Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing - Updates & Discussions

[Banglar Bir]

Rohingya Were Raped Systematically by Myanmar’s Military, Report Says
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By RICK GLADSTONE
NOV. 16, 2017

Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh in September, after fleeing Myanmar. Human Rights Watch, which interviewed Rohingya women and girls in refugee camps, said almost all of the rapes they reported were gang rapes. Credit Adam Dean for The New York Times
Myanmar’s persecution of Rohingya Muslims in recent months, which has uprooted a half-million people and been condemned by the United Nations as ethnic cleansing, has been corroborated by many graphic accounts of killings, sexual violence and other atrocities.

But a report on the Rohingya released early Thursday by Human Rights Watch, which focused on sexual violence, said that the raping of women and girls appeared to be even more widespread and systematic than earlier suspected, and that uniformed members of Myanmar’s military were responsible for it.

The report was based on interviews with 52 Rohingya women and girls who had fled to neighboring Bangladesh, including 29 survivors of rape from 19 different villages in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

Human Rights Watch said the report’s conclusions also drew from interviews with 17 representatives of humanitarian organizations providing health services to Rohingya women and girls in Bangladesh refugee camps, as well as Bangladeshi health officials.

It found that Myanmar security forces had “raped and sexually assaulted women and girls both during major attacks on villages but also in the weeks prior to these major attacks sometimes after repeated harassment.”

Rex Tillerson Tells Myanmar Leaders to Investigate Attacks on Rohingya NOV. 15, 2017

Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar Is ‘Ethnic Cleansing,’ U.N. Rights Chief Says SEPT. 11, 2017

Across Myanmar, Denial of Ethnic Cleansing and Loathing of Rohingya OCT. 24, 2017

Helping the Rohingya SEPT. 29, 2017
In every case, the report said, “the perpetrators were uniformed members of security forces, almost all military personnel.”

While Human Rights Watch did not estimate the number of rapes, it said that dozens and “sometimes hundreds of cases” had been reported by aid groups working with refugees in the camps, and that they “likely only represent a proportion” of the total.

“All but one of the rapes reported to Human Rights Watch were gang rapes, involving two or more perpetrators,” the report said. “In eight cases women and girls reported being raped by five or more soldiers. They described being raped in their homes and while fleeing burning villages.”

Nisha Varia, advocacy director of Human Rights Watch’s women’s rights division, said the report showed “the patterns that we were able to uncover that provide a much fuller sense of how these attacks were carried out.”

Those patterns, she said, “include the verification of uniformed members of security forces as perpetrators, the high incidence of gang rapes, several instances of ‘mass rape,’ and the patterns of sexual harassment and violence in the weeks leading up to attacks on villages.”

The Human Rights Watch report was released against the backdrop of growing international pressure on Myanmar to stop the Rohingya persecution.

It came a day after Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson visited Myanmar and told its leaders to investigate “credible reports of widespread atrocities,” an accusation that Myanmar officials have repeatedly rejected.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Fortify Rights, an advocacy group, said in a report released Wednesday that there was “mounting evidence” that the anti-Rohingya campaign in Myanmar amounted to genocide. The report was based on a year of research and more than 200 interviews.

On Sunday, Pramila Patten, a United Nations diplomat who is the special representative on sexual violence in conflict, also suggested that the Rohingya were genocide victims and that the perpetrators should be tried at the International Criminal Court.

Ms. Patten spoke after a three-day visit to the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh, where she met extensively with women and girls who had escaped the crackdown.

“Rape is an act and a weapon of genocide,” she was quoted by Reuters as saying. “The widespread threat and use of sexual violence was a driver and ‘push factor’ for forced displacement on a massive scale, and a calculated tool of terror aimed at the extermination and removal of the Rohingya as a group.”

A version of this article appears in print on November 17, 2017, on Page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Epidemic Of Rapes On Rohingya.
Continue reading the main story
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/world/asia/myanmar-rohingya-rapes.html?smid=fb-share

 

[Banglar Bir]

Angelina Jolie to visit Bangladesh to meet Rohingya women
Reuters
Published at 03:00 PM November 16, 2017
Last updated at 04:48 PM November 16, 2017

Actress Angelina Jolie at the 21st Annual Hollywood Film Awards – Arrivals - Beverly Hills, California, US on November 5, 2017 Reuters
Accusations of organised mass rape and other crimes against humanity were leveled at the Myanmar military on Sunday by another senior UN official
Hollywood star Angelina Jolie told a Bangladesh delegation in Vancouver, Canada that she planned to visit Rohingya women living in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.

She has condemned sexual violence inflicted on Rohingya women in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where a military counter-insurgency operation has sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees across the border to Bangladesh.

Jolie is a special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“Later she mentioned accordingly in her keynote speech about the sexual violence faced by almost each female Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh and condemned the armed conflict in Myanmar,” Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

However, it gave no details of Jolie’s proposed trip.

More than 607,000 Rohingya have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar since late August, driven out by the military’s actions that a top United Nations official has described as a classic case of “ethnic cleansing.”

Accusations of organised mass rape and other crimes against humanity were leveled at the Myanmar military on Sunday by another senior UN official, who had toured camps in Bangladesh where Rohingya refugees have taken shelter.

Pramila Patten, the special representative of the UN secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict, said she would raise accusations against the Myanmar military with the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

In parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh would overcome obstacles to resolve the Rohingya crisis, with the help of the international community.

