspaper on the sidelines of an event in Dhaka on Saturday, after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier spoke to Myanmar's army chief over phone.

Tillerson had urged the army chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, allowing safe return of ethnic Rohingyas, according to the 1992 Joint Statement with Bangladesh and 'without further conditions'.

Bangladesh, earlier, pointed to the changed situation and said the 1992 rules would “not be realistic” now.

According to a bdnews24.com report, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque said the 1992 agreement can serve as the ‘principal base’ of repatriation discussions.

“Obviously things have changed since 1992,” Bernicat said. “It’s a good start because there was an agreement actually made. Obviously, the agreement of the 2017 will inevitably have additional different characteristics,” she said, adding that the US was ready to help the two governments like other international community.

“We are all very hopeful,” she said, given the fact that in the last one month there had been exchange visits by the ministers of two countries and both are working on forming a joint working group.

Speaking at the launch of an anti-TB campaign, Health Minister Mohammed Nasim lauded the US response to the Rohingya crisis.

Bernicat thanked the Health Minister and said the US would “continue to exert pressure on Myanmar”.
“We believe, like Bangladesh, the problem lies back in Burma itself,” she said.
She said Tillerson’s phone call “proved that we are continuing our efforts”.

Bernicat said they were focusing on the problem and putting pressure on Myanmar and urging the government and the army to do the right thing and bring the refugees back in a “safe and secure manner”.

She said the international community have interest to resolve the crisis in a way that “restores Rohingyas’ dignity and ability to live in that country where they born and where their ancestors were born.”

Over half a million Rohingyas have taken shelter in Bangladesh since Aug 25 to escape a violent crackdown in what the UN has described as ‘ethnic cleansing’.

Around 400,000 Rohingya Muslims have already been living in Bangladesh for decades.

Amid international pressure, Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a statement on Sept 19 said her country is ready to take back their nationals after verification.

She said the verification criteria will be based on principles agreed to earlier in 1992 when the two countries inked an agreement based on which Myanmar took back nearly 250,000 Rohingyas as members of its society.

The online newspaper earlier saw the text of the 1992 agreement, article IV of which mentioned the criteria on how to verify them.

At that time, the Myanmar government agreed to repatriate in batches all persons “carrying Myanmar citizenship identity cards/national registration cards, those able to present any other documents issued by relevant Myanmar authorities and all those persons able to furnish evidence of their residence in Myanmar, such as addresses or any other relevant particulars”.

The Myanmar government in a spirit of “cooperation” agreed to accept after scrutiny all those people who took shelter in Bangladesh and whose presence had been “recorded through Refugee registration cards” issued by the government of Bangladesh.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said around half of the Muslim villages in the northern Rakhine State have been burned down, so the identification of Rohingyas based on their residence in Rakhine would not be realistic.

A diplomat who visited Rohingya refugee camps last month also told bdnews24.com that “it is unlikely that they hold any card issued by Burmese authorities”.

Bangladesh started biometric registration of the newly arrived Rohingyas, a process that the UN refugee agency UNHCR said would eventually help refugees “exercise the right to return when the time is right”.
http://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/p...992-deal-for-rohingya-verification-1509208935

 

[Banglar Bir]

‘Myanmar army’s relief to the Rohingya is only propaganda’
Tarek Mahmud
Published at 04:12 PM October 29, 2017

Rohingya refugees line up in to receive aid in Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar on October 26, 2017 Reuters
The Myanmar Army has been providing relief to the Rohingya, only to snatch it away after taking photographs
Myanmar army has been claiming to have been providing aid to the internally displaced Rohingya people. But camp denizens say otherwise. According to them, the relief is nothing but a prop for a photo shoot, snatched away from the clutches of the Rohingya after the photographs are taken.

The Myanmar army has always been criticised by the international community, and the revelation of their recent “humanitarian efforts to restore peace” in Rakhine further questions their motives and methods.

Global leaders and organisations have unequivocally called upon Myanmar to cease the aggression against the Rohingya. The army appears to have been trying to stage the relief to appease the international community.

The Dhaka Tribune spoke to Bashir Ahmad, a Rohingya man from Maungdaw who currently lives in a camp in Rakhine, over a phone call initiated by his brother Yasir Arafat.

Bashir said: “The army often comes to our villages and offer aid to the few who remained after the devastation. They announce the time and date in advance. When we lined up for the aid, we saw many troops and Mogh vigilantes. They took hundreds of pictures, of us with the sack of relief, of people standing in line, and so on.

“And once the pictures are taken, they snatch the sacks from our hands and shoo us off,” Bashir lamented. He has been trying to escape to Bangladesh for the past 10 days.

Bashir finds the staged relief nothing but a mockery of the plight of the Rohingya crisis; a mockery by the Myanmar army and the Mogh crusaders, who are also behind the expulsion of the Rohingya people from their homes.

“The Myanmar army is staging the photo shoots to prove to the world that they are helping the Rohingyas so that the pressure on the Myanmar government eases.”

However, Bashir noted, the army sometimes relents to the Rohingya’s pleas. They have been noted to give between 1-1.5kg of rice.
Also Read- Law and order situation dips in Ukhiya, Teknaf
Bashir helped Dhaka Tribune get in touch with Jakir Mia, another Rohingya man who lives in Buthidaung.

Jakir despises the Myanmar army and refused to accept any form of charity from them. He said his neighbours had no such compulsions, but they were ridiculed when the Moghs snatched the bags away from them.

To confirm the story, the Dhaka Tribune spoke to several people who arrived on Friday. They all narrated either experiencing or hearing of the same treatment.

Jafor Alam of Buthidaung, who crossed the border on Thursday, said that they were compelled to hide for months while the army scoured the villages and set them ablaze.

He starved with his family throughout their ordeal for days. Even when they heard the army announcing aid, they were sceptical and refused to go. But some of their neighbours, believing or maybe even hoping, went and formed a line.

The neighbours later returned dejected with barely enough rice for just one meal for a family. They too said what Bashir had earlier described.

A Rohingya woman also added that often the same sack of rice was given to several Rohingya people for the photographs. After the photographs were taken, the contents were divided among them, with each receiving a sparse quantity.

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday said Myanmar authorities have agreed to allow the United Nations (UN) to resume distribution of food in northern Rakhine state which was suspended for two months.

The agreement, whose details are still being worked out, came as Unicef reported that Rohingya refugee children fleeing into Bangladesh were arriving “close to death” from malnutrition.

Rohingya insurgent attacks on police stations triggered an army crackdown, which the UN has called “ethnic cleansing,” and UN humanitarian agencies have not been able to access northern Rakhine to deliver aid since then.

The retaliatory attack by the Myanmar army and local Moghs forced about 605,000 Rohingya to seek refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh.

The Rohingya are among the world’s largest stateless community and one of the most persecuted minorities. Myanmar does not recognise Rohingya Muslims as citizens and forces them to live in squalid camps under apartheid-like conditions.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/south-asia/2017/10/29/myanmar-army-relief-propaganda/

IKEA Foundation
Violence that erupted on 25 August in Myanmar has forced thousands of Rohingya families and children to flee across the border into Bangladesh.

While the situation remains extremely challenging, our partner Save the Children in Bangladesh is working hard, providing integrated education and child protection services.
#WithRefugees

https://www.facebook.com/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Experts of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar conclude visit to Bangladesh

A group of Rohingya refugees walk on the muddy road after travelling over the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 1, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)
Experts of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar conclude visit to Bangladesh
Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar established by HRC resolution 34/22
-Press Release-
Dhaka, Bangladesh, 27 October 2017 – Three United Nations human rights experts concluded their first fact finding mission in Bangladesh today “deeply disturbed” by accounts of killings, torture, rape, arson and aerial attacks reportedly perpetrated against the Rohingya community in Myanmar.

More than 600,000 Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, have fled to Bangladesh since 25 August, when Myanmar forces began the so-called “clearance operations” following alleged armed attacks on security posts. More than half that number are children.
Although the total number of deaths is unknown, it may turn out to be extremely high.

The UN Human Rights Council appointed the Fact-Finding Mission last March to “establish the facts and circumstances of alleged human rights violations by military and security forces, and abuses, in Myanmar, in particular in Rakhine State”.
If the Mission concludes that there have been violations, it will seek to ensure full accountability for perpetrators and justice for the victims.

“We are deeply disturbed at the end of this visit,” said Marzuki Darusman, former Indonesian Attorney-General and human rights campaigner, who chairs the Fact Finding Mission. “We have heard many accounts from people from many different villages across northern Rakhine state.
They point to a consistent, methodical pattern of actions resulting in gross human rights violations affecting hundreds of thousands of people.”

Expert Radhika Coomaraswamy, former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, said the misery and despair she witnessed in the camps had left her “shaken and angry.
The accounts of sexual violence that I heard from victims are some of the most horrendous I have heard in my long experience in dealing with this issue in many crisis situations,” she said. “One could see the trauma in the eyes of the women I interviewed.
When proven, this kind of abuse must never be allowed to go unpunished.”

While in Bangladesh, the experts interviewed Rohingya victims in the Kutapalong, Nayapara and Balukhali camps and held consultations with government officials, diplomats and NGOs. In addition teams of human rights officers, dispatched by the Fact Finding Mission, have been in Bangladesh for many weeks conducting comprehensive interviews with those who fled from Rakhine State.

The Mission has applied to the Myanmar Government for access to Myanmar. It seeks the views of the Government and the military on what has happened and why, and wishes to conduct inquires inside Rakhine State itself.
However, access to the country has not yet been granted, without which it becomes more difficult – though not impossible – to establish the facts.

For example, whether the armed attacks on military posts actually occurred, as the Government claims, can only be established when the Government presents the information that has led it to draw this conclusion.

