Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing - Updates & Discussions

[Banglar Bir]

12:00 AM, November 06, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 01:16 PM, November 06, 2017
How 'humanitarian technology' can help deal with Rohingya crisis

Aerial view of a burned Rohingya village near Maungdaw, north of Rakhine state, Myanmar on September 27, 2017. PHOTO: REUTERS
Md Saimum Reza Talukder
Since August 25, 2017, the world has experienced one of the most brutal and fastest-growing humanitarian crises that led to the “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” involving the Rohingya community in Myanmar.
Being a neighbouring country and respectful of their human rights, Bangladesh has since provided shelter to more than 600,000 Rohingyas who fled persecution by the Myanmar army and their local cohorts. Most of these refugees (although Bangladesh doesn't give them the refugee status, and instead considers them as displaced Myanmar citizens) are women and children.

We would not have realised the actual level of devastation on the ground had it not been for the satellite images and drone footage showing burnt villages and houses as frightened people, with whatever left of their belongings, crossed over into Bangladesh to save their lives. We also had audio-video clips and still pictures shared on social media by the victims, journalists and human rights activists. These digital technologies have revealed the gravity of the situation, mobilised popular opinion and played a crucial role to make the international community and governments listen and respond.

The role of information and communications technology in bringing up real stories about the humanitarian crises unfolding in different parts of the world has been the subject of much discussion in recent times. These technologies, besides collecting evidence, are also being used to coordinate distribution of humanitarian aids in remote areas and conflict zones.

A new term coined to address this emergent field of technology—“humanitarian technology”—is now being used by the rights activists, aid workers, social and political activists, scientists and researchers, and applied to a broadly defined context of crises, including humanitarian disasters. They are using the technologies to collect, process and disseminate information from the conflict and crisis zones worldwide.

According to an article published by the International Committee of the Red Cross, humanitarian technologies have fundamentally altered how humanitarian crises are detected and addressed, and how information is collected, analysed and disseminated. These developments are changing the possibilities for prevention, response and resource mobilisation for the humanitarian actors and the affected communities alike. They have been helping us to understand the gravity and impact of the situation on which short- and long-term policies for action are being made by the state and non-state actors. Also, these humanitarian technologies can help in evidence documentation during a crisis or conflict, which can later be used to find its root cause(s) or punish the offenders.

But using humanitarian technology can also compromise the objective of the humanitarian action and obscure issues of accountability towards the victims. Therefore, how technological innovation affects humanitarian action needs a critical enquiry. For example, Bangladesh government is collecting biometric data of the Rohingya refugees although it does not have any data protection law. It has purchased software from Tiger IT (The Daily Star, September 11), a private company, and we do not know under which policy this software company will ensure the protection of the personal data of the Rohingyas.

There is also the risk that the data might somehow be leaked to an adversary group (through hacking, for example) which will put the Rohingyas in danger during future repatriation. Moreover, international organisations like the UNHCR are also collecting baseline data of the Rohingyas through a data-gathering smartphone app. If there is no coordination among Bangladesh government and international humanitarian organisations on this matter, any difference between the databases might create an opportunity for the Myanmar authorities to discredit and delay the repatriation process.

Meanwhile, the Rohingyas are contacting their relatives inside Myanmar through WhatsApp, Viber and other social media services (Dhaka Tribune, October 26). As the mainstream media has largely failed to provide real-time information, victims are finding alternative ways (new media) to communicate inside Myanmar. For example, Rohingya refugees are reportedly receiving various video clips, text messages and still pictures of atrocities through dozens of WhatsApp groups to fill the information gap. But often the source of information is untraceable, and some of them are found to be fake news. This also raises the possibility of politically motivated disinformation which might be spread by adversary parties like ARSA and the Myanmar military junta. It also raises security concerns for the governments of Bangladesh, India and Myanmar.

But there is also the concern that over-securitisation might curtail the freedom of expression and the right to information of the Rohingyas as well. Any restriction on using humanitarian technologies might hamper the re-unification and repatriation initiatives for the Rohingyas in the long run. For example, without the humanitarian technology, Kamal and his younger brother Nazir would not have been able to reunite lost Rohingya refugees with their family members through “lost and found” booth in Kutupalong Refugee Camp (Al Jazeera, September 27; Dhaka Tribune, October 17).

It's important that the human rights of Rohingyas, despite being a stateless community, are respected and protected by all the government and non-government actors. I think there should not be any limit on the use of humanitarian technologies. Rather, the victims, governments and humanitarian aid agencies should be allowed to use them as per the “Responsible Data Principle,” according to which the collection, storage, and use of data should be carefully planned; and data should be collected for a specific purpose and deleted once that purpose has been fulfilled.

Any surveillance on the Rohingyas or restriction against the spread of fake news and politically motivated propaganda should be strictly targeted and duly authorised by a judicial authority. Also, there should be greater coordination on the use of humanitarian technologies, supported by a multi-stakeholder right-based approach which will include the victims, local people, government and non-government organisations involved in the process.
Md Saimum Reza Talukder is an advocate in District Court, Dhaka.
Email: piash2003@gmail.com
http://www.thedailystar.net/opinion...hnology-can-help-deal-rohingya-crisis-1486732

12:00 AM, November 06, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 01:13 PM, November 06, 2017
Solution, not punishment
Says US on its objective regarding Myanmar and Rohingya issues

A Rohingya refugee girl carries wood through the Kutupalong refugee camp at sunset in Cox's Bazar on Saturday. Photo: Reuters
Diplomatic Correspondent
The United States right now is preferring diplomatic solutions to the Rohingya crisis instead of punishment to Myanmar though there is scope for sanctions if needed, a State Department official said in Dhaka yesterday.

“We have a variety of sanctions available to us should we decide to use them. This will be a part of larger efforts of pressure,” said Thomas A Shannon, under secretary of state for political affairs.

“But right now, as I noted earlier, our purpose is to solve the problem, not to punish,” he said.

Shannon noted that his country sees some “positive movements” including Myanmar authorities receiving members of international community in Rakhine State and holding talks with Bangladesh.

He made the comments just days after US lawmakers proposed re-imposing targeted sanctions and travel restrictions on Myanmar military officials over the treatment of Rohingyas.

Shannon was speaking at a joint press briefing, flanked by his Bangladesh counterpart Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque, at the state guesthouse Padma yesterday.

Before this, they co-led the sixth US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue, the premier forum between the two countries for further expanding and deepening cooperation on bilateral and regional issues.

During the meeting, Shannon thanked the government of Bangladesh for its generosity in responding to the refugees fleeing Myanmar, and expressed appreciation for its continued efforts to ensure assistance reaches the affected population.

“He noted that we call on Bangladeshi and Burmese officials to continue developing a framework for the safe and voluntary return of Rohingya communities to Burma and that we urge rapid and complete implementation of the Annan Commission's recommendations,” reads a media note issued by the Office of the Spokesperson, US State Department, in Washington.
'CAPTURE THAT PROGRESS'
Shannon, who arrived in Dhaka yesterday morning, also called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and had a meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali. He is due to leave for Colombo this morning.

The US diplomat said as dialogue is taking place between Myanmar and Bangladesh in regard to Rohingya crisis, Washington wanted to “capture that progress” and drive it towards a resolution without having to resort to other means.

He said they intend to work with the government of Bangladesh, international institutions and organisations like the UN to address the humanitarian crisis.

“Our focus is to solve the problem and we are going to pursue a diplomatic solution to this problem,” Shannon said, adding “The focus is also to address humanitarian needs to those who fled to Bangladesh.”

The Bangladesh foreign secretary appreciated the US for its role on the Rohingya issue as he found the US position “the strongest” on this.

“They are supplying humanitarian assistance and so far has taken 31 concrete measures in terms of making solutions,” he said in his opening remarks.

Asked about the impacts of those measures, Shannon said because of those measures, their diplomats and international community have been allowed in Myanmar to discuss the issue. They were also allowed to visit Rakhine State, he said.

In his opening remarks, the US official said his country counts Bangladesh as a “close and reliable” partner in its endeavours towards free trade, sustainable development, the rule of law and universal values of democracy and human rights.

He added that they “devoted special attention” to trade and prosperity agenda, security in the Indian Ocean region, combating transnational terrorist groups, North Korea's “dangerous and provocative” conduct and the Rohingya crisis.

He said this dialogue demonstrates that Washington and Dhaka collaborate on many important issues and share a long history of cooperation and a vision for a tolerant, democratic Bangladesh that serves as a bridge for commerce between South and Southeast Asia.

"Bangladesh is an anchor for stability and prosperity in the region, and we appreciate the government's commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”

Asked whether they discussed sending back of a convicted killer of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, staying in the US on political asylum, Shannon said, “I can assure you that in every meeting we have with Bangladeshi diplomats, the case is raised, and the foreign Secretary raised it and as did Bangladesh's ambassador in Washington.”
PARTNERSHIP DIALOGUE
Earlier, in the plenary session, both sides discussed important issues of bilateral, regional and global interest and concern.

The safe, sustainable and dignified return of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals was discussed with utmost importance. Bangladesh side deeply appreciated Washington's strong political and humanitarian support on the Rohingya issue.

“Bangladesh underlined the fact that despite the claim from the Myanmar side that the violence has stopped, people from Myanmar are still crossing the border and coming to Bangladesh in hundreds and thousands every day narrating stories of atrocities that are contributing to the continued influx of Rohingyas from the Rakhine State in Myanmar to Bangladesh,” according to a press release of the foreign ministry.

Bangladesh also elaborated on the initiatives undertaken by the government in temporarily sheltering the huge number of refugees, and providing emergency humanitarian assistance to them.

The US side also assured Bangladesh side of their continued political support and actions including financial assistance to address this man-made humanitarian catastrophe of nearly unmanageable magnitude.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpa...efugee-crisis-solution-not-punishment-1486831

 

[Banglar Bir]

Time to cut trade ties with Myanmar
Tribune Editorial
Published at 09:18 PM November 04, 2017

How can we answer to our conscience knowing full-well what the Myanmar military is doing to the innocent Rohingya minority -- not even sparing children or pregnant women?
Despite the on-going humanitarian crisis involving Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in their home state, Bangladesh continues to trade with the country responsible for it.

Myanmar’s ruthless persecution of the Rohingya has burdened an already overpopulated Bangladesh with around one million hungry and severely distressed refugees.

The government, while doing its best, is struggling to host and feed them, while also figuring out the plan for eventual repatriation with officials in Myanmar who are bent on making the process as difficult as possible.

The Myanmar military’s crimes against humanity have prompted international outrage and even some punitive action, such as the World Bank halting a $200 million development loan to the country.

And yet, sadly, Bangladesh continues to approve deals to import rice and fuel oil from our hostile neighbour.

It is understandable that Bangladesh needs to stock up on food, but do we really need Myanmar as a trading partner?

It should be a matter of principle that a nation should not trade with another that is directly involved in ethnic cleansing, and, further, a matter of dignity, because Myanmar has been trying to sully our name with false accusations.

How can we answer to our conscience knowing full-well what the Myanmar military is doing to the innocent Rohingya minority — not even sparing children or pregnant women?

To send the right message to Myanmar, we need a clear and decisive policy regarding our trade dealings with the country — this means putting a stop to all trade unless and until Myanmar ends its human rights abuses.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/editorial/2017/11/04/time-cut-trade-ties-myanmar/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Aung San Suu Kyi to be stripped of honourary presidency by UK university
Burma's de facto leader accused of 'inaction in the face of genocide'
@shehabkhan
The Independent Online

Aung San Suu Kyi speaks during an official dinner function at the Istana in Singapore Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty
The Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to be stripped of her honorary presidency at a UK university's student union over her country's treatment of Rohingya minority Muslims.

Once seen as a symbol of freedom and non-violent resistance, Burma’s de facto president Ms Suu Kyi was recognised by students at the London School of Economics (LSE) in 1991.

But amid accusations of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Burmese army in the north-western Rakhine state, the LSE student union is now expected to pass a vote removing her from the role.

More than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled across the border to Bangladesh amid increasing violence. Although the country's military leaders retain control of internal security, Ms Suu Kyi was accused of “inaction in the face of genocide”.
READ MORE

• Aung San Suu Kyi visits Burma's border to observe Rohingya plight
• Rohingya crisis drone footage shows thousands of Muslims fleeing Burma
• Burma 'killed hundreds of Rohingya men, women and children'
• Burma: '228 Rohingya Muslim villages destroyed in just one month'

A motion has now been tabled by the LSE student union and senior members of the leadership, including general secretary Mahatir Pasha, are confident it will pass.

“I have asked all LSE students to support a motion I will be taking to UGM on 9 November, asking to strip Aung San Suu Kyi’s honorary presidency away from our union.
This will act as a strong symbol of our opposition to her current position and inaction in the face of genocide,” Mr Pasha told The Independent.

Students at LSE "have often been at the forefront of fighting for social justice", Mr Pasha said. “Suu Kyi’s silence in the face of this genocide has come at too much a cost – her complicity in the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people. It is time for the world to take action in support of the Rohingya people and against Aung San Suu Kyi,” he added.

Quratulain Ahsan, president of LSE's Human Rights Society, said it was important to show solidarity with those who have been forced to leave their homes in Burma.

“The crisis of the Rohingya today mirrors several historical incidents of ethnic cleansing, but the idea that such violations of the basic human rights of a particular ethnicity can take place in a progressive 21st century, is both appalling and shaking,” Mr Ahsan told The Independent.

And Kamilia Rozlan, treasurer of the union's Student Action for Refugees group, said the student body would not stay silent in the face of "blatant persecution".

"The Rohingya people deserve a voice, and if Suu Kyi won’t lend hers, we will," Ms Rozlan said.All students of the LSE have been invited to attend the debate and subsequent vote at the university next Thursday.

If the motion passes, LSE will join the cities of Oxford and Glasgow, both of whom have also stripped Ms Suu Kyi of honorary awards in recent weeks.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...residency-myanmar-lose-stripped-a8036171.html

12:00 AM, November 05, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:15 PM, November 05, 2017
Responsibility lies with Myanmar
Visiting US official says on Rohingya return

Photographers help a Rohingya refugee to come out of Naf River as they cross the Myanmar-Bangladesh border in Palongkhali, in Cox's Bazar on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
Star Report
The US wants Myanmar to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas in their own villages following their exodus from violence-wracked Rakhine State towards Bangladesh, a senior State Department official said in Dhaka yesterday.
Simon Henshaw, acting US assistant secretary of state who visited refugee camps in southeast Bangladesh, said Myanmar should also punish those who committed atrocities in Rakhine.