“I strongly believe we will find a peaceful solution to the unprecedented crisis with the help of the international community, despite various obstacles,” she said.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/2017/11/16/angelina-jolie-condemns-sexual-violence-rohingya-women/

 

[Banglar Bir]

P.K.BALACHANDRAN | 17 NOVEMBER, 2017
India Abstains From Voting on UN Rohingya Resolution
Actor, UN Special Envoy Angelina Jolie denounces sexual violence against Rohingya women
COLOMBO: India on Thursday abstained from voting on a UN Committee’s resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar in regard to the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Among the 26 countries which abstained along with India, were Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Japan.
China and the Russian Federation were among ten countries which voted against the resolution. China and the Russian Federation are against any form of UN international intervention directed by the West in the internal affairs of Myanmar and other developing countries. China and Russia are “crusaders” for the cause of “national sovereignty” with the West using human rights as an instrument to intervene in other countries which do not fall in line with its policies. China and Russia want Myanmar and Bangladesh to settle the refugee issue bilaterally rather than bring in third parties to settle the dispute.

However, the resolution was carried with 135 voting for. Countries which supported the resolution included Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Maldives and Afghanistan.

Bangladesh voted for it obviously because it is bearing the brunt of the Rohingya Muslim refugee problem with 600,000 new entrants since August 25 adding to a backlog 400,000. Pakistan, Maldives and Afghanistan voted for because they are Islamic countries in sympathy with fellow Muslim Rohingyas persecuted Myanmar’s Buddhist majority.

The Third Committee’s draft resolution, which will be put before the General Assembly in December, called upon Myanmar to end military operations that had "led to the systematic violation and abuse of human rights" of Rohingya Muslims in the country's Rakhine state.

It urged Myanmar to grant access to UN fact finding teams and called for full and unhindered humanitarian aid access to Rakhine State. It also asked Myanmar to grant full citizenship rights to the Rohingyas and urged U.N. Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to appoint a Special Envoy to negotiate with Myanmar.

A move to pass a resolution last year, was dropped due to Myanmar’s progress on human rights under its new ruler State Counselor Aun San Suu Kyi. But this year, the situation worsened drastically with the Rohingyas systematically targeted by the military in what the UN described as a “textbook form of ethnic cleansing.”

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

The Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar has Marzuki Darusman (Indonesia) as Chairman, and Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka) and Christopher Dominic Sidoti (Australia) as members. It visited refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and came out with stinging observations about rape and murder committed by the Myanmar forces

Meanwhile, Angelina Jolie, Hollywood actress and Special Envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Co-Founder of “Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative”, strongly criticized sexual violence against Rohingya women and children.
Speaking at a UN conclave in Vancouver she said that” rape has a deeper impact on women than bullets.”

Lt Gen Mahfuzur Rahman , Principal Staff Officer , Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh, in a closed meeting on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse sought Jolie’s support to expose the sexual exploitation of Rohingya women and children in Myanmar. Responding to this, Jolie said she is planning to see the Rohingya victims of sexual violence. She applauded Bangladesh’s generous humanitarian approach towards the refugees.

Earlier in the week, Pramila Patten, the U.N. Special Envoy on Sexual Violence in Conflict, said in Dhaka, that sexual violence against the Rohingyas was "commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Myanmar."

While the UN Committee US was discussing the Rohingya issue in depth in distant US, the ASEAN Summit held at the same time in the South and South East Asian region almost totally ignored the burning issue in its own backyard.

The Summit avoided passing a resolution to call upon Aung San Suu Kyi and her government to in resolving the Rohingya crisis. Few countries spoke about the issue at the summit.

The only exceptions were Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Trudeau and Guterres warned ASEAN members of the consequences of bypassing the Rohingya issue and reiterated that the humanitarian crisis involving the Rohingyas might cause “regional instability and radicalization”.

Most ASEAN member countries did not exert adequate pressure on the Myanmar leader to take back the Rohingyas. They did not come up with any specific proposal for stopping the genocide being committed by the Myanmar military.

“Even a Code of Conduct similar to that undertaken for the South China Sea could have been visible evidence of ASEAN’s responsiveness in mitigating the severity of the Rohingya crisis. But no code was suggested,” said Dr Mohammed Parvez Imdad, Visiting Professor and Lead Economist based in Manila, Philippines, in an article in Dhaka’s The Daily Star.

Deviating from past practice, Summit totally ignored issues of human rights and civil liberties.

“ASEAN should have noted that Myanmar is sowing the seeds of discord and destabilization, the costs of which would be too much for the region to bear. Additionally, Myanmar's actions will adversely impact regional cooperation frameworks and potentials, both in Southeast Asia and South Asia,” Imdad said.

“Leaders of ASEAN would have done justice to their own agendas for peace and security had the Summit Declaration reflected how Bangladesh has responded to the Rohingya crisis. Bangladesh's response and handling of the crisis is an exemplary gesture of support to distressed individuals and extraordinary diligence in ensuring peace and stability in the region,” Imdad pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, told reporters in Beijing, that Foreign Minister Wang Yi would go to Bangladesh and Myanmar this weekend to meet his counterparts and “exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of mutual regional concern.”

But Geng did not say whether Wang would discuss the Rohingya issue.

However, China has been trying to get Myanmar and Bangladesh to sit together and thrash out the Rohingya issue bilaterally. As a result of the efforts of a Chinese Special Envoy, Sun Guoxiang, the Interior Ministers of Myanmar and Bangladesh had met once in Dhaka and agreed on a 10-point program including the repatriation of refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar.

But Bangladesh reneged on the agreement even though it maintained that the bilateral engagement would continue and that the Bangladesh Foreign Minister would visit Myanmar at the end of November.