The third expert, Christopher Sidoti, an Australian international human rights specialist, said the visit to Bangladesh also focused on the future of the Rohingyas. The United Nations and many Governments have called for their return to Myanmar. “They must be allowed to return home,” Mr Sidoti said. “But any repatriation must be voluntary and can only take place after the establishment of effective mechanisms to ensure their safety and protection.
That may require the placement of international human rights monitors in Rakhine State.”

The data derived from all interviews, alongside other information sources, will be subjected to a meticulous verification process and legal analysis before being submitted as part of the Fact-Finding Mission’s final report.

The Mission is required to submit an interim report to the Human Rights Council in March 2018 and a final report in September 2018 to the Council and to the General Assembly.
Original here:
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2017/10/experts-of-independent-international.html

Malnutrition Crisis Grips Rohingya Refugee Children

A Rohingya Muslim woman, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, feeds her daughter inside the centre of Action contre La Faim (ACF) for malnutrition children near Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017.
By Lisa Schlein
Voice of America
October 28, 2017
GENEVA — The U.N. children’s fund warns potentially life-threatening malnutrition is soaring among Rohingya refugee children who have fled to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh to escape violence and abuse in Myanmar.

The U.N. children’s fund does not know the extent of acute malnutrition among Rohingya child refugees. So, UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado says a nutrition survey is underway that will provide vital data when it is completed in November.

“What we already know is that the combination of malnutrition, sanitary conditions, and disease in the refugee settlements, is potentially catastrophic for children," said Mercado.

More than 600,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived in Cox’s Bazar since August 25 to escape violence and persecution in Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine State. Children comprise nearly 60 percent of the refugees.

A Rohingya Muslim woman, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, holds her 10-month-old son inside her shelter in Thaingkhali refugee camp, Bangladesh, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017.

Mercado says UNICEF screened several hundred children who were stuck at the border during the mass influx in mid-October. She says dozens of children were found to be severely acutely malnourished and in need of immediate life-saving treatment.
She says screening conducted by Doctors Without Borders found 14 cases of the worst form of malnutrition among 103 children.

“This is an extremely small number of children, so these numbers are not representative," said Mercado. "But, what they do tell us is that at least some of the children are close to death by the time they make it across the border.”

UNICEF spokeswoman Mercado says the spread of infectious diseases is also of concern. She notes measles cases have been reported among newly arrived children as well as those who have been living in Cox’s Bazar for some time.

She says the risk of diarrheal disease and dysentery is exceptionally high in the overcrowded, unsanitary conditions in which the children live.
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2017/10/malnutrition-crisis-grips-rohingya.html

 

[Banglar Bir]

http://yenisafak.vod.ma.doracdn.com...17/10/28/d716b63a90a14a9880d96d23a3d1c67e.mp4
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh face cooking fuel shortage
Haber Merkezi 14:46 October 28, 2017 Yeni Şafak
Aid and charity organizations have been working hard to keep Rohingya Muslims who fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh fed and clothed but those who live in the camps say they are facing another problem - a lack of cooking fuel.

Kerosene rations are far from enough for families to live on and the forest areas around the camps are barren as people have cut down trees and collected leaves to use as firewood. Money is scarce and some have resorted to selling food handouts to buy firewood.

 

[Banglar Bir]

2:00 AM, October 30, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:26 AM, October 30, 2017
'Beijing with Dhaka'
Chinese ambassador says on refugee crisis, hopes soon it'll be solved; pro-army rally in Myanmar despite Rohingya outcry; US delegation to visit soon

A Rohingya refugee girl collects water from a shallow well, dug from the sand along a drain at Uchiprang refugee camp in Cox's Bazar yesterday. Photo: Reuters
Staff Correspondent
Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka yesterday said his country stands by Bangladesh and hopes there will soon be a peaceful solution to the Rohingya crisis.

"We expressed our commitment that we stand by Bangladesh [on the Rohingya problem]. We do hope that this issue will be settled as soon as possible peacefully," Ma Mingqiang said at a function at the Economic Relations Division in the capital.

The ambassador and Disaster Management and Relief Ministry Secretary Shah Kamal at the programme signed a certificate of acceptance for firefighting equipment, including escalators, air compressors, generators and forklifts China provided to Bangladesh.

Ma said there are many similarities between the disasters faced by the two countries. "Even today, you're also facing disaster. It's a serious problem of refugees."

Stating that Myanmar and Bangladesh are friendly countries, the envoy said, "We hope our two brothers will sit down and solve this problem. I did see that there's some visible progress in terms of discussion."

Over 600,000 Rohingyas have crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh fleeing a military crackdown in response to insurgent attacks on police posts and an army camp on August 25.

The humanitarian crisis stemming from the influx has drawn global attention and become a topic of discussion at the United Nations.
The UN Security Council, however, has failed to take any action against Myanmar because of opposition from China and Russia.

Last month, Ambassador Ma said Bangladesh is suffering because of the Rohingya influx while China is also in trouble because there are Chinese investments in Myanmar.

Guo Yezhou, a deputy head of the Chinese Communist Party's international department, last week said China's principle was not to interfere in the internal affairs of another country.

"Based on experience, you can see recently the consequences when one country interferes in another. We won't do it," Guo said.
RALLY FOR MYANMAR ARMY
Also yesterday, tens of thousands of people in downtown Yangon rallied in defence of Myanmar's army, an institution accused by the global community of driving Rohingyas from the country, reports AFP.

Concerned over the atrocities in Rakhine State, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson phoned army chief Min Aung Hlaing earlier this week and urged a swift and safe return of the Rohingyas.

The US is also weighing targeted sanctions against key military leaders.

The European Union decided not to invite the army chief and other senior commanders of Myanmar armed forces to the EU and its member states.

But inside the country, support for the army has surged -- an unlikely turnaround for a once feared and hated institution that ruled for 50 years and whose lawmakers lost heavily in 2015 polls.

Those elections sent Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party into power, but the Rohingya crisis has put her government on the backfoot.

Demonstrators carried banners lauding Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and rebuking the international community for “pressuring the army”.
EU COMMISSIONER TO VISIT CAMPS
EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides will arrive in Dhaka this evening to visit the Rohingya refugee camps.

He will go to Kutupalong in Cox's Bazar tomorrow, see the plight of refugees and meet high government officials and depart on the evening of November 1.

The EU has pledged over €51 million for the Rohingyas this year.

"We stand united for the right cause. The cause of stateless people who have suffered for too long: the Rohingya... We have a moral duty to give these people hope," said Stylianides in a statement.
US DELEGATION'S VISIT
Simon Henshaw, US acting assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, would lead a delegation to Myanmar and Bangladesh on October 29-November 4 to discuss ways to address the humanitarian and human rights concerns stemming from the Rakhine State crisis.

The issue of improving the delivery of humanitarian assistance to displaced people in Myanmar as well as in Bangladesh, would be on the delegation's agenda, reports UNB.

A diplomatic source said the delegation is likely to visit Myanmar first before coming to Bangladesh on November 2-3.

The delegation would visit affected communities in Cox's Bazar to hear the stories of the people who have fled, assess the impact of the emergency humanitarian response, identify gaps in assistance, and advise on ways to improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/mayanmar-rohingya-refugee-crisis-beijing-dhaka-1483600

 

[Banglar Bir]

Chappell: Why I’m not surprised Bangladesh is welcoming Rohingya refugees
Agencies
Published at 12:31 AM October 30, 2017
Last updated at 12:45 AM October 30, 2017

Former Australia cricket team captain Ian Chappell
Ian Chappell is a special representative for Australia for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency’s fundraising partner in Australia
Former Australia cricket team captain Ian Chappell has given his take on the ongoing Rohingya crisis.
Chappell is a special representative for Australia for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency’s fundraising partner in Australia.

Below are his excerpts:
“In November 2000, I paid my only visit to Dhaka to commentate on Bangladesh’s inaugural Test match — the Bangladesh Tigers played India.

“I was struck by the crowds and the traffic in Bangladesh. The nation has 163m people crammed into an area less than two-thirds the size of Victoria.

“Today I find it hard to imagine how this densely populated country will absorb the half a million Rohingya refugees who have arrived in the past few weeks. Population aside, Bangladesh is a poor country that deals with far more than its fair share of disasters, enduring frequent floods and cyclones. The obvious thought is that Bangladesh is struggling to look after its own population and the last thing they need is more people.
Also read: 313,000 Rohingya refugees registered
“But, from what I know of Bangladesh, I’m not surprised the refugees are accepted and welcomed. My involvement with Bangladesh has always been through the lens of cricket, and it’s always been positive – Bangladeshi cricket fans are the most joyful I’ve encountered in world cricket, always cheering their team on, but never deriding the opposition. My brother Trevor Chappell, who coached the Bangladesh cricket team from 2001 to 2002, often comments on the gentle, warm and hospitable nature of the locals.

“Some 585,000 Rohingya refugees and counting have arrived in Bangladesh since 25th August this year. But the government has kept the borders open and is working hard – with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and other aid organisations – to keep them safe, sheltered and fed.
At a personal level, Bangladeshi people are rallying to share their own limited resources with the new arrivals.

“Refugees who arrive sick, hungry, and with tales of unspeakable horrors in Myanmar, are being treated with warmth and compassion, in stark contrast to the hardening attitudes we see from so much of the world. This reflects the values I saw in Bangladesh’s cricket community.

“Responding to what is now the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis is a massive undertaking. UNHCR’s two existing refugee camps in southern Bangladesh were quickly overwhelmed, and more space had to be found immediately.

“Critical items such as tents, tarpaulins, blankets and mosquito nets are being airlifted in, while food is being distributed. Water and sanitation services are being installed; vaccination campaigns have been launched to prevent epidemics; and medical clinics rapidly established.
Also read: Bangladeshis stand by Rohingya refugees
“It’s not just short-term physical needs that aid agencies and government must meet. UNHCR psychologists have begun trauma counselling, and teams are working to reunite children with their families, after they’d been separated in the chaos.

