Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing - Updates & Discussions

[Banglar Bir]

Where do we go from here?
Sohel Rana
Published at 06:55 PM October 30, 2017

Are our humanitarian efforts sustainable?MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU
We need to take all sides of the Rohingya crisis into account
Two-month-old infant, Shaokat Ara, has been living in Balukhali makeshift Rohingya camp-1 in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, since her birth.

To her, the planet is a green one — courtesy of Ukhiya’s picturesque natural beauty — full of hope.

But she was born without much hope when her mother, Rehana, narrowly escaped a locally named “launcha” — a weapon similar to a missile, fired by the Myanmar military to set her home ablaze.

Rehana had absolutely no other option but to run and flee.

She crossed a narrow strait of Naf in Myanmar to Ulubunia, Palingkhali, Ukhia — leaving behind her torturous past at Balibazar, a village in Maungdaw district in Myanmar, where her family had been living for hundreds of years.

The short walk toward Ulubunia at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border came to a halt as Rehana felt a surging pain burning her womb. It was time for the delivery of her child — she had been carrying for 10 months.

Showkat Ara was born on her mother’s walk to freedom from persecution and pain.

Rehana had company — thousands swarming the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, left with no choice but to run for their lives. Often with a solar panel or an elderly member of the family hanging on the shoulder and a battery bag in hand.
Two sides of the same coin
Across the Naf river, the picture was a little different from what they had fled from. Bangladesh set an extraordinary example of humanity and compassion. The Rohingya were forced to lead a nomadic life, displaced from their agrarian lifestyle.

Lately, Myanmar’s militarised government conjured a ridiculous theory: The Rohingya are, in fact, migrated Bangladeshi Muslim agrarian people, who travelled to their land some generations ago and thus never conformed to their citizenship principles.

Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize winning Indian economist, slapped this line of defense with a fiery retort: “The Rohingya didn’t come to Myanmar; Myanmar came to the Rohingya.”

Bangladesh was born with a fundamental pledge to justice, equity, and compassion. In the face of one of the biggest humanitarian crises, our government, along with the Bangladeshi locals in Cox’s Bazar, embraced the traumatised Rohingya with smiling faces and are still doing what they can to help.
The heavy lifting
Immediately after the fresh influx beginning on August 29, the Cox’s Bazar district administration, in collaboration with RRRC (Refugee, Relief, and Repatriation Commission, Bangladesh), set up temporary makeshift camps and developed a system not only to distribute relief coming from all over the world, but also to create a functional work environment for the UN bodies and hundreds of NGOs.

Other agencies like the police and the army, led by the district administration, accomplished an insurmountable task to facilitate the safe and secured distribution of a huge amount of diverse relief.

Our efforts to force the Myanmar government to do the right thing are way less than our efforts to accommodate the Rohingya in Bangladesh

Hundreds of national and international NGOs are doing commendable jobs to ensure minimum sanitation and health standards in the makeshift camps. Everyone, except Myanmar, is trying to build a fate for these battered souls, a home for these homeless, and give hope to people.
Reality checks
But we need to reconsider a few things given the harsh realities and new developments in the Rohingya camps.

A few days back, at Balukhali makeshift camp-1, three Bangladeshi citizens from Chittagong, who were trying to distribute cash as relief, on which the government has imposed a ban, were brutally beaten by some Rohingya. They were recovered half dead and the offenders claimed that they were trying to steal their kids.

But later on, the allegations were found not to be true.

The money from the Bangladeshis was snatched away by the Rohingya and to cover it up, they simply manufactured a false allegation. Recently, a policeman was hit in the head by a Rohingya couple at Teknaf.

These developments, though rare, indicate a law and order concern for us.

Some believe, years of exposure to extortion, exploitation, and violence may have rendered the Rohingya cunning and violent. While it’s best to avoid this type of racial profiling, unfortunately, the potential for a “Rohingarchy” in the lives of the locals is not too unlikely.
Is our humanity sustainable?
Besides, the concern is not only about law and order. Bangladesh has been advancing gloriously for the past few years, and this half a million (and counting) can seriously affect the thriving growth of our nation.

The number itself is a threatening statistic. Prevention of locals mixing with the Rohingya would be a near impossible job for the security forces and it may result in fatal consequences for the locals.

Though WFP and UNHCR will take the responsibilities of this added population, there is no guarantee that they will not cut loose from the camps. It may be the locals’ fates that will be at risk.

Will they go back?
Will they be given their legitimate right of citizenry?
What exactly is a solution to this crisis?

These questions won’t see answers any time soon.

At the moment, international authorities are busy meeting immediacies based upon the sheer generosity shown by our PM.

Interestingly, our efforts to force the Myanmar government to do the right thing are disproportionate compared to our efforts to accommodate the Rohingya in Bangladesh.

Yes, we want a compassionate solution to this crisis and a future for the Rohingya, but not at the cost of risking our own fate.
Sohel Rana is an Assistant Commissioner and Executive Magistrate working in DC office, Feni, Bangladesh and a member of Bangladesh Civil Service. He is now attached to Cox’s Bazar DC office to work for the Rohingya crisis. Currently, he is in charge of the Balukhali-1 makeshift relief distribution Rohingya camp Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2017/10/30/where-do-we-go-from-here-3/

 

[Banglar Bir]

12:00 AM, October 31, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:13 AM, October 31, 2017
Condemnation not enough
Says Khaleda, calls upon all to ensure safe return of Rohingyas

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia takes a baby in her lap during a visit to a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar's Ukhia yesterday. Photo courtesy: BNP
Mohammad Al-Masum Molla
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has called upon international organisations and communities as well as the Bangladesh government to step up efforts to ensure Rohingyas' safe return to Myanmar.

“Condemnation and sympathy are not enough. Take steps immediately so that Rohingyas can return to their motherland safely,” she said.

The BNP chief was talking to reporters after distributing relief supplies among Rohingyas at Moynargona refugee camp in Ukhia yesterday.

Khaleda said the Bangladesh government has to make diplomatic efforts to send back Rohingyas and the international organisations should also have to take the responsibility. “It is their moral responsibility.”

The BNP chairperson said her party would continue its relief distribution programme for as long as possible. “But the distribution of relief is not the solution. They [Rohingyas] should be repatriated through holding talks and making diplomatic efforts.”

Drawing the attention of the international community to the Rohingya crisis, Khaleda said, “Your words won't work unless you translate it into action. You should also think of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is not a rich country; it's a poor and small country. People of Bangladesh have big hearts and that's why they extended support to Rohingyas. Now it is Myanmar's responsibility to take them back.”

About the Saturday's attack on her motorcade and journalists, the former premier said, “It's a humanitarian programme. But my motorcade came under attack and many journalists were injured. The government knows who carried out the attack and their photographs have also been published [in media].”

“I want the government to stop it. These activities will not produce any benefit. Rather, you will be isolated from people. That's why I think steps should be taken so that everybody can work together for the sake of humanity.”

On her way to Chittagong, Khaleda's motorcade was attacked in Feni. The BNP and the ruling Awami League have been trading blame for the attack.

Recalling that the previous BNP governments had sent back Rohingyas to Myanmar in 1978 and 1992 through talks and continuous engagement, the BNP chief said strong diplomatic efforts and talks with Myanmar were crucial for sending Rohingyas back home.

Accusing the government of not standing by the Rohingyas with enough relief, Khaleda said the government was rather “obstructing” those who were trying to help Rohingyas with relief materials.

“We believe that it's not possible for Bangladesh to shelter Rohingyas for a long period for different reasons.... The government is yet to make any effort [to send them back].”

Fleeing a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State, over 600,000 Rohingyas have crossed into Bangladesh since August 25.

Khaleda said the early-arriving Rohingyas had been in a sorry state and the BNP had demanded deployment of the army to mitigate their suffering.

She lauded the army's role in distributing relief in a disciplined manner and said her party gave 110 tonnes of rice to the army for distribution.

Expressing concern about the impact of the Rohingya influx on Bangladesh's environment and ecology, Khaleda said the country's environment and ecology were threatened due to habitation of Rohingyas and indiscriminate felling of trees in Cox's Bazar.

Later, she visited Rohingya camps at Hakim Para and Balukhali and a medical camp set up by Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB), a pro-BNP physicians' body, in Ukhia.

The BNP chairperson talked to some Rohingya families at the camps. She was shocked to hear the harrowing tales of torture on the Rohingyas in Myanmar. She cradled some babies in her arms.

Khaleda distributed relief at the camps and also handed over food, medicine and other goods for Rohingya children and expecting mothers to the DAB medical team at its camp in Balukhali for distributing those among refugees.

Asked whether the BNP was satisfied with the government's diplomatic efforts, she said, “Earlier I said diplomatic efforts should be stepped up to end the crisis.”

Around 9:00am, BNP standing committee members Mirza Abbas and Nazrul Islam Khan handed over relief materials, loaded in 45 trucks, to the army relief coordination cell in Ukhia on behalf of the party chief.

Thousands of BNP leaders, activists and supporters, including a large number of women, stood along the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf road to greet Khaleda on her way to Ukhia in the morning.

The BNP chief left Cox's Bazar for Chittagong last night. She will stay at Chittagong Circuit House at night and is expected to start for Dhaka today.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpa...isis-relief-distribution-not-solution-1484236

Trump needs to say something — and do something — about the assault on the Rohingya

Kulsuma Begum, 40, a Rohingya refugee, cries while recounting her story at Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Friday. She said that her daughter was missing and that her husband and son-in-law were killed by Burmese soldiers. (Hannah Mckay/Reuters)
By Editorial Board
The Washington Post
October 30, 2017
THE BIGGEST and most ruthless campaign of ethnic cleansing the world has seen in years continues unabated in Burma.
Since Aug. 25, more than 600,000 members of the Rohingya community have been driven across the border to Bangladesh by the Burmese military, which has systematically torched their homes and killed those who resisted.
The United Nations says it expects most of the 500,000 remaining Rohingya in the Rakhine state to cross the border in the coming weeks; the military has pushed many of them into camps, to which aid groups and journalists are denied access.

This atrocity is being perpetrated against a despised minority: The Rohingya are Muslims who are regarded by Burma’s Buddhist majority as foreign interlopers, even though they have lived in the country for generations.
Virtually no one in Burma, also known as Myanmar, has come to the victims’ defense — not even Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who controls the civilian government, if not the generals.

A senior U.N. official, Yanghee Lee, pointed out last week that the country’s revered leader might be the only one who could counter the popular “hatred and hostility” against the Rohingya if she were to “reach out to the people and say, ‘Hey, let’s show some humanity.’ ”
But Aung San Suu Kyi has remained silent.

After weeks of hesitation, the United States has finally begun to act against this staggering crime. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Oct. 18 that “the world can’t just stand idly by and be witness to the atrocities,” adding that the military leadership would be held accountable.

A few days later, the State Department followed up by pulling the waiver allowing current and former Burmese military officials to travel to the United States, and said military units involved would be deemed ineligible for U.S. aid.
It called on the government to “facilitate the safe and voluntary return of those who have fled” and “address the root causes of systematic discrimination against the Rohingya.”

That, however, is not enough.
So far State has not formally adopted the term “ethnic cleansing” to describe the forced exodus.
Mr. Tillerson called Burma’s army chief on Thursday, but a statement issued afterward referred only to “reported atrocities.” In fact, as Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, has said, what is occurring is “genocide” — and the U.S. response should be proportionate.

Burma was something of a pet project for the Obama administration, which lavished attention on the regime and lifted long-standing sanctions after it held a democratic election.
It’s now clear that those who questioned whether President Barack Obama acted prematurely in removing the remaining sanctions before leaving office were correct.

President Trump, who seems to take a visceral pleasure in reversing Mr. Obama’s legacies, would be right to do so in this case.
Senior Burmese military officials should be targeted with asset freezes, and all business with the military and its affiliates should be suspended.

Mr. Trump has yet to speak out about the assault on the Rohingya, though it is the most serious human rights crisis to occur so far in his presidency.
His upcoming visit to Asia, during which he will attend a summit of Southeast Asian nations that includes Burma, provides him an opportunity to show he will not ignore crimes against humanity.
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2017/10/trump-needs-to-say-something-and-do.html

US Acting Assistant Secretary of State to visit Bangladesh Wednesday
SAM Staff, October 31, 2017

US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration Simon Henshaw will visit Bangladesh Wednesday (Nov 1) to discuss ways to address the humanitarian and human rights concerns stemming from the Rakhine State crisis.

The US delegation, will also discuss about improving the delivery of humanitarian assistance to displaced persons in Burma (Myanmar), Bangladesh, and the region, a US embassy statement said here today.

Deputy Assistant Secretary Scott Busby of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Tom Vajda of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, and Office Director Patricia Mahoney of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs will accompany the Acting Assistant Secretary.

The delegation, which is now in Myanmar, will meet with various stakeholders to discuss the US and international responses to the ongoing Rohingya crisis and to explore durable solutions.

In Myanmar, Acting Assistant Secretary Simon Henshaw and the delegation will meet with the diplomatic community, senior government officials, and UN, international, and NGO partners.

The delegation members will discuss the current state of the crisis, promote protection for persons affected by the violence and accountability for reported human rights abuses during their visit to Myanmar.

They will also urge Myanmar authority unhindered humanitarian access to affected communities in Rakhine State, and press for the establishment of protection mechanisms to enable individuals voluntarily return in safety and with dignity.

During Dhaka tour, Simon Henshaw and the delegation will meet with senior government officials, donors, and humanitarian agencies to discuss efforts to improve conditions and effectively meet life-saving needs for the significant influx of refugees into Bangladesh.