"Responsibility for repatriation of Rohingya people lies with the government of Myanmar ... safe and secure repatriation is the best possible way to resolve the crisis," the US official said at a press conference in the city.

"Part of bringing people back to Rakhine State requires these people be allowed to return to their land .... And for those whose villages are burnt, quick efforts need to be made to restore their homes and their villages," he added.

Simon Henshaw
Asked about Myanmar's dillydallying in repatriation, he said no matter how frustrating the talk is for either side, it has to go on and the US will do whatever it can to keep it continuing.

Henshaw's visit comes as the US lawmakers have proposed sanctions against Myanmar's military in some of the strongest efforts yet by Washington to pressure the Southeast Asian nation to end abusive treatment of the Rohingya minority.


House Republicans and Democrats introduced legislation that would curtail assistance or cooperation with Myanmar's military and require the White House to identify senior military officials who would have US visa bans imposed or reimposed against them.

A bipartisan group in the Senate, including Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain, introduced their bill Thursday.

It calls for renewal of import and trade restrictions on Myanmar, including re-imposing a ban on jade and rubies from the country.

"Our legislation would hold accountable the senior military officials responsible for the slaughter and displacement of innocent men, women and children in Burma, and make clear that the United States will not stand for these atrocities," McCain said in a statement.

House Democrat Eliot Engel said lawmakers wanted to send a "clear message" with the targeted sanctions, both to the military and the civilian leadership, about the violence that has left hundreds of people dead.

"This violence must stop, perpetrators must be held accountable, and there must be meaningful civilian control over Burma's military and security forces," Engel said.

Lawmakers also want Myanmar's military to ensure safe return of refugees displaced from Rakhine.

"There will be consequences for their crimes against humanity," said Senator Ben Cardin, a Democratic sponsor of the bill.

But efforts to bring sanctions and accountability through the Senate ultimately rest on the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, a longtime supporter of Suu Kyi.

McConnell has thus far sided with those wary of anything that could undermine her position, destabilise the country and diminish the newly installed democratic government.

Henshaw, acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, said his country will constantly evaluate the situation to issue sanctions against Myanmar.

"We will constantly evaluate the situation to make those decisions. The congress has given us a number of tools, which we can use."

The US official led a seven-member delegation to Myanmar from October 29 and then came to Bangladesh to visit the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar and discuss the issue with officials of Bangladesh and international organisations.

Stating that there are disturbing reports of atrocities in Myanmar, he said the US calls on full investigation of those reports of violence that sent Rohingyas fleeing to Bangladesh in last two months.

"We also call on Myanmar government to allow access to press and international organisations so they too can see the situation on the ground," he told the press at the American Club.

“Over 600,000 people moved to Bangladesh not just because they wanted to move. Something serious definitely took place in Rakhine State. And we have made clear our views on this," he said describing his talks with Myanmar officials.

The US delegation told Myanmar government that it is their responsibility to restore security and stability in Rakhine for a voluntary and safe repatriation of the Rohingyas.

"It is their responsibility to investigate the reports of atrocities and bring those who committed crimes to accountability," said Henshaw.

Finally, he added, reconciliation between groups in Rakhine -- political reconciliation must be there for return of the refugees.

"We believe the best solution is the return of Rohingya people to their land. It is assuring that the government of Myanmar is taking steps to discuss in turn with your government.”

Henshaw also noted that the Rohingya issue is very "complex".

"There are some political issues inside Burma [Myanmar]. It involves the fact that the country is going through military-civil democracy process. So, all these are very difficult and complex issues."

In another development, the EU Commission's humanitarian aid chief has acknowledged the plight of the oppressed Rohingya as likely constituting “ethnic cleansing”.

Speaking to Euronews late Friday, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Christos Stylianides said he was “shocked by the magnitude of needs” of the Rohingya he saw on a two-day visit to Bangladesh last week.

“We have to persuade the Myanmar government that it's just human rights, fundamental rights for any person, for any human being. I agree with UN Secretary-General Guterres that maybe the only description for this situation is ethnic cleansing.”
SHOCKING, APPALLING
Talking about his visit to refugee camps, Henshaw said the situation is shocking and appalling and it is hard not to cry hearing the stories of sexual abuses, murders and other atrocities.

"Six hundred thousand people moving in a two month-period is something that I haven't seen in my four and a half years of time in this job," he said, but appreciated Bangladesh's efforts in sheltering and helping them.

Spokesperson of the US State Department Heather Nauert and US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat were present at the press conference.

Nauert said Rohingya crisis has the top attention of the officials in Washington -- "not just at the State Department but at the White House."

She said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would visit Myanmar on November 15 and discuss the issue.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/repatriation-rohingya-myanmars-responsibility-1486411

03:09 PM, November 04, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:41 PM, November 04, 2017
Scottish council withdraws offer to award Suu Kyi

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi smiles as she walks from a military helicopter after arriving at Sittwe airport on November 2, 2017, following a visit to Maungdaw in Myanmar's Rakhine State. Photo: KHINE HTOO MRATT / AFP
Star Online Report
In the wake of the Rohingya crisis, the Glasgow City Council on Friday withdrew their offer to award Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The council had offered Suu Kyi the Freedom of Glasgow in 2009, when she was still under house arrest as Myanmar's pro-democracy leader, reports BBC.

"I and the Leader, Councillor Susan Aitken, recently wrote to Aung San Suu Kyi voicing the city's concerns about the human rights atrocities occurring under her watch and urging her to intervene. The response we received was disappointing and saddening," Indian news portal The Times of India quoted Glasgow's Lord Provost Eva Bolander as saying.

The Scottish council said that withdrawing such an honour was "unprecedented" and its decision had not been taken lightly.

According to an estimate, more than 623,000 refugees have crossed over into neighbouring Bangladesh and taken shelter in crowded settlements in Cox's Bazar since August 25, fleeing a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State.

Suu Kyi visited the Rakhine province of Myanmar this week for the first time since violence erupted in the state in late August and was criticised for failing to address the issue of refugees who have fled across the border.
http://www.thedailystar.net/rohingy...award-myanmar-leader-aung-san-suu-kyi-1486240

THE ROHINGYA TRAGEDY
Burma Shows Us What a ‘Muslim Ban’ Really Looks Like: Apartheid
‘Muslims are not allowed to settle here or stay overnight,’ reads a sign. ‘No one here is allowed to marry a Muslim. Anyone breaking the rules will be labeled a traitor.’
JOSHUA CARROLL
SAM AUNG MOON
10.18.17 5:00 AM ET
RANGOON, Burma—When Khin Win Myint and her son were stopped by police at a checkpoint in Burma’s southeastern Kayin state last month, she tried to hide the fact she was a Muslim.

But the officer was suspicious. He searched the car and called in backup before holding the pair and their driver at the checkpoint near the Thai border for two hours. Eventually, she told the truth. Then things got worse.

“I was so scared,” she told The Daily Beast. “The police were saying to the driver: ‘Why did you bring these Bengalis? Their religion is all about killing. The Islamists, they are rapists. Why did you bring them? Why do you support them?’”

This happened more than 500 miles from western Rakhine state where Burma’s army is ethnically cleansing Rohingya Muslims in response to what it calls terror attacks. More than half a million Rohingya have fled across the border to Bangladesh since late August.

The Rohingya are commonly referred to inside the country as Bengalis, a name that reinforces the false belief they are foreign interlopers. The army says its actions are a response to attacks against police outposts on Aug. 25 by a small, ragtag militia called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. But the UN says its clearance operations began before those attacks.

“‘If Muslims want to travel between townships, they need recommendations from village administrators.’”
Khin Win Myint is not a Rohingya, but amid an outpouring of hatred against the group, fear and suspicion against all Muslims has spiked in her home state. Some believe that Muslims have traveled from Rakhine and infiltrated Kayin, also known as Karen, state.

How Burma Built Concentration Camps and Got Away With It
The week after Khin Win Myint was detained, local authorities said Muslims would need special documents to travel.

“If Muslims want to travel between townships, they need recommendations from village administrators,” an announcement read.

“There has been some conflict within the last two months in Rakhine state, so we have been doing security checks,” said Tayza Tun Hlaing, a spokesperson for the Karen state government.

The military’s clearance operations in Rakhine have received popular support inside Buddhist-majority Burma despite condemnation from abroad. That has emboldened Buddhist extremists around the country to push forward with local, apartheid-style policies against Muslims.

These include setting up committees to punish Buddhists for trading with Muslims, banning members of the religion from entire villages and, in Karen state, limiting freedom of movement.

The Karen government said the new restrictions were decided on after nine Muslims without national ID cards were detained near the Thai border.
Karen state’s chief minister has since denied any involvement in issuing the notice, blaming it on an administrative error, but Muslims say the restrictions are still in place.

While Burma’s Muslims have faced persecution for decades, inter-communal violence in 2012 set off a grassroots campaign, often supported by local authorities, to impose outright segregation.

“‘These villages have become symbolic bastions of Buddhist purity.’”
“Muslims are not allowed to settle here or stay overnight,” reads a sign at the entrance to Payar Gyigone village in the southern Irrawaddy delta region. “No one here is allowed to marry a Muslim… anyone caught breaching the rules will be labeled a traitor and punished.”

At least 21 villages have erected signboards like this across the country, though the actual number is likely higher, according to the Burma Human Rights Network, a group focusing on the plight of Burma’s Muslims.

“These villages have become symbolic bastions of Buddhist purity,” the group said in a recent report.

Buddhist nationalists will use the spike in hatred against the Rohingya since the Aug. 25 attacks to encourage more villages to erect these signs, said Kyaw Win, the group’s executive director.

“When there is a problem involving the Rohingya, they capitalize on that fear,” he told The Daily Beast.

Non-Muslims seen as too sympathetic toward Muslims are also a target. One woman in Myebon, an area in southern Rakhine state that has not been hit by the recent violence, learned this the hard way.

Soe Chay, 35, went to the market last month to buy rice and other goods to sell on to local Muslims, who have been confined to camps with restricted access to food since the violence in 2012.

After making her purchases, she said, “I got chased by some people on motorbikes.” The thugs asked: “Who are you going to give these things to?” before beating her and cutting her hair.

Then they tied a sign around her neck reading “I’m a national traitor” and marched her through the town while forcing her to shout the same phrase.

“I can’t even eat rice today because I am in so much pain,” she told the Democratic Voice of Burma, a local news outlet, shortly after the attack.

After Khin Win Myint was stopped in Karen state, police took her to a nearby police station where, she said, officers beat her son, who is in his early twenties. They were released the next day and sent back to their hometown of Hpa An, the state capital.

Tayza Tun Hlaing, the government spokesperson, said that local media had “exaggerated” their reports about the restrictions, which were needed because most Muslims do not have national ID cards. “We understand the problems of the Muslims and want them to feel comfortable.”

But longstanding government-led discrimination is precisely the reason many Muslims lack these ID cards. Rights campaigners have reported cases of Muslims being flat-out denied the cards, or told they could only have them if they provided evidence of their lineage dating back centuries.

Muslims in Hpa An who have ID cards told The Daily Beast they had had no trouble traveling since the order, but religious leaders say more than two thirds of the state’s Muslims don’t have cards.

“They feel discriminated against,” said Saw Than Htut, a Member of Parliament for Hpa An with the ruling NLD party and also a Buddhist. He only found out about the new travel restrictions, he said, when a Muslim friend confronted him brandishing a copy of the announcement and asked, “What’s this?”

Did the MP, who appeared more tolerant than many, think travel restrictions against Muslims in the name of security were fair? “I think it’s better if I don’t answer that,” he said.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/burma...ks-like-apartheid?source=facebook&via=desktop

There's only one conclusion on the Rohingya in Myanmar: It's genocide

By Azeem Ibrahim
CNN
October 23, 2017
The Rohingya crisis in Myanmar is now widely described as ethnic cleansing. But the situation has been evolving. And now, it seems, we can no longer avoid the conclusion we have all been dreading. This is a genocide. And we, in the international community, must recognize it as such.

Article II of United Nation's 1948 Genocide Convention describes genocide as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."

Though the Rohingya situation has met most of the above criteria for being described as a genocide under international law for a number of years now, the label has been resisted until now because we think of genocide as one huge act of frenzied violence, like the machete insanity in Rwanda or the gas chambers of Nazi Germany.

But the final peak of violence is in all historical cases merely the visible tip of the iceberg. And the final outburst only occurs once it has already been rendered unavoidable by the political context.
In Rwanda, Hutu tribal propaganda ran for years on the radio and in magazines referring to the Tutsis as cockroaches and a mortal threat to the Hutus that needed to be eliminated lest the Hutus themselves would die. Kill or be killed.

The frenzied killing was not something that just occurred to the Hutus one day in April 1994. It was the logical conclusion of a campaign of dehumanization and paranoia which lasted for years.

The same is true of the Holocaust. The Nazi genocide began slowly and had few distinctive outbursts of violence to delineate where one degree of crime against humanity ended and where another began.
All in all, that genocide developed and unfolded over a period of more than 10 years. Most of that period was not taken up with the killing of Jews, Gypsies and all the other "sub-humans." Rather, it was taken up with manufacturing of the category of "sub-humans" by state propaganda. Only once the problem was manufactured and sold to the wider population did the "final solution" become viable.
Pattern of genocide
In Myanmar, extremist Buddhist monks have been preaching that the Rohingya are reincarnated from snakes and insects. Killing them would not be a crime against humanity, they say -- it would be more like pest control.

And necessary "pest control" too. Just like the Tutsi conspiracy to kill all the Hutus, or the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the Rohingya are supposed to be agents of a global Islamist conspiracy to take over the world and forcibly instate a global caliphate. The duty of any good Buddhist who wants to maintain the national and religious character of Myanmar is to prevent the Islamist takeover, and thus to help remove the threat posed by the "vermin."

Every modern genocide has followed this pattern. Years of concerted dehumanization campaigns are the absolutely necessary pre-condition for the mass murder at the end. Usually these campaigns are led by a repressive government, but other political forces also come into play. Such was the case in Bosnia, Darfur and Rwanda. And so it is with Myanmar.

The campaign of dehumanization against the Rohingya has been going on for decades, and events certainly took an unmistakeable turn towards genocide since at least the outbursts of communal violence in 2012. Those clashes, and the ones in the subsequent years, drove 200,000 to 300,000 Rohingya out of Myanmar.