“Bangladesh is shouldering a far greater burden than other wealthier countries in this crisis. This isn’t a surprise – the vast majority of refugees globally are hosted by developing countries.

“I was raised with a well-developed sense of fair play, but in my 15 years involvement with refugee issues it doesn’t seem to me that there’s much justice in the world in this area.
Bangladesh can’t handle this crisis alone.
Governments in wealthy countries need to do more, and as individuals we need to do more.

“Refugees aren’t the faceless masses they’re portrayed as by politicians. They are individuals, each with a devastating story of escaping violence, walking for days with no food, seeing relatives killed, or watching children drown as boats capsize.
“I challenge anyone to hear a refugee tell his or her story and not want to help.”
http://www.dhakatribune.com/sport/c...rised-bangladesh-welcoming-rohingya-refugees/

 

[Banglar Bir]

OFID supports UNHCR relief operations in Bangladesh
20.10.2017

Photo: UNHCR
Vienna, Austria, October 20, 2017. The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has approved an emergency assistance grant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help fund ongoing humanitarian operations in Bangladesh, where an estimated 20,000 Rohingyas per day are seeking refuge after outbreaks of violence in Rakhine State in Myanmar.

These outbreaks have triggered one of the most massive and swiftest refugee crises in the world today, with nearly one half million people fleeing to safety, primarily in Cox’s Bazar District in Bangladesh. There, they have joined 33,000 Rohingyas registered as refugees in the camps in Kutupalong and Nayapar, as well as over 274,000 others, mainly in so-called makeshift camps.

A large number of the refugees comprise women and children, many of whom have become separated from their families. UNHCR has declared this a refugee crisis and has launched an appeal, coordinating and working closely with the government of Bangladesh and agency partners to help meet refugees’ most basic needs, including supplementary feeding program, shelter, water, sanitation and healthcare, as well as camp and site preparation and management, among other activities.

OFID’s US$400,000 grant will help fund the top priorities as identified by the UNHCR; especially those concerning food security and nutrition; safe water supplies and sanitation facilities, as well as medical care and preventive health measures.
Cooperation between OFID and UNHCR dates back to 1984. Since then, 13 grants have been extended in support of UNHCR’s relief operations in Asia and Africa.
http://www.ofid.org/NewsEvents/ArticleId/3393/OFID-supports-UNHCR-relief-operations-in-Bangladesh

 

[Banglar Bir]

Khaleda: Govt failed to take proper steps in repatriating Rohingyas
Tarek Mahmud
Published at 01:56 PM October 30, 2017
Last updated at 03:02 PM October 30, 2017

The BNP chief distributes relief among the Rohingyas in Moynarghona camp on October 30, 2017 Tarek Mahmud/Dhaka Tribune
According to UNHCR, at least 605,000 Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh fleeing the violence which erupted in Myanmar on August 25
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia said the government has failed to take proper steps regarding the repatriation of Rohingyas who have entered Bangladesh fleeing the violence in Myanmar.

She made the statement while talking to the journalists at Moynarghona camp in Cox’s Bazar Monday afternoon.

The BNP chief said: “The Rohingyas are still here [in Bangladesh] because the government failed to take proper steps to repatriate them.

“The displaced people are destroying the environmental balance here.”

She also urged the Myanmar government to take back the Rohingyas and give them their rights and citizenship.

Khaleda also blamed the government of failing to supply aid properly to the Rohingyas and creating obstacles to for BNP in distributing relief.

The BNP chief arrived in Ukhiya around 12:30pm.

Khaleda is currently at Moynarghona camp. After visiting this camp, she will visit the camps in Hakimpara and Balukhali.

Meanwhile, huge crowd's was noticed in the four camps where Khaleda is scheduled to distribute relief.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, party Vice Chairman Abdullah Al Noman and leader Lutfur Rahman Kajol are accompanying the BNP chief.

Earlier, BNP Chairperson’s Media Wing Officer Shairul Kabir Khan said: “Central BNP leaders will accompany the BNP chairperson during her stay at the camp from 11am to 2pm.

“She will also hand over 45 trucks containing relief to the Bangladesh Army.”

After distributing relief, Khaleda Zia will leave Cox’s Bazar for Chittagong where she will stay for the night. She will start for Dhaka on Tuesday morning and take a break in Feni in the afternoon.

On Saturday, the motorcade heading towards Cox’s Bazar for the BNP chief’s planned relief distribution for the Rohingya was attacked at Mohammed Ali Bazar near Feni.

According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 605,000 Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh fleeing the violence which erupted in Myanmar on August 25.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/politics/2017/10/30/224666/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Shifting blame as US agenda unfolds in Myanmar
by Tony Cartalucci
Published: 00:05, Oct 27,2017
Updated: 01:08, Oct 27,2017

AS VIOLENCE continues to unfold in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state against the nation’s Rohingya ethnic minority, the agenda driving the conflict is likewise unfolding in a more transparent and direct manner.
As was predicted — the US is shifting blame away from the US-backed client regime headed by Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League of Democracy party the US installed into power in 2015 — and toward Myanmar’s independent institutions, including the nation’s still powerful military.

The US secretary of state Rex Tillerson in a recent talk before the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC laid the blame squarely on Myanmar’s military, claiming:
‘…we’re extraordinarily concerned by what’s happening with the Rohingya in Burma.
I’ve been in contact with Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the civilian side of the government. As you know, this is a power-sharing government that has — that has emerged in Burma.
We really hold the military leadership accountable for what’s happening with the Rakhine area.’

Reuters in an article titled, ‘Lawmakers urge US to craft targeted sanctions on Myanmar military,’ would report:
‘More than 40 lawmakers urged the Trump administration on Wednesday to re-impose US travel bans on Myanmar’s military leaders and prepare targeted sanctions against those responsible for a crackdown on the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority.’

And Freedom House — a subsidiary of the US government and corporate-funded National Endowment for Democracy — would also publish a piece titled, ‘Does Democracy’s Toehold in Myanmar Outweigh the Lives of the Rohingya?,’ shifting the blame away from the very regime it worked for decades to put in power, and target Myanmar’s military.

It claimed:
‘In less than two months, more than half a million Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape the destruction of entire settlements, systematic rape, and the mass slaughter of men, women, and children.
This horrendous violence is perpetrated by the military, with assistance from elements of the local Rakhine Buddhist population.’

It is clear that the confined nature of Myanmar’s ongoing Rohingya crisis will not lead to the same type of nationwide militancy observed in Syria.
It is also clear that the United States is likewise confining its condemnation for the violence not to the ultra-violent elements that it cultivated under Suu Kyi’s political movement for decades, but on the military who often stood between Rohingya communities and violent onslaughts.

The pressuring and weakening first, then either co-opting or overthrowing of Myanmar’s current military leadership under the pretext of the current crisis will invite a larger and expanding US and European role in Myanmar’s internal affairs.

Secretary Tillerson alluded to precisely that in his recent remarks, claiming:
‘And so we have been asking for access to the region. We’ve been able to get a couple of our people from our embassy into the region so we can begin to get our own firsthand account of what is occurring.
We’re encouraging access for the aid agencies — the Red Cross, the Red Crescent — UN agencies to — so we can at least address some of the most pressing humanitarian needs, but more importantly so we can get a full understanding of what is going on.

Someone — if these reports are true, someone is going to be held to account for that. And it’s up to the military leadership of Burma to decide what direction do they want to play in the future of Burma, because we see Burma as an important emerging democracy, but this is a real test.

With US ally Saudi Arabia fuelling a militancy under the guise of a Rohingya ‘resistance,’ the US will also be able to justify military aid, joint-operations, and even permanent US military facilities — however meagre — that will present a serious obstacle to Chinese influence in the nation and in the region.
It will also be an obstacle that once erected, will be difficult to dismantle as America’s enduring and unwanted military presence in the Philippines is proving to be.
What’s really happening in Myanmar
WHAT Freedom House in its aforementioned report intentionally omits is that ‘the local Rakhine Buddhist population’ it refers to is actually part of a much larger political — not religious — network that had fed saffron-clad ‘monks’ onto the streets for pro-Suu Kyi protests in 2007 and which has systematically thwarted efforts by the military-led government before Suu Kyi’s rise to power to begin the process of granting Rohingya minorities proper legal and political status within Myanmar.

It is also a political network that has systematically abused, brutalised, and driven Myanmar’s Rohingya population first from their homes and businesses into camps, then from camps to abroad in neighbouring nations including Bangladesh and Thailand.

While attempts to compare Myanmar’s crisis to ongoing conflict driven by US-backed regime change in Syria — it is clear that Myanmar’s crisis is more comparable to the US occupation of Afghanistan minus the presence (for now) of US troops.

While the United States and its European partners control Myanmar’s civilian government, the US is attempting to divide and weaken the Myanmar state to corrode independent institutions still beyond Wall Street and Washington’s control, hinder the central government from achieving any sort of independence itself, as well as create a pretext for an initial and then expanded presence of US missions — economically, diplomatically, and militarily — in Myanmar.

The goal — as it is in Afghanistan — is to disrupt, undermine, and ultimately overturn progress China and other alternative centres of global power have made in the two nations.
In particular, the highly confined violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state is precisely where China sought to establish and use one of its One Belt, One Road logistical hubs.
America’s plans for its Myanmar client state
Through a large US State Department and European-funded network of faux-non governmental organisations, Western-backed opposition parties, and likewise Western-backed street fronts, Myanmar’s current client regime was successfully installed into power after general elections in 2015.
Prominent opposition party, the National League for Democracy assumed power of the government but maintained little control over the nation’s independent military.