On Monday and Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Minister would attend the Asia- Europe Meeting (AEM) in the Myanmar capital of Naypyitaw, where Western countries, along with Bangladesh, would certainly raise the Rohingya issue both in the general sessions and in bilateral meetings with Myanmar.
http://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/...bstains-From-Voting-on-UN-Rohingya-Resolution

India lets Rohingya Muslims down cruelly for the third time in succession
P K Balachandran, November 18, 2017

India has let the hapless Rohingya Muslims down for the third time in succession.
New Delhi’s sordid record began when it endorsed Myanmar’s brutal military action against lakhs of men, women and children, and then it announced a plan to deport 40,000 Rohingyas who had fled to India on the specious plea that they are a breeding ground of Jehadi terrorists, and now it has abstained from voting on a UN Committee’s resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar.

Among the 26 countries which abstained from voting on the resolution condemning the atrocities heaped on the Rohingyas in Myanmar on Thursday, were India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Japan.

China and the Russian Federation were among ten countries which voted against the resolution. China and Russia are against any form of UN international intervention directed by the West in the internal affairs of Myanmar or any other developing country. They are “crusaders” in the cause of “national sovereignty” in the context of the West’s efforts to intervene in other countries using human rights as an instrument. Moscow and Beijing want Myanmar and Bangladesh to settle the refugee issue bilaterally rather than bring in third parties to settle the dispute.

However, the resolution was carried with 135 voting for it. Countries which supported the resolution included Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Maldives and Afghanistan.

Bangladesh is bearing the brunt of the Rohingya Muslim refugee problem with 600,000 new entrants since August 25 adding to a backlog 400,000. It is now in the unenviable position of looking after one million Rohingyas.

Pakistan, Maldives and Afghanistan voted for because they are Islamic countries in sympathy with fellow Muslim Rohingyas persecuted Myanmar’s Buddhist majority.

The UN panel called the “Third Committee” goes into human rights issues. The resolution it passed is a draft which will be put before the UN General Assembly in December.

The resolution called upon Myanmar to end military operations that had “led to the systematic violation and abuse of human rights” of Rohingya Muslims in the country’s Rakhine state.

It urged Myanmar to grant access to UN fact finding teams and called for full and unhindered humanitarian aid access to Rakhine State.It also asked Myanmar to grant full citizenship rights to the Rohingyas and urged U.N. Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to appoint a Special Envoy to negotiate with Myanmar.

A move to pass a resolution last year was dropped due to Myanmar’s progress on human rights under its new ruler State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. But this year, the situation worsened drastically with the Rohingyas being systematically targeted by the military in what the UN described as a “textbook case of ethnic cleansing.”
Rampant Rape
Myanmar has been refusing entry to a U.N. panel that was tasked with investigating allegations of abuses after a smaller military counteroffensive launched in October 2016. The Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar has Marzuki Darusman (Indonesia) as Chairman, and Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka) and Christopher Dominic Sidoti (Australia) as members.

But itvisited refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and came out with stinging observations about rape and murder committed by the Myanmar forces

Meanwhile, Angelina Jolie, Hollywood actor and Special Envoy of the UNHigh Commissioner for Refugees and Co-Founder of “Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative”, strongly criticized sexual violence against Rohingya women and children. Speaking at a UN conclave in Vancouver she said that” rape has a deeper impact on women than bullets.”

Lt Gen Mahfuzur Rahman, Principal Staff Officer, Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh, in a closed meeting on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse sought Jolie’s support to expose the sexual exploitation of Rohingya women and children in Myanmar. Responding to this, Jolie said she is planning to see the Rohingya victims of sexual violence. She applauded Bangladesh’s generous humanitarian approach towards the refugees.

Earlier in the week, Pramila Patten, the U.N. Special Envoy on Sexual Violence in Conflict, said in Dhaka, that sexual violence against the Rohingyas was “commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Myanmar.”
ASEAN Indifferent
While the UN Committee US was discussing the Rohingya issue in depth in distant US, the ASEAN Summit held at the same time in the South and South East Asian region almost totally ignored the burning issue in its own backyard.

The Summit avoided passing aresolution to call upon Aung San Suu Kyi and her government to in resolving the Rohingya crisis. Few countries spoke about the issue at the summit. The only exceptions were Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Trudeau and Guterres warned ASEAN members of the consequences of bypassing the Rohingya issue and reiterated that the humanitarian crisis involving the Rohingyas might cause “regional instability and radicalization”.

Most ASEAN member countries did not exert adequate pressure on the Myanmar leader to take back the Rohingyas. They did not come up with any specific proposal for stopping the genocide being committed by the Myanmar military. Sadly, in a noteworthy departure from the past, the Summit totally ignored issues of human rights and civil liberties.
China’s Bid
Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, told reporters in Beijing, that Foreign Minister Wang Yi would go to Bangladesh and Myanmar this weekend to meet his counterparts and “exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of mutual regional concern.” But Gengdid not say whether Wang would discuss the Rohingya issue.

However, China has been trying to get Myanmar and Bangladesh to sit together and thrash out the Rohingya issue bilaterally. As a result of the efforts of a Chinese Special Envoy, Sun Guoxiang, the Interior Ministers of Myanmar and Bangladesh had met once in Dhaka and agreed on a 10-point program including the repatriation of refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar. But Myanmar reneged on the agreement the very next day.

However, it continues to maintainthat it is wedded to bilateral engagement and said that the Bangladesh Foreign Minister would visit Myanmar at the end of November.