But somehow, at that rate of attrition, and against the backdrop of Myanmar's supposed move towards democracy with the election of Aung San Suu Kyi to power in late 2015, world leaders have allowed themselves to hope that the situation could still be turned around.

Now, the reality of an exodus of a further 600,000 people in the space of just six weeks; the incontrovertible evidence of large scale burning of villages by the Myanmar military -- which the military is calling clearance operations of terrorists -- and the reports of widespread extra-judicial killings against fleeing civilians by the country's federal security forces have made it much more difficult to avoid the conclusion: this is genocide. We no longer have just the slow-burning genocidal environment which whittles down a people until their ultimate extinction.

Now we are also confronting the loud bang at the end. More than half of an entire population has been removed from their ancestral lands in just eight weeks!

The tragedy is that the international community will abet the situation. The UN Security Council will decline to respond to the situation with the seriousness it deserves. If a situation is defined by the Council as a "genocide," then the UN becomes legally bound to intervene, with peace-keeping missions and so on. That is why Western countries will be reluctant initiate such a move, and China, who is building one branch of its New Silk Road infrastructure right through Rakhine State to access the port of Sittwe, will likely veto any such proposal.

Just like we did in Rwanda, just like we did in the Balkans, we are once again seeing a genocide happen before our very eyes. And we will do nothing about it. We will bury our heads in the sand, and when our children will ask us why we let this happen we will plead ignorance. Once the final act of killing starts, it is usually too late. For the Rohingya, the final act is in full swing. And still we are in denial about what is happening.
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy and author of "The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar's Hidden Genocide" (Hurst & Oxford University Press)
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2017/10/theres-only-one-conclusion-on-rohingya.html

 

[Banglar Bir]

UN council weakens response to Myanmar after China objects

Rohingya refugees near the Naf River, which separates Myanmar and Bangladesh. Villages in Myanmar burned in the background. (Photo: Adam Dean for The New York Times)
By AFP
November 6, 2017
United Nations -- The UN Security Council today dropped plans to adopt a resolution demanding an end to the violence in Myanmar in the face of strong opposition from China and instead opted for a statement, diplomats said.

The statement calls for an end to the violence, full access for humanitarian aid workers to Myanmar's Rakhine state and for the return of hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh.

It does not threaten sanctions against Myanmar's military.

Britain and France circulated a draft resolution last month, but diplomats said veto power China, a supporter of Myanmar's former ruling junta, had argued that a resolution was not the appropriate response to the crisis.

Following negotiations, China agreed to the formal statement to be adopted later today, which includes almost all of the demands of the proposed resolution but does not carry the same weight.
"The important thing is the content," British Deputy UN Ambassador Jonathan Allen told reporters. "Gaining a very strong, unanimous statement I think was the real prize here."

Since late August, more than 600,000 Rohingya have been driven from their homes by an army campaign in Rakhine state that the United Nations has denounced as ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar authorities say the military operation is aimed at rooting out Rohingya militants who staged attacks on police posts.

The council statement was agreed as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is to travel to Manila this week to join leaders of the Southeast Asian (ASEAN) bloc for a summit.

The Rohingya refugee crisis is expected to be a top issue of discussion at the summit, to be attended by US President Donald Trump, who will dispatch US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Myanmar later this month.

The Rohingya have faced decades of discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and have been denied citizenship since 1982, which has effectively rendered them stateless.

More than two months after the crisis erupted, rights groups have accused the Security Council of dragging its feet and are calling for tougher measures, such as an arms embargo and targeted sanctions against those responsible for the attacks against the Rohingya.

On Friday, Human Rights Watch urged the council to ask the International Criminal Court to open war crimes investigations in Myanmar, describing the torching of villages, killing, rape and looting as crimes against humanity.
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2017/11/un-council-weakens-response-to-myanmar.html

 

[Banglar Bir]

U.N. Security Council urges Myanmar to stop excessive military force
Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council urged the Myanmar government on Monday to “ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine state,” where violence has forced more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee the Buddhist-majority Asian country.
A Rohingya refugee walks uphill carrying a vessel filled with water at Kutupalong refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh November 7, 2017. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

The United Nations has denounced the violence during the past 10 weeks as a classic example of ethnic cleansing.
The Myanmar government has denied allegations of ethnic cleansing.

To appease council veto powers Russia and China, Britain and France dropped a push for the Security Council to adopt a resolution on the situation and the 15-member body instead unanimously agreed on a formal statement.

The council expressed “grave concern over reports of human rights violations and abuses in Rakhine State, including by the Myanmar security forces, in particular against persons belonging to the Rohingya community.”

“The Security Council calls upon the Government of Myanmar to ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine State, to restore civilian administration and apply the rule of law, and to take immediate steps in accordance with their obligations and commitments to respect human rights,” it said.

Myanmar has been stung by international criticism for the way its security forces responded to attacks by Rohingya militants on 30 security posts. More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Aug. 25.

A Rohingya refugee carrying a child walks along the Kutupalong refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh November 7, 2017. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

“The Security Council stresses the primary responsibility of the Government of Myanmar to protect its population including through respect for the rule of law and the respect, promotion and protection of human rights,” the statement said.

It stressed the importance of transparent investigations into allegations of human rights abuses and “in this regard, the Security Council calls upon the Government of Myanmar to cooperate with all relevant United Nations bodies, mechanisms and instruments.”
Slideshow (12 Images)

Myanmar has refused entry to a U.N. panel that was tasked with investigating allegations of abuses after a smaller military counteroffensive launched in October 2016.

Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has pledged accountability for rights abuses and says Myanmar will accept back refugees who can prove they were residents of Myanmar.

The Security Council said it was alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Rakhine state and warned that the increasing number of refugees “has a destabilizing impact in the region.”

The council demanded that the Myanmar government allow immediate, safe and unhindered humanitarian aid and media access. It asked U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to report back in 30 days on the situation.
Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by James Dalgleish
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...o-stop-excessive-military-force-idUSKBN1D62MK

Slaughter of the innocents: Searing eye-witness accounts from the genocide taking place under the nose of feted Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi

Rohingya refugee receive bananas from a Bangladeshi volunteer after crossing from Myanmar into Bangladesh. More than 600,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since a military crackdown in Myanmar in August triggered an exodus
By Peter Oborne
Mail Online
November 6, 2017

• Peter Osborne visited the Bangladesh/Myanmar border to witness the tragedy
• Over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled for their lives over past 10 weeks
• He says 'nothing he has ever seen compares to systematic killing' under Suu Kyi

Genocide is a word which should be always be used with care. Random atrocities, however horrible, certainly do not constitute genocide.
Genocide is carefully planned.

According to the United Nations, genocide comprises 'acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group'.

That is why the savage and deliberate massacre of more than one million Cambodians by the dictator Pol Pot in the Seventies was genocide.

The methodical killing of 7,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995 was genocide.

So was the horrific slaughter of several thousands of Yazidis in Iraq by Islamic State three years ago.
And, of course, the term applies to the Holocaust, when the Nazis eliminated six million Jews during World War II.

Today, on the bloodstained border between Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) and Bangladesh, the world is witnessing genocide again.

Shamefully, it is being presided over by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Oxford-educated leader of Myanmar who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 in recognition of her lifelong battle for freedom. Even more disturbing, world leaders are doing nothing to stop it.

Myanmar is a former British colony which got independence in 1948 and is the world's 40th largest nation, sharing borders with India, China, Bangladesh, Thailand and Laos.

In 1962, the country fell under the control of a brutal military dictatorship. It was toppled thanks to the huge courage of Suu Kyi, who led Myanmar to free elections two years ago.
During the past few days, I have spoken to numerous survivors of the savage — and brutally calculated — onslaught unleashed by Myanmar's largely Buddhist army on its minority Muslim population.

More than 600,000 Muslims from the country's Rohingya ethnic minority have fled for their lives across the border to Bangladesh in the past ten weeks.

Every day, thousands more arrive and each has a heartrending story to tell. These traumatised refugees describe how the Myanmar army burnt their homes.

They recount stories of an orgy of killing and rape and of mass graves. In a hideous twist, they also relate how their military persecutors were egged on by Buddhist monks, betraying their principles of not harming any living thing by savagely trying to wipe out their religious rivals.
Though the oppression of the Rohingya has gone on for two decades, the latest outburst of mass killing was sparked on August 25, when a terrorist group claiming to represent the Rohingya struck at Myanmar security posts.

A Rohingya refugee child is pictured carrying another as they cross from Myanmar into Bangladesh
True, these attacks took place, but were easily repulsed. They certainly do not justify attacking hundreds of thousands of defenceless Rohingya villagers over recent weeks.

As a journalist, I've reported from Darfur, where thousands of men, women and children were slaughtered in Western Sudan in 2003 in the civil war as rebels accused the government of oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs.

I've witnessed the reign of terror of death squads in Iraq and, in 2010, I visited a Nigerian village where bodies lay rotting in wells or buried in shallow graves — a result of the terrifying religious hatred between Christians and Muslims.

But none of these compared with the widespread or systematic killing that is happening in Myanmar.

Shamefully, the genocide is being presided over by Aung San Suu Kyi (pictured), the Oxford-educated leader of Myanmar who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, writes Peter Oborne

It is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the most heinous crimes of the 21st century.
Critics say that the evidence appears overwhelming, that the Myanmar government is intent on the annihilation of the minority population of Rohingya Muslims.

They say this is part of a policy of ethnic cleansing which has also meant that the minority has been denied citizenship and was mostly forced to live in ghetto-like camps.

When Suu Kyi came to power in 2015 — having spent years behind bars and under house arrest for her defiance of the military regime — her country's Rohingya population was estimated at just over one million.

Today, there are probably 300,000 left — the rest are dead or have fled across the border, a perilous journey over mountains and through forests.

They are frequently forced to hide in ditches, water-tanks and paddy fields. If found, they are killed.
Survivors simply cannot understand why the world will not intervene and come to their rescue.
'Please help us,' one old man asked as the rain poured down on his temporary home. 'Please tell our story to the world.'

On my arrival at the Balukhali refugee camp a few miles from the Myanmar border, I was braced for horrific accounts. Yet what I heard was infinitely worse.

Survivors spoke of an atrocity at Tula Toli, a Rohingya village in western Myanmar.
Early in the morning on August 30, around 150 government soldiers and 100 Buddhist civilians appeared on foot in the north of the village.

Using rocket-launchers, the troops began setting houses on fire. Terrified villagers fled the flames.

Rohingya refugees line up to receive humanitarian aid in the Balukhali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh
As they ran, soldiers began shooting with what witnesses say were semi-automatic rifles.

Tula Toli lies between jungle and a gushing river. As villagers attempted to run for the jungle, a line of Buddhist civilians from non-Muslim villages holding long swords blocked their path.

The only place to go was the riverbank. Soon, the entire village had gathered on a large sandbank on the river's edge. That was the signal for the real killing and savagery.

Abdullah, a village mullah, estimates fatalities at around 1,500 people, including his wife and five of his six children (one married daughter escaped unharmed as she was living in another village).
He and around 15 other what he calls 'stronger people' swam the river and hid in a cemetery. From there, 40 yards away, they watched the horrific scene unfold.

Abdullah says he witnessed soldiers separate the Rohingya into three groups: men, young women (including girls as young as five) and old women or, as Abdullah chillingly described them 'those who are not so beautiful'.

Some villagers lay down to try to prevent themselves being forced into groups. It was no use.
The soldiers opened fire. 'All the young men were shot at once,' recalls Abdullah. 'It took less than ten minutes.'

When the firing was over, the soldiers walked over to the pile of bodies to check for survivors. If they saw signs of life, they hacked them to death with a machete.

After a five-minute pause, in which they did not reload, the soldiers opened fire on the old women.

Every day, thousands more Rohingya refugees arrive and each has a heartrending story to tell, writes Peter Oborne

'They put blankets on the piles of dead bodies, then they poured on petrol and just lit a fire on the piles of the bodies,' Abdullah recalls. 'And while there was a big flame, they throw the small children — while still alive — onto the fire.'

Abdullah says he saw the commander of the military sitting silently observing his troops as they went about their butchery.

This suggested that the soldiers were acting under prior orders.
But what happened next, according to Abdullah, was even worse.

The soldiers took the defenceless young women — a total of about 100 — to the edge of the forest.
Then they dragged them in groups of five or six back to the village, forcing them into the houses not yet burnt.

Abdullah was too far away to spot his family, but he knew that his wife and daughters were in these groups.
There followed a period of three hours' silence.

Rohingya refugees wait at a temporary shelter after crossing the border from Myanmar to Bangladesh this week

Abdullah describes seeing the womenfolk put inside houses as a stream of soldiers went in and out.
He could not see what was happening inside, but it takes no imagination to guess. Rape.
At the end of the three hours, Abdullah says the houses were set on fire, with the young women inside.
He could hear them screaming.
Just seven were able to run to safety, although they had been badly beaten and burnt.

Abdullah never saw his wife or daughters again.

The soldiers went down to the river and dug a large hole into which, with the help of non- Muslim villagers, they dumped the bodies.

Only a few very young children were still alive. Witnesses say that some, too, were then burnt alive, others thrown into the river.

At 4.30pm, Abdullah set off on the three-day walk across the border to Bangladesh where, ten days later, he met up with his married daughter.

I was unable to establish the truth of Abdullah's account by travelling to Tula Toli myself.

Rohingya refugees cross the Naf River at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Palong Khali, Bangladesh
This is because the Myanmar army won't allow foreign observers into areas where, euphemistically, they say 'clearances' are taking place.

However, other survivors, as well as independent international observers, have confirmed the basic facts of his terrible story.

Abdullah's testimony fits the wider pattern of atrocities which have taken place in Rohingya areas in the past ten weeks.

Other refugees told me how tens or hundreds have been killed in their villages during the state-sponsored terror.

Mohammed, a betel leaf seller, says soldiers attacked his village of Dar Gyi Zar and he witnessed 'more than 100 dead bodies'.

From his hiding place in the forest, he then saw soldiers gather up corpses and burn them. They then put the remains in bags and threw them into the river.

Again and again, I heard the same stories about the epidemic of killing and rape of the Rohingya.
The truth is something dark and terrible is taking place in Myanmar — and, disgracefully, world leaders are turning a blind eye.

Matthew Smith, of the human rights group Fortify Rights, which has warned of an impending genocide for years, told me: 'The death-toll is horrific. It is much larger than anybody has estimated.'
He pointed out the Myanmar government had not allowed in outsiders to make a record of casualties: 'There's normally a reason for that. That's not a good sign.'