The NLD’s party leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, literally created a new political office for herself to occupy as de facto ‘head of state.’ Under Myanmar’s constitution Suu Kyi was barred from holding high offices in the nation’s political system due to her marriage to a foreign spouse — a British man — and because her children hold dual UK-Myanmar citizenship.
Suu Kyi herself received a foreign education and worked within Western institutions including the United Nations in the US before returning to Myanmar to engage in domestic politics.

Her entry into politics and her ascension into power has been openly funded and backed by the United States, former colonial ruler the United Kingdom, and a long list of European collaborators, for decades.

Many senior positions within Myanmar’s ruling regime are held by likewise products of extensive US funding, training, indoctrination, and support, including the current minister of information Pe Myint.
Just as the US controls the government in Kabul, Afghanistan, it controls the civilian leadership in Naypyidaw, Myanmar.

And just as the US perpetuates the threat of terrorism in Afghanistan as a pretext for the permanent US military occupation of the Central Asian state, the US and its Saudi allies are attempting to use the current Rohingya crisis as a vector to introduce a foreign-funded militancy as a pretext first for joint ‘counter-terrorism’ cooperation with the government of Myanmar, and then the permanent positioning of US military assets in a Southeast Asian state that directly borders China — a long-term goal of US policymakers stretching back decades.

It is expected that the military of Myanmar will come under increasing pressure, targeted sanctions, and outright threats until it capitulates, collapses, or manages to overcome foreign influence and the client regime serving as a vector and facilitator for them.

Meanwhile, Suu Kyi’s regime will continue being granted relative impunity across the West despite the fact that it is her own support base carrying out anti-Rohingya violence.
The crisis will be leveraged to thwart China’s economic inroads and prop up a burgeoning US-European diplomatic and military presence in the country.

Voices across the media exposing US plans will make it increasingly difficult for the US and its partners to manoeuvre in Myanmar and give counterbalancing forces further leverage in frustrating and rolling them back.

New Eastern Outlook, October 25. Tony Cartalucci, a Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, writes especially for the online magazine New Eastern Outlook.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/27009/shifting-blame-as-us-agenda-unfolds-in-myanmar

 

[Banglar Bir]

Danish minister visits Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar
Tribune Desk
Published at 04:12 PM October 30, 2017
Last updated at 04:15 PM October 30, 2017

Ulla Tornaes expressed the need for international support during her visit to Cox's Bazar Collected
The minister met with government representatives and officials of several organisations during the visit to Cox's Bazar
Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla Tornaes visited the Rohingyas on her trip to Cox’s Bazar from October 29-30.

She visited the Danish-supported humanitarian projects that help with immediate protection, food aid and shelter for hundreds of thousands Rohingyas.

The minister met with government representatives and officials of several organisations during the visit to Cox’s Bazar, according to a press release by the Danish Embassy.

The Danish minister, expressing the need for international support, said: “Bangladesh has performed a great task by receiving this huge number of refugees but it is very important that the international community now steps up to support Bangladesh and the affected local communities around Cox’s Bazar. Bangladesh cannot solve this crisis alone.

“Denmark reacted swiftly with substantial humanitarian aid when the crisis began in August. So far, we have allocated and committed over DKK120 million ($18.7 million) for civilians in Rakhine as well as for the hundreds of thousands Rohingyas who have fled Myanmar.”

She added: “I am especially concerned about the many women and children who have been exposed to brutal attacks and sexual violence. They are particularly vulnerable. Denmark also supports One-Stop-Crisis Centres near the refugee camps. The centres take care of traumatised women and children in a safe environment.”

According to the United Nations, more than 600,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar since August 25.

Denmark’s most recent humanitarian commitment came at the UN’s Donor’s Conference in Geneva where Ulla Tornaes pledged to commit an additional DKK32 million ($5 million) to UNHCR for the most affected refugees and for the people affected in the communities in Cox’s Bazar.

Denmark has also contributed with DKK40 million to Red Cross International and UN’s World Food Program as well as previous donations to UNHCR and Danish NGO’s working in the area.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/banglad...r-development-visits-rohingyas-in-coxs-bazar/

 

[Banglar Bir]

BD, Myanmar to sit together to solve Rohingya issue: Chinese envoy
SAM Staff, October 30, 2017

Rohingya refugees waiting outside in the open sky while it was raining at a makeshift near Cox’s Bazar’s Balukhali area, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017. Photo: UNB
Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang on Sunday (Oct 29) said Bangladesh and Myanmar will sit together and solve the Rohingya problem.

“We also expressed our commitment that we stand with Bangladesh (regarding Rohingya problem). We do hope that this issue will be settled as soon as possible peacefully,” he said.

The Chinese envoy was addressing a function at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) here marking the handover of acceptance certificate of Chinese firefighting equipment to Bangladesh with Chinese grant.

Ma Mingqiang signed the acceptance certificate on behalf of the Chinese side while the Secretary of the Disaster Management and Relief Md Shah Kamal on behalf of the Bangladesh side.
Also Read: India loses the plot on the Rohingya issue: Hands the game to China
Noting that China faces different kinds of natural disaster like flood, drought and earthquakes every year resulting in billions of RMB Yunun every year, Ma Mingqiang said that Bangladesh also faces similar types of disasters. “Even today, you’re also facing disaster…a serious problem of refugees.”

Terming Myanmar and Bangladesh as friendly countries, the Chinese Ambassador said, “We hope our two brothers (Bangladesh and Myanmar) will sit down and solve this problem. I did see that there’s some visible progress in terms of discussion.”

Last month, the Chinese envoy said China has been maintaining close contact with Bangladesh on the influx of Rohingyas into Bangladesh from the Rakhine State of Myanmar.

“China has been maintaining close contact with Bangladesh Foreign Minister on this matter and we hope that the situation will calm down as soon as possible,” said the Chinese ambassador while replying to a question on the influx of Rohingyas into Bangladesh.

He then said attacks on police in Rakhain State of Myanmar on August 25 have created this turbulent situation and Rohingyas have started coming to Bangladesh crossing the border. As a result, Bangladesh is facing suffering, he said, adding that China is also in trouble because there are Chinese investments in Myanmar.
Also Read: China wants peaceful solution to Rohingya crisis
Since August, hundreds of villages in Rakhine have been burnt down, with more than 600,000 Rohingyas fleeing across the border seeking shelter in Bangladesh.

Under an intense global pressure, Myanmar has agreed to repatriate “scrutinised” refugees who can prove their residence in Rakhine.

About the handover of firefighting and rescue equipment to Bangladesh, the Chinese envoy said the equipment include escalators, air compressors, generators and fork lifts.

Disaster Management and Relief Secretary Md Shah Kamal said that the equipment will help provide training to volunteers and other personnel on tackling disasters and conducting rescue operations.
SOURCE UNB
https://southasianmonitor.com/2017/...-together-solve-rohingya-issue-chinese-envoy/

‘Take National Verification Card or leave Myanmar’
Tarek Mahmud
Published at 04:26 PM October 30, 2017

File Photo: Rohingya refugees who fled from Myanmar wait to be let through by Bangladeshi border guards after crossing the border in Palang Khali, Bangladesh October 16, 2017 |Reuters
The NVC does not guarantee citizenship
Rohingya refugees say Myanmar has been pressing them to accept the National Verification Card (NVC) that does not mention the holders’ religions and ethnicities.

It also does not guarantee citizenship but will allow the holders to apply for citizenships at a later date.

Myanmar says NVC is first step before the scrutinisation of citizenship in accordance with the 1982 law, which defines citizenship based on ethnicity.

Shamsu Alam, a Rohingya refugee, told the Dhaka Tribune that NVC barred them from owning properties above 50,000 kyat.

“We were being forced to take NVC. They planned to give us ‘temporary citizenship’ without our ethnic identity and grab our properties,” he said.

Shamsu’s village was burned to the ground on the eve of the Eid. Many villagers were killed and women were raped. The army had also cut off food supply.

“They threatened to kill us if we refused to accept NVC,” he added.

Rohingya people have been objecting to NVC projects dating back to the previous military government. At that time, it was mandatory for the Rohingya to identify as “Bangali” on the card, to imply that they were illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

“The NVC is a temporary document.
We will have to apply later for permanent citizenship but will not be identified as Rohingya,” said Shamsu, a resident of Buthidaung’s Taung Bazar who arrived in Bangladesh on Friday.

“It is just a mockery,” he added.
Click here to read more stories on Rohingya crisis 2017
Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya, often considered to be one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August when Myanmar military claimed it launched a ‘clearance operation’ in response to insurgent attacks on security forces.

The UN has described the Myanmar violence as ethnic cleansing. It said the systematic crackdown had been designed to permanently drive the Rohingya away from their home in the Rakhine state.

More than 7,000 people had been given NVC in Rakhine state, the government said.

The Rohingya would lose everything if they accept the card,” refuge seeker Bashir Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune over phone from a shoal along the border, where he was waiting to cross into Bangladesh.

Bashir, from Maungdaw’s Sikdarpara village, dubbed NVC a public stunt.

Barakat, another Rohingya, said he did not take the NVC. “Some of my neighbours went to get it but came back after hearing the terms and conditions.”

Rohingya refugee Salim said secretly visited his village Sudhapara in Maungdaw recently. He called his friend Yasir Arafat on Sunday noon.

“The villagers are being threatened to accept cards or face action,” he told Arafat.

U Aung Min, director of the Rakhine State Immigration and Population Department, said that villagers had been advised “to hold NVC as long as they live in Myanmar.”

Rehana Begum from Buthidaung’s Changnama village joined, who joined Shamsu’s group with her husband and four children, said the army and local Moghs had closed the village markets and shops.

Once the villagers ran out of food, they offered relief.