The delegation will also visit affected communities in 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, the statement added.
SOURCE BSS
https://southasianmonitor.com/2017/...t-secretary-state-visit-bangladesh-wednesday/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Published: 10:59 AM, 31 October 2017
Australia supports humanitarian needs in Cox’s Bazar
Asian Age Online

The Australian government has announced a further AUD 10 million to support the humanitarian needs of almost 600,000 Rohingya people.
This brings Australia's total assistance since the onset of the Rohingya crisis to AUD 30 million, said the Australian High Commission in Dhaka on Tuesday.

The recent violence in Rakhine State, Myanmar, has resulted in more than 600,000 Rohingya crossing the border into Bangladesh.

Most of these people have few possessions and are reliant on humanitarian aid to survive.

Almost 60 percent of the new arrivals are children, around 10 percent are pregnant or breastfeeding women, and a significant percentage of women have experienced sexual violence.

Australia appreciated the government of Bangladesh generous acceptance of this influx and acknowledges the increasingly heavy burden being placed on Bangladesh.

Australian support will contribute to providing food, clean water, sanitation, and shelter to more than 600,000 displaced people, said the High Commission.

It will also help treat children for malnutrition, create safe spaces for women, and provide maternal health services.

This assistance will be provided through the World Food Programme, the International Organisation for Migration, UNHCR, UNFPA, and other trusted humanitarian partners including local NGO BRAC and Australian NGOs.
http://dailyasianage.com/news/92915/australia-supports-humanitarian-needs-in-coxs-bazar

 

[Banglar Bir]

ASİA
UN picks Norwegian for Myanmar role as tensions simmer over Rohingya crisis
October 31, 2017 Reuters Agency

Rohingya refugees wait to receive permission from the Bangladeshi army to continue their way
The United Nations named a new interim U.N. resident coordinator for Myanmar on Tuesday, appointing Knut Ostby of Norway to take over the humanitarian role at a time of growing strains with the Myanmar government over the handling of the Rohingya crisis.

The appointment of a temporary placeholder was expected after Myanmar blocked an upgrade of the U.N. country chief position.

Myanmar's de facto leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has told diplomats in private meetings that she is frustrated with the United Nations, particularly its human rights arm.

Ostby, who has served with the United Nations in a number of hotspots, including Afghanistan and East Timor, will replace Renata Lok-Dessallien, who has completed her term.

Some 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh after ethnic violence erupted in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state in late August.

Rights monitors and Rohingya refugees say the army and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes have forced them to flee their homes.

U.N. investigators interviewing Rohingyas living in refugee camps near Cox's Bazar said on Friday they had gathered testimony pointing to a "consistent, methodical pattern" of killings, torture, rape and arson.

The fact-finding team, led by former Indonesian attorney general Marzuki Darusman, said the death toll from the Myanmar army's crackdown following Rohingya insurgent attacks on Aug. 25 was unknown, but "may turn out to be extremely high".

The U.N. team, which was established by the U.N. Human Rights Council in March, renewed its appeal for access to Rakhine state and for talks with the Myanmar government and military to "establish the facts".

In the early stages of the crisis, the United Nations described the military campaign as "ethnic cleansing", an accusation rejected by Myanmar, which says its military was engaged in counter-insurgency operations against Rohingya militants behind a series of attacks on security posts.

Suu Kyi has said the refugees can return, but thousands continue to arrive in Bangladesh.

Myanmar, an overwhelmingly Buddhist country with small Christian and Muslim minorities, is struggling to emerge from decades of military rule.
http://www.yenisafak.com/en/dunya/u...-tensions-simmer-over-rohingya-crisis-2797166

Striving to survive: Rohingya refugees in Malaysia

Overseas Development Institute
There are over 50,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Malaysia. Without the right to work, and little support from the government or aid system, how do they survive? This video is part of a larger project aimed at listening to refugees to understand their hopes, priorities and perspectives.
The full report is available at:
https://www.odi.org/refugee-livelihoods.

 

[Banglar Bir]

2:00 AM, October 31, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:33 PM, October 31, 2017
Prolonging the Rohingya crisis will work to China's disadvantage

Even a drop of conscience should compel Chinese policymakers to act responsibly for about one million refugees are living in dire and desperate conditions in Bangladesh. Photo: Anisur Rahman
Ruby Amatulla
The Rohingya crisis, if not resolved soon, may haunt the entire Southeast Asian region. And China is a critical player in all this.
It is in China's best interest as well as that of the region to bring about a sustainable conflict resolution without losing any time.
Once the ARSA resistance gains momentum and links up with international terrorist networks there would be a real threat of radicalisation in this region.

The difficult terrain of mountains and forests is most suitable to sustain long-term guerilla warfare both against Myanmar and China, and that would be extremely costly to endure.
Prominent military generals have conceded that there is no military solution to neutralising radicalised groups.
The deep-rooted issues that give rise to them must be addressed.

If the past is any reference, ignoring the causes of radicalisation has fuelled the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East. Since 9/11, instead of addressing the grievances and injustices, the Western powers undertook a military strategy called the War on Terror to quell rebellion.
The strategy has failed even after spending hundreds of billions of dollars for over a decade.
Terrorism has increased many folds since then.

Tunisia has proved that a conflict resolution is the most powerful deterrent against radicalisation and violence. As the previously conflicting groups came together to establish a functioning democracy, a polarised and confrontational society became more pluralistic and tolerant. The case of neighbouring Nepal is an example of that constructive process and so is El Salvador in the 1990s. The Balkans have a similar story.

China is the biggest stakeholder in this turmoil. A radicalised region is going to be a major roadblock for China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as well as to maintain the gas-oil pipelines carrying 80 percent of China's imports that come from the Middle East and Africa.

For a peaceful, stable region nothing short of a comprehensive approach is going to work. That means Myanmar should take Rohingyas back, giving them full citizenship status, respecting their rights and dignity under the supervision of the international community. Rohingyas need to be rehabilitated, their homes rebuilt and their lives restored.

A few isolated terrorist attacks were used as an excuse to commit crimes against humanity and unleash a campaign of ethnic cleansing on the entire Rohingya population. Satellite imageries have confirmed that many areas of Rakhine were burned to ashes. Countless Rohingyas have lost everything they had. The horrible tales of torture and persecution, family members being killed in front of their very eyes and babies thrown into fire in front of mothers, have been echoed from one end of the vast refugee camps to the other.

This crisis indeed is going to be a stain on the leadership of China and other countries for a long time to come. Even a drop of conscience should compel Chinese policymakers to act responsibly for about one million refugees—according to the most recent UN assessment—are living in dire and desperate conditions in Bangladesh, a poor country itself.

Looking back, when Rakhine residents including Rohingyas revealed the damages they faced due to the Chinese gas-oil pipeline project (from Rakhine to Yunnan province of China), had China given the local residents fair compensation for the expropriated lands for China's pipeline project, things might have turned out differently. The compensations for Rakhine residents would have been only a tiny fraction of the enormous benefit China would receive every year by bringing in gas and oil through Rakhine instead of through the distant Strait of Malacca and the risky South China Sea.

A stable and developed Rakhine would have been conducive to China's expressed greater vision of the regional developments in which China would remain an indispensable and dominant player. The possibility of a win-win state of affairs was nipped in the bud. Now, a costly quagmire in the form of a mega humanitarian crisis has emerged.

How costly can it become? China does not need to go far to look for an answer. The story of Vietnam is good enough. More than half a century ago, if America had spent USD 500 million to help build the infrastructure of Vietnam (then an American ally) after the World War II devastation, and addressed the economic crisis the Vietnamese were facing, as was suggested by an expert and American official posted then in Vietnam and as Ho Chi Minh himself was eager to work with America at that time, the entire Vietnam war could have been avoided.

Instead, the American leadership abandoned the path of helping others who needed it most—the path advocated both by President Woodrow Wilson in the 1920s and Franklin D Roosevelt in the 1940s to help build a peaceful and progressive world—and embarked on a path of prejudice, cynicism and military confrontation.

The vigorous persuasion of the vested interests, the military industrial complex, and the neoconservatives using fear-mongering has helped derail the decision-making process of the superpower. The consequence: a futile war that took about 55,000 American lives, killed over one million people in the region, and cost American taxpayers 2,000 times (USD 1 trillion in 2011 valuation) that of the meagre USD 500 million that was to be given to help Vietnam.

The trust and political capital that this sum of money could have earned at that time would have brought about new heights of America's position in the world and a paradigm shift in our time. A golden opportunity was squandered in the early 1950s, which, if used, could have brought the Cold War to an end much sooner. Moreover, it could have achieved many of the foreign policy goals at the fraction of the price the US paid later.

This is the price for deviating from principles, for ignoring the sufferings of a people, and for having the arrogance to think that military power is going to fix everything. China and Myanmar today have a lot to learn from America's blunder.
Ruby Amatulla is Executive Director of the US-based Muslims for Peace, Justice and Progress, and the Bangladesh-based Women for Good Governance.
http://www.thedailystar.net/opinion...-crisis-will-work-chinas-disadvantage-1483957

 

[Banglar Bir]

Educate and liberate
SN Rasul
Published at 06:59 PM October 30, 2017

Rohingya children need a proper education SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN
We have to ensure that the Rohingya of today do not become the terrorists of tomorrow
No matter the context, it has become difficult to defend any group or individual whose inspiration and ideology derive from religion, especially in this day and age, especially if it’s extremist, and especially if it’s Islam.

The fear for what has been termed as “Islamism” is rampant enough to warrant groups like these worthy of fear, suspicion, and disdain. A group could, potentially, be on the “right” side of history (morally speaking), but due to the very fact that they have potentially Islamist ideology flapping in their coattails, they would be dismissed by the world as being violent and untrustworthy.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, or ARSA, is no different. As the world slowly turns to support the plight of the Rohingya, in which Myanmar (a non-Muslim and thereby non-Islamist entity) has unequivocally been the villainous antagonist, it has become important in the current post-9/11 climate to ensure that they are not put in a box which carries the negative connotations surrounding Islamism.

We have seen this played out elsewhere. Across the barren lands of the Middle East, we have seen how Hamas, because their faith is of import, has been demonised by Western media, in effect wiping out from the history books the infractions committed by Israel, replacing it with pithy phrases which speak of how the oppressor is trying to “defend itself” or merely “retaliating” against the terrorist group that is Hamas.

Yes, in the era of the War on Terror, the equation of “Islam + Violence = Terrorism” is one that must be avoided.
This is evident not only in political environment surrounding the issue of contentious land masses, but also in the way mainstream narrative continues to treat any crime: From the lone-wolf gunmen in America to the suicide bombings in the war-ravaged nations strung up to die by the misdirected theocracies.

It is more important now, more than ever, to keep for a narrative that separates the religion from the people, the faith from the massacre

But this day and age has also brought us, hopefully, a heightened self-awareness. While we continue to tell the story of the Rohingya, we have refrained from letting the equation of terrorism engulf the struggles and terrors they themselves have suffered.

But it has played a part in delaying and in somewhat putting the international interference we have been asking for, for so long.

While, in principle, we shouldn’t have to pander to Western ideas of terrorism, the sad reality is that that’s exactly the situation we have to play for. It is more important now, more than ever, to keep for a narrative that separates the religion from the people, the faith from the massacre.

The powers that be have ensured that such are the rules of the game we currently play. But the creation of ARSA should, at least, serve to highlight how terrorism breeds inside the confines of oppression.

It should at least be a lesson for the world to recognise the environments which require intervention (something that the great nation of the United States of America has repeatedly gotten wrong), how to provide aid to those who have suffered, and how important it is to act in time.

The world has watched in muted silence and indifference as an entire people was being systematically wiped out and ejected out of their own lands. Before the age of information, this was acceptable.

But now, the world has no excuse for inertia and incompetence.

It cannot claim that it didn’t know what the extent of oppression and torture was and how they were sidetracked by religious affiliations.

Given the opportunity (or lack thereof), any community will fracture and unite under an un-ideal authority figure who will capitalise on the vulnerable mindsets of the oppressed minority.

ARSA’s leader Ata Ullah, revered, respected, mythologised, is a perfect example.

Whether or not Ata Ullah’s intentions remain true to the cause of the Rohingya, and not to establish an intolerant theocracy which wishes to dominate the people through Sharia Law, remains to be seen.

But what is problematic is that this is, by the very way Myanmar has treated the Rohingya, now a possibility.

More and more amongst them will see the false light at the end of the theological tunnel.

Young impressionable minds will rise to the occasion of an unseen God and fight for an unseen Messiah.

It’s important that we don’t let this happen. As we take in more of the Rohingya, and their repatriation becomes increasingly the stuff of fairytales, it has become Bangladesh’s duty to ensure that they do not use religion as the violent tool in the way many elsewhere in the world have, and fringe elements within them have.

Educate and liberate: It is the only way to ensure that the Rohingya of today do not become the terrorists of tomorrow.
SN Rasul is an Editorial Assistant in the Dhaka Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @snrasul.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2017/10/30/educate-and-liberate/

12:00 AM, November 01, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 01:51 AM, November 01, 2017
Stop using landmines
Rights group to Myanmar army

A Rohingya refugee man holds his daughter as it rains, after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, in Teknaf of Cox's Bazar yesterday. Photo: Reuters
Staff Correspondent
Nine out of the 14 states and regions in Myanmar are contaminated with landmines, making it the world's third most landmine-contaminated country, behind Afghanistan and Colombia.
The telling statistic was revealed by Fortify Rights, a US-based rights group.
A human rights group has asked Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups to immediately cease using antipersonnel landmines that terrorised, maimed and killed civilians in Rakhine and other states of Myanmar.