Chillingly, Mr Smith says: 'We may not have seen the worst of it. There is a distinct possibility we shall see more mass killing in the coming weeks.'

That is why the world must respond now. Britain — which ruled the country for more than 120 years from 1824 — has urged the UN Security Council to discuss reports of mass civilian deaths. Otherwise, London's response has been utterly pathetic.

The Left-wing British Establishment which has lionised Aung San Suu Kyi for years is also complicit with her silence.

However, her supporters point out — correctly — that the army is largely outside her control, and the true responsibility lies with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of Burma's armed forces.

Yet Suu Kyi must shoulder huge blame and is guilty of falsely claiming the 'clearances' ceased on September 5. She has also asserted that the brutal military response has been justified by attacks on Myanmar security command posts by Rohingya terrorists in August.
One reason for the feeble international response may be a fear of offending China, Myanmar's regional protector.

At the very least, targeted sanctions must be placed on the military chiefs. The UN must as an imperative send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar to establish the truth of what is happening.
Above all, Aung San Suu Kyi must be persuaded to speak out against the killings — and if she refuses, she should be stripped of her Nobel Peace Prize.

There is still enough time to stop Myanmar's remaining 300,000 Rohingya from meeting the same fate as the doomed villagers of Tula Toli.
Victims' names have been changed to protect identities.
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2017/11/slaughter-of-innocents-searing-eye.html

 

[Banglar Bir]

Perils in Naf River
Tarek Mahmud
Published at 02:27 PM November 07, 2017
Last updated at 02:36 PM November 07, 2017

A boat carrying Rohingya refugees is seen leaving Myanmar through Naf river while thousands other waiting in Maungdaw, Myanmar |Reuters
Rohingyas cross the perilous waters using nothing but jerry cans
“As the tide was in favour on Saturday afternoon, we set out to cross the river in hopes of reaching the bank of the river. We kept on swimming for days despite the high tide, and not having eaten for days,” said Kamal Hossain, a Rohingya refugee hailing from Godampara village in the state of Rakhine, Myanmar.

With nothing but a small five litre yellow jerry can to stay afloat, Kamal swam his way across the Naf River. The harsh conditions of the river could not stop his determination to make it. Eventually, the same evening he reached Shah Porir Dwip in Teknaf, despite all odds.

Rohingya refugees cross the Naf River at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Palong Khali, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on November 1, 2017 | Reuters
Five other young men, aged 17 to 20, made it to the island with him. They were Aman Ullah, Belal Uddin, Rabiul Hasan, Md Sadek and Abdul Karim.

Abdul said: “We left our village over a month ago and stayed on Daungkhali Char for the past 11 days. There were some international NGOs there who provided relief – food and essential supplies. However, recently the supplies have stopped and hunger has made life difficult.”

They explained that before making their journey, their Rohingya elders had asked them to let the women and children cross the river first and to wait their turn. But due to dire circumstances and lack of food, they decided to risk it all with only faith in their hearts.

Rohingya refugees continue their journey after crossing the Myanmar-Bangladesh border in Palong Khali, Bangladesh, November 1, 2017 | Reuters
At least 14,000 Rohingyas from Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships are currently waiting at Daungkhali Char for the past two weeks.

Sadek said: “We had the chance to speak to those who had made it before us over the phone and that is how we got the idea to use jerry cans to cross the river.”

Lt Col Khalid Hasan, ad-hoc regional director of operation of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), said: “These young men have fought fierce conditions. Once our soldiers saw them at the river banks, they began rescue operations. They are all right now and are being given food and medicine. Once they are rested and able, they will be sent to the refugee camps.”

Rohingya refugees walk after crossing the Naf River at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Palong Khali, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on November 1, 2017 | Reuters
On November 3, a total of 19 Rohingya children crossed the Naf River from Daungkhali Char to Shah Porir Dwip in broad daylight. On November 2, four more youngsters managed to make their way to the island.

With this Saturday’s rescue, a total of 51 young people have made their way to Bangladesh from Myanmar and they all came using jerry cans.

So far, approximately 200 people have been killed by the attempt to cross Naf River from Myanmar.

According to the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission, about 621,000 Rohingyas have so far entered Bangladesh since August 25.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2017/11/07/perils-naf-river/

 

[Banglar Bir]

It’s time to get tough with Myanmar
Professor Dilara Choudhury
Presently, Bangladesh is confronted with numerous security threats due to the presence of as many as 900,000 (nine lac) Rohingya refugees, an ethno-religious minority of Myanmar’s Rakhine state, who fled into Bangladesh from the atrocities of its Army beginning August 27, 2017.
Absolute imperative is to send them back to their country of origin, and to that end, effective policies must be formulated.

Root of this problem lie in Myanmar’s refusal to accept them as their citizens excepting a miniscule number of Rohingyas. It has stated unequivocally that Rohingyas are not a part of Myanmar’s ‘national races’, considering them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. By declaring so Myanmar simply denies history and it is trying to prove its claim by rewriting history. Bangladesh’s view is just the opposite that narrates Rohingyas’ genuine history, and that historically Rohingyas have been living in Arakan, which was an independent Muslim State, for centuries.
Their trouble began as then Burmese King occupied and annexed Arakan in 1784.
Genesis of the problem
Though Rohingyas became Burmese nationals at Myanmar’s independence in 1948, with military junta in power, it started a heinous plan to annihilate Rohingyas systematically since 1966.
Through its domestic policies like ongoing low intensity violence, and at times, perpetuation of violent brutalities on them, and laws such as Amended Citizenship Law of 1982, and Race and Religion Law of 1993, Rohingyas were denied of their citizenship, basic rights and recognition as one of Myanmar’s ‘national races’. Eventually they lost their ‘Rohingya’ identity in 2014 due to the demands of xenophobic Buddhists and the result of this development has been the deprivation of Rohingyas’ historical claim on their motherland.

Bangladesh made a great mistake, in this regard, by naively signing a bilateral agreement with Myanmar in 2015, agreeing that neither party would address them either “Bengalis” or “Rohingyas.” The new move identified them as “Muslims” left a grey area, as in this backdrop, negotiation for their entry in Myanmar was to be extremely difficult. State Counselor Suu Kyi, thus, cleverly insisted that Kofi Anan in his report should identify “Rohingyas” as “Muslims” only.

Though innocuous, underlying plan has been that in appropriate time this “Muslim” identity would be utilized to complete Myanmar’s “unfinished job of history” i.e. to get rid of illegal immigrants from Bengal. This way they can be labeled interchangeably as both “terrorists” and “illegal Bengali immigrants”. Bangladesh should have insisted on terming them as “Rohingyas” only so that their historical claim could be formidable, which Dhaka did not. Defining their “identity” is now the actual bone of contention between Bangladesh and Myanmar. It is indeed a very complex issue.
Dhaka’s ambivalence
Surprisingly, Dhaka’s reactions of Rohingya crisis have been quite curious.
There was no outrage, no large scale demonstration, excepting the Islamists, and the state and civil society failed to take a moral high ground by denouncing Myanmar’s atrocious violation of human rights.
Dhaka’s timidity and its ambivalence emboldened Myanmar to continue its horrendous brutalities and ongoing flow of refugees leaving the burden of sheltering nine lac refugees and their repatriation.
As far as the policy options are concerned its ambivalence is clearly visible not knowing whether to opt for bilateralism or multilateralism or both. Effective policy should have been both, which it seems Dhaka is doing.

There are, however, contradictory statements abound discernible from the statements of Ministries of Home and Foreign Affairs.
However without skillful diplomacy and political leadership no positive results have been yielded either from bilateralism or its engagement with United Nations.

First, bilaterally Bangladesh’s failure to comprehend Myanmar’s objective of projecting its willing to cooperate with Bangladesh with regard to Rohingya issue to the world community has been regrettable as the visit by Myanmar Minister to Dhaka to address the issue was no more than eye wash.

Bangladesh Home Minister’s visit (Oct. 23-25) to Myanmar has been equally disappointing. It turned out to be like a routine bilateral interaction between the two rather than the two discussing the urgent Rohingya issue as centripetal.

Bilateral response of China and India also resonated with that of Myanmar. Both have advised Dhaka to deal with the issue bilaterally for whatever reasons—national interests or Islam phobia or both.

Second, until now Dhaka’s multilateral diplomacy has been confined within the bounds of United Nations.
There too, the results have been dismal as nothing has transpired in Britain and France initiated Security Council in which Myanmar’s interests were protected by China and Russia.
Similarly, proposal using the word Rohingya and call for the implementation of various recommendations of UN General Secretary and Kofi Anan by Myanmar has been placed in UN Human Rights Council to pressurize it, may be passed, but given Myanmar’s past record of defiance it could be a moral victory only.
Nonetheless, it is heartening to note that Dhaka has decided to go for somewhat pro-active diplomacy. However, more and effective multilateralism with poignant dimension are called for.
Time to get tough
Without doubt Bangladesh is in a fix on Rohingya crisis and the challenges Dhaka faces are somewhat insurmountable, in the context of Myanmar’s Machiavellian diplomacy, should be overcome.
It is time to get tough on Myanmar.
Dhaka must now respond to Myanmar and the world with clarity, firmness, and as a solidified nation, that Bangladesh will not host this huge burden alone for a prolonged period and former must take their nationals back and international community must really put pressure on Myanmar.

Bangladesh, while appreciating International Community’s denunciations and demands, should work relentlessly with International Community that it’s time that they take steps that would really hurt Myanmar’s military establishment, who in effect calls the shots, financially and otherwise.
Sanctions targeted towards Army—that has been imposed only by EU and Britain should be taken by other members of the world community.
Bangladesh may seek help from ASEAN and OIC countries that they begin bilateral sanctions, which will hurt Myanmar’s economy.

Discontinuation of Myanmar’s manpower supply to Malaysia that constitutes huge source of former’s foreign exchange income could be an example for others to follow.
Similarly, ASEAN, OIC and other regional organization should be persuaded to concertedly apply various sanctions to punish Myanmar. All these will depend on the skills of our diplomats and sagacity of our leadership.

Simultaneously, the policy of appeasing Suu Kyi, especially Bangladesh, must be dropped.
After all she is no less Muslim hater and no less enthusiastic supporter of Ma Ba Ha (terrorist Buddhism) theory than her military cohorts. She is also guilty of negating and collaborating with Myanmar Army’s horrendous brutalities against Rohingyas, especially Rohingya children and women.
Looming radicalization
Most important of all apprehensions for a potential radicalization of the Rohingyas and its impact such as threats to international security, and destabilization of not only Bangladesh but the region as a whole should be sent to the world community, especially to China and India in loud and clear voice.

Myanmar has justified it’s genocidal activities on the pretext of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s (ARSA) destabilizing activities but given its numeric strength i.e. at the most five hundred (500), and its use of crude weapons defy Myanmar’s argument and is hardly convincing.
Moreover, ARSA’s “terrorism” should not be confused with the mindless and insane activities of groups like ISIS or Al Qaeda.

They are acting so only to get justice for their people. With no justice done to them the camps in Ukheya and Kutupalang could turn into a fertile recruiting ground by transnational radical Islamic militants.
In the context of United Nations’ categorizing Rohingyas as the world’s most persecuted group forming largest number of stateless people, one wonders what one would do in such a situation.
It is in this context that Kofi Anan, Chairman of the United Nations’ General Secretary as well as the Chairman of UN fact finding mission, US State Department, United Kingdom, France have warned that unless and until Rohingya issue is solved peacefully and justly, chances of radicalization of Rohingyas are extremely high.

Bangladesh being a weak and moderate Muslim country may not be able to control such eventuality. This ominous message should be strongly related not only to western powers, but most importantly to two regional powers, India and China, who are siding with Myanmar.
They must be convinced that it does not serve their interest if they worry about the instability in Myanmar only, it is also in their strategic and economic interest to prevent destabilization of Bangladesh, which would have a snowballing effect on the entire region that will not augur well for none of these regional powers.
Professor Dilara Choudhury is a political analyst
http://www.weeklyholiday.net/Homepage/Pages/UserHome.aspx

06:05 PM, November 07, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 06:35 PM, November 07, 2017
CPA calls for urgent action to resolve Rohingya crisis
Star Online Report
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) today called for urgent action from the international community to resolve the ongoing Rohingya crisis on humanitarian ground.
The 63rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) today adopted a consensus and issued a statement in this regard during its concluding session at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka this evening.

The members of the parliaments of the Commonwealth countries may equivocally condemn the atrocities committed against Rohingyas in Myanmar which amounts to genocide, the statement read.
More to follow...

 

[Banglar Bir]

Rohingya NewsTv
Over 700,000 #Rohingya vaccinated for cholera to prevent epidemic
The second-largest cholera vaccination programme in history has achieved a milestone in Bangladesh.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has immunized 700,000 Rohingya refugees in less than a month.
They're particularly at risk because their squalid camps provide the perfect conditions for a cholera outbreak. With Yemen already facing an unprecedented epidemic, government officials hope to avoid a similar situation in the camps near neighboring Myanmar.

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Humanitarian space and world’s most persecuted minority
www.thestateless.com/2017/11/humanitarian-space-and-worlds-most-persecuted-minority.html

By Furkhan Noordeen
SRI LANKA: Often referred to as the world’s most persecuted minority, the Rohingya are an ethnic group of 1.33 million people in the predominantly Buddhist Myanmar’s Western Coastal State of Rakhine, and have since 1982 with the pre-independent migration of labourers been rendered stateless and denied citizenship.

Although the Rohingya, a majority of who are Muslims, have lived in Myanmar since the early 12th century, they have not been recognised as one of the 135 ethnic groups in the country — stirring not merely a cultural divide but also raising discriminatory concerns amid racial and religious, in this case, Buddhist supremacy.

Following Myanmar’s exclusive Union Citizenship Law of 1948 and the post-1948 military coup, the Rohingya were given only foreign identity cards which restricted their employment and educational opportunities and making matters even worse, in 1982 Myanmar enacted new legislation rendering the Rohingya stateless and depriving them of almost all human rights including the right to practice their faith.

According to Eleanor Albert of the Council on Foreign Relations, the outbreak of violence against the ethnic minority dates back to 2012 when a group of Rohingya men stood indicted on charges of raping and killing a Buddhist woman. It later led to Buddhist extremists launching a campaign of ‘ethnic cleansing’ by killing some 280 Rohingyas and setting fire to their homes.