“They would give us relief materials and pose for photos but would snatch the goods from us after that,” Rehana said.

On October 17, the army ordered the villagers to take NVC and told them that nobody would be allowed to live in Rakhine without them, she said.

“They threatened us with serious consequences as nobody wanted the cards,” Rehana said. “We chose to flee.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/s...ake-national-verification-card-leave-myanmar/

 

[Banglar Bir]

12:00 AM, October 31, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:12 AM, October 31, 2017
VIOLENCE AGAINST ROHINGYA WOMEN
Almost everyone is survivor or witness
UN says about those who have fled Rakhine

A Rohingya child is in tears after crossing into Bangladesh from Myanmar along with other refugees at Shah Porir Dwip in Teknaf yesterday. Photo: AFP
Diplomatic Correspondent
Almost every Rohingya woman and girl, who fled the Rakhine State in Myanmar and took shelter in Bangladesh, is either a survivor of or a witness to multiple incidences of sexual assault, murder through mutilation or burning alive of a close family member or neighbour, said UN Women.
“Women and girls have experienced sexual and gender‑based violence, perpetrated by both the Myanmar army and by Rakhine locals,” according to the latest report of UN Women.

The October 2017 report titled “Gender brief on Rohingya Refugee Crisis Response in Bangladesh” published yesterday said many women whose sexual assault resulted in conception were reported to have sought out abortions after arriving in Bangladesh.

UN Women prepared the report with testimonies from community leaders and interviews with refugees in makeshift settlements in Balukhali of Cox's Bazar.

It said 51 percent of the displaced people were women and girls and they live in terrible conditions and lack adequate food, water, sanitation, medical care and access to their livelihoods and assets.

The crisis disproportionately affects women, girls and the most vulnerable and marginalised Rohingya refugee population groups by reinforcing, perpetuating and exacerbating pre-existing, persistent gender inequalities, gender-based violence and discrimination, it said.

This is a frightening reminder that sexual and gender‑based violence are among the most horrific weapons of war, instruments of terror most often used against women, the report said.

The recent influx has more than doubled the population living in refugee settlements and stretched the capacities of humanitarian agencies working to provide emergency shelter, access to clean water and sanitation, healthcare services, delivery of food, nutrition support for malnourished girls and boys, education, and protective services.

Increasing overcrowding and decreasing privacy at all refugee sites elevate safety and security risks, particularly for women and girls, it said.

Almost 400,000 refugees need immediate access to water and sanitation. Due to the increased population, women and men are forced to share toilets without basic protection measures including gender segregation, it said.

Twenty‑four thousand pregnant and lactating women require maternal healthcare support at the already overstretched healthcare facilities.

Many Rohingya refugee households are female headed. Households led by females or elderly people with no male relatives are exhibiting greater vulnerability than those with adult males, the report said.

Having fled extreme circumstances, these households are not only traumatised by the loss of their loved ones, but also the loss of their assets, livelihoods and all forms of financial security.

Women and children are also at heightened risk of becoming victims of human trafficking, sexual abuse or child and forced marriage for the same reasons.

The report said women and adolescent girls between the ages of 13 and 20 newly arriving from Myanmar typically have two to four children each.
SANITATION ISSUE
The lack of toilets and well-maintained manual water pumps have complicated the crisis of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, where 30 percent of the 4,370 manual pumps installed were in poor condition and 36 percent of the 24,773 latrines were about to overflow, the United Nations reported Sunday.

"There is continuous new influx of refugees resulting in increase in population at multiple sites which is overloading existing WASH facilities (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) due to heavy use," said the Inter Sector Coordination Group, which coordinates agencies working in the refugee camps.

The number of refugees who have fled the armed conflict in Myanmar to Bangladesh since August 25 has risen to 607,000, as of October 28. The new influx of refugees brought the number of the ethnic group that sought refuge in Bangladesh to about 819,000.
EU COMMISSIONER IN TOWN
Meanwhile, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides arrived in Dhaka last night for a two-day visit to the Rohingya refugees camps and see their plights.

Christos Stylianides will leave Dhaka this morning for visiting the Kutupalong camp in Cox's Bazar. He will back to Dhaka tomorrow and hold bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and will depart Bangladesh.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpa...s-almost-everyone-survivor-or-witness-1484242

Rohingyas seek int’l help to return home
Diplomatic Correspondent | Published: 00:09, Oct 31,2017 | Updated: 00:19, Oct 31,2017
Forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals on Monday urged the international community to help them going back to their homes in Rakhine State with security and dignity from Bangladesh.
They reiterated the urge while talking to Danish development cooperation minister Ulla TØrnæs in Cox’sbazar.

She was in Cox’s Bazar as a part of her two-day visit to Bangladesh to have on the ground experience of the situation of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals, widely known as Rohingyas.
Ulla TØrnæs expressed her wariness particularly for the women and children who are vulnerable and
have been subjected to horrible atrocities and sexual violence in Rakhine State, according to a foreign ministry press release.

There is still acute need for humanitarian assistance for the Rohingyas, she said.
Head of Danida Martin Herman, Danish ambassador to Bangladesh Mikael Hemniti Winther and foreign ministry director general Mohammad Khorshed A. Khastagir accompanied the Danish minister in Cox’s Bazar.

Simon Henshaw, US acting assistant secretary of state for the bureau of population, refugees and migration, is due to arrive in Dhaka tomorrow as part of a 7-day tour of a US delegation starting on Sunday to Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The delegation would visit Cox’s Bazar district to hear the stories of the people who have fled, assess the impact of the emergency humanitarian response, identify gaps in assistance, and advise on ways to improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Canadian special envoy to Myanmar Bob Rae is also expected to visit Bangladesh.
Rae, who was appointed by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, is expected to play a political role within Myanmar without jeopardizing diplomatic relations on the ground with a government that is prickly about foreign interference in its affairs.

Over 6,07,000 minority Rohingyas, mostly women, children and aged people, entered Bangladesh fleeing unbridled murder, arson and rape during ‘security operations’ by Myanmar military in Rakhine, what the United Nations denounced as ethnic cleansing, between August 25 and October 24.

New ongoing influx took the total number of undocumented Myanmar nationals and registered refugees in Bangladesh to over 10,24,000 till October 29, according to estimates of UN agencies.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/27300/rohingyas-seek-intl-help-to-return-home

 

[Banglar Bir]

Interview
'Myanmar won't resolve Rohingya crisis if int'l pressure recedes'
Raheed Ejaz and Rozina Islam
Update: 21:56, Oct 27, 2017

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan has said the Myanmar authorities would not ultimately resolve the Rohingya crisis despite its pledge to do so if the international community stops exerting pressure on Naypyidaw to take concrete steps.

His apprehensions conform to suspicions expressed by the global media and rights activists about Myanmar's sincerity to address the issue of violation of rights of Rohingya people of Rakhine state.

The Myanmar authorities have already outright rejected the recommendations put forth by the Kofi Annan Commission assigned to recommend solutions to problems in Rakhine, the Bangladesh minister pointed out.

Back from a three-day Myanmar visit on 23-25 October, Asaduzzaman also regretted that Naypyidaw backtracked on a 10-point decision it worked out in a consultation with Dhaka during a Myanmar minister's visit to Bangladesh earlier this month, to solve the Rohingya crisis.

He went to Myanmar to negotiate repatriation of Rohingya Muslims who have taken shelter in Bangladesh. The country is burdened with nearly one million Rohingya refugees including over 600,000 new arrivals since 25 August following consistent persecution of Rohingyas in the northern state of Rakhine in Myanmar.

The minister, during his visit, held talks with lieutenant general Kyaw Swe and also made a courtesy call on state councillor and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Asaduzzaman Khan talked to Prothom Alo in detail at his secretariat office on Thursday evening.Raheed Ejaz and Rozina Islam took the interview and it has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam.
Here is the full text of the interview:

Prothom Alo (PA): How was your visit to Myanmar?

Asaduzzaman Khan (AK): During the meeting with the Myanmar home minister, I noticed they are calling Rohingyas 'Bangalees'. I told them that as much as 350 million people speak in Bangla. Are all of them Bangalees? We clearly stated that they are not Bangalees. The people of Rakhine state have a long of history of shuttling between Bangladesh and Myanmar. I have asked them to know the history.

PA: What was the outcome of the discussion?

AK: We told them that one million Myanmar nationals entered Bangladesh. It's a huge burden for us. Our forest is being destroyed. Social life is also affected. We are in a disastrous situation. So, take your nationals back as quickly as possible.

PA: What was the reply of the Myanmar home minister?

AK: He said they would take Rohingyas back. Before taking back, they would verify their nationality. Then I told him that there is already a decision as to what should be done regarding the verification of the identities of Rohingyas.

PA: Did you convey the decision taken at the meeting between the Bangladesh foreign minister and the minister of Myanmar State Councillor's Office in Dhaka on 2 October?

AK: Yes. At that meeting, a decision was taken to form a joint working group to solve the crisis. The Joint Working Group will decide how the Rohingyas would be repatriated. I proposed to form the Joint Working Group by 30 November. Later, Myanmar agreed to the proposal. By the time, the jurisdiction of the Joint Working Group will be fixed. The foreign minister will take the next step in this regard later at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

PA: What did they say about the repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh?

AK: They didn't differ on any matter. They just said they would take a decision after discussing the matter with the higher authorities. We had insisted that they should work on the basis of the Joint Working Group, Kofi Annan Commission’s recommendations and our prime minister's 5-point proposal placed at the UN General Assembly.

PA: Are they fine with the issue of Kofi Annan Commission?

AK: No, they are repeatedly amending the things there.

PA: What were the issues that came up for discussion with Suu Kyi?

AK: I got a different behaviour from the home minister while talking Suu Kyi. She said nothing negative. She nodded her head whatever we said. Discussion was open.