Fortify Rights, which works in Southeast Asia, also demanded that Myanmar ratifies the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

It said that since August, Fortify Rights and others, documented how the Myanmar military laid antipersonnel landmines in northern Rakhine state, resulting in the deaths and maiming of Rohingya civilians fleeing a military-led attack.

Over 607,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar army began its “clearance operations” in response to the coordinated killings of Myanmar security personnel by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on August 25 this year.

Also, on October 20, two ethnic Ta'ang civilians died from injuries sustained by landmines, Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an ethnic armed-group operating in Kachin State and parts of Shan State, told Fortify Rights. They also added the KIA uses antipersonnel landmines as well.

In September 2016, the rights group said Myanmar's Deputy Minister of Defence, Major General Myint Nwe, admitted its army continued to use landmines in armed conflicts in the country.

Myanmar leaders say they use landmines to safeguard the life and property of people and in self-defence.

In April 2016, the United Nations Secretary General attributed half of the child casualties of war in Myanmar to landmines and other explosive remnants of war.

“Landmines are indiscriminate and dangerous during and after armed conflict,” said Matthew Smith.

“Armed groups should listen to the communities they claim to be protecting and stop using these weapons.”

Myanmar, KIA, and other ethnic armed-groups are bound by customary international humanitarian law to avoid indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

“Displaced communities can't return home until the peace process improves and they can't do it safely until mines are cleared,” Matthew Smith said.
PRESIDENT ASKS UN TO MOUNT PRESSURE ON MYANMAR
Describing the Rohingya influx as a big burden for Bangladesh, President Abdul Hamid yesterday urged the UN and other international agencies to continue mounting pressure on Myanmar to take back its forcefully displaced people from Bangladesh, reports UNB.

"The Rohingya crisis is a big problem for Bangladesh as it's one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Over one million forcefully displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar are now staying here and it's a big burden for us," he told outgoing UN Resident Coordinator to Bangladesh, Robert D Watkins, as he met the President at the Bangabhaban.

The President's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin briefed reporters after the meeting.

President Hamid sought continuous support from them to repatriate the displaced Rohingyas with dignity.

He thanked the UN for helping Bangladesh achieve its Millennium Development Goals' (MDGs) targets and hoped that it will continue supporting the country in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals.

Rohingya refugee children wait in line to receive permission from the Bangladesh authorities to continue on their way after crossing the border in Teknaf of Cox's Bazar yesterday. Photo: Reuters
Robert D Watkins assured that the UN will continue its support to Bangladesh.

He also hailed the role of Bangladesh over the Rohingya issue, and assured UNDP will provide all-out support, including technical assistance, to the Election Commission of Bangladesh to strengthen its capacity.
FOUR ROHINGYA DIED
Four Rohingya refugees died after a boat carrying a group of Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar capsized in the Bay of Bengal early yesterday, reports our correspondent in Cox's Bazar.

The deceased are Enamul Hasan, 4, Minara Begum, 5, Jahura Begum 60 and Sirajul Islam, 19.

The boat capsized at Baillakhali point of Rajapalong union in Ukhia of Cox's Bazar at around 6:00am, said Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Nikaruzzaman.

Members of police, coast guard, fire service and district administration jointly rescued 33 passengers of the boat. Ten of the injured survivors were sent to local hospitals for treatment, while 23 others to Kutupalong Rohingya settlement.

Survivor Ostambor Ali, 19, said he left his home at Yong Chong village of Buthidaung of Rakhine and reached Garzandia, on the eastern side of Naf River of Myanmar two days back. He boarded the Bangladeshi fishing trawler with around 40 other Rohingyas at 2:00 am Tuesday.

He claimed that just before reaching the shore, the boatman sank the trawler into the river. Another survivor Mujibor Rahman, 18, said the boat capsized due to big waves of the river.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Ukhia Nikaruzzaman said they buried four bodies yesterday following the direction of higher authorities.
WATER, SANITATION REMAINS MAJOR CHALLENGE
UN Migration Agency, IOM, said the Rohingya settlements are dangerously congested and overcrowded, while the pressure on sources of clean drinking water and basic sanitation are enormous.

“All of the spontaneous and makeshift sites where the Rohingya have sought shelter are in urgent need of water, sanitation and hygiene support to prevent diseases and to restore basic human dignity,” says Antonio Torres, IOM's expert on water, sanitation and hygiene.

"Existing WASH facilities are not yet sufficient to cope with this number of people.”

Of an estimated 750,000 people initially targeted for WASH assistance, some 530,000 have now been reached. Over the next six months, some 1.166 million people in Cox's Bazar settlements and host communities will need assistance.
EU COMMISSIONER VISITS ROHINGYA CAMP
European Union Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides, meanwhile, began a two-day visit to Bangladesh, particularly to assess the situation in the Rohingya settlement.

"Here in Bangladesh, the scale of this emergency is painfully clear to see; this is the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world," he said in a statement after visiting Kutupalong Rohingya settlements.

"The Rohingya people are not alone in these difficult times... European Union continues to insist on full aid access in Myanmar and is working to address the situation in Northern Rakhine," said Stylianides.

It is crucial that every refugee is registered properly and that Myanmar takes all necessary steps to allow them a voluntary and dignified return in secure conditions, said Commissioner Stylianides.

EU and its member countries pledged more than 50 percent of the USD 344 million funding raised at the international Conference in Geneva recently, he said.

Australia, meanwhile, yesterday announced a further 10 million Australian dollars to support the humanitarian needs of the Rohingyas, bringing the total Australian fund for the Rohingyas to 30 million Australian dollars.
US DELEGATION ARRIVES TODAY
Simon Henshaw, acting assistant secretary of US State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, is leading a delegation to Bangladesh today to discuss ways to address the humanitarian situation stemming from the Rakhine state crisis.

The delegation visited Myanmar from October 29. During Henshaw's visit to Bangladesh until November 4, he will meet senior government officials, donors, and humanitarian agencies.

The delegation will also visit affected communities in Cox's Bazar to 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-stop-using-landmines-1484632

 

[Banglar Bir]

63rd CPA confce kicks off today
CPA to hold special session on Rohingya issue
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka | Published: 00:05, Nov 01,2017
The 63rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, one of the largest annual gatherings of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, get underway today at Radisson Blu hotel in the capital.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, also vice-patron of the CPA, will officially inaugurate the 63rd CPA conference at South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad on November 5, which will last till November 8, Jatiya Sangsad speaker and CPA executive committee chairperson Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said on Tuesday.

She also said that this year’s CPA conference would elect its new chairperson for a three-year term. ‘All members of the CPA would elect their new chairperson through the 63rd conference,’ she said adding a total of CPA’s 550 members including 56 speakers and 23 deputy speakers of the national and provincial assemblies of 44 countries will join the conference.

Shirin said the main theme of this year’s conference is ‘Continuing to enhance the high standards of performance of Parliamentarians,’ while the theme of the CPA is Democracy, Diversity and Development.

Deputy speaker of Jatiya Sangsad Md Fazle Rabbi Miah would lead a four-member Bangladesh delegation in the 63rd CPC and the other members are chief whip of Jatiya Sangsad ASM Feroz, Fazilatun Nasa Bappy and Fakhrul Imam.

The CPA president and chairperson of CPA executive committee Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, also speaker of Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad, is hosting the 63rd CPC, which will take place from 1 to 8 November, 2017 (inclusive of arrival and departure dates) in Dhaka.

Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad extends a very warm welcome to all the speakers, deputy speakers, members of parliament and distinguished delegates to Bangladesh at the 63rd CPC. A member of the CPA since 1973, the Jatiya Sangsad has been an active partner in promoting democratic values across the Commonwealth.

Meanwhile, the Rohingya crisis is expected to largely feature the upcoming CPA conference with host Bangladesh’s delegation chief and deputy speaker M Fazle Rabbi Miah saying a special session was planned to discuss the issue in the meet.
‘The special session will be held on November 5 when our foreign minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali will explain the situation,’ Miah said.

The CPA meet comes amid continued influx of Rohingyas who fled their home in Myanmar’s Rakhine State to evade atrocities while their number exceeded 600,000 since Aug 25 while Bangladesh previously sheltered over 400,000 of them for decades.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/27391/63rd-cpa-confce-kicks-off-today

 

[Banglar Bir]

Not Every Mass Atrocity Should Be Called a Genocide. What's Happening to the Rohingya Is.

Rohingya refugees wait to receive food at a camp in Ukhia in Bangladesh on Monday. (Photo: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images)
By Kate Cronin-Furman
Slate
October 31, 2017
Human rights advocates are too quick to use the G-word to describe mass atrocities. But in the case of the Rohingya, it applies.
The Rohingya refugees who have been pouring across the Myanmar-Bangladesh border for the past month carry with them stories of unspeakable brutality. Enforced starvation, torture, mass rape, the slaughter of newborn infants, the litany of horrors inflicted by Myanmar’s military goes on. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has called these acts “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” But as the death toll mounts, many are asking whether Myanmar is expelling the Rohingya or exterminating them.
In other words: Is this genocide?
The “crime of crimes” was named and outlawed in 1948 by an international community still reeling from the shock of the Holocaust. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines it—“acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”—and codifies a commitment to “liberate mankind from such an odious scourge.” Nearly 150 countries have signed the convention, accepting an obligation to prevent genocide from happening and punish those who commit it.

Although the convention doesn’t explicitly say anything about stopping ongoing violence, the mandate “Never Again” echoes in the minds of policymakers and the public. Famously, during the slaughter in Rwanda, the Clinton administration was so convinced that a designation of genocide would carry with it a moral obligation to intervene that it instructed its officials not to say the word.

Human rights activists invoke the charged term to ring the alarm about ongoing attacks on civilians, signaling by analogy to the “worst crimes in human history” that the situation demands international action. And given how frequently serious violations of human rights are met with apathy and inertia, persecuted groups often see a genocide label as their best hope of intervention on their behalf.

But there are important reasons to avoid invoking genocide liberally. And like many international lawyers, I’ve been a broken record cautioning against the rush to deploy the G-word. It has a specific legal meaning, one that hinges upon the perpetrators’ intent to destroy a group. Using it to refer to mass slaughter without evidence of that intent risks diluting the definition of the crime beyond all meaning.

For instance, the torture, rape, and murder of huge numbers of civilians in both the Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria, for instance, are war crimes and/or crimes against humanity, but not genocide.
Although the violence is systematic and devastating, civilians are not being targeted on the basis of their group identity.

Activists often claim that deferring to these concerns yields a definition of genocide so harshly restrictive that it rarely applies, letting the international community off the hook from responding to horrific violations of human rights. It’s true that most atrocities don’t qualify.
But misclassifying atrocities as genocidal can lead to poorly tailored policy solutions because it obscures who is being attacked and why—information that is critical to an effective response.

If we’re careful to avoid crying genocide when it’s not warranted, we should be all the more confident about doing so when it is.
And in Myanmar, the signs of genocide are there for anyone who knows how to read them.
Not in the scale or savagery of the violence, although both are shocking, but in the evidence of the military’s intent to eradicate the Rohingya minority.

Without mind-reading powers, it can be hard to identify genocidal intent. For instance, in both the Central African Republic and South Sudan, widespread and brutal violence is being inflicted on civilians, clearly on the basis of their ethnicity.
But whether these attacks are genocide or another crime depends on what’s inside the perpetrators’ heads. Was the slaughter of 500 members of an ethnic minority part of an effort to wipe the group out, discourage them from supporting a rival armed group, or scare them into fleeing the country?

It’s difficult to distinguish among these possibilities without knowing what the perpetrators were thinking.
The Nazi regime kept extensive records documenting its plans to wipe out the Jews, but most atrocity perpetrators aren’t so meticulous. Because of this, international courts have repeatedly ruled that genocidal intent can be inferred from context.
The tribunal convened after the genocide in Rwanda convicted perpetrators of genocide based on the huge numbers of Tutsi victims and the systematic nature of their targeting.
And the Yugoslavia tribunal looked to “the general political doctrine which gave rise to the acts” to establish intent.

As we witness the horrors being unleashed in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, the contextual clues that international courts look for are abundant. The Rohingya are subjected to harsh deprivations of citizenship rights and restrictions on the ability to marry and bear children, pursuant to a series of formal laws beginning in 1982.

A leaked 1988 policy document tellingly titled “Rohingya Extermination Plan” outlines the government’s intent to limit the Rohingya’s population growth “by application of all possible methods of oppression and suppression against them.”
And for the past five years, they have been denied freedom of movement, kept in squalid displacement camps and urban ghettos ostensibly in the name of security.

Together with ominous comments from high-ranking military officials that refer to the Rohingya as “an unfinished job,” these measures suggest the existence of a long-standing plan to eliminate the group. They make up exactly the sort of sociopolitical context in which international courts have inferred in the past that mass atrocities were committed with genocidal intent.

Viewed against this background, many of the Myanmar military’s recent actions that could have plausibly been interpreted as efforts to terrorize the Rohingya into fleeing instead look like measures in pursuit of their destruction.
The targeting of teachers and religious leaders, systematic burning of homes, and the particular brutality inflicted on women and very young children appear calculated to erase Rohingya culture, eliminate all traces of their presence, and prevent the survival of future generations.

The Rohingya crisis is a rare case where we can make an even stronger claim, based on more than just suggestive evidence.
Some of the military’s actions are simply inconsistent with any goal other than the Rohingya extermination.
Aid workers on the ground report that security forces have surrounded a number of villages blocking both the delivery of supplies and any escape routes while the inhabitants starve to death. Others have documented multiple instances of soldiers shooting people as they attempt to flee across the border.