Against this backdrop are brutal military crackdowns and the recent retaliatory attack by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on police outposts along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, extrajudicial killings, rape, arson, torture, and restrictions on marriage, employment, education and religion by the de facto Head of State, Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, which forces the Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India and several other Southeast Asian countries, risking their lives on rickety boats in search of humanitarian aid and greener pastures.

Last month, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) official Abdul Jalil reported that 12 out of a 100 refugees fleeing Myanmar had died when their boat capsized near neighbouring Bangladesh. This is one of many recent incidents of this nature with such deaths having dominated headlines in the past and considering what happens almost on a daily basis, perhaps, a thousand more might have faced the same fate at the time this article was published.

Yet, what nettles human rights activists is the inability of the administration of Suu Kyi, the incumbent State Counsellor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, to trace a single atom in villages that blow up to smithereens in the most ungodly hours of the day. Tun Khin, a longstanding political confrère of Suu Kyi, said the State Counsellor mostly obliged to the military that kept her under house arrest for 15 long years.

According to Myanmar’s third and present Constitution published in September 2008 following a referendum, the military is allocated 25% of the seats in parliament with the ministries of home and border affairs and defence coming under its purview. It is also permitted to appoint one of the two Vice Presidents. The Commander-in-chief of the military, Tatmadaw, whose powers override those of the President, is authorised to exercise State sovereignty during emergencies, and under these circumstances, to fathom whether the State Counsellor has any leverage over the military requires another article altogether.

Nevertheless, Suu Kyi’s unwillingness to acknowledge the mass exodus of the Muslim minority has rekindled humanitarian space, so much so that former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan himself toured the ‘becoming-war-torn site.’

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi revealed that more than 500,000 (over 607,000 as of November 7) Rohingya refugees were sheltered in two camps at Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh this year as a result of the brutal security operations deemed as a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’ by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein. Among the refugees are some 240,000 children and 50,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women suffering from malnutrition. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina too has called for international pressure so as to discontinue forthwith the oppression of the Rohingya.

Despite severe backlash arising from the allegations of ethnic cleansing, systematic violence and human rights violations, Suu Kyi rejects and denies the allegations outright saying it were the Rohingya militants who instigated violence, while journalists and aid agency representatives who wished to study the ground situation in Rakhine were being continually denied access.

In September, Myanmar authorities postponed a visit by UN rapporteurs and diplomats to Rakhine and in a related incident detained two journos covering the flight of the ethnic Rohingya to Bangladesh. It is also alleged that Myanmar’s Chief of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), Renata Lok-Dessallien, attempted to prevent human rights advocates from visiting areas where the Rohingya live. To add insult to injury, the office of the UN resident coordinator in Myanmar said recently the delivery of relief aid had been suspended due to security concerns and government field-visit restrictions rendered it impossible to carry out the provision of humanitarian assistance amid the Myanmar Government earlier this year even devising a plan to relocate the Rohingya in a remote, uninhabitable island.

However, when UN Secretary General António Guterres urged to end the military operation against the Rohingya, Myanmar’s National Security Adviser Thaung Tun refuted allegations of ethnic cleansing and bloodshed.

Surprisingly, the Rohingya plight has taken its toll on celebrities too. 19-year-old Miss Grand Myanmar Shwe Eain Si was stripped of her pageant title after she posted a video on the ongoing violence in Rakhine on her Facebook page — her post however did not allege the Burmese military to have engaged in widespread atrocities against Rohingya. Also in September, Miss Turkey was dethroned after she tweeted about last year’s coup attempt.

Nevertheless, efforts to air and probe ongoing violence against the Rohingya have become possible, at least to some extent, with Radio Free Asia reporting on October 2 that several emissaries and UN agencies visited Rakhine despite warnings by Myanmar law enforcement agencies about possible terrorist attacks in the area. Lately, a delegation of 67 diplomats from at least 46 countries toured Rohingya camps at Kutupalong and Balukhali in Bangladesh and lent a patient hearing to the woes and broken dreams of the refugees.

In a drastic turn of events, Suu Kyi pledged in a televised address at Myanmar’s Capital Naypyidaw on September 19 that she would entertain the returnees on verification of their citizenship — a promise too good to be true because the Rohingya are not likely to be bestowed citizenship in the foreseeable future. However, this was seconded by a Myanmar minister during a recent bilateral meeting with Bangladeshi officials. Furthermore, Suu Kyi diverted media attention saying Rakhine Buddhists remained anxious over their shrinking population albeit they don’t face any sort of discriminatory population control regulation like the Rohingyas do. The Rohingya Muslims by the way are restricted to having a maximum of two children a family.

With tensions building up whenever Rohingya brave rough seas, the international community and humanitarian agencies pledge their support by means of aid or at least by tweeting their condolences. Although many countries were less hospitable initially, with time they shouldered a greater burden of the plight faced by the Rohingyas by converting into action the term, ‘being humane.’ Among the countries which have generously extended a much-needed helping hand are Bangladesh, the US, Canada and Indonesia.

With the announcement of an additional $32 million in humanitarian assistance to Rohingya at the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the US has pledged a total of $95 million aid. Adding to the $6.63 million aid to the conflict-stricken in Myanmar and Bangladesh, Canadian International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced another $2.5 million in humanitarian assistance. Briefly after sending eight sortie missions or 74 tonnes of aid, two Hercules aircraft carrying aid for Rohingya in Rakhine left Jakarta. Also, the Moroccan Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement said King Mohammed VI had instructed to send urgent humanitarian aid to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Furthermore, Channel News Asia reported last month that the EU and the US were discussing sanctions against Myanmar military leaders in the wake of human rights violations.

Meanwhile, several countries including China and India have taken a non-humanitarian stance on the Rohingya issue with Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang announcing on September 12 that China condemned the violent attacks in Rakhine and supported Myanmar’s efforts to safeguard peace. On the other hand, Aljazeera reported on October 3 that the Indian Government said it would not stop its efforts to deport the estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees, of whom more than 16,000 are registered with the UN Refugee Agency. In the most recent case where two Rohingyas had filed a petition against the Indian Government’s plan to deport the persecuted refugees, Government Attorney Tushar Mehta said the Rohingya were a security threat, thereby breaching Article 21 of the Indian Constitution which states ‘right to life’ is available to both locals and foreigners while such forced repatriation may violate Customary International Law under ‘non-refoulement.’

The Tamil Nadu Police confirmed that with these developments, a group of 32 people — of whom 30 are Rohingyas and the other Indians — living for the past five years under refugee status granted by the UNHCR office in India, had on April 30 ventured on an illegal voyage to Australia by boat via the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka.

As the vessel entered Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, coastguards patrolling the International Maritime Boundary Line took the boat people into custody on charges of illegal migration and handed them over to the Kankesanthurai Police the same day. With the Indian High Commission acknowledging that these refugees had sailed from Nagapattanam, Tamil Nadu, a report under reference number B/372/17, under Section 45 & 45A of the Immigration and Emigration Act, was filed and the refugees were produced before the Mallakkam Magistrate who ordered these people to be housed at the Mirihana detention camp pending the AG’s advice and the two Indians be kept under remand custody.

Based on a report by Attorney Shainaz Mohamed who appeared on behalf of the Myanmar refugees, according to the AG’s advice, Section 45 & 45A of the Immigration and Emigration Act shall not apply and the case filed cannot be maintained since it was confirmed that these Myanmar nationals are in fact refugees. Interestingly though, Sri Lanka is not among the 142 State Parties to both the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol. However, it had inked a Working Agreement with the UNHCR in 1987, which enables the refugee agency to accommodate up to 2,000 refugees each year.

However, the law-abiding refugees were forced to move to a house in Mount Lavinia (taken on lease by the UNHCR) after a refugee was alleged to have been raped by an officer attached to the Mirihana detention camp. A case was filed against him at the Gangodawila Magistrate’s Court under case number B/2030/17.

Despite the transfer being carried out with prior notice to the area police, the cops acted completely oblivious to the relocation when extremists led by radical Buddhist monks stormed the UN safe house in Mt. Lavinia. It was also alleged that relatives of the police officer charged with raping a Rohingya refugee were among the uncivilized, narrow-minded protesters who showcased to the world their true nature. These hapless refugees among whom were men, women and children, some of them infants, were then transferred to the Boossa detention camp for security reasons.

Despite the fact that several individuals who instigated this kind of senseless violence against the Rohingya refugees during the height of the Sinhala-Muslim communal clash have been legally taken care of, some elements still engage in hostile, blasphemous discourse and inhumane activities igniting the flames of ethnic discord.

It is astonishingly-noteworthy to underscore the sad fact that Sri Lanka, which proclaims itself to be one of the most hospitable countries in the world, is hampering the temporary accommodation of a handful of Rohingya refugees — numbering a mere 0.0068% of those accepted by Bangladesh.

A media communique issued by Internal Affairs Ministry Secretary D. Swarnapala on September 18 states this was not the first time Myanmar refugees arrived in Sri Lanka. The communique said 55 people who arrived from Myanmar on March 3, 2008, were taken into custody by the Sri Lankan Navy and subsequently handed over to the UNHCR. They had been sent back in 2012. Again in February 2013, Sri Lanka had rescued two boat loads of 138 and 170 asylum seekers and they too had been sent back in November 2015.

If it is not an issue within Sri Lanka that makes the country less hospitable than what it used to be, then what is it? Can we oversimplify internal concerns saying international pressure prompted them to act in this manner? We may not be bound to reach out to the needy and look into their grievances, but we could at least not rape, torture or abuse the innocent who are already distressed and in various stages of degradation and destitution forced to flee from country to country. Why are the relevant authorities keeping mum on this humanitarian issue? It may not be a responsibility, but we could, as a nation, be humane enough to act with equanimity, peace and harmony by living the Buddha’s precept, “let all beings be happy” at least till such time the refugees are sent back home.
http://www.thestateless.com/2017/11/humanitarian-space-and-worlds-most-persecuted-minority.html

 

[Banglar Bir]

Suu Kyi urges her people not to quarrel
Holiday Report

Rohingya refugees cross the Naf River at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Palong Khali, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh November 1, 2017. — Reuters
Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on Thursday urged people “not to quarrel” as she visited areas riven by ethnic violence for the first time since hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims began fleeing the country to escape a brutal military crackdown.
Reuters photographers saw thousands of desperate Rohingyas wade through shallows and narrow creeks between islands of the Naf River to reach neighbouring Bangladesh the previous evening.
Some had small boats or pulled makeshift rafts to get to Bangladesh on the river’s western bank, but most walked, children cradled in their arms and the elderly carried on their backs, with sacks of belongings tied to staves on their shoulders.

Reaching the far side, some women and older people had to be pulled through the mud to reach dry land atop steep banks.

More than 4,000 crossed at different points on the river on Wednesday, Major Mohammed Iqbal, a Bangladesh security official in the southern district of Cox’s Bazar, told Reuters.

Over 600,000 Rohingyas have fled predominantly Buddhist Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh since late August to escape violence in the wake of a military counter-insurgency operation launched after Rohingya militants attacked security posts in Rakhine State.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has faced heavy international criticism for not taking a higher profile in responding to what UN officials have called “ethnic cleansing” by the army.

Amid heightened security, she boarded a military helicopter at Sittwe, the Rakhine state capital, to be taken to a village in Maungdaw, the district that has seen the greatest exodus.

“On the road where some people gathered, she stopped the car and talked to everyone,” said Chris Lewa, from the Arakan Project monitoring group, citing a Rohingya religious leader who was present.
“She only said three things to the people - they should live peacefully, the government is there to help them, and they should not quarrel among each other.”

Lately Suu Kyi, who does not control the military, has appeared to take a stronger lead in the crisis, focusing government efforts on rehabilitation and pledging to repatriate refugees.
Talks on repatriation
Suu Kyi had not previously visited Rakhine since assuming power last year following a landslide 2015 election victory. The majority of residents in the northern part of the state, which includes Maungdaw, were Muslims until the recent crisis.

Myanmar has rejected the accusations of ethnic cleansing, saying its security forces launched a counter-insurgency operation after Rohingya militants attacked 30 security posts in northern Rakhine on Aug 25.

Refugees in the Bangladesh camps say the Myanmar army torched their villages, but Myanmar blames Rohingya militants.

Suu Kyi was accompanied by about 20 people travelling in two military helicopters, including military, police and state officials, the Reuters reporter said.

Businessman Zaw Zaw, formerly sanctioned by the US Treasury for his ties to Myanmar’s junta, was also with the Nobel laureate.

Suu Kyi launched a project last month to help rehabilitation and resettlement in Rakhine and has urged tycoons to contribute.

She has pledged to allow the return of refugees who can prove they were residents of Myanmar, but thousands of people have continued to flee to Bangladesh.

Talks with Bangladesh have yet to deliver a pact on a repatriation process made more complex because Myanmar has long denied citizenship to the Rohingyas.

Suu Kyi’s spokesman voiced fears on Tuesday that Bangladesh could be stalling on the accord to first get millions of dollars of international aid money, an accusation a senior Bangladesh home ministry official described as outrageous.

But the scene on Wednesday at the Naf River showed Rohingyas were still ready to risk being destitute in Bangladesh, rather than stay in Myanmar in fear for their lives.
http://www.weeklyholiday.net/Homepage/Pages/UserHome.aspx?ID=3&date=0#Tid=15014

3:27 AM, November 08, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:31 AM, November 08, 2017
Bangladesh saved over 6,00,000 lives
UNHCR assistant high commissioner says, calls for safe and dignified return of Rohingyas

Volker Türk
Staff Correspondent
Any return of the Rohingya refugees who took shelter in Bangladesh must be voluntary, safe and dignified, the UNHCR assistant high commissioner for protection said yesterday.

Volker Türk, the UNHCR official, also appreciated the role of Bangladesh in tackling the Rohingya issue and assured the country of full support from his agency.

“The people of Bangladesh and its authority have our full appreciation and admiration. You have literally saved over 6,00,000 lives by opening the border and allowing the Rohingyas to enter," he told a press conference.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) organised the conference at a hotel in the capital after Türk concluded his five-day visit to the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar.

“Your initiative was extremely noble and honourable, and you deserve full support from the international communities and the UN,” he said.

Replying to a question, the commissioner said, “It is clear that we need to fight for the return of the refugees who fled from Rakhine State. It is obvious that the people who fled are in a very vulnerable and extremely dire situation.”

About Myanmar government's delay in solving the crisis, he recommended having patience and be persistent to ensure Rohingyas' right to return to their country. He said, “We also need to ensure the return is sustainable.”

The commissioner said, “We also have to listen carefully to the needs of the host community in Cox's Bazar.