PA: What did you discuss with Suu Kyi?

AK: I told her that Bangladesh does not produce drugs. Drugs from Myanmar are ruining our young generation. Suu Kyi said Yaba has also been a problem in Myanmar. They are anxious over it.

PA: What did you discuss with her on Rohingya issue?

AK: I told her that both Bangladesh and Myanmar will fall in trouble if Rohingyas stay in Bangladesh for long. If Rohingyas fall into the trap of extremists, we will not be able to control them. So, 'it’s our request to you to take steps to bring back Rohingyas'. Suu Kyi said she has started working as per the recommendations of the Kofi Annan Commission. She is taking initiative so that the Rohingyas do not come back to Bangladesh once they are taken back to the Rakhine state. She is also thinking about the livelihoods of the Rohingyas.

PA: Did Suu Kyi give you any new proposal?

AK: At one stage of discussion, she said it was found in the past that after returning to Rakhine state, Rohingyas entered Bangladesh again. Rohingyas may not go to Bangladesh again if a village is built up ensuring all the facilities for them in Myanmar. She spoke of building 'internally displaced persons (IDP)' village for Rohingyas.

PA: Look, Myanmar already took internally displaced Rohingyas to IDP camps.

AK: She didn't spoke of IDP camp, rather she spoke of IDP village. The Rohingyas will be kept in that village in a specific place providing all facilities.

PA: Did Myanmar backtrack on the 10-point decision which includes full implementation of Annan Commission’s recommendations and bringing an immediate end to the Rohingya influx into Bangladesh? These two key issues were missing in the circular Myanmar published on your visit

AK: The Myanmar government dropped those matters whereas those were the common decisions after the meeting. Our ambassador asked me what he should do. I told our ambassador not to sign the meeting minutes if the Annan Commission’s recommendations are not included. Accordingly, we did not sign it.

PA: How will you evaluate Myanmar’s position?

Ak: Look, Myanmar will not take any initiative to solve the crisis if the international pressure does not continue. And that’s why we didn’t sign the meeting minutes. We clearly stated that the matter of Annan Commission’s recommendation must be included in the minute.

PA: Did you mention in your discussion that the atrocities committed by the Myanmar army on the Rohingyas are genocide?

AK: I didn't call it genocide. I called it a brutality. Suu Kyi told me to encourage Rohingyas to return home as they are not willing to return home. I told her that you know well why they do not want to return. They do not want to return because a peaceful atmosphere does not exist there.

PA: Did they take it easily when you described Rohingyas as Myanmar nationals as Myanmar does not recognise them as their citizens?

AK: We explained to them that the ancestors of Rohingyas had been living in Myanmar for several hundred years. They were also born there. Which country do they belong to if they are not the residents of Myanmar?

In this context, I couldn't but mention one thing. During the meeting with the Myanmar home minister, an army general all of a sudden started giving his own opinions on Rohingyas in breach of diplomatic norms. The general said these people are Bangalees. The British brought them from Bangladesh to Myanmar for cultivation. Our ambassador told the general that Rakhine state was up to Chittagong. The language the Rohingyas speak is not Bangla. It is the language of Rakhine region. Afterwards, that general got deflated.

PA: Did Myanmar hand over any list of ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) to Bangladesh?

AK: They said they would give me a list. Asking the inspector general of police (IGP), I came to know that a list was given to him, but that is not complete.

PA: How many people are in the list?

AK: They have spoken of about 500 people, but the IGP informed me about a list of 200 people. However, I'm not sure about it.

PA: Did you raise the issue of planting landmines across Bangladesh-Myanmar border?

AK: Militants might have planted the landmines. However, the Myanmar army and the police will remove them.

PA: How far are you hopeful about the solution to the crisis?

AK: Experience says that they will not do anything easily. If the international pressure continues, they will be compelled to solve the crisis.

PA: Thank you.

AK: Thank you too.
http://en.prothom-alo.com/opinion/news/164563/Myanmar-won-t-resolve-Rohingya-crisis-if-int-l

 

[Banglar Bir]

Responding to comments posted by U Ye Htut on his Facebook wall
www.thestateless.com/2017/10/responding-to-comments-posted-by-u-ye-htut-on-his-facebook-wall.html

By Mohammed Ayub (နည္းပညာ)
Responding to comments posted by U Ye Htut on his Facebook wall on 22-10-2017 at 5:34 pm
(ဘဂၤလီ/ရိုုဟင္ဂ်ာအေရးေဆြးေႏြးပြဲအေတြ႕အၾကံဳ (၂))
U Ye Htut: လူဦးေရ
ရခုုိင္ျပည္နယ္တစ္ခုုလံုုးမွာ ဘဂၤလီေတြက လူနည္းစုု ၂၉ % ေလာက္ပဲရိွတာမွန္ တယ္။ ဒါေပမယ့္ အခုုေဖာ္ျပထားတဲ့ေျမပံုုကုုိ ၾကည့္ရင္ ရခုုိင္ျပည္နယ္ေတာင္ပိုုင္းေဒသမွာ လူနည္းစုုျဖစ္ေပမယ့္ ေျမာက္ပိုုင္းျမိဳ႕နယ္ႏွစ္ခုုမွာ ဘဂၤ လီေတြဟာ လူမ်ားစုု ၉ ၅% ရိွေနျပီး စစ္ေတြျမိဳ႕နယ္မွာေတာင္ ရခုုိင္ေတြနဲ႕သိတ္မကြာေတာ့တာေတြ႕ရမယ္။ ဒီေဒသကိုု အဂၤလိပ္ေတြသန္းေခါင္စာရင္းေကာက္ ေတာ့ ၁၈၇၂ ခုုႏွစ္မွာ မဟာေမဒင္ ၅၈၂၅၅ ဦးပဲရိွတယ္။ ၁၉ ၀၁ ခုုႏွစ္စာရင္းက်ေတာ့ ၁၅၄၈၈၇ ဦး ရိွသြားတယ္။ ေခတ္အဆက္ဆက္ သန္းေခါင္စာရင္းေတြကိုု ျပန္ၾကည့္ရင္ ဘူးသီးေတာင္၊ ေမာင္ ေတာေဒသမွာ ဘဂၤလီေတြရဲ့ လူဦးေရ တိုုးပြားမႈႏႈန္းက ရခိုုင္ေတြထက္ အမ်ားၾကီးမ်ားေနတာကိုု ေတြ႕ရမယ္။ ဒါဟာ ရခုုိင္တစ္ျပည္နယ္လံုုးကိုု ဘဂၤလီေတြ၀ါးျမိဳသြားလိ္္မ့္မယ္လိုု႕ ရခုုိင္တုုိင္းရင္းသား ေတြစိုုးရိမ္စိတ္ျဖစ္ေစတ့ဲအခ်က္တစ္ခ်က္ပဲ။ ေနာက္ျပီး အဂၤလိပ္ေခတ္သန္းေခါင္စာရင္းေတြမွာပါ တဲ့ လူဦးေရတိုုးတက္မႈႏႈန္းကိုုၾကည့္လိုုက္ရင္ စစ္တေကာင္းဘက္က ေျပာင္းေရႊ႕၀င္ေရာက္လာသူ ေတြအမ်ားစုုရိွေနတယ္ဆိုုတာ ျငင္းလိုု႕မရဘူး။
Translation:
Population
Bengalis across Arakan State are minorities and 29% were they.
According to the map, they are minority in southern Arakan State, but they are majority in two northern suburbs, forming 9 5%, even in Sittwe their numbers are not much difference with Rakhines.

According to British census in 1872, there were 58255 Mahomadens and in 1901 it increased to 154887. Looking back at all ages Census in Buthidaung and Maungdaw area, the population growth rate of Bengali is found to be much higher than that of Rakhines’.
This is anxiety-causing factor that Rohingya will swallow Rakhines in terms of Population. In addition, if we look British-era census population growth, it is undeniable that there were many Chittagonian immigrants in Arakan.

Map Supplied by U Ye Htut
Refutations:
Dear U Ye Htut,
You have expressed your concern about the size of population of Rohingya in Arakan.
And also you said that the population growth rate of Rohingyas is higher than Rakhine, which makes Rakhines presume Rohingya will swallow them. You also exerted that, according to the British censuses, there ere many immigrants from Chittagong who settled down in Arakan.

You also wrongly quoted that, according to 1872 census, the Rohingya (Mahomadens) population of Arakan was 58255, which was the total Rohingya population in Akyab district only.
The actual Muslim (Rohingya) population according to 1872 census was 64000.

Logically, Regarding population growth, an example is entertained.
If any body is financially strong enough to live in furnished apartment in the downtown area, why will he go for wood-and-bamboo-made tent in outskirt area? Still the choice will be his. It’s his right. Just because a race has higher growth rate, it should not be eradicated by exerting various forms of torture.

That must not be the ground that Rakhines will be marginalized by means of population. That chance of increasing growth rate is also with Rakhines. Why not followed by Rakhines, then? Rohingyas are not sole contractor of high population growth rate.

Besides, there are no Rohingyas who got poor just because they have many children and also there are no Rakhines who got rich just because they have fewer children. Many Rohingyas do have no family planning.

Give them the chance to liberate themselves from the current deadlock and the opportunities to learn, study and grow. They will plan it for themselves. If one sister community group is afraid of the other just because of relatively higher population growth rate, aren’t we be feeling that we are dragging back ourselves to stone ages, though we are IT ages in.