And finally, international media reports confirm that the military has laid landmines in the border area, causing those attempting to seek refuge in Bangladesh to be killed and maimed.
These are not efforts to coerce the Rohingya population into flight but to pen them in and eradicate them.

Observing the scale of the crisis and the viciousness with which Myanmar’s military is targeting the Rohingya, international actors have denounced these atrocities as crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
But these terms do not capture the full extent of the attack on the Rohingya population. Failure to correctly identify genocidal violence when it is clear what is happening has grave consequences. Not only for the victims, who risk annihilation, but for citizens of all the repressive states whose leaders are watching, and may be emboldened by international inaction.

The atrocities unfolding in Rakhine state are not the actions of a military using violence and terror to expel an undesirable population. This is a government bent upon the destruction of a vulnerable ethnic minority.
It’s time to call it what it is: genocide.
Kate Cronin-Furman is a human rights lawyer and political scientist who researches mass atrocities. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the International Security Program at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Follow her on Twitter.
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2017/10/not-every-mass-atrocity-should-be.html

The Lady, the general and sanctions
Larry Jagan, November 1, 2017

Military songs rang out across downtown Yangon on Sunday as tens of thousands rallied in defence of Myanmar’s army, an institution accused by the global community of driving Rohingya Muslims from the country Photo – AP
International criticism of Aung San Suu Kyi and her government over the handling of the violence in Rakhine State is being racketed up.
The UN, Western governments and many Muslim countries are currently pondering resuming sanctions against Myanmar, some have already singled out the military or Tatmadaw.
Later this month (November) the European Union (EU) and the Organization of Islamic States (OIC) are planning to have a sanctions motion put before the UN Security Council.
But all this has done is to further isolate the country’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In an effort to persuade both the civilian government and the Tatmadaw to do more to prevent the communal violence and restore some measure of peace and stability to conflict-torn Rakhine, several countries have announced targeted sanctions directed at the Tatmadaw.

Later this month Pope Francis will visit Myanmar, at the State Counselor’s invitation, all part of Aung San Suu Kyi’s campaign for national reconciliation, with the overall message that “the language of hate, will not deliver peace.” Although not public at the moment, he is expected to visit Rakhine during his trip, according to Myanmar intelligence sources.

Last week the US announced sanctions, which come into force this week. These include the suspension of travel waivers for current and former members of the Myanmar military and a ban on US assistance to military units and officers in northern Rakhine. The US added that it was also mulling over the possibility of economic measures against those responsible for atrocities against the Rohingya Muslims.
Also Read: U.N. picks Norwegian for Myanmar role as tensions simmer over Rohingya crisis
Earlier last month the EU and its member states’ announcement that they would suspend invitations to the Commander-in-Chief and other senior military officers and review all practical defense cooperation, due to the Myanmar military’s disproportionate use of force against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State.

Sanctions – at least against the military – because of the Rakhine situation, has exacerbated the situation.
“They [the army] now believe she [Aung San Suu Kyi] is a sabotage agent,” said the retired army officer.
The international criticism of their [military] operations in Rakhine and the growing pressure for sanctions is viewed as a “UK-US conspiracy”, orchestrated behind the scenes by Aung San Suu Kyi.
There is a growing belief within the army that they are under siege.

The UK was the first off the mark when two months ago it suspended an aid program it provided to Myanmar’s military — on democracy, leadership and English language – until there is an acceptable resolution to the current situation in Rakhine.
Though it only amounts to around US$ 411,000 last year – it maybe a precursor of more sanctions to come: particularly designed to punish the military, for their behavior.

Contrary to many analysts view, and the military themselves, this move was not at the behest of the State Counselor, nor was she is in fact favor of it, according to sources close to Aung San Suu Kyi. These moves have isolated the civilian government from the army.
Aung San Suu Kyi fears that the increased international criticism of the government’s handling of Rakhine has weakened her position in relation to the army chief – who is increasingly seen in the country as a hero.
Demonstrations in support of the Tatmadaw have been held throughout the country recently.

But instead of encouraging reconciliation and the return of the refugees now harboring in neighboring Bangladesh, it has probably hindered it and delayed any possible solution, one of Aung San Suu Kyi’s closest advisors told South Asian Monitor (SAM). Last Thursday, reflecting the government’s view, an editorial in the state-run Myanmar language newspaper The Mirror slammed the US actions against the military leadership, saying “those actions by no means help solve the problems in Rakhine State.”
Also Read: US Secretary of State calls Myanmar army chief to help end violence in Rakhine
These sanctions have also further exacerbated tensions between Myanmar’s civilian leader, the State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and the country’s military commander, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, on one hand and the UN on the other.

The result so far has been to isolate Aung San Suu Kyi, and leave her desperately alone, virtually trapped in the Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw.
Relations with the UN and many Western countries have also dramatically, deteriorated.
They have also worsened the already acrimonious tensions between her and the army commander.

Inter-religious dialogue also features prominently in Aung San Suu Kyi’s strategy.
In part this follows the recommendations put forward by the Kofi Annan Commission on Rakhine, but is also a function of the State Counselor’s planned overall approach, intended to strengthen her nationalist mantle and challenge the position of the nationalist Buddhist movement led by Ashin Wirathu.
It is intended to stress the shared Buddhist values of virtue of love and kindness, according to a government insider.

The international strategy of targeted sanctions has only increased the gulf between Aung San Suu Kyi and Min Aung Hlaing. Relations between the two have hit rock bottom, according to a senior advisor to the State Counselor. “The mistrust of Aung San Suu Kyi is growing within the military, not just between her and Min Aung Hlaing but the army as a whole,” a senior retired military officer, who is also close to the army commander, told SAM.

Sanctions – at least against the military – because of the Rakhine situation, has exacerbated the situation. “They [the army] now believe she [Aung San Suu Kyi] is a sabotage agent,” said the retired army officer.
The international criticism of their [military] operations in Rakhine and the growing pressure for sanctions is viewed as a “UK-US conspiracy”, orchestrated behind the scenes by Aung San Suu Kyi. There is a growing belief within the army that they are under siege.
Also Read: We must pursue accountability for atrocities in Rakhine, says US
Many analysts suggest that this is the worse thing to happen and will not encourage the military to mend their ways.
Although in the wake of the US announcement, the military withdrew some of its troops from northern Rakhine and allowed the World Food Program to resume its aid work in the area, there is no evidence that there is a direct correlation between the two events.
The military itself has yet to make any official comment, either on the troop withdrawal or the re-imposition of sanctions.

What is clear is that the international community has made Aung San Suu Kyi’s strategy all the more difficult to implement.
She wants to resolve the problems in Rakhine peacefully through dialogue.
“She believes only discussion and peaceful efforts can solve the current crisis,” said one of Aung San Suu Kyi’s close confidants.
A view that the government editorial also reflected: “What the international community should do is assess the military stand [on the Rakhine issue]—right or wrong—through dialogue,” said the Myanmar-language paper.

Aung San Suu Kyi fears that the increased international criticism of the government’s handling of Rakhine has weakened her position in relation to the army chief – who is increasingly seen in the country as a hero. Demonstrations in support of the Tatmadaw have been held throughout the country recently.

But she also sees this as the essential approach of the whole peace process – including the current on-going negotiations with the ethnic rebel groups involved in the national ceasefire talks and the creation of a federal state.
The military is also an integral part of this.
In the end, the fundamental aim is to change the constitution and reduce the military’s political role. This can only happen if the military leaders accept the idea, and that won’t happen if they are alienated.

Inter-religious dialogue also features prominently in Aung San Suu Kyi’s strategy. In part this follows the recommendations put forward by the Kofi Annan Commission on Rakhine, but is also a function of the State Counselor’s planned overall approach, intended to strengthen her nationalist mantle and challenge the position of the nationalist Buddhist movement led by Ashin Wirathu.
It is intended to stress the shared Buddhist values of virtue of love and kindness, according to a government insider.
Also Read: ‘Suu Kyi government played into the hands of the military’
This was the rationale behind the recent interfaith gathering in Yangon, which was addressed by Myanmar’s Catholic cardinal, Charles Maung Bo — one of the few public figures in the country, who has been willing to speak out for the Rohingya. Later this month Pope Francis will visit Myanmar, at the State Counselor’s invitation, all part of Aung San Suu Kyi’s campaign for national reconciliation, with the overall message that “the language of hate, will not deliver peace.”
Although not public at the moment, he is expected to visit Rakhine during his trip, according to Myanmar intelligence sources.

However, this may yet provoke a serious reaction, and not necessarily just from the nationalist Buddhist monks.
The militant group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army is planning another attack – they claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks in August this year and October last year on the order guard posts – either just before or just after the Pope’s visit, according to Asian intelligence sources.
The Myanmar military share this concern, and say they are prepared for it this time.

Myanmar’s military must participate in the country’s future political map, and be party to the development and democratization of the country.
The sanctions imposed on Myanmar in the past simply isolate the country and forced its leaders into the hands of the Chinese.
Any fresh sanctions will only do the same.

Instead of considering sanctions against Tatmadaw, the EU and other Western countries should do everything possible to support Aung San Suu Kyi and her government.
They should also encourage the reform of the Tatmadaw.
This is the best way to secure a lasting solution to Rakhine, and promote democracy, peace and development in Myanmar.
https://southasianmonitor.com/2017/11/01/lady-general-sanctions/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Probable steps by the USA against Myanmar:VOA
মিয়ানমারের বিষয়ে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের সম্ভাব্য পদক্ষেপ
October 28,2017

রোহিঙ্গা নির্যাতনকে কেন্দ্র করে মিয়ানমারের বিষয়ে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের সম্ভাব্য পদক্ষেপ কি হতে পারে তা নিয়ে ভয়েস অফ আমেরিকার
Michael Bowman এর প্রতিবেদন শোনাচ্ছেন রোকেয়া হায়দার ও তাওহীদুল ইসলাম।
মিয়ানমারের বিষয়ে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের সম্ভাব্য পদক্ষেপ
সরাসরি লিংক Click the Link for the Audio interview in English
https://www.voabangla.com/a/myanmar-usa-27oct17/4089284.html
রোহিঙ্গা মুসলমানরা প্রতিদিন যে ভয়াবহ দু:খ-কষ্ট ও অত্যাচার ভোগ করছে, যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের ক্যাপিটল হিলেও তার প্রভাব পড়েছে। FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE বা বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির রিপাবলিকান সেনেটর CORY GARDNER বলেন, "মানব বিপর্যয়ের চেয়ে এটা কম কিছু নয়।"

বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির ডেমোক্রেট সেনেটর BEN CARDIN বলেন, "বার্মার রোহিঙ্গা জনসংখ্যার অর্ধেক দেশ ছেড়েছে। অর্থাৎ ১২ লাখের মধ্যে ৬ লাখ রোহিঙ্গা দেশ ছেড়েছে।"

বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির ডেমোক্রেট সেনেটর JEFF MERKLEY বলেন, "হাজার হাজার নারী ধর্ষিত হয়েছেন, হাজার হাজার পুরুষ ও নারী গ্রাম থেকে পালিয়ে যাবার সময় গুলিবিদ্ধ হয়েছেন। গ্রামগুলোকে ঘিরে রাখা হয়েছে এবং মানুষজন ক্ষুদার্ধ।"

মিয়ানমারের সশস্ত্র বাহিনী এবং বেসামরিক ব্যক্তিরা যেভাবে রোহিঙ্গাদের লক্ষ্যবস্তুতে পরিনত করেছে, সে বিষয়ে কিছু আইন প্রণেতা কড়া মন্তব্য করেছেন। বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির ডেমোক্রেট সেনেটর BEN CARDIN বলেন, "এটা জাতিগত নিধন, যা বেশ স্পষ্ট। হ্যাঁ আমি মনে করি- এটা গনহত্যা।"

সেনেটর CARDIN সহ অন্যান্য আইন প্রনেতারা চান, জাতিগত নিধনের ঘটনা যে ঘটেছে, তা ট্রাম্প প্রশাসন ঘোষনা করুক। আর এটা হবে মিয়ানমারের বিরুদ্ধে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের নতুন নিষেধাজ্ঞার সম্ভাব্য প্রথম পদক্ষেপ। গত মাসে যুক্তরাষ্ট্র জাতিসংঘে এ ধরনের ঘোষণার কাছাকাছি পৌঁছেছিল। জাতিসংঘে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের রাষ্ট্রদূত NIKKI HALEY বলেন, "আমরা বার্মার কর্তৃপক্ষের নিষ্ঠুরতা এবং দেশটি থেকে জাতিগত সংখ্যালঘু নিধনে টেকসই প্রচারাভিযানের বিষয়ে পদক্ষেপ নেয়ার কথা বলতে ভয় পেতে পারি না।"

ক্যাপিটল হিলে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের কর্মকর্তারা ঐ নির্মমতার বিষয়ে কথা বলেন এবং রেঙ্গুন যাতে তাদের আচারন পরিবর্তন করে, সে দাবি জানায়। যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের সহকারী পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রী PATRICK MURPHY বলেন, "সহিংসতা বন্ধ করুন, বেসামরিক ব্যক্তিদের রক্ষা করুন, মানবিক কার্যক্রম ও গনমাধ্যমের প্রবেশাধিকার প্রসারিত করুন, দোষীদের জবাদিহিতার আওতায় আনুন, দেশ ছেড়ে পালিয়া যাওয়াদের নিরাপদে দেশে ফিরিয়ে আনুন।"

মিয়ানমারে যখন গণতান্ত্রিক সংস্কারের মধ্য দিয়ে অং সান সুচি ক্ষমতা আসে, তখন ওবামা প্রশাসনের সময় দেশটির বিরুদ্ধে যুক্তরাষ্ট্র নিষেধাজ্ঞা শিথীল করা হয়। তবে এখন শাস্তিমূলক ব্যবস্থা বিবেচনায় থাকা উচিত বলে মনে করেন আইন প্রণেতারা। বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির রিপাবলিকান সেনেটর BOB CORKER বলেন, "যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের বার্মাকে বর্জন করা উচিত নয়, তবে নীতি সমন্বয়ের জন্য এটা উপযুক্ত সময় হতে পারে।"

যাই হোক না কেন, যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের কর্মকর্তারা সমগ্র দেশের তুলনায় ব্যক্তিগত মানবাধিকারের বিষয়েই দৃষ্টি দিতে চান। যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের সহকারী পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রী PATRICK MURPHY বলেন, "অসহায় জনগোষ্ঠী জন্য সীমান্ত নিষেধাজ্ঞাগুলি খুব ভাল হতে পারে, কারন এখনও একই রকম সহিংসতা এবং অপরাধমূলক ক্রিয়াকলাপের কারনে তারা অধিকতর ঝুঁকির মধ্যে রয়েছেন।"

মিয়ানমারের মানবিক সংকট নিয়ে যখন কথা হচ্ছিলো, তখন বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির ডেমোক্র্যাট সেনেটর JEANNE SHAHEEN হোয়াইট হাউসের ভূমিকার বিষয়ে প্রশ্ন তোলেন। তিনি বলেন, "যুক্তরাষ্ট্র যখন মুসলিম-সংখ্যাগরিষ্ঠ দেশগুলিতের ওপর ভ্রমণ নিষেধাজ্ঞা দিচ্ছে, তখন বার্মার সামরিক ও বেসামরিক নেতৃত্বের কাছে কোন ধরনের বার্তা যাচ্ছে?”