On Monday and Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Minister will participate in the Asia- Europe Meeting (AEM) in the Myanmar capital of Naypyitaw, where Western countries, along with Bangladesh, would certainly raise the Rohingya issue.

It is hoped that China’s resolute opposition to UN and Western intervention will force the West and the UN to counter it by redoubling their efforts to press Naypyitaw to yield on the Rohingya question.
https://southasianmonitor.com/2017/11/18/india-lets-rohingya-muslims-cruelly-third-time-succession/

 

[Banglar Bir]

China’s FM to visit Bangladesh, Myanmar to mediate in Rohingya crisis
SAM Report, November 18, 2017

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will head to Myanmar and Bangladesh this weekend in a bid to shore up Beijing’s influence in the region and mediate in the deepening Rohingya refugee crisis.
The visit comes amid mounting international criticism of Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi who has failed to resolve the humanitarian crisis, which has seen more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims flee Myanmar’s Buddhist-majority Rakhine state to Bangladesh since late August.

Despite Beijing’s opposition, the United Nations General Assembly’s human rights committee on Thursday endorsed a resolution by an overwhelming 135 votes to 10 calling on Myanmar’s authorities to end military operations against the Rohingya.

The resolution, which was also opposed by Russia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia and Zimbabwe, also urged the government under the de facto leader Suu Kyi to ensure the voluntary return of all refugees and grant full citizenship rights to the Rohingya.

Beijing has emerged as the top supporter of the embattled Suu Kyi, who has so far rejected accusations of rights abuses in the protracted crisis.

China is behind a US$7.3 billion deep-water port in Rakhine, which plays a pivotal role in Beijing’s belt and road trade initiative, and a US$2.45 billion oil and gas pipeline project that went into operation in April, linking the remote coast of Rakhine to southwestern China’s Yunnan province, 770km away.

On Friday, State Grid Corporation of China launched a power transmission line and a substation project in Shwebo in Myanmar’s northwestern Sagain region, and Myanmar has also bought FC-1 Xiaolong multi-role combat aircraft from China.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Thursday that Wang would go to Bangladesh first and then Myanmar where he would meet his counterparts and exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of mutual regional concern.

In a joint international effort to pile pressure on Myanmar, foreign ministers from Germany, Sweden and Japan, along with European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini will also visit the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka this weekend to mediate in the crisis.

Wang will also attend a two-day meeting of Asian and European foreign ministers in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, starting on Monday, which is likely to be overshadowed by the Rohingya issue, according to the Dhaka-based Bangla Tribune.

Diplomatic pundits said Beijing had taken an unusually high profile in backing Suu Kyi on the Rohingya issue after the Nobel Peace Prize laureate faced widespread condemnation over the treatment of about 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims.

China has voiced its support for what it calls the Myanmar government’s efforts to protect stability, and repeatedly resisted stronger UN involvement in addressing the crisis. In March, Beijing blocked a UN Security Council statement on the Rohingya issue.

“As a major regional power bordering resource-rich Myanmar, China apparently has a lot of geopolitical and economic interests in the country, including in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state, which has been engulfed by the refugee crisis,” Du Jifeng, a Southeast Asian affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.

China, which provided unwavering support for Myanmar’s military junta over two decades, has also invested extensively in the nascent democracy in a bid to compete for influence with the United States and other Western powers.

“However, without Beijing’s backing, diplomatic efforts to pressure Suu Kyi are unlikely to yield any results,” Du said. Instead, the US and European countries were likely to take unilateral action against Myanmar.

Wang’s trip to Myanmar, which follows US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s five-hour visit on Wednesday, was also clearly aimed at shoring up Beijing’s position in Myanmar to counter Washington’s influence, Du said.


SOURCE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
https://southasianmonitor.com/2017/11/18/chinas-fm-visit-bangladesh-myanmar-mediate-rohingya-

 

[Banglar Bir]

Unspeakable acts of cruelty
Tribune Editorial
Published at 08:13 PM November 17, 2017

Photo: SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN
It is about time these actions of Myanmar were recognised as the crimes against humanity that they are
When it comes to describing the acts of cruelty perpetrated by Myanmar’s security forces against the Rohingya people, words fail.

Indeed, by using rape of women and girls as part of its ethnic cleansing campaign, Myanmar has shown the world that there is nothing its army will not do in order to rid the country of Rohingya.

A report from Human Rights Watch documents the extensive use of sexual violence by Myanmar’s military against women and girls, as well as other acts of violence, cruelty, and humiliation — are these accounts not enough to unite the whole world against the Myanmar regime’s current ways?

The bare facts are so horrific they need no sensationalising — many women said their spouses, parents, and young children were murdered right in front of them.

Many of the rape victims who fled to Bangladesh did so with swollen and torn genitals, all the while being deprived of food, shelter, or — it goes without saying — medical attention.

Any country that chooses to look away when it comes to these atrocities forfeits its right to claim any moral ground in any matter.

It is about time these actions of Myanmar were recognised as the crimes against humanity that they are, because to sit by and do nothing but exchange words will not make Myanmar change its ways.

It is certainly not enough to merely make statements requesting Myanmar to stop using excessive force — it is blatantly clear that Myanmar has no intention to stop its operations.

We do not need another eyewash from the international community, we need stern action.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/editorial/2017/11/17/unspeakable-act-horror/

 

[Banglar Bir]

12:00 AM, November 18, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 06:33 AM, November 18, 2017
Horrors they will never forget
Children in Rakhine faced grave violations, killings, rape, says Save the Children report

Staff Correspondent
Running away from his burning village in Rakhine State to come to Bangladesh, 12-year-old Hasan walked into an abandoned village to look for food and water. As he found a water reservoir and got closer, he saw about 50 bodies floating.
“I can't forget the smell of the burning houses, or the sight of the bloated bodies. These are horrors I will never forget,” he told researchers from Save the Children.