Just see the neighboring country Bangladesh, the population of which is estimated at 163 million (2016), where about 86% of Bangladeshis are Muslims, followed by Hindus (12%), Buddhists (1%) and Christians (0.5%) and others (0.5%).
The 86% Muslims embraced 1% Buddhists and 12% Hindus, and ensured all their rights, and living peacefully since long. But in Myanmar with total population 51419420, what word to use, if about 90% of Buddhists are presumably to fear the 4.3% Muslims in the name of Islamophobia?
If over-populated Bangladesh wants to Islamize Myanmar, why then they not forcibly convert or drive out 12% of Hindus and 1% of Buddhists from the soils of Bangladesh first?
Factually
According to the British-Burma census of 1872, who fled to the Southern Chittagong to escape the brutalities of Burmese King Boedawpayah, returned to their original home Arakan after British conquest (see pic screenshot-1), and according to Dr. Abid Bahar, a prominent historian, the fear of uncertainty still persisted and that many Rohingya driven by the 1784 genocide preferred to work in Arakan only as “seasonal laborers.”

There were seasonal immigrants to Arakan from Chittagong, Madras and other parts of India but the Chittagonian returned home after seasonal work, having earned pocketful of money, and the Indians used to return their home after saving some money during the stay in British Burma from one to four years. Further more, in the census report of 1872, it was mention that the population of British Burma is increasing at maximum known rate of natural increase (Screenshot-2).

The report also pointed out that there were numbers of Indian elements that year to year remained constant and non-reproductive.
The report also well documented that from 1862 to 1871 the increase rate was 2.68%, which is normal.

Remarkably, in the year 1872 the increase rate was 7.21% for which the report claimed that there were no exceptional increase but put that the accuracy of enumeration, closer counting and high reproduction rate among the inhabitants, were the reasons behind the increase (Screenshot-3).
Therefore, population growth rate increase cannot make Rohingyas the Chittagonian Bengali immigrants.

Another interesting points to be noted from 1872 census reports are; that
(1) the adult male population size in British-Burma was greater than the size of female population, that is there were extra more male than female in British Burma, confirming that the Chittagonian laborers did not bring their families with them and went back after season expired and,
(2) in the same year 1872, according to the Bengal census, in Chittagong there were fewer male than female, confirming that some of the adult males have gone to British Arakan for seasonal work leaving behind their families at Chittagong (Screenshot-4).

Therefore, it is on the part of Myanmar government to sincerely focus on historical facts to solve long entangling Rohingya problem. History is not to read and feel with emotional feelings. If we interpret the history as we feel it, the sufferer will be not only Rohingya but also Rakhines and other countrymen.

Screenshot-1 (1872 British-Burma census report)

Screenshot-2 (1872 British-Burma census report)

Screenshot-3 (1872 British-Burma census report)

Screenshot-4 (1872 British-Burma census report)
U Ye Htut: ေက်းရြာမ်ားတည္ရိွမႈ
အခုုေဖာ္ျပထားတဲ့ ေက်းရြာအုုပ္စုုေျမပံုုေတြကိုု ၾကည့္လိုုက္ပါ။ အနီေတြက ဘဂၤလီသီးသန္႕ရြာေတြ၊ အ၀ါေရာင္ေတြက ဘဂၤလီနဲ႕ ရခုုိင္ေရာေႏွာရြာေတြ၊ အျပာေရာင္ေတြက ရခုုိင္နဲ႕အျခားတုုိင္းရင္းသား သီးသန္႕ရြာေတြ၊ လိေမၼာ္ေရာင္အရင့္ေတြက နတလ ရြာေတြ၊ အစိမ္းေရာင္က ၂၀၁၂ ပဋိပကၡမွာ မီးရိႈ႕ခံခဲ့ရတဲ့ရြာေတြ။ ဒီေက်းရြာေတြတည္ရိွမႈအရ အဲဒီေဒသမွာရိွတဲ့ ရခုုိင္နဲ႕ အျခားတုုိင္းရင္းသား ေတြကဘဂၤလီေတြအ၀ိုုင္းခံေနရတယ္ဆိုုတဲ့စိုုးရိမ္ထိပ္လန္႕မႈေတြအျမဲရိွေနမယ္ဆိုုတာကိုု နားလည္ ႏုုိင္တယ္။
Translation:
The Existence of villages
Now look at the tract map displayed.
Red marked were Bengalis separate villages, Yellow, mixed Bengalis and Rakhine villages and, Blue, Arakanese and other villages, Dark Orange, NaTaLa villages and, Green, 2012 conflict-affected torched villages.
The ways of existence of the villages make feel Rakhines and other ethnics that they are being circled by Bengalis. From that, it can be understood that it is anxiety-causing factor for them.
Logical and Factual Refutations:
In 1990s, it was the Military government who initiated the settlement of NaTaLa Villages in between Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine State on the confiscated lands of Rohingyas. Those Rakhine villages were built on Rohingyas sweat and money.

The new settlers were partly from Yangon, who were homeless and lawless, and partly from Bangladesh, who are Bengali Buddhists.
Rohingyas had forcefully to surrender their forefathers owned farmlands to Rakhines. The government induced the hatred and hostile policies in NaTaLa villagers and from that on Rohingyas have been living life in extra high tension.

As the settlers grew, crimes and atrocities towards Rohingyas both by Rakhines and security forces also grew. They looted Rohingyas belongings whenever and wherever possible. The most distinct affect was that the area has been populated with various kinds of gambling and liquor houses making the atmosphere very hostile and causing moral corruptions and degradations.

It is baseless and illogical to say that fear is rooted in Rakhines because they feel their villages were surrounded by Rohingya villages. It is government that created that atmosphere by discriminating Rohingyas and degrading their citizenship standard.
We are human. We are not living life in the forest like animals.
Even animals can live peacefully in the forest, we, being humankind, why cannot we?

Screenshot-5 (en.wikipedia.org)

Screenshot-6 (en.wikipedia.org)

Screenshot-7 (Google Map)
U Ye Htut: ရခုုိင္ေျမာက္ပိုုင္းက ပဋိပကၡသမိုုင္း
၁။ ၁၉ ၄၂ခုုႏွစ္ အေရးအခင္း။ အဂၤလိပ္ေတြ ရခုုိင္ျပည္နယ္ကေန ဆုုတ္ခြာသြားေတာ့ ဘဂၤလီေတြကိုု နယ္ျခား ေစာင့္တပ္ဖြဲ႕ဖိုု႕လက္နက္ေတြေပးခဲ့တယ္။ ဒါေပမယ့္ ဂ်ပန္ကိုု တုုိက္ရမယ့္အစား ရခုုိင္ေတြကိုု တိုုက္ ခိုုက္ေမာင္းထုုတ္ခဲ့တယ္။ အဲဒီအေရးအခင္းမွာ ရခုုိင္တုုိင္းရင္းသားေတြ ဘယ္ ေလာက္ေသခဲ့တယ္ဆိုုတာနဲ႕ပတ္သက္ျပီး အမ်ိဳးမ်ိဳးေျပာတယ္။ ဒါေပမယ့္ စစ္အျပီးအဂၤလိပ္ အစီ ရင္ခံစာတစ္ခုုမွာေတာ့ ဘူးသီးေတာင္၊ေမာင္ေတာေဒသက ရခုုိင္ရြာ ၂၀၄ ရြာက လံုုး၀ပ်က္သြားခဲ့ ျပီး အဲဒီအထဲက ရြာ ၆၀မွာပဲရခုုိင္ေတြျပန္ေနခဲ့တယ္လိုု႕ဆိုုတယ္။ ဒါ့ေၾကာင့္လည္း ဒီေန႕ အထိ ဘဂၤလီ ရြာေတြက ရခုုိင္နာမည္ေတြနဲ႕ျဖစ္ေနတာကိုုေတြ႕ရလိမ့္မယ္။ အဲဒီထက္အေရးၾကီးတာက ၁၉ ၄၂ ခုုႏွစ္ အျဖစ္အပ်က္က ရခုုိင္ေတြရဲ့ ဘဂၤလီေတြအေပၚ အျမင္ကိုု အမ်ားၾကီး အက်ိဳးသက္ေရာက္ မႈရိွတယ္။ ၂၀၁၂ ခုုႏွစ္ ရခုုိင္ျပည္နယ္စံုုစမ္းေရးေကာ္မရွင္က ရခုုိင္တုုိင္းရင္းသား ၁၂၀၀ ကိုု ေမးတဲ့ အခါ အားလံုုးက အဲဒီျဖစ္စဥ္ကိုု သူတိုု႕မိဘေတြဆီကေနၾကားဖူးတယ္လိုု႕ေျပာတယ္။
Translation:
The history of the conflict in northern Arakan
Uprising in Arakan state. In 1942, withdrawing British from Arakan armed Bengalis to form the BGF. However, instead of fighting Japan, began to push against Rakhines. There were different sayings about how many Rakhines were killed.

But after the war in a British report, in Buthidaung and Maungdaw regions 204 Arakanese villages were destroyed and only in 60 villages Rakhines were to resettle. So until today one can still find Bengali villages in Rakhine names. More importantly, 1942 events have a profound effect on Bengalis by Rakhines. When in 2012, Rakhine state inquiry commission interviewed 1200 Arakanese, they all answered that they’ve heard about 1942 conflict from their parents.
Logical and Factual Refutations:
1942 Massacre
Well, dear U Ye Htut! As pointed out earlier, history is not emotional version records of the ages.
If we one-sidedly emphasize the part of history, then we will never be able to have correct results to help solve problems. According to the Wikipedia.org, in 1942 massacre of Arakan both Rohingyas and Arakanese Buddhists were perpetrators targeting Rohingya Muslims in Japanese-controlled southern part of Arakan by armed Arakanese Buddhists, and Arakanese Buddhists in northern Arakan by British loyalists local Rohingyas.

So, the casualties from both sides were remarkable and in one place Wikipedia.org recorded that “Muslims from Northern Rakhine State killed around 20,000 Arakanese, including the Deputy Commissioner U Oo Kyaw Khaing.
In return the Buddhist also killed a large number of Rohingya Muslims. However the number of Arakanese killed is being questioned, and the number of Muslims killed is claimed to be around 40,000.