এদিকে সবশেষ খবর হচ্ছে বৃহস্পতিবার যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী রেক্স টিলারসান রাখাইন রাজ্যে রোহিঙ্গা মুসলিমদের বিরুদ্ধে সামরিক অভিযান বন্ধ করার জন্য মিয়ানমারের প্রতি আহ্বান জানিয়েছেন।

মিয়ানমারের সশস্ত্র বাহিনী কমান্ডার-ইন-চীফ সিনিয়র জেনারেল Min Aung Hlaing সাথে টেলিফোনে কথা বলার সময় যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী, রাখাইন রাজ্যের অব্যাহত মানবিক সংকটের বিষয়ে উদ্বেগ প্রকাশ করেন।
সরাসরি লিংক Click the Link for the Audio interview in English
https://www.voabangla.com/a/myanmar-usa-27oct17/4089284.html
রোহিঙ্গা মুসলমানরা প্রতিদিন যে ভয়াবহ দু:খ-কষ্ট ও অত্যাচার ভোগ করছে, যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের ক্যাপিটল হিলেও তার প্রভাব পড়েছে। FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE বা বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির রিপাবলিকান সেনেটর CORY GARDNER বলেন, "মানব বিপর্যয়ের চেয়ে এটা কম কিছু নয়।"

বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির ডেমোক্রেট সেনেটর BEN CARDIN বলেন, "বার্মার রোহিঙ্গা জনসংখ্যার অর্ধেক দেশ ছেড়েছে। অর্থাৎ ১২ লাখের মধ্যে ৬ লাখ রোহিঙ্গা দেশ ছেড়েছে।"

বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির ডেমোক্রেট সেনেটর JEFF MERKLEY বলেন, "হাজার হাজার নারী ধর্ষিত হয়েছেন, হাজার হাজার পুরুষ ও নারী গ্রাম থেকে পালিয়ে যাবার সময় গুলিবিদ্ধ হয়েছেন। গ্রামগুলোকে ঘিরে রাখা হয়েছে এবং মানুষজন ক্ষুদার্ধ।"

মিয়ানমারের সশস্ত্র বাহিনী এবং বেসামরিক ব্যক্তিরা যেভাবে রোহিঙ্গাদের লক্ষ্যবস্তুতে পরিনত করেছে, সে বিষয়ে কিছু আইন প্রণেতা কড়া মন্তব্য করেছেন। বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির ডেমোক্রেট সেনেটর BEN CARDIN বলেন, "এটা জাতিগত নিধন, যা বেশ স্পষ্ট। হ্যাঁ আমি মনে করি- এটা গনহত্যা।"

সেনেটর CARDIN সহ অন্যান্য আইন প্রনেতারা চান, জাতিগত নিধনের ঘটনা যে ঘটেছে, তা ট্রাম্প প্রশাসন ঘোষনা করুক। আর এটা হবে মিয়ানমারের বিরুদ্ধে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের নতুন নিষেধাজ্ঞার সম্ভাব্য প্রথম পদক্ষেপ। গত মাসে যুক্তরাষ্ট্র জাতিসংঘে এ ধরনের ঘোষণার কাছাকাছি পৌঁছেছিল। জাতিসংঘে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের রাষ্ট্রদূত NIKKI HALEY বলেন, "আমরা বার্মার কর্তৃপক্ষের নিষ্ঠুরতা এবং দেশটি থেকে জাতিগত সংখ্যালঘু নিধনে টেকসই প্রচারাভিযানের বিষয়ে পদক্ষেপ নেয়ার কথা বলতে ভয় পেতে পারি না।"

ক্যাপিটল হিলে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের কর্মকর্তারা ঐ নির্মমতার বিষয়ে কথা বলেন এবং রেঙ্গুন যাতে তাদের আচারন পরিবর্তন করে, সে দাবি জানায়। যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের সহকারী পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রী PATRICK MURPHY বলেন, "সহিংসতা বন্ধ করুন, বেসামরিক ব্যক্তিদের রক্ষা করুন, মানবিক কার্যক্রম ও গনমাধ্যমের প্রবেশাধিকার প্রসারিত করুন, দোষীদের জবাদিহিতার আওতায় আনুন, দেশ ছেড়ে পালিয়া যাওয়াদের নিরাপদে দেশে ফিরিয়ে আনুন।"

মিয়ানমারে যখন গণতান্ত্রিক সংস্কারের মধ্য দিয়ে অং সান সুচি ক্ষমতা আসে, তখন ওবামা প্রশাসনের সময় দেশটির বিরুদ্ধে যুক্তরাষ্ট্র নিষেধাজ্ঞা শিথীল করা হয়। তবে এখন শাস্তিমূলক ব্যবস্থা বিবেচনায় থাকা উচিত বলে মনে করেন আইন প্রণেতারা। বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির রিপাবলিকান সেনেটর BOB CORKER বলেন, "যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের বার্মাকে বর্জন করা উচিত নয়, তবে নীতি সমন্বয়ের জন্য এটা উপযুক্ত সময় হতে পারে।"

যাই হোক না কেন, যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের কর্মকর্তারা সমগ্র দেশের তুলনায় ব্যক্তিগত মানবাধিকারের বিষয়েই দৃষ্টি দিতে চান। যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের সহকারী পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রী PATRICK MURPHY বলেন, "অসহায় জনগোষ্ঠী জন্য সীমান্ত নিষেধাজ্ঞাগুলি খুব ভাল হতে পারে, কারন এখনও একই রকম সহিংসতা এবং অপরাধমূলক ক্রিয়াকলাপের কারনে তারা অধিকতর ঝুঁকির মধ্যে রয়েছেন।"

মিয়ানমারের মানবিক সংকট নিয়ে যখন কথা হচ্ছিলো, তখন বৈদেশিক সম্পর্ক বিষয়ক কমিটির ডেমোক্র্যাট সেনেটর JEANNE SHAHEEN হোয়াইট হাউসের ভূমিকার বিষয়ে প্রশ্ন তোলেন। তিনি বলেন, "যুক্তরাষ্ট্র যখন মুসলিম-সংখ্যাগরিষ্ঠ দেশগুলিতের ওপর ভ্রমণ নিষেধাজ্ঞা দিচ্ছে, তখন বার্মার সামরিক ও বেসামরিক নেতৃত্বের কাছে কোন ধরনের বার্তা যাচ্ছে?”

এদিকে সবশেষ খবর হচ্ছে বৃহস্পতিবার যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী রেক্স টিলারসান রাখাইন রাজ্যে রোহিঙ্গা মুসলিমদের বিরুদ্ধে সামরিক অভিযান বন্ধ করার জন্য মিয়ানমারের প্রতি আহ্বান জানিয়েছেন।

মিয়ানমারের সশস্ত্র বাহিনী কমান্ডার-ইন-চীফ সিনিয়র জেনারেল Min Aung Hlaing সাথে টেলিফোনে কথা বলার সময় যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী, রাখাইন রাজ্যের অব্যাহত মানবিক সংকটের বিষয়ে উদ্বেগ প্রকাশ করেন।
https://www.voabangla.com/a/myanmar-usa-27oct17/4089284.html

 

[Banglar Bir]

2:07 PM, November 01, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:49 PM, November 01, 2017
Myanmar’s hilarious claim
It says Bangladesh is delaying Rohingyas’ repatriation process for international aid

Myanmar on Tuesday, November 1, 2017, comes up with a hilarious claim that Bangladesh is delaying the repatriation process of over 800,000 Rohingyas for international donations.This Reuters photo taken on September 27, 2017, shows an aerial view of a burned Rohingya village near Maungdaw, north of Rakhine state, Myanmar.
Star Online Report
Myanmar has come up with a hilarious claim that Bangladesh is delaying the repatriation process of over 800,000 Rohingyas for international donations.
Myanmar was ready to begin the repatriation process any time, based along the lines of an agreement that covered returns of Rohingya to Myanmar in the early 1990s, Reuters reports today quoting Zaw Htay, a spokesman for Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Also READ: Myanmar's Proposal: All that glitters is not gold
Claiming Bangladesh had yet to accept those terms, Zaw Htay linked the delay by Bangladesh to the money raised so far by the international community to help build gigantic refugee camps for the Rohingyas.

"Currently they (Bangladesh) have got $400 million. Over their receipt of this amount, we are now afraid of delaying the programme of deporting the refugees," he said in comments carried in a front-page article in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Wednesday.

"We are ready to start, but the other side did not accept yet, and the process was delayed. This is the number one fact," Zaw Htay, director-general of the Ministry of the State Counsellor's Office, told journalists on Tuesday.
READ more: Myanmar army doing no wrong!
"They have got international subsidies. We are now afraid they would have another consideration as to repatriation," Reuters reports quoting Htay.

Over 607,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar army began its “clearance operations” in response to the coordinated killings of Myanmar security personnel by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on August 25 this year.

An estimated 3,000 Rohingya Muslims were killed, while more than 284 Rohingya villages were burned down in the army operation. Thousands of Rohingyas continue to cross the border to Bangladesh.
Also READ: Same old trick
Myanmar also violated Bangladesh's airspace and laid landmines along the border apparently to prevent return of the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship and other basic rights by Myanmar despite having their roots there for generations.

However, Myanmar, with support from the state media, is trying to confuse the international community and some neighbouring countries as it terms the violence as "Islamist terrorism" or "extremist Bengali terrorism".

For decades, the Rohingya have been persecuted in Myanmar, made stateless and forced to leave the country. Though the operation in late August began against the militants, civilians, including women and children, faced cruel persecution.

A memorandum of understanding on border liaison posts was signed with Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan following talks in the Myanmar capital, Naypyitaw, last week, but there was no progress on reviving the old agreement.

The Bangladesh government issued a statement on Thursday saying that Myanmar had not agreed to 10 points put forward by its minister at last week's talks, including the full implementation of the recommendations of an Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, chaired by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, for a sustainable return of Rohingya.

Khan told Bangladesh media on Friday that the two sides were unable to form a joint working group but said it should be set up by the time Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali goes to Myanmar for talks on November 30.

The Myanmar government has said it would accept the Rohingya once it was established that they had lived in Myanmar.
Zaw Htay said Myanmar was awaiting a list of Rohingya refugees from the Bangladesh side.
http://www.thedailystar.net/rohingy...epatriation-process-international-aid-1484782

 

[Banglar Bir]

EU commissioner’s visit in #Rohingya Camps in Cox’s Bazar
EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides has started a two-day visit to Bangladesh, to assess the situation on the ground and visit EU aid projects that are addressing the Rohingya refugee crisis.

His visit comes a week after the EU and its Member States pledged more than 50% of the USD 344 million total funding raised at the International Conference on the Rohingya Refugee Crisis held in Geneva.

European Union’s Humanitarian Assistance and Crisis Management Commissioner Kristos Stellendius has termed the situation in Rakhine state as more or less ethnic cleansing.

15-member delegations of the European Union led by Christos Stylianides have visited the Kutupalong Refugee Camp at Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar today. In the meantime, he also spent some time in the ACF-led nutrition center and observed the nutrition Program for Rohingya children and mothers.

Subsequently, they have seen children’s reading in Kutupalong Rohingya camp.

Later, at a press conference, Christos Stylianides said that Rohingyas have the basic right to return to their motherland, so Myanmar must take back its citizens and create congenial environment so that they(Rohingya) can stay there with honor and dignity as well as full assurance of security.

he also urged to Myanmar government to allow international humanitarian organizations full and unfettered access in affected area or Rakhine state.The European Union will work to start repatriation process as soon as possible.