The researchers pointed out that the story was not unique and Rohingya children, who have fled to Bangladesh, gave similar accounts of the appalling violence they witnessed in Myanmar.

The international NGO yesterday published “Horrors I Will Never Forget”, a report containing testimonies of Rohingya children in Cox's Bazar.

“The stories tell of children killed and maimed by the Myanmar military. Stories of children burned alive in their homes. Stories of girls being raped and abused,” Helle Thorning-Schmidt, chief executive of Save the Children, wrote in the foreword of the report.

The ongoing persecution of Rohingyas has displaced hundreds of thousands in Rakhine State. Over 620,000 people have arrived in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar in the last three months.

The Save the Children report said those who fled Myanmar spoke of seeing children targeted for brutal sexual violence, killed and maimed indiscriminately and abducted.

"These appalling crimes amount to grave violations against children in conflict. They must stop and those carrying them out must be held accountable," it said.

Around 60 percent of the Rohingyas, who came to Cox's Bazar since August 25, are children, and almost each of them witnessed a family member or someone from their community killed, it observed.

"They have seen and experienced things that no child should ever see."

Shadibabiran, a 16-year-old girl cited in the report, said military went to their village and started shooting. Her mother was shot in the ankle.

“They hit me in the face with a gun, kicked me in my chest and stamped on my arms and legs. Then I was raped by three soldiers. They raped me for about two hours and at some stage I fainted.

“They broke one of my ribs when they kicked me in the chest. It was very painful and I could hardly breathe. I still have difficulty breathing, but I haven't been to a doctor, as I feel too ashamed,” she told Save the Children, which changed the real names of the victims to protect their identities.

In recent weeks, several human rights watchdogs have accused Myanmar military of genocide and widespread sexual violence.

“These children, who have endured so much suffering, were desperate with no place to go,” said Save the Children Bangladesh Country Director Mark Pierce, urging the authorities to act.

He also demanded Myanmar to identify perpetrators of the crimes and bring them to justice or accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

"If Myanmar government fails to take credible and timely steps to investigate the crimes...and end impunity, the UN Security Council must act and refer the situation to the ICC," the report concluded.

It also asked the international community to ensure all Rohingya children, who fled to Bangladesh, receive adequate care and support to recover from trauma.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpa...crisis-horrors-they-will-never-forget-1492828

 

[Bilal9]

Cowardly heartless fool! Call yourself a muslim? Bangladesh foreign policy should be to help and protect the violated people not shun them, refusing help and comfort. You Banglis will never change and perhaps you should become a part of your father, RAPE-istan zionist India!

Your post has been reported to the mods.

I have my personal opinion and you have yours.

Unwarranted personal (and racial) attacks will not be tolerated.

Please delete - else it will be deleted.

@waz bhai please do the needful - Many Thanks.

 

[Banglar Bir]

Myanmar military trucks hit landmines in Rakhine
Reuters . Yangon | Published: 00:05, Nov 18,2017 | Updated: 01:56, Nov 18,2017

Aerial view of a burned Rohingya village near Maungdaw, northern Rakhine state, Myanmar, November 12, 2017. — Reuters photo
One person was injured when military trucks hit landmines in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine State this week, state media said on Friday, amid ethnic tension following an army crackdown that sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing.
More than 600,000 of the refugees have entered neighbouring Bangladesh since Aug 25 attacks by ‘Rohingya extremists’ sparked the army operation. Killings, arson and rape carried out by troops and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist mobs since then amount to ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, the United Nations said.

Three landmine blasts caused extensive damage to three military trucks in Rakhine’s central Minbya township on Wednesday morning, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
The landmines were ‘apparently targeting’ army convoys, it added.

Later that day, another landmine exploded near the village of Vethali in central Rakhine as seven military trucks passed, injuring one pedestrian but causing no damage to the vehicles, the paper said.
It was not clear who was responsible for the attacks. Several landmine explosions were reported near the area this year.

United Nations staff and aid workers have said they fear violence in northern Rakhine could spread to new areas as Buddhist villagers in more peaceful areas enforce a system of local apartheid that punishes people trading with minority Muslims.

Many in Buddhist-majority Myanmar see Rohingya Muslims as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, although many of the Rohingya can trace family for generations.

After the August attacks on police posts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which the government has declared a terrorist organisation, security forces unleashed a brutal counteroffensive in Muslim-majority northern Rakhine.

Even though Myanmar says military operations ceased on Sept 5, hundreds of refugees have continued to cross the Naf River separating Rakhine and Bangladesh in recent weeks.

Separately, Myanmar security forces have arrested 19 men suspected of involvement in the August attacks and charged them under the anti-terrorism law, the newspaper said on Friday.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/28562/myanmar-military-trucks-hit-landmines-in-rakhine

 

[Banglar Bir]

12:00 AM, November 18, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 01:10 PM, November 18, 2017
EDITORIAL
UNGA resolution on Rohingya crisis
International community should harden its position

Rohingya children playfully slide down a sloping road at Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar yesterday. Photo: Reuters
It was long overdue, but we welcome the resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, which condemned the military operations in Myanmar's Rakhine state against the Rohingya minority community.
The overwhelming support to the resolution, drafted by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), shows the international community's unified position on the Rohingya issue. The world community has sent a clear message to the Myanmar government that ethnic cleansing cannot continue under its nose, that the government must investigate the gross human rights violations, and that Rohingya refugees must return to their homeland with their full citizenship rights guaranteed.