“We need to work with the government of Myanmar and its people to help them implement the Rakhine commission report. Of course, it won't be easy, but we need to start the process,” he also said.

In a UNHCR press release issued last night, Türk said, “For return to happen, it's clear there has to be safety and guarantees of protection. There has to be a very serious commitment to immediately implementing the recommendations of the commission's report".
UNHCR FAMILY COUNTDOWN
One-third of the Rohingya families, who took shelter at Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, are in a vulnerable situation because of serious health problems and harsh condition of the camp, UNHCR found after conducting a recent family countdown.

Of them, about 14 percent are single mothers holding their families together with little support in harsh camp conditions, while others are struggling with serious health problems or disabilities, it found.

The UN refugee agency revealed the findings yesterday after finishing the first phase of the Rohingya refugee family counting, where 120,284 families comprising 517,643 refugees from Myanmar have so far been counted, said a statement of UNHCR.

According to UNHCR, around 6,07,000 Rohingyas estimated to have fled to Bangladesh following the torture by the Myanmar authorities on the Muslim minority in Myanmar's Rakhine since August 25.
http://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/bangladesh-saved-over-600000-lives-1488115

12:00 AM, November 08, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:12 AM, November 08, 2017
Myanmar needs to engage with UN, Bangladesh
UNSC says on Rohingya repatriation, calls for end to violence in Rakhine

Rohingya refugees cover a newly built temporary shelter with a plastic sheet provided by a non-government organisation at Palongkhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar yesterday. Photo: Reuters
Diplomatic Correspondent
The UN Security Council has called upon Myanmar and Bangladesh to invite the UN refugee agency and other relevant international organisations to participate fully in a joint working group to allow voluntary return of all the Rohingya refugees to their homes in Myanmar.
In a statement issued on Monday, the UNSC urged the Myanmar government to end the excessive military force and intercommunal violence that had devastated the Rohingya community in Rakhine State.

It also called for implementing the agreed‑upon mechanisms to assist return of those who have fled Rakhine and to ensure access for humanitarian aid.

“The Security Council remains determined to continue to closely follow the situation in Myanmar and requests the Secretary‑General to brief the Security Council on developments on the situation in Rakhine after 30 days from the adoption of this statement,” said the statement.

The UNSC called upon the Myanmar government to work with the government of Bangladesh and the UN to implement the commitment to establish the Joint Working Group (JWG) and to expedite the voluntary return of all internally displaced people to their homes in Myanmar.

Sebastiano Cardi of Italy, UNSC president for November, read out the statement at a meeting of the council on Monday.

With this, the UNSC again failed to adopt a resolution to press for an end to the excessive use of military force on Rohingyas in the face of strong opposition from China.

The UN body on September 13 had issued another statement, expressing deep concern about violence in Rakhine.

On October 2, Dhaka and Naypyidaw had agreed to set up a JWG to facilitate the repatriation of Rohingyas, but they failed to do so as Myanmar wanted to solve the crisis bilaterally without including the UN in the joint group.

The development came during Myanmar Union Minister Kyaw Tint Swe's visit to Dhaka. He expressed his country's willingness to take back the “displaced residents” and proposed following the principle and criteria agreed upon in the 1992 Joint Statement.

Bangladesh had signed the joint statement with the State Law and Order Restoration Council of Myanmar on April 28, 1992 under which Myanmar agreed to take back those refugees who could “establish their bona fide residency in Myanmar” prior to their departure for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said Dhaka didn't agree to Naypyidaw's proposal about following the principle and criterion of the 1992 deal.

He said the criterion was “not realistic” and the situations of 1992 and 2017 were entirely different.

The UNSC in Monday's statement welcomed Myanmar's decision to establish the “Union Enterprise Mechanism” for humanitarian assistance, resettlement and development in Rakhine. It also lauded the government commitment to ensure that humanitarian assistance and development work undertaken by the Union Enterprise Mechanism is provided for the benefit of all communities in Rakhine without discrimination and regardless of religion or ethnicity.

It further urged the Myanmar government to ensure the Union Enterprise Mechanism supports the voluntary, safe and dignified return of displaced individuals and refugees to their homes in Rakhine, and to allow UN agencies to operate with full access in Rakhine.

“The Security Council calls upon the government of Myanmar to address the root causes of the crisis in Rakhine State by respecting, promoting and protecting human rights, without discrimination and regardless of ethnicity or religion, including by allowing freedom of movement, equal access to basic services, and equal access to full citizenship for all individuals.

“The Security Council welcomes the government of Myanmar's public commitment to implement the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State chaired by Kofi Annan, as well as the establishment of a ministerial‑level committee to implement the recommendations.”

The UNSC stressed the importance of undertaking transparent investigations into allegations of human rights abuses and violations, including sexual violence and abuse and violence against children, and of holding to account all those responsible for such acts to provide justice for victims.

It also called upon the Myanmar government to urgently grant domestic and international media organisations full and unhindered access to Rakhine and ensure the safety and security of media personnel.

Over six lakh forcibly displaced Rohingyas have taken shelter in Bangladesh since the Myanmar army launched a crackdown on the ethnic minority group on August 25.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpa...is-myanmar-needs-engage-un-bangladesh-1487890

12:00 AM, November 08, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 02:21 AM, November 08, 2017
FROM A BYSTANDER
Will the “Myanmar democracy” survive the Rohingya crisis?

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar armed forces, and Aung San Suu Kyi during Myanmar's top six-party talks at the Presidential Palace at Naypyidaw in 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS
Mahmood Hasan
These are difficult times for Aung San Suu Kyi's democracy.
The crisis is the creation of her xenophobic army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
However, as Hlaing went about committing genocide on the Rohingya, Suu Kyi sided with the general in a show of unity.
On other matters, however, she does not see eye to eye with Hlaing.
Strangely, both Suu Kyi and Hlaing are Islamophobes and are in sync in dealing with minority communities—the Shan, Karen, Kachin, Rohingya, etc. Her handling of desperately poor but peaceful Rohingyas reflects her bigotry and her complicity, which has outraged world opinion. Her prejudices became clear during the 2015 election, when NLD did not field any Muslim candidate from any seat.

Myanmar's so-called democratic government is a forked administration—Suu Kyi's powerless civilian government and the junta-led ministries independent of Suu Kyi. This disconnect between Suu Kyi and Hlaing has brought the core issue to the fore—that of democracy versus military dictatorship.

The powers enjoyed by Suu Kyi as state counsellor are at best tenuous under the military-drafted 2008 constitution. The constitution debarred her from becoming president and she knew that she could not amend the draconian provisions of the constitution given the seat arithmetic in the parliament. Yet she went ahead to play the game laid out by the military.

Not only can she not change the charter, the National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) is the Damocles' sword over her head. This most powerful body has 11 members, six of whom are military men—an in-built majority. Naturally, all important decisions have to be approved by the NDSC. The most dangerous provision in the constitution says that the military can retake powers of the government in case of threats to “national security” or “national unity”—essentially any time the junta wants.

Worst still, the military holds effective charge of three ministries—defence, home affairs and border control—all led by serving generals. The home ministry has taken over the responsibilities of immigration and population, making it very powerful. Suu Kyi's government also does not control the police, justice system, security services and ethnic issues.

Expulsion of the Rohingyas has been the military's plan since 1962, when General Ne Win seized power after the parliamentary democracy experiment failed to establish peace and unite the country. The entire anti-Rohingya narrative is based on lies, which has converted ethnic majority Bamars into ultra-nationalists.

To a large extent, the West is responsible for the current Rohingya crisis.
As part of Pivot to Asia (i.e. containing China), President Obama visited Myanmar twice—in 2012 and 2014, when he met Suu Kyi.
Though Rohingya persecution was ongoing at that time in Rakhine, Obama did not ask Naypyidaw to stop the oppression.
Rather to encourage Suu Kyi's democracy, President Obama overlooked the gross human rights violations committed by the military and lifted the economic sanctions in October 2016.
Now, geopolitical games involving India, China, US, Russia and Japan over Rakhine are putting pressures on Suu Kyi's government, while the expelled Rohingyas wait to return home from Bangladesh.

However, the waiver of sanctions greatly overjoyed Hlaing. He waved the Suu Kyi flag to bring Myanmar out of pariah status and get readmitted into the comity of nations.
The West was befooled that democracy has returned to Myanmar and welcomed Suu Kyi with open arms, barely realising that she is a lame-duck head of government.

Clever Hlaing went ahead with his anti-Rohingya campaign, knowing well that his military's brutal actions will be blamed on Suu Kyi and not on him. Thus the latest attacks on Rohingyas in 2016 and 2017.
He cared little about Suu Kyi's reputation or credibility.
Hlaing's glee has now turned sour as the Trump administration has started to reverse Obama's Myanmar policies.
Hlaing's impunity may not last long.
Little did he foresee that world opinion would go against him.

Interestingly, as international pressure mounts on Hlaing, his popularity has surged within Myanmar, and Suu Kyi is on the back foot. Thousands of Bamar Buddhists rallied in Yangon on November 1, singing patriotic songs. Hlaing is seen as the saviour of Myanmar from Muslim takeover. This is bad news for Suu Kyi's democracy as the old political groups—USDP and allied parties—have become active.

Despite her popularity, Suu Kyi's moral capital is now in tatters. Instead of protesting the junta's brutality she went ahead to make that speech on September 19, 2017, which was clearly drafted by the junta. She denied any wrongdoing by the military and hid behind an “iceberg of misinformation”—to quote Suu Kyi herself. That speech actually undermined her integrity.

In her book Freedom from Fear Suu Kyi wrote, “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” How true. If only the lady could overcome the fear of losing power, she could probably save her brand of democracy from the quasi-military dictatorship and restore the rights of minorities, including Rohingyas. Ultra-nationalism and xenophobia have no place in democracies.

Myanmar as a country has the legal status of a sovereign state. But with its internal contradictions it is not yet a “nation”. Nation-building requires embracing and integrating all people irrespective of race, religion and culture through ensuring human rights.

The paranoid junta does not want to see Suu Kyi succeed in establishing peace or democracy. Perception of threat to national security is the raison d'être of the military. According to observers, instability in Rakhine and international pressure can lead to a collapse of the Suu Kyi government and to the power vacuum being filled in by the military once again. If that happens, it will be the end of the “Myanmar democracy”.
Mahmood Hasan is a former ambassador and secretary of the Bangladesh government.
http://www.thedailystar.net/opinion...democracy-survive-the-rohingya-crisis-1487710

12:00 AM, November 08, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 02:42 AM, November 08, 2017
Act now to solve Rohingya crisis
MPs from C'wealth countries urge int'l community; no resolution adopted for constitutional limitations

Rohingya refugee children stumble in a melee to get food at the distribution centre in Palongkhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar yesterday. Photo: Reuters
Staff Correspondent
Lawmakers from Commonwealth countries have called upon the international community to take urgent action to resolve the Rohingya crisis.
The call was made at the 63rd general assembly of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in the capital yesterday.

In a statement, the CPA condemned the atrocities, ethnic cleansing, displacement and all gross violations of human rights in the Rakhine State of Myanmar.

It asked the Myanmar government to stop violence and ethnic cleansing in Rakhine immediately and unconditionally.

The CPA, a platform of 52 countries, however, could not adopt any resolution on the Rohingya issue despite a strong demand from most of its member states.

Talking to journalists at her office at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, CPA Chairperson Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, also Speaker of the JS, said no resolution on the issue could be adopted due to the CPA's constitutional limitations.

According to the CPA constitution, in order to adopt a resolution on any issue, a notice has to be sent to the CPA Secretariat in London 60 days before the annual conference.

Earlier at a briefing session on November 5, CPA delegates criticised Myanmar for persecution of the Rohingyas and demanded that the association adopt a resolution on the issue.

At the session, the CPA chairperson and its Secretary General Akbar Khan had assured them that the demand would be considered seriously.

The eight-day annual conference of the CPA began on November 1 with more than 550 delegates from 144 national and provincial parliaments of 44 countries. It ends today.

In yesterday's statement, the CPA urged Myanmar to ensure the sustainable return of all forcibly displaced Rohingyas, who have taken shelter in Bangladesh and other countries, to their homes in Myanmar within the shortest possible time.

“The members of the parliaments of the Commonwealth countries may unequivocally condemn the atrocities committed against the Rohingyas in Myanmar which amounts to genocide.”

The Rohingya issue must be addressed in the light of the recommendations made by the Kofi Annan Commission, it noted.

More than six lakh Rohingyas have taken refuge in Bangladesh since the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown on the Rohingyas in Rakhine on August 25.

The lawmakers from Commonwealth countries lauded the Bangladesh government, particularly Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, for opening the borders to the forcibly displaced Rohingyas and helping around one million distressed Rohingyas with shelter, food, sanitation, water and medical support.

The CPA called upon all its member states to help secure the basic rights of the Rohingyas, extend humanitarian support to them and join the efforts of Bangladesh and the international community towards a sustainable return of the Rohingyas to their homeland.

The lawmakers requested the CPA secretary general to convey the statement to all the parliaments of the CPA member states, the United Nations secretary-general, and relevant international and regional organisations.

The CPA also urged the Commonwealth Parliament and its lawmakers to keep watch on the developments in Myanmar and inform the CPA secretary general for raising the matters at the next conference in Mauritius in 2018.
NEW CPA CHAIRPERSON
Emilia Monjowa Lifaka, deputy speaker of the national assembly of Cameroon, was elected chairperson for the next three years.

Two other candidates for the position were -- Shirley M Osborne MLA, speaker of the Montserrat Legislative Assembly; and Niki Rattle, speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament.

CPA member countries elect a new chairperson at the general assembly every three years.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpa...-crisis-act-now-solve-rohingya-crisis-1487881

MYANMAR committed crimes and pay compensations to CHINA

Min Khant
RB Opinion
November 7, 2017
The UNSC’s heartily and energetic effort in regard Rohingya issue, “the matter of life and death”, in the meeting hall was feel frustrated after the Republic of China’s indication to use its veto power for objection to the proposed resolution of the world BODY.
The Republic of China’s deliberate objection to the world united proposal to have a fine UNSC resolution to go ahead to save tens of thousands of Rohingyas’ live has been a steadfast ally of Myanmar de facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and S.G Min Aung Hlaing.

Those leaders and majority of Myanmar people want to cleanse the entire Rohingya population from their ancestral land and the Rohingyas carnage since 9 October 2016 to date have been seen and recognizable by all the people of the world.