At the same time, he praised loudly the Bangladeshi people and the generosity of the government towards Rohingyas, the European Union will provide financial support to the education and protection of Rohingya Muslims.he added

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[Banglar Bir]

UN: Rohingya Muslim women in 'terrible' condition
Rohingya refugee crisis 'disproportionately' affects women, girls, says UN Women's Oct. 2017 report
October 31, 2017 Anadolu Agency

File Photo
Women and girls have experienced sexual and gender-based violence, perpetrated by both the Myanmar army and by Rakhine locals, according to UN Women's latest report.
The Oct. 2017 report titled 'Gender Brief on Rohingya Refugee Crisis Response in Bangladesh' reminded that the violent conflict began in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine in Oct. 2006.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, over 607,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN.

The refugees are fleeing a fresh military operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages. According to Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali, around 3,000 Rohingya have been killed in the crackdown.

"The distressed and traumatized displaced population – approximately 51 per cent of which are women and girls – lives in terrible conditions and lacks adequate food, water, sanitation, medical care and access to their livelihoods and assets," the report said.

It said the situation "disproportionately" affects women, girls and the most "vulnerable and marginalized" Rohingya refugee population groups by reinforcing, perpetuating and exacerbating pre-existing, persistent gender inequalities, gender-based violence and discrimination.

"Many women whose sexual assault resulted in conception are reported to have sought out abortions after arriving in Bangladesh. 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," it added.

The report said about 400,000 refugees need immediate access to water and sanitation. It added 24,000 pregnant and lactating women require maternal health-care support.

Women and children are also at "heightened" risk of becoming victims of human trafficking, sexual abuse or child and forced marriage, it added.

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

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

The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.

00:00 dk27 Ekim 2017Yeni Şafak
UNHCR in Bangladesh seeks to give 'sense of security' to Rohingya women, children
Rohingya Muslims continue to stream into Bangladesh, fleeing violence in neighboring Myanmar. Most bring tales of horror and brutality inflicted on them by the members of the Myanmar army. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) which is carrying out relief operations along with its partner organizations and Bangladesh government, said a large number of new refugees required urgent medical attention and a sense of security once they arrive in Bangladesh.
Pregnant Rohingya women forced to give birth in unsanitary conditions

Show All
16 Ekim 2017Yeni Şafak
Young Rohingya women are seen at a makeshift camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on Oct. 11, 2017.

Hundreds of pregnant Rohingya women are giving birth in harsh conditions at makeshift camps in unhealthy and unsanitary conditions. All they want is for their babies to survive. The Rohingya fled from oppression within ongoing military operations in Myanmar's Rakhine State and took shelter at makeshift camps in Cox's Bazar and Teknaff.

Since Aug. 25, when the military launched a crackdown against the Rohingya, 536,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN. Thousands of Rohingyas died, and those who survived after a dangerous crossover are faced with the possibility of death, rape or abuse in the midst of dire conditions.
http://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/u...glish&utm_campaign=facebook-yenisafak-english

 

[Banglar Bir]

Israel's badly kept secret: Selling arms to regimes at war
#ArmsTrade
From Myanmar to South Sudan, and more recently the Gulf Arab states, Israel has tried to keep secret its weapons sales to regimes engaged in brutal conflicts

Yossi Melman
Wednesday 1 November 2017 08:01 UTC
Wednesday 1 November 2017 9:38 UTC
Topics:
ArmsTrade
Tags:
Myanmar, South Sudan, Eritrea, Abu Dhabi, Arms trade, Censorship
Israel prides itself as being a free, democratic society, part of the Western world. Well not exactly. At least when it comes to two significant areas.
One, towering above all, is the occupation of the West Bank under the iron fist of the Israeli military and depriving its Palestinian residents of basic civil and democratic rights.

Military exports are somewhat of a sacred cow in Israel.
They are in the Israeli DNA

The second area in which the lack of transparency is evident and the government has tried to quash information is military-security exports. Here, too, the censor is omnipresent and suppresses any information that can potentially embarrass the government and security establishment for its weapon sales to dictators, rogue regimes, violators of human rights and other dubious governments.
Myanmar
Myanmar is a case in point. In September, a group of Israeli human rights activists petitioned the High Court of Justice to stop weapon sales to that country military’s junta, which, essentially, is still in power despite elections in 2015.

According to human rights groups and UN reports, the Myanmar army is involved in systemic ethnical cleansing and war crimes against the Rohingya (a Muslim minority). It has been reported that almost half a million people escaped to neighbouring Bangladesh after thousands were killed and raped and villages were set on fire.

For years, Israel sold weapons to Myanmar, including listening equipment, communications gear and patrol boats manufactured by Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI).
Also, Tar Ideals Concepts, an Israeli company, trained Myanmar Special Forces.
Asked for its response, the company didn't answer.

Successive Israeli governments were ashamed of these deals but encouraged arms dealers and state-owned industries to continue making them. At the same time, they used the military censor to suppress the information.

Myanmar's army chief senior general Min Aung Hlaing speaks during the second anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) ceremony in Naypyidaw on
15 October 2017 ( AFP)
So how do we know about all these deals? Because the Myanmar junta proudly boasted about them on its official websites and posted photos of its chiefs visiting Israel.
These included meetings in September 2015 between Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, which acts independently of the civilian government, along with other senior officers of the military junta, and President Reuven Rivlin, the Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot and the heads of Israel’s security services and senior officials in its arms industry.

Hlaing even wrote on his Facebook page that he and his colleagues had visited Israel Aerospace Industries near Tel Aviv and other defence firms.
China ties
Recently, I learned that Commtac, an Israeli manufacturer of communication gear for drones, has sold equipment installed on Chinese-made drones operated by the Myanmar army via Elul (an Israeli arms broker).
Commtac is a subsidiary of the Israeli drone manufacturer Aeronautics Defense Systems.
The Israeli government has been particularly sensitive about this deal, not because it opposes sales to Myanmar, but because it feared the link to Chinese drones would anger the US.

Beginning in the late 1970s, long before the establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and China, Israeli defence contractors secretly equipped China's army, with government approval.
In the last decade, however, Israel stopped military sales to China under pressure from consecutive US administrations.

It can only be assumed that the suspension of Israeli sales is temporary, resulting from public pressure at home, especially by civil rights groups

Elul didn't return calls for comment, but a spokesman for Commatc and Aeronautics confirmed that the company had sold equipment to Myanmar "according to Defence Ministry regulations and with its approval." He added, however, that the Defence Ministry had recently changed its policy and suspended all licenses to all Israeli companies, including Commtac, that permit dealings with Myanmar.

It's worth noting that the ministry didn't issue any statement in this regard and hoped to keep the move under wraps. The ministry refused to elaborate, saying only: "We don't comment on export issues." The secrecy is aimed at not angering Myanmar, with the hope that sooner or later the ban will be lifted and business resumed.

It can only be assumed that the suspension of Israeli sales is temporary, resulting from public pressure at home, especially by civil rights groups. Some of them, in September, appealed to the Supreme Court to order the Defence Ministry to stop its sales to Myanmar and thus follow US and EU policies that have imposed an arms embargo on the Southeast Asian country. The state opposed, and the court rejected the appeal.

All of the deliberations were behind closed doors, indicating that, in Israel, it's not only the censor, but also the courts, that are closing ranks with the security establishment when it comes to arms sales.
Arms to dictators
Military exports are somewhat of a sacred cow in Israel.
They are in the Israeli DNA, and the public generally supports the government’s policy and prefers not to hear about it even if it stands in sharp contrast to universal morality, human rights and ethics.

Israeli arms exports to more than 100 countries on five continents totaled $6 billion in 2016. This represents only 6-7 percent of the total Israeli exports of goods and services, but the contribution of security contractors is not limited to exports. They are the primary suppliers of weapons to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and employ some 100,000 workers, making them a significant factor in allowing Israel’s economy to prosper.

The customers can be divided into three groups.
The first and the biggest market are countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations such as the US, the EU, India, Singapore, and Azerbaijan.

Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers carry heavy weapons near Alole, northern South Sudan, on 16 October 2016. (AFP)
The second group consists of countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations but are ruled by dictators or are involved in civil wars or engage in abuses of human rights, such as Myanmar or, in the past, countries in South and Central America as well as Africa.

Israeli arms dealers sold weapons to both sides during the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. But the most worrisome case in the Israeli exports to Africa was in South Sudan. Israel continued to supply arms to that nation even after the bloody civil war erupted there. Only recently under strong local media and foreign human rights groups the MoD announced that it had ceased all military sales to South Sudan.
Arms sales as diplomacy
Here, in this second category, too, the censor has stepped in to prevent publication of defence deals, as is the case with Azerbaijan, which, because of its border with Iran, is considered strategically important.

The taboo on this topic was broken in February when Azeri President Ilham Aliyev publicly acknowledged that his country had clinched deals with Israel valued at $5bn over the last two decades. In so doing, Aliyev surprised Netanyahu, who was visiting Azerbaijan at the time. Alongside the US, India and the EU, the Caucasian nation is one of the biggest markets for Israeli military toys.

The third category of countries benefiting from advanced Israeli weapons and technologies ‒ "battle proven" after being used by the IDF ‒ are those that don't have diplomatic relations with Israel.
These are mainly Arab and Muslim nations.

Here, the deals are aimed not only at financial rewards but also to gain a foothold in the Arab world and to receive payment with intelligence information or other favours.

In the 1980s, Israel sold US-made Skyhawk jets that had been put out of service by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) to Indonesia, the biggest Muslim country in the world.
The sale was approved by the US. In return, Indonesia gave Israel favours, including allowing Israeli experts to learn about sophisticated Soviet-made weapons being used by its Arab enemies.

In past years, Israeli weapons and technologies have been used to help Jordan (Israeli helicopters and drones on loan) and Egypt (intelligence information and Israeli drones occasionally attacking Islamic State positions in Sinai).

Because Jordan and Egypt have diplomatic relations with Israel, on the surface, reports about the special security-military ties shouldn't be a problem. But, once again, the censor is allowing information to be reported locally, only if foreign news media already have reported about it.
Gulf deals
Another important market for Israeli military technologies is the United Arab Emirates, led by Abu Dhabi and, according to reports which never been confirmed, Saudi Arabia.

The reports claim that Israeli high-tech companies have clinched deals to supply the kingdom with intelligence equipment and that Saudi Arabia is considering buying Israel's anti-missile system called "Iron Dome". It is worth noting that social media in the Arab world have persistently spread rumours that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman recently visited Israel.
Saudi spokespersons denied it.

Reports claim that Israeli high-tech companies have clinched deals to supply the Saudi kingdom with intelligence equipment and that Saudi Arabia is considering buying Israel's anti-missile system called "Iron Dome" (AFP)
For several years, the censor has used its iron fist to prevent any reports in the Israeli media about sales to the Arab world. This attitude proved to be absurd and ridiculous because the main broker in the "secret" deals, an Israeli arms dealer called Mati Kochavi, revealed the deals with Abu Dhabi in a public seminar in Singapore out of sheer self-importance and ego.

The English writer, Samuel Johnson, wrote that "patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
" It can be said that Israel’s Defence Ministry is quick to use “security reasons” as a pretext to justify every evil possible that is carried out by unscrupulous arms dealers, corrupt defence contractors and ruthless dictators.
In the first two decades after gaining its independence in 1948 Israel hoped to be a light unto the nations, but unfortunately has become a weapons supplier to dubious regimes.
- Yossi Melman is an Israeli security and intelligence commentator and co-author of Spies Against Armageddon.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Photo: In this photograph taken on 21 October 2016, Myanmar army soldiers patrol a village in Maungdaw located in Rakhine State as security operation continue following the 9 October 2016 attacks by armed militants. (AFP)
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/israels-badly-kept-secret-selling-arms-regimes-war-875322890

Myanmar seeks amendment of 1993 repatriation agreement with Bangladesh
Tribune Desk
Published at 05:13 PM November 01, 2017

Rohingya refugees wait to receive permission from the Bangladeshi army to continue their way after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, at a port in Teknaf, Bangladesh, October 31, 2017 REUTERS
Camps set up to receive returning refugees have now been erected in Taung Pyo Let Wae and Nga Khu Ya villages in northern Rakhine’s Maungdaw township
Myanmar is working to modify a 1993 agreement with Bangladesh allowing the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled the country amid armed clashes between ethnic insurgents and government security forces, a senior government official said.

The changes will be made in consultation with Bangladesh and will “add more points to the agreement,” Myint Kyaing, permanent secretary of the Department of Immigration and Population, on Tuesday told Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) Myanmar Service.

“The agreement was inked in 1993, and it is now 2017,” Myint Kyaing said. “A very long time has passed, and the situation has changed.”

“Four major points from the 1993 agreement will remain the same, but we will add more points after discussing this with the Bangladesh side,” he said, without elaborating on which points would be kept and which would need to be added.
Also Read- Rohingyas to be repatriated on PM’s 5 points, Annan commission recommendations
“Identification forms will be delivered only after both countries sign the agreement, and people will have to fill them out, stating where they were born in Rakhine state, in what year they were born, and what documentation they were holding when they lived in Rakhine,” he said.

“Refugees can return when a government-approved verification team approves ID forms. We will accept everyone back who will be approved,” he said.

Camps set up to receive returning refugees have now been erected in Taung Pyo Let Wae and Nga Khu Ya villages in northern Rakhine’s Maungdaw township, Myint Kyaing said.

“There is a bridge with checkpoints at each end in Taung Pyo Let Wae village,” Myint Kyaing said, adding, “If we see people coming in without approved forms, we can immediately send them back to the Bangladeshi border security team.”
Also Read- Myanmar will take back displaced Rohingyas
Meanwhile, Thailand-based Women’s League of Burma (WLB) called on Tuesday for an end to what they described as “widespread propaganda” driving racial tensions and insecurity among Rakhine’s ethnic communities.