We, however, regrettably note that ten countries including China and Russia opposed the resolution, and 26 others abstained. We are afraid such a position would perpetuate the violence against the very few Rohingyas that are left in Rakhine.

Despite the nearly unanimous position of the international community in opposing the military operations in Rakhine state, Myanmar's military regime shows no sign of heeding the advice that it should refrain from using excessive force. According to multiple media reports, gunfire was still heard and big flames were seen near Bangladesh-Myanmar border area only the day before yesterday.

However, the Myanmar army chief's, statement, very soon after the resolution was passed, that they would take only “real citizens” among those who had taken shelters in Bangladesh demonstrates the devious intention of the military. And this is what the international community must take cognisance of. It has raised serious questions over Myanmar's repatriation plans for the displaced Rohingyas.

We urge the international community to go beyond mere resolutions and act more decisively—especially with respect to the military—whose genocidal actions deserve more stringent measures against them.
http://www.thedailystar.net/editorial/unga-resolution-rohingya-crisis-1492780

 

[Banglar Bir]

China wants to facilitate Bangladesh-Myanmar dialogue over Rohingya crisis
Prothom Alo English Desk | Update: 00:29, Nov 19, 2017

Visiting Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday expressed his country's willingness to facilitate talks between Bangladesh and Myanmar to resolve the protracted Rohingya crisis which has hit Bangladesh hard, reports UNB.
Wang Yi made the offer when he met prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganobhaban.

PM's press secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed newsmen after the meeting.

He said the visiting Chinese foreign minister mentioned that Rohingya issue is the internal problem of Myanmar, but this is affecting Bangladesh.

"China is willing to facilitate a dialogue between Myanmar and Bangladesh to resolve the Rohingya crisis. This is a big challenge for Bangladesh...this is Myanmar's internal problem, but this is affecting Bangladesh," Ihsanul Karim quoted the Chinese foreign minister as saying.

The Chinese foreign minister said his country does not want the activities of BCIM Economic Corridor to slow down because of the Rohingya issue.

Sheikh Hasina urged the Chinese foreign minister to mount pressure on Myanmar to take back their nationals.

She said Bangladesh has given shelter to over one million Rohingyas on humanitarian ground. "Myanmar will have to take back their nationals ensuring their safety, security and dignity for a durable solution to the crisis," she said.

Hasina mentioned that Rohingyas are Myanmar nationals and they have to take back their citizens from Bangladesh as the relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar are good.

The prime minister narrated the plight of the Rohingya people in Bangladesh, especially the women and children, and said a good number of Rohingya women are pregnant.

Iterating the government's stance not to allow the land of Bangladesh for using by any terrorist group to commit any acts of insurgency in neighbouring countries, she said, "This is our firm decision."

The Chinese foreign minister recalled prime minister Sheikh Hasina's visits to China in 2010 and 2014 as well as the visit of the Chinese president to Bangladesh in October last year.

He said he is now touring Bangladesh to see the progress of Strategic Partner Cooperation that the two countries agreed for it during the Chinese president's visit to Bangladesh.

On Bangladesh-China economic cooperation, Wang Yi said his country's concessional loan now has crossed five billion dollars. "China wants to help Bangladesh more under the South-South cooperation," he said.

The Chinese foreign minister also conveyed their president's greetings to Sheikh Hasina.
http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/134920/China-wants-to-facilitate-Bangladesh-Myanmar

 

[Banglar Bir]

The pain in the eyes of the Rohingya children haunts us
Anisul Hoque | Update: 20:38, Nov 17, 2017

Dr. Jane Carter’s eyes fill with tears. On the way back from Cox’s Bazar on 1 November I had asked her what she thought of the Rohingya refugees she had seen.
The physician was at a loss for words. She managed to mutter, “Indescribable, inhuman, unimaginable. Millions of people see this as a better option for them. So one can only imagine the horrific situation in Myanmar that continues to send thousands of refugees across the border. Have such a large mass of people fled from their own country into the unknown before?”

Jane Carter is a tuberculosis specialist at Brown University. She is an emerging leader in the campaign to eliminate diseases from the world. This campaign has also started in Bangladesh. Another researcher from the same university, Dr. Ruhul Abid, heads the organisation Health and Education for All (HAEFA). When the Rohingyas gradually began to arrive, Dr. Carter and Dr. Abid began to work at the refugee camp.

They have opened two health centers at the Kutupalang and Balukhali camps. They have arranged for solar energy. Everyday hundreds of refugees come to their camp. They enter their names, photos, and primary health information into their computers and give the patients a machine readable cards, as well as forms and medicine.

They keep in touch from the United States. They raise funds and public awareness. They were shocked when they arrived in person. Between 600 and 700 thousand Rohingyas arrived in a matter of two months starting 25 August. Half of them are children. Where will they stay, what will they eat, where will they find water?

I set off with them on 31 October, first to the Kutupalang camp. There are rows of shanties on either side of the muddy roads, on the hills, the slopes, in the valleys, and in the plains. These are recently built makeshift bamboo homes covered with plastic sheets on top. They were given the materials from Bangladesh and they built the homes themselves, despite hardly any able-bodied persons in the families.

During the Liberation war of 1971, we struggled and left our homes with the hope that once the country was independent, we could return. But there is no hope for these Rohingyas to return home under the current leadership in Myanmar. In 1982, the Myanmar government stripped them of their citizenship. Since then they are not allowed to move freely in their own homeland.