The Republic of China has been a main GAME player in the matter of political and economic bubble of Myanmar since 1990, advocating Myanmar in international forums from taking actions by the world communities due to its crimes against humanities on all ethnic indigenous of Myanmar and nowadays CHINA has rudely shown its rebellious manner to the world accord regarding Rohingyas concern.

Right now, as known everyone, to solve Rohingya dilemma is completely up to the United Nations Security Council alone other than pushing or directing to regional organizations such as the Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN), South Asian Association of Regional Countries (SAARC), Organization of Islamic Corporation (OIC) or else, because of the fact that all those continuous efforts have been fagged out by Myanmar government and the Rohingyas issue ultimately becomes as the international central problem.

Knowing in mind that, as long as the world's most unsettled and complicated affairs have been discussed and reached to the unanimous agreement as final for the permanent settlement by the UNSC, nowadays Rohingyas case is similar to those of the world matters which might have been in the world history.

CHINA’s standpoints to the Rohingya problem in the forum of UNSC , which has been merely the issue of humanitarian nightmare, has arrogantly though been attached to its economic and geopolitical strategy of RAKHINE state to save and protect from any foreign powers, want the EXCUSES to step in Rakhine, MYANMAR.

Because of the CHINA’s constant solid-stand for whatsoever Myanmar regime comes to the power since 1990 to date, the world community has failed again and again in the UNSC meetings to adopt the necessary resolutions which could have been benefiting not only the fair democratic reform and flourishing of economy in the country, and the concerted actions of the world would have saved the golden Myanmar from being swallowed, exploited, sucked, and spoiled by CHINA, the natural and Human resources of Myanmar.

Whenever the problems arise in local and Myanmar regime, military leaders are being overwrought with their killing innocent people, and burning the villages, its leaders would quickly run and approach to the Chinese leaders to save and protect from the crimes, which they have committed against the ordinary people. China has been ever ready for such THE opportunities in Myanmar and it would protect, save, and prop up for the crimes that Myanmar authorities have committed to the fellow citizens in return for CLANDESTINE compensation, it is sure, no doubt.

Now situation of Myanmar is “to commit the multiple crimes against its people and the state of CHINA is to protect the criminals again and again in the world forum in response big reward “Strategic-ECONOMY”.

The Republic of China is the most populous nation in the world and more than one-fourth total of the world people are belong to the state of CHINA.
China is a lovely country and that is why it bears one and half billion populations in it, they do lovely with one another, and promoting economic beings faster than ever before, people guess China will replace the USA, which is the world no. 1 economy, within couple of years.
Things have been cheerful that CHINA becomes THE might in economy and hope leading to the world in the field of humanities.

The Republic of China knows that the Rohingyas are the most persecuted people in the world and the consecutive governments have been committing human rights violations against Rohingyas to be driving out, segregating in their localities and at last to be annihilating them right through brutal operations after operations, which have been clearly seen via the mobile-phone shots alone by the runners during their trekking to Bangladesh, with the exclusion of world journalists and photographers.

If all media of the word, journalists, and photographers were allowed to the localities, then the conscience people would have imagined how much extent of the dreadful, terrible, horrendous, and nasty scenarios would come out to the sight of the world communities.

Then, why doesn’t the Republic of China concentrate its humanitarian’s attitude to focus to the long standing suffering of Rohingyas people as in line principle of world community to have a final settlement for their peaceful, secured and dignified living in their ancestral land?
WHY is that?

In reality, the Republic of China should behave a norm of world standard through its practical cooperation with the world community to show its understanding and compassion to the persecuted Rohingyas people rather than shielding and sheltering the oppressive and suppressive Myanmar brutal regime.

While the entire Rohingyas people, ‘the matter of life and death’ is depend on the table of UNSC, the Republic of China has to choose the right direction more willingly than promoting oppositions to the world communities who want to save Rohingyas lives and continue to live in their land with dignity, peace, harmony and security.
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2017/11/myanmar-committed-crimes-and-pay.html

 

[Banglar Bir]

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[Banglar Bir]

10:26 AM, November 08, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 01:22 PM, November 08, 2017
Rohingya crisis: Myanmar says UN move can harm talks with Bangladesh
More boats carrying Rohingyas reach Bangladesh

Myanmar on Wednesday, November 8, 2017, says that the UN Security Council's statement on the Rohingya refugee crisis could “seriously harm” its talks with Bangladesh over repatriating more than 600,000 people who have fled there to escape a Myanmar military crackdown. In this Reuters photo taken yesterday, a Rohingya refugee walks uphill carrying a vessel filled with water at Palongkhali refugee camp, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Reuters, Yangon
Myanmar said on Wednesday that the UN Security Council's statement on the Rohingya refugee crisis could “seriously harm” its talks with Bangladesh over repatriating more than 600,000 people who have fled there to escape a Myanmar military crackdown.
The Security Council had urged Myanmar, in a statement on Monday, to “ensure no further excessive use of military force” and had expressed “grave concern over reports of human rights violations and abuses in Rakhine State”.
READ more: Myanmar needs to engage with UN, Bangladesh
Responding, Myanmar's de facto leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi, whose less than two year-old civilian administration shares power with the military, said the issues facing Myanmar and Bangladesh could only be resolved bilaterally, a point she says was ignored in the Security Council statement.

“Furthermore, the (Security Council) Presidential Statement could potentially and seriously harm the bilateral negotiations between the two countries which have been proceeding smoothly and expeditiously,” Suu Kyi's office said in a statement.
Also READ: Act now to solve Rohingya crisis
Negotiations with Bangladesh were ongoing it said, and the Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali had been invited to Myanmar from November 16-17.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due to visit Myanmar a day earlier, on November 15, with moves afoot in Washington to bring a bill calling for sanctions on Myanmar that specifically target the military and related business interests.

In a nod to China, the Myanmar statement said it appreciated the stand taken by some members of the Security Council who upheld the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries.

To appease council veto powers Russia and China, Britain and France dropped a push for the Security Council to adopt a resolution on the situation and the 15-member body instead unanimously agreed on a formal statement.
More boats reach Bangladesh
The United Nations has denounced the violence during the past 10 weeks as a classic example of ethnic cleansing to drive the Rohingya Muslims out of Buddhist majority Myanmar.

Rejecting that accusation, the military says its counter-insurgency clearance operation was provoked by Rohingya militants' synchronised attacks on 30 security posts in the northern part of Rakhine State on August 25.

Rohingya refugees say the military torched their villages, but the military say the arsonists were Rohingya militants. The refugees' have given harrowing accounts of rape and murder. Myanmar says those accusations will have to be investigated.

Meantime, the exodus from Rakhine continues. Several thousand Rohingya reached Bangladesh last week, many of them wading through shallows on the Naf river on the boundary between the two countries, and some making a short, but perilous sea crossing in small boats.

On Tuesday, Bangladesh border guards told Reuters of at least two more boats reaching Cox's Bazar, bringing 68 more Rohingya to join the hundreds of thousands who have taken shelter in refugee camps there.

Suu Kyi, a stateswoman lionised as a Nobel Peace Prize winner for defying the junta that ruled Myanmar for decades, has been pilloried abroad for not speaking out more forcefully to rein in the military.

Last week she went to Rakhine for the first time since the crisis erupted, and met with community leaders and saw what efforts were being made to deliver aid and return the region to some semblance of normality.

While she has spoken of plans to open repatriation processing centres, where the refugees will have to prove they were once resident in Rakhine before being allowed to return.

Having been classed as stateless by the military junta that ruled Myanmar for decades, Rohingya could struggle passing the repatriation test.

During recent weeks, authorities began issuing "national verification cards" to people in northern Rakhine. Remaining Rohingya have been reluctant to accept these cards as they do not guarantee citizenship, and would effectively treat them as new immigrants
http://www.thedailystar.net/rohingy...tary-violence-rohingya-refugee-crisis-1488124

03:39 PM, November 08, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:45 PM, November 08, 2017
China to help Myanmar in Rakhine fencing

Union Minister for Border Affairs Lt-Gen Ye Aung visited the construction site of border fencing in Taungpyo Letwei, Maungdaw on September 12. Photo: Eleven Myanmar
Star Online Report
China will help Myanmar to fence its Rakhine border with Bangladesh, local media reported today.
China’s Asean Economic and Cultural Association will help in border fencing at Rakhine to meet international standard and to work for regional development, the report said.

Personnel from Hintha Akari Co. from Myanmar, and the association went to Sittwe yesterday and met chairman of Rakhine State parliament and other officials and discussed the matter.

“They visited here to learn more about the current situation. This association is continuously reporting the situation in Rakhine,” said Nwe Nwe Aye, managing director of Hintha Akari Co.

“They will meet with heads of government on November 14 and implement their plans. They will utilize latest modern technology,” Nwe Nwe said.

In meeting with parliament speaker of Rakhine State, chairman of the association said that as China and Myanmar are neighbors, they are ready to help Myanmar in time of need.
http://www.thedailystar.net/world/s...is-china-help-myanmar-rakhine-fencing-1488175

12:00 AM, November 08, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:50 AM, November 08, 2017
TIB against taking ADB fund as loan

Staff Correspondent

The Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has urged the government not to take financial assistance from ADB for the Rohingya refugees if it comes as loan.
TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman in a statement yesterday said this regarding the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) proposal to provide financial assistance to the host country to meet various needs of the Rohingyas who have taken shelter in Bangladesh.

Dr Iftekharuzzaman urged the government to continue all-out diplomatic efforts to collect interest-free grants from all international sources including the ADB for the Rohingyas who have fled to Bangladesh to escape ethnic cleansing by the Myanmar military.

It has been known from media reports that the ADB like the World Bank has also proposed to provide financial assistance to Bangladesh to meet the needs of the Rohingya refugees, he said.

But it is not still clear if the financial assistance would be loan or interest-free grants, he added.

“If ADB tries to put a burden of loan on Bangladesh in the name of assistance taking advantage of a humanitarian disaster, it would be very sad, inhuman and unacceptable.”

Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the responsibility of one million Rohingya refugees who have entered Bangladesh falling victim to a planned crime against humanity by the Myanmar government and army does not fall on Bangladesh alone but on the international community as well.

If any international agency or donor country including ADB or the WB is interested to provide financial assistance to Bangladesh in this regard, it must be interest-free grants, he observed.

He added the direct and indirect support of the powerful countries for long have encouraged the Myanmar army to take the barbaric path. Failure of the international community in taking effective steps against Myanmar's killing and barbarity in one hand and continued economic support, investment, development, trade and military assistance on the other have created this serious situation, he observed.

He said the possibility of the return of the Rohingyas is becoming slimmer day by day.

The TIB executive director said as a major donor agency of that country the ADB can assert its position so that Myanmar takes back the Rohingyas in the quickest possible time.
http://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/tib-against-taking-adb-fund-loan-1487911


November 08, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:03 AM, November 08, 2017
TACKLING ROHINGYA CRISIS
WB offers both loan and grant

Rejaul Karim Byron
At a time when Bangladesh is hosting over a million Rohingya refugees as a show of compassion, the World Bank is offering the country financial aid in a mixed form of loan and grant.
However, Bangladesh is insisting that the bank's aid come fully as grant.

Amid atrocities on Rohingyas in Myanmar, termed ethnic cleansing by the UN, Bangladesh shared its scarce resources with over 6 lakh Rohingyas, who crossed the border in just over two months since late August, and gave them shelter.
Over three lakh Rohingya nationals were already in Bangladesh following previous influxes.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) earlier raised its objection at the offer of assistance in the form of loans.

Yet, a World Bank team has indicated that it may provide financial support of $250 per head for one million Rohingyas staying in Bangladesh, but 50 percent of it will come as grant while the rest will be given as loan. But some top ministry officials expressed their reservation about taking such loans.

A six-member WB mission completed its 14 day visit to Dhaka on Saturday. Finance and other ministry sources said the team made the indication during the visit. Though they did not exactly say how much fund will be provided, it is assumed that the amount may be $250 million to $300 million.

The team which came to Bangladesh on October 22 went to Cox's Bazar and on its return to Dhaka, sat with officials from the relief and disaster management, education, home and health ministries as well as from the local government engineering department.

In the meetings, the WB said a country may get a maximum of $400 million from the WB refugee window; one-sixth of which will be from regular soft loan allocation and the remaining five-sixth will come from the refugee window.
Fifty percent of the amount will be grant and 50 percent loan.

Relief and disaster management ministry officials proposed giving the whole amount as grant as the assistance is being given on humanitarian grounds.
Officials of the other ministries echoed the same view.

Foreign ministry officials said the government has different opinions about taking loans from development partners. It wants quick return of the Rohingyas and as such it has not yet formally announced them as refugees. If the loan is taken from the bank, it would mean allowing the crisis to linger.

Finance ministry officials said a wrap up meeting with the WB mission was held at the Economic Relations Division on Saturday.

The ERD said they will convey their detailed opinion about the assistance after opinion of the ministries concerned is received.
The WB team will quickly send the draft proposal to the ERD.

A WB document, which outlines the criteria to be eligible for the assistance, does not say Bangladesh has to formally declare the Rohingyas as refugees.
However, Dhaka has to meet two major criteria to get the fund.

“A country would be eligible if the number of UNHCR-registered refugees, including people in refugee-like situations, is at least 25,000 or it is at least 0.1 percent of the country's population,” according to the document.

In addition to that, it would need to have in place an action plan, strategy or similar documentation that describes concrete steps, including possible policy reforms.
http://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/wb-funds-mix-loan-grant-1487908

Foreign ministers from four countries to visit Dhaka for Rohingya crisis
Sheikh Shahriar Zaman
Published at 03:07 PM November 08, 2017
Last updated at 03:19 PM November 08, 2017

The foreign minister of Germany, China, Japan and Sweden will visit Bangladesh before visiting Myanmar later this month
The foreign ministers of China, Japan, Germany and Sweden are scheduled to visit Bangladesh to discuss repatriation measures for thousands of displaced Rohingya, who fled to Bangladesh following unrest in Myanmar.

They will arrive in Dhaka before attending the 13th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ meeting set to be held on November 20 and 21 in Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, a Foreign Ministry official told the Bangla Tribune on Wednesday.

“The four ministers will discuss the latest situation regarding the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh, before participating in the ASEM summit,” the official added.

The ministry official said the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang YI’s plan to visit Dhaka was finalised last Tuesday.
German Minister for Foreign Affairs Sigmar Gabriel and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström will arrive on November 18.
The Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono will visit Dhaka on November 19.