“WLB believes that this violence has been deliberately created and fuelled by certain groups who do not want sustainable peace in Burma,” the group said, using another name for Myanmar.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/s...dment-1993-repatriation-agreement-bangladesh/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Repatriation and their breasts conceal is far worse

Rohingya Muslim children try to reach Bangladesh from Myanmar, August 28, 2017. (Reuters)
By Min Khant
RB Opinion
November 1, 2017
Arakan Rohingyas Salvation Army (ARSA) is the final justification of both public government, run by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and head of the military department Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to end the Rohingya existence in Rakhine state, evidently the ARSA itself is the ultimate creation of the government in appearance of Rohingyas as militant or insurgent group.
The so called ARSA’s attacks on more than 30-police stations, ‘no one believes to be happened without the green-light of military strategies’, has sparked to destroy nearly 300-hundred Rohingyas villages by military’s uneven aggression on Rohingyas innocent people from Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships since 25 August 2017 let alone mass killings, arson attacks, gang rapes, torching, arbitrary arrests and unknown of where about of uncountable Rohingyas males.
The integrated aggression against Rohingyas people has been the coordinated action of multi political forces within further understandings among destructive forces.

Those are: “the entire NLD party’s politicians; all the rest political parties registered under the state Election Commission; intellectuals and intelligentsia of the states; all the state owned news outlets; daily circulating multi journals, face book media; lawful and illegal CD and video productions and distributions all around the country; celebrities and randomly yellow-ribbon wrapped Buddhist monks who have visibly been seen with arms in public places; and the entire grassroots level of Myanmar nationals”.

Amid the international community’s constant demands for investigation due to human rights violation committed since October, 2016 to during recent violent crackdowns on innocent Rohingyas by both military and Rakhine armed militants in the region, yet, Myanmar government has been sticking that the international community’s investigation would neither help to solve the issue but such conduct would rather intensify the existing communal tension between Rohingyas and Rakhine people to live together in the region. What an Excuse to hide behind ‘open to all’ brutality!

Regrettably, the United Nations itself has been paralyzed to take the concrete action in regard Rohingyas fates though it has noted down that Rohingyas are the most persecuted people in the world after conducting the relevant works in localities for more than two decades.

Although the ‘deadlock Rohingyas’ issue is duly deserved to have THE final settlement for a long time, the issue deliberately becomes a “big-dilemma” in the World United Nations Security Council forum as “a tug-of-war contest” between yes votes and no votes.
To solve the Rohingyas issue simply, the rivalry between two groups has intensified in the quest of the strategic and economic interest in the region, RAKHINE.

Though majority of yes votes nodded in favor of Rohingyas who have been visibly enduring multi atrocities of the regime, just a single or couple of powers’ heartless standing to cooperate with the world to have unanimous agreement to be a peaceful resolution in dispute is just a “silly sagacity” of those nations who wish the innocents lives of Rohingyas to be perished more and the vulnerable ones rights to be stripped of by the cooperation of with the butcher nation, Myanmar for their LUST in the pastures which have been rendered in a half price to shield Myanmar regime’s crimes against Rohingyas in the world forums.

Everyone knows that the Republic of China is a big investor, as exploiter, and a single rower in Myanmar, taking advantages since the WEST has imposed sanctions on the last Myanmar military regimes for its crackdown on democratic activists.

In the end, the Republic of China is a sole nation that supports Myanmar brutality against the very innocent Rohingyas in Arakan state and the emergency of UNSC’s paralysis to take urgent focus to handle the Rohingyas issue is solely responsible by China.

In fact, we all understand that the CHINA has been perceived by the Myanmar unfounded episodes & multi narratives and become familiar with things because of hearing them repeatedly. Being the CHINA as a permanent member of the UNSC, it is very crucial for it to maintain Peace and Security of the world by coordination with the rest of the world in true matter, as no rivalry will stop in this world with true sense between powers and among the groups.

As more, from the one hand, instead of listening and believing to whatever Myanmar whispers regarding ARSA to CHINA, it needs to agree to the world opinion to investigate to the brutalities, oppressions, burnings, killings, arson attacks, disenfranchisement, starvations, right restrictions, and total chaos & insecurity in the hands of brutal regime from the other.

Bangladesh is a tiny country and it has already hosted nearly one million Rohingya in their country, it has been a big burden for their nation though the world has generously extended the humanitarian assistances, which have been in dire need for life saving of Rohingyas, who fled the atrocities of Myanmar regime in their localities.

Myanmar regime’s deceiving temperament to the people of Rohingya has been periodically different based on condition, insisting Rohingyas are not the citizens of Myanmar who have fled but the absconders or the people who fled to Bangladesh.
This word has been from their mouths right now and what their breasts conceal is far worse.

Myanmar wanted to repatriate the Rohingyas in accord by the bilateral agreement they have reached between Bangladesh and Myanmar in 1993. However, Bangladesh government insists such an agreement does not legalize now, as there are many additional terrible phenomenon, which have emerged on Rohingyas due to multi atrocities committed by Myanmar forces.

Following the return back of last mission of Bangladesh regarding the repartition of the Rohingya refugees, there have been inner discussions between the government bodies to accept some part of the proposal of the Bangladesh to accept the Rohingyas refugees.

The Myanmar regime has now shown fright of building of the big camps in Bangladesh for Rohingyas, fearing that such durable constructions by Bangladesh after receiving international big assistance ($440 million) may delay the Rohingyas repatriation process to the country though Myanmar wants earlier repatriations to avoid the possible international economic sanction and freeze of assets of several Military generals.

The time now is very imperative for not only the government of Bangladesh, Rohingyas refugees and but also international communities to reach to the final and targeted agreements with Myanmar government, which has been the deceiving characters to trick both Rohingyas and international communities in discharging the agreements in which it agreed upon in the past and possibly in the future.
Rohingyas and international community cannot be cheated repeatedly.
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2017/11/repatriation-and-their-breasts-conceals.html

 

[Banglar Bir]

12:00 AM, November 02, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:16 AM, November 02, 2017
Rohingya Crisis: US assures help in repatriation

Diplomatic Correspondent
The United States has assured Bangladesh “both financial and diplomatic” support for the safe, sustainable and dignified repatriation of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals.
Washington and Dhaka also agreed to continue the pressure on the Myanmar government in this regard.

The assurance was made by the visiting Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, Simon Henshaw, during his meeting with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, yesterday.

The acting assistant secretary, who arrived in Dhaka yesterday with a delegation after a visit to Myanmar, deeply appreciated Bangladesh's decision to temporarily shelter more than 600,000 forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals and stated that Bangladesh “responded extremely well” to this unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

The state minister highlighted the five-point proposal given by the Prime Minister at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in September this year and also requested for continuation of the support in this regard, said a foreign ministry press release.

Other members of the delegation are Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Scott Busby, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Tom Vajda and Director of the Office of Mainland Asia Patricia Mahoney. US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat was also present during the meeting.
The US delegation will visit different Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar today and tomorrow.
EU STANDS WITH BANGLADESH
The European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, who returned to Dhaka from Cox's Bazar after visiting the Rohingya camps, said “EU stands by Bangladesh in this difficult time”.

Talking to reporters after a meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali yesterday afternoon at the state guesthouse Padma, Christos Stylianides said that “dialogue between Bangladesh and Myanmar is the only way to bring a political solution to the Rohingya crisis.”

“I strongly believe that there can be a political solution to the crisis,” he said, adding that the root cause lies in Myanmar. “The government of Bangladesh and Myanmar should continue dialogue. This is the only way to ensure safe, dignified, and voluntary return of those who were forced to cross the border and want to return home,” he said.

His visit comes a week after the EU and its Member States pledged more than 50 percent of the total $434 million funding raised at the international Conference on the Rohingya Refugee Crisis held in Geneva.

He visited Rohingya camps and said the scale of this emergency was “painfully clear to see; this is the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world”.

“Our help will continue. I hope [the] Rohingyas will be able to return to their home in a safe and dignified way,” he said. “Our promise is that we'll continue to provide assistance as long as it takes,” he added.

The foreign ministry in a statement also said that during the meeting, the foreign minister briefed Christos about the current situation and apprised that over 1 million Rohingyas are now living in Bangladesh.

He also mentioned that the presence of this huge number of Rohingyas created “massive socio-economic and environmental challenges for Bangladesh”.

He further sought “sustained political support” of the EU so that a solution to this problem could be forged in light of the recommendations of the Kofi Annan Commission.

Citing recent engagements between Myanmar and Bangladesh, the foreign minister expressed hope that EU will continue their “persuasion” of Myanmar until the Rohingyas return to their homeland safely, with security and dignity.

The European Commissioner thanked the Government and the people of Bangladesh for giving shelter to the distressed Rohingyas of Myanmar and deeply appreciated Bangladesh's humanity and generosity.
OTTAWA WILL MATCH THE DONATIONS OF CANADIANS
Canada will increase its assistance to thousands of Rohingya refugees, who have fled violence in Myanmar to seek refuge in Bangladesh.

The Federal Government says that it will match every dollar Canadians donate to registered charities helping the Rohingya refugee crisis, at the end of August and until November 28.

“I encourage all Canadians to donate to the organisation of their choice. Your donation will save lives. It will allow them to recover their sense of dignity until they can return to their homes,” International Development Minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau, said while inviting Canadians to”be generous“.

She announced that for every eligible donation made by individual Canadians to registered Canadian charities between August 25 and Nov 28, the government of Canada will contribute an equivalent amount to the fund.

The relief fund for the Myanmar crisis has no ceiling, the minister said, adding “these donations will be made to the Myanmar Crisis Relief Fund.”

The UN launched an appeal for over $434 million to respond to the crisis. Canada has committed over $25 million in humanitarian assistance funding in Bangladesh and Myanmar.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/us-assures-help-repatriation-rohingyas-1485121

12:00 AM, November 02, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:18 AM, November 02, 2017
Rohingya problem is neither a border nor a law and order issue

While the normal diplomatic lines of communications must never be disrupted, we cannot pretend as if nothing has happened between the two neighbours. PHOTO: STAR
Brig Gen Shahedul Anam Khan ndc, psc (Retd)
And yet the approach of the government has demonstrated exactly that.
The home ministry's statement to the media stated that the purpose of the minister's recent visit to Burma was to attend a meeting on cooperation between Bangladesh and Myanmar on border and security matters.
And therefore one would not be wrong to say that the government has so far treated the Rohingya issue as a border and normal law enforcement matter.

However, according to the home minister's statement on Oct 12, “Our main agenda in the discussions will be repatriation of the Rohingyas who have entered Bangladesh and stopping a recurrence of such events,” is a matter which to my mind should have best been left to the foreign ministry, and the foreign minister's visit to address the repatriation issue would have been in order.

To my mind the Rohingya and security does not fall within the ambit of the home ministry's remit, unless of course the Prime Minister, who also happens to be the defence minister, had tasked the home minister to talk these issues too.
But again, the usual caveat that Myanmar foists on the progress to the path of a quick resolution of the problem is the 1992 Agreement.
And only yesterday Myanmar made the most ludicrous comment that Bangladesh is delaying the process of repatriation to attract more foreign aid.
So whatever Suu Kyi says is subtly countermanded by the Generals.
The devious mind of the Myanmar general puts even the satanic innovations to shame.

That Aung Sun Su Kyi is not in charge in Myanmar has been all but clear for a long time. She does not call the shots, and is quite happy to let the military run the affairs of the country. For a person who is supposed to have fought for democracy and the rule of the people in her country, that is an odious compromise for her political survival.

It is not really the rule of the people but a sham democracy with the Nobel Laureate for Peace in the shop window—displaying to the world the “face of democracy” in Myanmar. It is virtually a military rule in the guise of democracy. And it is not the parliament but the military who calls the shots in Myanmar. Therefore, it is not the anointed leader but the real power base that should be targeted for the resolution of the Rohingya issue.

That, one understands, is a tall order to achieve.
Given the deep-rooted strategic-economic interest of some regional and supra regional powers in Myanmar, the reasons for the unwillingness to take action against Myanmar despite the renewed ethnic cleansing of the Rakhine is clear.

The US intention to explore ways to impose sanctions on Myanmar is perhaps more substantive than what has been expressed or done by most countries except for the EU.
Tillerson's message to the Army Generals was meant to convey a message.
But any demonstrated firm action on the country is going to be restrained by India and China, the two most influential countries that can bear upon the Myanmar military, both with different and conflicting stakes in that country.
And this has been amply demonstrated by the Indian call to the US for restraint following US Secretary of State's veiled threat to the Myanmar Generals.

And whatever faint hope there might have been of passing a resolution on the matter by October 31 in the Security Council, the last day of France's presidentship of the Council and who had circulated the draft to all members of the Council was dashed, because neither Russia nor China had consented to the draft.

But while we are calling upon the international community to assume a more stringent posture against the military regime in Naypyidaw, our business-as-usual posture with Myanmar will certainly dilute the gravity of the situation.
First it was the visit by our food minister to that country to purchase rice, in the midst of the persecution and exodus of the Rohingyas which was creating the most severe problems for Bangladesh.
While the normal diplomatic lines of communications must never be disrupted, we cannot pretend as if nothing has happened between the two neighbours.
That would convey the wrong message to the world, and certainly to the military junta in Myanmar.