They aren’t counted in the census. They don’t have any healthcare or education, or any kind of rights. The Myanmar government denies citizenship to the people who came to Myanmar after the British had colonised Myanmar almost 200 years ago in 1822. The government does not accept the fact of history that these people have lived in the Arakan region of Myanmar for hundreds, and even thousands of years.

We look around the makeshift homes in the Kutupalang camp. Many of the sanitary latrines that had been installed are already full. The drains are overflowing with sewerage waste. Men, women and children are crammed in spaces of hardly 10 ft by 10ft. There is no shortage of food. People from all over Bangladesh have rushed over with aid. The deputy commissioner has said that the people of Bangladesh have been the most helpful.

The food commission of the United Nations has started working on feeding the people until February. Government administrations, the military, international organisations, NGOs and RRRC are all working together to help them. The food is all collected in one place and then distributed across camps. Each family gets 25 kilograms of rice every 15 days, along with lentils, salt and oil.

The line is huge. People are lining up under the bamboo sheds, cards in hand. The army is guarding the area. Workers are handing out food to the refugees. A youth says that there is no shortage of food, but scarcity of fuel to cook it.

The health centers are crowded with women, children and elderly people. A mother is standing in the queue with a 14-day-old child. Dr. Jane thinks for a while that the baby is dead. She looks anxious. Dr. Ruhul examines the baby and assures her that he is still alive. But he needs to be hospitalised. How far is the nearest hospital? How can this patient be transported there? Who will take him there?

We must congratulate Bangladesh for its great humanitarian work. This recent influx of Rohingyas has brought 600,000 to 700,000 people to the coastal regions of Bangladesh within the last two months. They have been living in the makeshift camps. No one has died of hunger because of the generosity of the government of Bangladesh and its people. Everybody has been taken care of. Everybody received cholera vaccines in October.

A young man has arrived at the health center. He had been shot in the head. The doctors say it is rare to find a family without an afflicted member. Every woman has been tortured, or has seen someone tortured.

“How many people are there in your family?”
“There were seven of us. Five of us are here.”
“What about the other two?”
“My two sons were killed in front of me.”

The ones who speak here are often victims of such scenarios. I saw a sign of a women and children trauma center.

People have been stunned silent, traumatised. There is no emotion in their eyes. Just nothingness and nothingness. They used to have homes, land, a country, memories - they have given up everything to save their lives and dignity. They don’t know what the future holds.

There are 10-12 people under a polythene covered roof. They don't have a kitchen or bathroom. Yet when they are asked if they were better before or are better now, they reply that they are doing much better now. They say this because they know here they will not be shot, set fire on, or raped.

Parts of hills have been excavated to build camps. There are almost a million people on 2,500 acres of land.

A lot of foreigners are arriving. Almost 600 employees of the UN are working in the region, I heard from one of the UN employees. There are big vehicles labeled UN moving around. It is hard to find rooms in the hotels. One UN employee informed us that they are working to determine the effects of the Rohingya presence on the locals. Forest land and hills are being ruined, employment opportunities are increasing in some places, decreasing in others. Locals can see that one vehicle is arriving after the other with aid and assistance for the newly arrived people. How do they feel about this?

NGOs are working - big NGOs like BRAC, as well as smaller ones.
Another UN team is working to determine the extent of repression on the Rohingyas by Myanmar. They said that they are working on similar issues in Myanmar as well, not just Bangladesh. And they are investigating on the crimes against humanity occurring beyond the Rakhine region.

I walk along the camp in the muddy streets. I chat with children. There is one named Mostafa and another named Hasan. There is a girl Anwara, and another, Khadeja. None of them have ever been to school. The girls wear cheap earrings. The boys play with cheap plastic toys. Bangladeshis have opened small restaurants and shops here. Rohingyas have also opened up shops to earn money. They sell cheap candy and toys.

A child stands, sucking on a brightly colored lollipop. Some children are just standing quietly. Their faces are so innocent. Won't they go to school? Do they not have a future?

Some boys who had studied up till high school come up to Dr. Ruhul. ¨Sir, please open a school, we will teach there.¨

Bangladesh wants to send them back home as soon as possible. We can understand it from an outside perspective. But Myanmar hadn't done this inhuman act for them to be sent back. This is a part of a long time plan. They want to completely destroy the Rohingyas. They want a Rohingya-free Myanmar. Bangladesh isn't calling them refugees. They are calling them Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals.

Bangladesh is heavily burdened under its dense population coupled with a paucity of finances. It cannot bear the weight of this newly arrived huge number of people. This has been harmful to the local environment and may create tension among locals. It will create opportunities for local and international crime cycles. But we cannot heartlessly send these helpless people back.

So what is the solution? There is only one - to demand justice for ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. To raise huge worldwide awareness so that Myanmar is forced to take back their rightful citizens with the appropriate respect, rights and security.

Even a good photograph can irk the world. A video clip often gets the attention of millions of people.