“Bangladesh is discussing ways to resolve the Rohingya refugee crisis with the international community. We have urged that international pressure continued be mounted on Myanmar regarding this issue,” the official added.

When asked about what stance the member nations of European Union have taken regarding the matter, another official of the foreign ministry said: “Most European countries have given political support to Bangladesh, and have protested Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya people.”

Several European countries have hinted that though the Rohingya issue is not part of the main agendas in the meeting, it will be brought up in a different angle during the summit, the official told the Bangla Tribune.

The government official expressed optimism that if the European countries raise the Rohingya issue in a summit held in Naypyidaw, the pressure on Myanmar government will increase significantly.

Meanwhile, speaking about the issue, an expert on condition of anonymity said: “It is true that Aung San Suu Kyi will get a lot of attention during the ASEM summit.

However, she has little power over the Myanmar government.”

“The refugee crisis was triggered by the actions of Myanmar military, and they are the ones who should feel international pressure over the issue,” he added.

In can be noted, a delegation from the US senate is scheduled to visit Dhaka on November 18 to assess the refugee crisis situation.

USA is very vocal about the Rohingya issue. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to visit Myanmar on November 15 to discuss the issue.

On the other hand, a member of the Saudi royal family is scheduled to visit Cox’s Bazar this November to inspect Rohingya camps situated there.

Canadian Minister for International Development Marie-Claude Bibeau also plans to visit Dhaka on November 21.
This article was first published on Bangla Tribune.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/banglad.../11/08/rohingya-four-foreign-ministers-dhaka/

 

[Banglar Bir]

06:36 PM, November 08, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 06:56 PM, November 08, 2017
Dhaka seeks UK support for Rohingya repatriation

Temporary shelters cover a hill at Balukhali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh November 8, 2017. Photo: Reuters
BSS, Dhaka
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam today urged the British government to keep pressure on Myanmar to ensure peaceful and sustainable return of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals from Bangladesh to their home.
He made the call when a UK delegation led by Ms. Lucy Maria Powel, MP from the UK Labour Party and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Greater Manchester met him this afternoon at the State Guest House, Padma.

During the meeting, Alam expressed gratitude to the British government, different political parties and people for raising strong voice against the oppression on Rohingya people by Myanmar military and for pursuing the matter with the UN Security Council.

He requested the UK delegation to encourage its government to take further initiatives and keep pressure on Myanmar government to stop violence against Rohingya people and sought UK's support for the 3rd Committee resolution on Myanmar in UN Security Council on November 13.

The UK delegation praised Bangladesh for receiving the large number of Rohingya people and assured that British government, House of Commons and people will continue to extend all kind of supports to Bangladesh to solve the problem.

Besides this, they discussed the issues of bilateral cooperation, upcoming Commonwealth Summit to be held in London in early 2018, Brexit issue and significant role of Bangladesh's diaspora in the economy of Bangladesh and the UK.
http://www.thedailystar.net/world/d...m_medium=newsurl&utm_term=all&utm_content=all

 

[Banglar Bir]

Breaking 10-year silence, UN Security Council gives Myanmar a month to get its act together
Source: Xinhua
2017-11-07 23:43:14
Editor: huaxia
by William M. Reilly
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Monday issued a presidential statement both complimenting and criticizing Myanmar for its action and inaction in its violence-wracked Rakhine State and gave the government a month to get its act together.

In response, Myanmar's representative to the United Nations Hau Do Suan complained that the statement put undue political pressure on his country.

More than 600,000 ethnic Muslim Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh in a little over two months from northern Rakhine State following deadly rebel attacks on security posts on Aug. 25 which touched off retribution. The full extent of the violence remains unknown because of the government's restriction on visits to the region.

Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi of Italy, this month's president of the council, read out the 1,300-word statement at a formal session, the first statement on Myanmar in 10 years.

While such an official statement reflects the consensus of the 15 council members, it does not hold the weight of international law like a resolution does.

The statement strongly condemned attacks against the Myanmar security forces carried out by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Aug. 25, then expressed "grave concern" over the government response, the alleged burning of villages and threats to villagers to flee, among others.

The council said the government's primary responsibility is protection of Myanmar's population, citizens or not.

It called for reform in Myanmar's security and justice sectors and urged the government to work with Bangladesh and the UN to allow the voluntary return of refugees to their homes, on the basis of an Oct. 24 memorandum of understanding between the two countries.

The panel welcomed a "union enterprise mechanism" for humanitarian assistance, resettlement and development in Rakhine.

It recommended the government ensure the mechanism supported such return and allow UN agencies full access, urging governments and all humanitarian partners to pay special attention to the needs of women, particularly survivors of sexual violence.

The council also welcomed the Myanmar government's public support for recommendations by the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and called for their full implementation.

It urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to consider appointing a special advisor on Myanmar.

But Hau Do Suan expressed serious concern over the statement, which he said would not help resolve the issue as it placed undue political pressure on Myanmar.

The ambassador said the Aug. 25 ARSA attacks involved unspecified foreign militants fighting beside the rebels.

Since those late August attacks and the alleged retribution, more than 600,000 Rohingyas fled in fear of death or mutilation to refuge in make-shift camps in neighboring Bangladesh, UN officials said. Some fled by land, others in leaky boats over an inlet of the Bay of Bengal.

Eventually the UN refugee agency UNHCR and other humanitarian groups with the aid of the government of Bangladesh were able to organize camps in the Cox's Bazar region. The largest is Kutupalong, which now has an extension where new refugees are being sent.

In the last two weeks, 4,000 refugees entered Bangladesh while four people drowned in a shipwreck while fleeing, officials said.

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund said it feared disease hitting the untold numbers of malnourished youngsters in the camps.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-11/07/c_136734962.htm

 

[Banglar Bir]

Myanmar cardinal urges Pope to avoid use of the term Rohingya
Reuters
Published at 02:14 AM November 09, 2017

The pope is set to visit largely Buddhist Myanmar from November 27 to 30, before going to Bangladesh
Myanmar’s most senior Catholic prelate has urged Pope Francis to avoid using the term ‘Rohingya’ during a visit this month, when he is expected to raise the humanitarian crisis faced by the ethnic minority after a Myanmar army offensive in August.

The pope is set to visit largely Buddhist Myanmar from November 27 to 30, before going to Bangladesh, where more than 607,000 Rohingya have fled to take shelter in refugee camps.

In the first visit by a pope to Myanmar, Francis will meet Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace laureate who leads a civilian administration that is less than two years old, the generals it has to share power with, as well as leading Buddhist monks.

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo told Reuters the pope would raise the need to provide assistance to the Muslim minority, saying, “These are people who are suffering and these are the people in need of help now.”

Francis has used the term Rohingya when he has spoken about their suffering in the recent past. But Suu Kyi has asked foreign leaders not to use the term Rohingya, because in her view it is inflammatory.

Bo, appointed by Pope Francis in 2015 as Myanmar’s first and only cardinal, said church leaders in the country had advised him to sidestep the divisive issue of the name.

“We have asked him at least to refrain from using the word ‘Rohingya’ because this word is very much contested and not acceptable by the military, nor the government, nor the people in Myanmar,” Bo said in an interview in Yangon.

It was unclear if the pope would heed the advice, Bo added, but if he did so, it would not be to politicise the issue or endorse the Rohingya right to Myanmar citizenship, “but he just wants to identify this particular group who call themselves ‘Rohingya’.”

Many people in Myanmar regard the largely stateless Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and they are excluded from the 135 “national races” recognised by law.

Regardless of Myanmar’s sensitivities, however, the United Nations and United States continue to call them Rohingya, upholding their right to self-identify.
Importance of dialogue
Francis will highlight the importance of resolving the refugee crisis through dialogue between Myanmar and Bangladesh and with the help of the international community, Bo added.

Myanmar has said Rohingya who can prove they were resident would be allowed to return, but the two countries have still to agree how the repatriation should be carried out.

“These are the people who do not enjoy the citizenship and are somewhat unwanted in both countries,” said Bo, referring to Myanmar and Bangladesh.

“They are also human beings, they have a human face and they also need human dignity, so eliminating or killing any one of them, that’s not justified…,” Bo said, referring to the group as “our brothers and sisters”.

Francis will celebrate a mass in Yangon that is expected to draw around 200,000 people, Bo said, adding that Buddhists, Muslims, and those of other faiths were welcome to attend.

Myanmar has about 700,000 Roman Catholics, said Bo, from among a population of more than 51 million.

The United Nations has denounced the violence in Myanmar’s northwest over the past 10 weeks as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, a charge Suu Kyi’s administration has denied, while saying accusations of rights abuses should be investigated.

Myanmar’s military says its counter-insurgency clearance operation was provoked by Rohingya insurgents’ attacks on about 30 security posts on August 25.

In the following days, the pope spoke about “the persecution of our Rohingya brothers and sisters” and asked Catholics to pray for them, adding that they should be given “their full rights”.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/2017/11/09/myanmar-cardinal-urges-pope-avoid-use-term-rohingya/

12:00 AM, November 09, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:30 AM, November 09, 2017
Food supply gets more challenging
Says WFP country director

Christa Rader
Porimol Palma
UN food agency sees tough days ahead as it struggles to raise funds for continuing food support for over 800,000 Rohingyas amid conflicts in various parts of the world.
"We are knocking at the donors' doors on a daily basis. But there are so many emergencies in this world," said Christa Rader, country director of World Food Programme (WFP) in Bangladesh.

Of the US$77 million sought by WFP for six months until February 2018, the international community has confirmed only US$22 million and pledged US$24 million more.

The WFP call is part of the UN appeal for US$434 million, and donors have so far pledged US$ 344 million in total.

"We hope towards the end of this year some donors will commit some money for the Rohingyas if some money is left over," she said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star at the UN office in the capital on November 7.

She sought more generosity from the international community for the Rohingyas who fled violence in Myanmar and are now in a vulnerable state.

Rader, however, says it is not feasible for the donors to continue funding the large number of Rohingyas for an indefinite period and suggested that some of them make their own living.

The male members of the community can be engaged in establishing the camps in Balukhali of Ukhia, where the Bangladesh government has allocated 3000 acres of land, she said.

Rader said they can also be trained and engaged in producing items needed by the community such as soaps, fuel and stoves.

They could also produce goods, including handicrafts, which can be sold in other parts of the country. However, the private sector needs to come forward if that is to happen, she said.

"I think this will be a win-win situation for Bangladesh and the refugees," the UN official said.

Asked if this would lead to competition in the labour market between the locals and the Rohingyas, especially given the high unemployment rate in Bangladesh, Rader said it was not unlikely.

"But, what to do? This is a dilemma. If some of the refugees are not allowed to make their own living, they would starve... simply starve."

The WFP presently provides 50 kgs of rice, nine kgs of lentils and yellow split peas, and 4 litres of vegetable oil per month for over one lakh households each.

It also provides rice to Action Against Hunger, which in turn prepares hot meals for the new arrivals. New arrivals are also provided with fortified biscuits. The UN Food Agency further provides super cereal food for children under five, pregnant and lactating mothers.

The total cost per month for food support is US$12.83 million, WFP said.

Rader said as there is a shortage of funds, WFP would focus on the most vulnerable people -- small children, nursing women and school-going children -- by providing diversified food through electronic vouchers.

"This will be our focus; not trying to feed a million who could be partially brought into productive jobs," she said.

Mohammad Habibul Kabir Chowdhury, head of Rohingya cell at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, however, said the government has put restrictions on recruitment of the Rohingyas by any Bangladeshi employer as many people in Cox's Bazar are already jobless.
"We have no plan to engage the Rohingyas in any jobs," he told this correspondent.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/food-supply-gets-more-challenging-1488445

 

[Banglar Bir]

UN official tells Trudeau Canada can do more for refugees
Janice Dickson
Tuesday, November 7th, 2017
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi holds a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, March 21, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
The UN’s high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi says he told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during their meeting Monday afternoon that Canada is a “real role model” in terms of supporting refugees, but Canada can do even more.

“He personally has really advocated very strongly and effectively and we want this to continue. I told him I need that,” said Grandi in an interview with iPoliticsat the United Nations High Commission for Refugees [UNHCR] office in Ottawa Monday evening.

Grandi said he and Trudeau discussed the plight of Rohingya Muslim refugees, the possibility of Rohingyas staying in Bangladesh for an extended period of time, and Canada’s newly announced immigration levels.

The Liberal government announced last week it will match donations to registered charities helping Rohingyas fleeing Myanmar for Bangladesh until November 28. So far, the government has contributed over $25 million in humanitarian assistance to groups helping Rohingyas.

“I think of course that’s good and that’s a substantive amount. Unfortunately, there will be a need for more,” said Grandi. Since August 25, according to a United Nations estimate, 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar.

Grandi said the UN has appealed for resources until the end of February but that they have to start planning for the rainy season. Grandi called Canada’s contributions a “good start” and said it was one of the first governments to respond to the crisis.

“Unfortunately we need more, and the situation in Myanmar is not easy to solve,” he said. After the atrocities in Myanmar began in late August, a group of human rights activists launched a petition calling on Trudeau to revoke de facto Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s honourary Canadian citizenship.

Grandi said it’s not his place to say whether or not San Suu Kyi should have her Canadian citizenship revoked — or whether it’s a helpful measure — but he believes it’s meant to put pressure on the Myanmar government.

“I think it’s good to convince the Myanmar government to do the right thing, but I don’t know, it’s difficult to say whether this is a helpful measure,” said Grandi.

Grandi also spoke highly of the federal government’s recent pledge to welcome one million immigrants over the next three years.

“Of course it could always be higher, but it is a substantive program,” said Grandi. “Given resettlement is under pressure in the U.S., I think it would have been good to have something more incremental. On the other hand, I know there’s certain flexibility in that figure.”

When Grandi says “flexibility,” he’s referring to emergency cases — such as what Canada did when it welcomed 25,000 Syrian refugees within a tight timeline. “We know in case of emergency we can count on the Canadians, that’s very clear.”

Grandi said he and Trudeau also discussed a new initiative that would help women at risk. “There’s so many of them in emergency situations but we need to explore that a little bit more,” said Grandi. The new initiative would aim to resettle women who have suffered violence, rape, forced marriage and psychological violence.

“There’s a quote a lot of unfortunately growing problems of violence against women which requires specific resources and I thought that maybe one of the tools could be resettlement of the most needy cases, but also intervening where people cannot be resettled, like in Bangladesh.”
http://ipolitics.ca/2017/11/07/un-official-tells-trudeau-canada-can-do-more-for-refugees/