And now we have the MoU signed during the home minister's visit.
We are not aware of the details of it, but if the comment of the Myanmar government's permanent secretary for home affairs following the signing of the MoU is anything to go by, it shows that not only has the ball been deftly sent back to our court, it reads as if it is Bangladesh's responsibility to stop the Rohingya exodus.
The onus of the problem has been made to devolve on us by very intricate and skilful use of language. The two statements merit dissection.

The comments interestingly read, “The two sides have agreed to halt the outflow of Myanmar residents to Bangladesh”, and “form a joint working group”. And, “the two countries agreed to restore normalcy in Rakhine to enable displaced Myanmar residents to return from Bangladesh at the earliest opportunity”.

Excuse me! How is it up to Bangladesh to halt the outflow of the Myanmar residents?
Unless of course Myanmar allows Bangladesh forces to sanitise the Rakhine State.
And notice how subtly Myanmar avoids referring to Rohingya as “citizens” by terming them “Myanmar residents.”
And how is it Bangladesh's responsibility to restore normalcy in the region.
Is that the preamble of the proposed Joint Working Group?
One wonders whether we have unwittingly become a party to the resolution of the conflict in Rakhine. This is a question the policy makers should seriously ponder on and provide an answer to.
Brig Gen Shahedul Anam Khan ndc, psc (Retd) is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.
http://www.thedailystar.net/opinion...either-border-nor-law-and-order-issue-1485130

EU for political solutions addressing root causes in Myanmar
Diplomatic Correspondent | Published: 00:03, Nov 02,2017 | Updated: 00:13, Nov 02,2017
The European Union on Wednesday stressed the need for political solutions, addressing the root causes in Myanmar, for ensuring safe, dignified and voluntary return of the ethnic minority Rohingyas who fled violence in Rakhine state of the country.
Christos Stylianides, European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, said this at a press briefing in Dhaka after visiting the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.

‘There can only be a political solution to the crisis’, the root causes of which lie in Myanmar, he said after a meeting with Bangladesh foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali.
The governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar should continue to engage in dialogue as ‘this is the only way’, he said, to ensure safe, dignified and voluntary return of the Rohingyas.

International community should play a moral role for giving the displaced community hope and prospect with a comprehensive and coordinated humanitarian response to the biggest refugee crisis, Christos Stylianides said.

The European commissioner, who visited the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, said he was shocked as ‘needs’ and ‘trauma’ of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas ‘are beyond imagination’.
Rohingya children in the camps were suffering from acute malnutrition and the vast majority of them ‘don’t have any chance’ to go to school,’ he said.
‘This is appalling,’ he said, adding that, ‘Rohingyas do not deserve less than any other human being in the world.’

The EU would continue to support Bangladesh in this very difficult condition, he added.
Foreign minister Ali, in his meeting with the EU team, sought sustained political support of the EU so that a sustainable solution to this Rohingya problem could be forged in the light of the recommendations of Kofi Annan Commission.

He also mentioned that the presence of this huge number of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals has created massive socio-economic and environmental challenge for Bangladesh.

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 29.

The 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/27458/eu-for-political-solutions-addressing-root-causes-in-myanmar

TIB calls for sanction on Myanmar
Staff Correspondent | Published: 01:17, Nov 02,2017
Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman addresses a press conference on the occasion of releasing a survey report on Rohingyas in Bangladesh on Wednesday.
Transparency International Bangladesh on Wednesday called for imposing sanction on Myanmar for putting pressure on the country to stop its ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas.
‘There is no alternative to imposing targeted sanction on Myanmar in order to stop the Rohingya exodus,’ TIB executive director Ifthekharuzzman said at a press conference on launch of rapid assessment titled ‘Problems Related to Refuge Provided in Bangladesh to Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (Rohingya)’ in Dhaka.

‘Sanction can vary from soft to hard forms like imposing travel, assistance, commerce, military ban,’ Ifthekharuzzman said, adding that Myanmar was carrying out one of the world’s worst ethnic cleansing on the Rohingyas.

He also called on the Bangladesh government to expedite its diplomatic efforts to compel Myanmar to take back their nationals from Bangladesh.

According to the UN estimation on Sunday, 6,07,000 Rohingyas had entered Bangladesh since the beginning of the new influx, what the United Nations called the world’s fastest-developing refugee emergency, on August 25.

Officials estimated that the new influx already took to 10.26 lakh the number of documented and undocumented Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh entering the country at times since 1978.
The new influx began after Myanmar security forces responded to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s reported attacks on August 25 by launching violence what the United Nations denounced as ethnic cleansing.

The rapid assessment found that some local and international non-government organisations are discouraging Rohingyas not to do mandatory biometric registration.

The assessment also alleged that Rohingya community leaders, widely known as Majhis, are selling the relief token, embezzling relief material, taking bribe from other Rohingyas promising relief token.
The assessment said that Rohingyas were exploited and subjected to extortion in different steps of their journey starting at border crossing and reaching one of the camp areas and finding a place to build shelter.

‘Such as those who crossed the border by boat had to pay Tk 5,000-Tk 15,000 in Burmese Kiyat or gold ornaments where the actual boat fare is Tk 200 to Tk 250,’ said the assessment.
Taking advantage of the absence of any formal money exchange system, middlemen are exploiting the Rohingyas badly during money exchange.

‘Where standard rate is Tk 6,000 for 1,00,000 Burmese Kiyat but Rohingyas are getting Tk 2,000-Tk 4,500.
Since they do not understand the value of Bangladeshi currency, they often provided more in fares using local transport,’ said the assessment.

Though the place they are staying and building temporary houses belongs to the forest department, a local syndicate is taking Tk 2,000- Tk 5,000 from each family.
This syndicate consists of local UP members, local political leaders and some of the Rohingya ‘Majhi’ as several stakeholder mentioned, alleged the assessment.

The assessment recommended that government put its best diplomatic efforts involving all related stakeholders to mount pressure on Myanmar government so that the crisis did not prolong and the Rohingyas returned within a shortest possible time.
This Rohingya crisis is an international crisis.
Though Bangladesh has provided them temporary shelter on humanitarian grounds, all related stakeholders and parties especially, India, China and others having diplomatic, business, investment, economic and defence deals with Myanmar and other international agencies and UN agencies should come forward to mitigate this crisis, recommended the assessment.

Besides providing the relief, collective diplomatic pressure should be put on Myanmar to compel it to take their citizens back immediately, it said.

One of the researchers Golam Mohiuddin presented the finding of the rapid assessment survey for which they collected information in between September and October.

TIB executive director Ifthekharuzzman said that as these Rohingyas faced brutality, possibility of growing vindictiveness among them was there.
‘For this reason we cannot brush aside the possibility of growing extremism among them,’ he warned.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/27471/tib-calls-for-sanction-on-myanmar

Rohingyas in fuel crisis
Mohiuddin Alamgir with Mohammad Nurul Islam in Cox’s Bazar | Published: 00:05, Nov 02,2017 | Updated: 00:04, Nov 02,2017
Rohingyas entering Bangladesh to flee ethnic cleansing in their homeland Rakhine State of Myanmar are facing acute shortage of cooking fuel as assistance from aid providers is not near the need which is forcing them to fell trees.
Rohingyas and local people said that the international and local aid providers were providing these hapless ethnic minority people from Myanmar with assistances like shelter, food, medication but hardly any cooking fuel.

Rohingyas said that in absence of cooking fuel supply, they needed to collect wood from forests or buy it from local market.

Because of huge demand, firewood price soared significantly in localities of Teknaf and Ukhia in Cox’s Bazar, where Rohingyas took shelter.

Many Rohingyas erected makeshift shelters in reserved forests felling trees and set up shanties on hill slopes causing destruction of about 2,500 acres of forest and now their collection of firewood continued worsening the environment scenario, local people said.
Rohingya man Abdul Karim, living in a camp at Thainkhali, said that they were getting no fuel from anyone.

‘At present, no agency is providing the community with fuel as it is flammable having high risk of fire accident in densely populated shelters,’ said International Organisation for Migration national communication officer Shirin Akhter.

Transparency International Bangladesh in its rapid assessment titled ‘Problems Related to Refuge Provided in Bangladesh to Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (Rohingya)’ on Wednesday said that hills and local forests were cut down during the erection of shelters which was affecting the local environment and biodiversity.

‘The firewood for daily cooking of food is collected from natural sources which is a huge burden to the local forests,’ it said.

Divisional forest official in Cox’s Bazar (south) Ali Kabir said that till October 2, Rohingyas made makeshift camps on 3,000 acres of forest land in Balukhali, Kutupalang and adjacent areas.
‘They have destroyed all trees of about 2,500 acre forests for making makeshift shelters and fuel wood,’ he added.

‘We are estimating total loss as Rohingyas continue to spread to others forest lands,’ he added.
According to UN estimation on Sunday, 6,07,000 Rohingyas had entered Bangladesh since the beginning of the new influx, what the United Nations called the world’s fastest-developing refugee emergency, on August 25.

Officials estimated that the new influx already took to 10.26 lakh the number of documented and undocumented Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh entering the country at times since 1978.
The new influx began after Myanmar security forces responded to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s reported attacks on August 25 by launching violence what the United Nations denounced as ethnic cleansing.

Rohingyas continued entering Bangladesh through different points of Teknaf.
Border Guard Bangladesh 34 battalion second-in-command Major Iqbal Ahmed said that about 2,500 Rohingyas were now staying at zero line, after entering Bangladesh through Anjumanpara border.
Teknaf upazila senior fisheries officer Delwar Hossain, responsible for keeping account of new arrivals, said on Monday that over 1,390 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh through Shah Parir Dwip on Wednesday.

The meeting of parliamentary standing committee on forest and environment ministry in parliament complex on October 10 was informed that Rohingyas destroyed forest trees of Tk 151 crore for erecting makeshift shelters and collecting wood for fuel.

Committee member Yahya Chowdhury said that Rohingyas felled trees of Tk 150.87 crore, a report from forest department showed.
Ali Kabir said the amount of loss definitely has increased as number of Rohingyas increased since then
Local people said that the price of fire wood was increasing every day with the continued influx of Rohingyas. Currently a kilogram of fire wood is selling for Tk 15, which was Tk 8-10 in August.
Rice husk is selling Tk 14-16 per kg which sold for Tk 6-8 two months ago, local people said.
Needs and Population Monitoring report of IOM on October 25 said that 40 per cent of the Rohingyas living in different sites reported to have sourced fuel from local forests and 39 per cent from local markets.

Shirin said that considering the need, international agencies were thinking about distributing briquettes.
‘There are bio gas plants to run community kitchens in Leda and Kutupaong Makeshift Settlements. Agencies have plans to scale up this intervention considering the current high demand of fuel in the settlements,’ she added.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/27456/rohingyas-in-fuel-crisis

NDC SEMINAR ON ROHINGYA CRISIS
Neighbours’ role criticised
Staff Correspondent | Published: 00:12, Nov 02,2017 | Updated: 00:49, Nov 02,2017
National Defence College commandant Lieutenant General Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardy on Wednesday was critical of the role strategic partners and neighbouring countries played in addressing the Rohingya crisis.
‘In the recent crisis in Myanmar and influx of Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh have raised a question as to who is our real friend in need. We expected our strategic partners and neighbouring countries to take necessary steps to address these issues,’ Hasan Sarwardy told a seminar.

The college in Mirpur Cantonment organised the seminar on formulating an effective foreign policy outline for realisation of ‘vision 2041’, which was declared by prime minister Sheikh Hasina after assuming in power through the January 5 election, boycotted by major political parties.

The keynote was presented by a group of NDC course participants, led by Air Commodore Qazi Mazharul Karim. It identified a number of challenges in formulating the ‘Vision 2041’ including lack of national unity, space for civil society, corruption, bureaucracy and lack of good governance, among others.

Although the seminar was organised to fetch an effective foreign policy to achieve the Vision 2041, discussants mostly focused on the diplomatic engagement in Rohingya crisis.
At the begging of the seminar, the NDC commandant said the Bangladesh signed strategic partnership deals with one country.

About China, the NDC commandant said ‘The country was never supportive to Bangladesh until 1975.
Yet we thought China would be out best partner but it never works...’
In fact, he said, most of the South East Asian nations paid no attention in the Rohingya crisis.

Armed Forces Division director general (intelligence) Brigadier General Monirul Islam Akhand also said they expected assistances from big powers in solving the crisis that began after August 25.

‘Bangladesh is disappointed with the way a few global powers, to be precise three regional and global power, had responded to the issue. We expected them to take stronger stance on our behalf…they are out strategic partners. We have deep economic and military cooperation with them,’ said Monirul.

‘How do we balance this dilemma?’ he asked, seeking an explanation on the issue from the prime minister’s international affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi.

But, Mir Mushtaque Ahmed Robi, Awami League lawmaker for Sathkhira-2, intervened and said, ‘China was never with Bangladesh…India is always with Bangladesh and will remain with it’.

Later, Gowher Rizvi said, ‘It is wrong in diplomacy to ask anyone whether you are with us or against us.
That is the wrong way to go forward.’

He said, ‘We only saw the official communiqué that came out from Naypyidaw after the Indian prime minister Narandra Modi’s visit to Myanmar.’

‘We have been shared the transcripts of the discussion that took place in closed door [in first week of September immediately after trouble begun in northern Rakhine in Myanmar on August 25]. And prime minister Modi had talked for us.’

Over six lakh Rohingyas crossed the border into Bangladesh since August 25 after a military offensive in Northern Rakhine state of Myanmar.

The prime minister’s adviser said, ‘Whatever you call Rohingyas refugee or displaced person or undocumented Myanmar nationals, the fact is that there are one million Rohingyas in Bangladesh.’
http://www.newagebd.net/article/27459/neighbours-role-criticised