The total casualty of both parties in that conflict is not certain and no concrete official reference can be found.” More than 300 villages of Rohingyas (you said 204 villages of Rakhines were destroyed) were destroyed and 62,000 had fled to Bengal, part of British India (Screenshot-5 and 6).

Therefore, if you only talk about the sufferings of Rakhines, would you feel safe in your inner mind-set?

Their elders also told Rohingyas how they suffered in 1942 massacre, as you mentioned that, when Rakhine commission in 2012 interviewed 1200 Rakhines. These are emotional feelings and perception.

It is the government who is responsible to mediate between the two communities. Instead, the government is very much concern about Rakhines’ emotional feelings that are against Rohingyas and when their feelings are against government, it pass the problems to Rohingyas by creating anti-Muslim propagandas. The sad is for Rakhine politicians and leaders who repeatedly fail to see that trap till now.

And you mentioned that there are many Rohingya villages in Rakhine names. Please any one can explain me, which of these names are Rakhine or Burmese? Arakan (now Rakhine), Akyab (Sittwe),Cheinkharli (Ohntaw), Gorakhali (Kyaungtaung), Goduthara, Kanhpuu, Bagonenaa, Bolibazar (Kyeinchaung), Nurulla para (TetOoChaung), Inndin.

These are only few from many. The reality was that the government purposely changed Rohingya named to Burmese names to misguide the world about the Rohingya history. And you know there is Rohingya para in Sittwe, which is now called as Yupa Taung Ward (screenshot-7). And there were many official maps of Maungdaw, which use Bolibazar (Not Kyeinchaung).

You argued about the Rakhines villages destroyed, but on the other side, you purposely remained silent about the Rohingya villages destroyed in southern and northern Rakhine. Will government allow resettling those Rohingya villages? Why one-sided?

Who understand logic can decide who suffered most in 1942 massacre; Rohingyas or Rakhines? British supported Rohingya Muslims with arms in the absentia and Japanese forces supported Rakhines with their presence. There were records from Wikipedia and Rohingyas who survive in those days witnessed how brutal the Japanese forces and Rakhines were towards Rohingyas.

The immigration authorities imposed limitations of movement upon Muslims from the regions of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Rathedaung to Akyab [Sittwe]. The Muslims were not resettled in the villages from which they had been driven out in 1942 (with the exception of villages they left in the Maungdaw and Buthidaung regions). Some 13,000 Rohingya still living in refugee camps in India and Pakistan whence they had fled during the war, were unable to return; as for those who did manage to return, they were considered illegal Pakistani immigrants. The properties and land of all these refugees have been confiscated (HRW)
U Ye Htut: ၂။ ၁၉ ၄၈-၁၉ ၅၄ မူဂ်ာဟစ္သူပုုန္။ အဲဒီကာလမွာလည္း ဘူးသီးေတာင္၊ ေမာင္ေတာ ေဒသက ရခုုိင္ တိုုင္းရင္းသားေတြထြက္ေျပးခဲ့ရျပန္တယ္။
Translation:
1948-1954 Mujahideen rebels.
In this period also Rakhines from Buthidaung Maungdaw had to flee again.
Logical and Factual Clarification:
After independent of Burma, all ethnic groups, not only Rohingya, took rebellion against Burmese government for the autonomy. Why not arise concerns about how many of civilians fled due to the fights between Burmese forces and ethnic groups in other parts of Burma.

Particularly pointing about the Rakhine state is fueling ongoing tension between the two communities. And Mujahids were the first to surrender the Government from amongst armed rebellion groups in Myanmar.

Do you know how many Rohingyas had fled to Bangladesh due to atrocities committed by Burma Territorial Force (BTF)? After independent, Burmese authorities have launched more than 20 offensive operations again Rohingyas and every time Rohingyas are the ones who need to flee to safety.
U Ye Htut: ၃။ ၁၉ ၇၁ အိႏိၵယ-ပါကစၥတန္စစ္ပြဲ။ အဲဒီအခ်ိန္မွာ အေရွ႕ပါကစၥတန္ ( အခုု ဘဂၤလားေဒ့ရ္ွ) ဘက္ ကေန ဒုုကၡသည္ငါးသိန္းေလာက္ ျမန္မာႏုုိင္ငံဘက္ကိုု ၀င္လာတယ္။ စစ္ျပီးေတာ့ အေတာ္မ်ားမ်ား ျပန္သြားတယ္။ ဒါေပမယ့္ ဘယ္ေလာက္ ျပန္သလဲ၊ ဘယ္ေလာက္က်န္သလဲ ဘယ္သူမွမသိဘူး။ အဲဒီအခ်ိန္က ျမန္မာအစိုုးရဟာ အေရွ႕ေျမာက္ေဒသမွာ တရုုတ္ေထာက္ခံတဲ့ ဗကပ နဲ႕အၾကီး အက်ယ္တုုိက္ေနရလိုု႕ အေနာက္ဘက္နယ္စပ္ကိုု ဂရုုမစိုုက္ႏုုိင္ခဲ့ဘူး။ ဒါေပမယ့္ ရခုုိင္ေတြကေတာ့ ဗဟုုိ အစိုုးရဟာ သူတိုု႕ကိုု ဂရုုမစိုုက္ဘူးလိုု႕ခံစားရတယ္။

U Ye Htut: ၄။ ၁၉ ၇၈ နဂါးမင္းစစ္ဆင္ေရး။ ဘဂၤလားေဒ့ရ္ွဘက္က ခုုိး၀င္သူေတြကိုု စိစစ္တဲ့အခါ ႏွစ္သိန္း ေက်ာ္ေလာက္ ထြက္ေျပးသြားတယ္။ ႏွစ္ႏုုိင္ငံညိွျပီး ဒုုကၡသည္ေတြကိုု စိစစ္ျပီးလက္ခံခဲ့တယ္။ ဒါ ေပမယ့္ ျပႆနာက မူလထြက္သြားပါတယ္ဆိုုတဲ့ စာရင္းထက္ သံုုးေသာင္းေလာက္ပိုုျပီးလက္ခံခဲ့ ရတယ္။ ရခုုိင္တုုိင္းရင္းသားေတြက အဲဒီကိစၥအေပၚ အၾကီးအက်ယ္ေဒါသထြက္တယ္။ အစိုုးရရဲ့ ျပန္လည္စိစစ္ေရးအစီအစဥ္ေတြအေပၚ ေမးခြန္းထုုတ္ခဲ့တယ္။
Translation:
1971 India-Pakistan war.
During the war from the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) about half of a million refugees took refuge in Burma. Many of them returned after war. But, how much returned and how much remained was not known. At that time, the government of Myanmar was in war with China backed Bama Communist Party in the northeast region and could not pay attention to the western border. But Arakanese felt that they were neglected by the central government.
1978 Operation King Dragon.
In screening illegal entry from Bangladesh, more than two hundred thousand people had fled the area. They were accepted back on a situation where the two countries together verified. But the problem is out of the original list; the government of Myanmar had received about thirty thousand. These issues make Arakanese outraged and questioned on the government’s repatriation procedures.
Logical and Factual Refutations:
3,4. The Bangladesh government claimed 252,000 persons sought refuge in Bangladesh 1978 exodus and, after negotiation, the operation commenced on 31st August 1978 and ended on 29th December 1979 and involved repatriation of a total of 187,250 refugees from 252,000 to Arakan (burmalibrary.org).

In actual number, more than 64,750 remained in Bangladesh due to fear of persecution by Burmese security forces and local Rakhine mobs. But U Ye Htut claimed that 30,000 extra had to be accepted back from 1978 exodus for which Rakhines were outburst against the government and questioned about the repatriation procedures.

You said that 500,000 refugees took shelter in Myanmar during 1971 Bangladesh Liberation war. Majority of them had returned after war.
But no body knows that how many of them had returned, and how many of them remained. Hypothetically speaking, if Nagamin operation was to scrutinize illegal entry, those illegally remaining from 1971 refugee must have gone to Bangladesh, as they will not have any chance to prove Myanmar Nationality in 6 years time, then why would they come back again to Myanmar, seeing danger in the future?

Assuming that they fled because of no legal documents as Myanmar residence and, according 1978 MoU, only lawful residents of Burma were repatriated, then why would they be accepted back?
By the way, how many times and how much the government has showed care towards Rakhine (Any ethnic group) since independent?
If the same has enjoyed by the ethnic groups, the why they still are embracing gun to fight Burmese government?
U Ye Htut: ၅။ ၁၉ ၈၈ ခုုႏွစ္ေမာင္ေတာအေရးအခင္း ။ ၁၉ ၈၈ အေရးအခင္းကာလမွာ ပတ္၀န္းက်င္ ဘဂၤလီ ရြာေတြက ေမာင္ေတာျမိဳ႕ကိုု သိမ္းပိုုက္ဖိုု႕ၾကိဳးစားတာျဖစ္တယ္။ ဒါေပမယ့္ ရဲတပ္ဖြဲ႕ က ကာကြယ္ ႏုုိင္ခဲ့တယ္။
Translation:
1988 Maungdaw uprising.
In 1988 uprising, Bengali villages tried to occupy Maungdaw. However, police could control it.
Logical and Factual Clarification:
It is a white lie.
Everybody knows that 88 uprising were against the government by the all people of Burma for the all people of Burma.
It was not specific communal violent carried out by a specific ethnic group.
And it was not the war between Rohingya and government but the revolution against the government from oppressed people of Burma.
Still you want to stick Rohingyas name on it.

What happened in northern Rakhine state were the destructions of village administrative offices and government establishments but not private properties belonged to any other ethnic groups.