And we can also think about a million-man march. In whatever way we can, we have to raise the most effective force in this world, that that is consciousness. This sense of consciousness appears to be silent at this moment.
We return to Dhaka. The pain in the eyes of the Rohingya children haunts us.
* Anisul Hoque is associate editor of Prothom Alo. The piece originally published in Prothom Alo print edition is translated by Padya Paramita
http://en.prothom-alo.com/opinion/news/134844/The-pain-in-the-eyes-of-the-Rohingya-children

 

[Banglar Bir]

Tillerson is right to call for justice for the Rohingya.
He’s naive to think Burma will deliver.
Editorial Board November 17
SECRETARY OF STATE Rex Tillerson too often has shown a disregard for human rights issues, especially in his public diplomacy.
So his news conference INBurma on Wednesday was a welcome departure. Standing next to the country’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mr. Tillerson spoke forcefully about “credible reports of widespread atrocities committed by [Burma’s] security forces” against the Rohingya ethnic minority.
He said the campaign, which has driven more than 600,000 people across the border to Bangladesh, “has a number of characteristics of certainly crimes against humanity.”

Mr. Tillerson repeatedly called for a “credible” and “independent” investigation, said that those guilty of abuses should be held accountable, and indicated that U.S. sanctions against involved individuals would be appropriate. He also called on the government to allow the voluntary return of the Rohingya and provide them with “a transparent and fully voluntary path to citizenship,” which most lack. “Myanmar’s response to this crisis,” he said, using the name for the country favored by the regime, “is critical to determining the success of its transition to a more democratic society.”

Mr. Tillerson’s connection of “the humanitarian scandal” of the Rohingya to Burma’s democratic transition was particularly significant. Aung San Suu Kyi, who lacks authority over the country’s military, has attempted to sidestep the crisis, offering bland statements about the need for “harmony” and establishing commissions with vague missions.

Her aides say her priority is consolidating democracy by gaining the military’s support for changes to the constitution, which now gives the generals an overwhelming role. Given the scale of the offenses, which U.N. officials have labeled “ethnic cleansing” and members of Congress have called “genocide,” that’s a blinkered view.
As Mr. Tillerson said, “the key test of a democracy is how it treats its most vulnerable and marginalized populations.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...6bc834-cb03-11e7-b0cf-7689a9f2d84e_story.html

Muslim leader’s warning of a forced exodus a la Myanmar angers Assam’s leaders
P K Balachandran, November 19, 2017

Bengali Muslims of Assam
Assam’s leaders, whether of the Hindutva variety or the Assamese nationalistic variety, are livid with Jamait Ulema-e-Hind leader Maulana Arshad Madani, for warning that the on-going revision of the National Register of Citizenship (NRC) could lead to a mass expulsion of Bengali Muslims from the State in a manner reminiscent of the Rohingya Muslims’s plight in Myanmar.
Madani has actively taken up the cause of 48 lakh married Bengali Muslim women, who are in danger of losing their right to Indian citizenship if officials revising the NRC do not accept Certificates of Residence given by Village Panchayat Secretaries.

He, along with others, has appealed to the Indian Supreme Court against the Guwahati High Court’s order declaring the Village Panchayat Secretary’s certificates as “unconstitutional” and “a threat to national security.”

The Supreme Court has asked officials revising the NRC to leave out the 48 lakh cases in question till it decides on them, but finish the revision by December 31 this year.

The apex court’s order is keenly awaited by the Assamese leaders who have a vested interest in limiting the number of Bengali Muslims from East Bengal (or Bangladesh). But Bengali Muslims are awaiting the result with trepidation.

As Madani said if lakhs of women are declared illegal immigrants and ordered to be deported, lakhs of families will be broken up, leading to horrific social consequences.

But Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who belongs to the Hindutvite Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and leaders of nationalist parties in the state have dubbed Madani’s assertionsas “disruptive, communal and anti-national.”

Sonowal has stated that anyone opposing the revision of the NRC is an “anti-national”. He warned Muslims that Assam is a land of the brave and listed a number of leaders of the past who had fought for the Assamese fearlessly. Agriculture Minister Atul Bora went a step further and warned that disruptors would be dealt with sternly.

Assamese leaders trooped to New Delhi to put pressure on the BJP government at the Center not to yield to the Muslims’ demand for leniency in the matter of qualifying for citizenship.

The reason for this acute anxiety on the part of the Assamese Hindusis the fear of being “over run” by Bengali Muslim “illegal” immigrants from Bangladesh. It is believed that the Muslims multiply faster than the Hindus, partly because of illegal immigration. Any reduction of the Hindus’ numerical dominance sets off alarm bells because Assam is a medley of various ethnic groups fiercely competing for communal rights in the political and economic spheres.

The movement to expel illegal immigrants from Assam goes back to the 1970s. The 1970s’ violent movement ended in 1985 following an Accord between Rajiv Gandhi’s government in New Delhi and the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU).

As per the “Assam Accord”, only those Bengali Muslims whose families had been living in Assam prior to March 24, 1971, could be deemed to be indigenous to Assam and entitled to citizenship. Others would be “foreigners” who would have to leave the country.

The Bengali Muslims, on the other hand, are traumatized by the prospect of being stripped off their right to stay in India where they might have been living for generations.The rise of the BJP at the Center and Assam, and the re-start of the process of identification of “foreigners” to draw up a fresh register of citizens, have raised the specter of expulsion again.

With the NRC revision taking place against the backdrop of the massive and violent displacement of 600,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar from August 25 till now, on the issue of citizenship, and given India’s attitude towards the Rohingyas and its determination to identify and expel 40,000 of them on national security grounds, the scenario is grim if not scary.

Above all, there is an overarching threat from Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. In a speech at Serampur in West Bengal in the run up to the 2014 parliamentary elections, he thundered: “You can write it down. After May 16, these Bangladeshis better be prepared with their bags packed.”
Background
Despite the Assam Accord, migration of Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh into Assam has been on, triggered by lack of opportunities in an over-populated, politically unstable, and violence-prone Bangladesh.

However, the recent partial barbed wire fencing of the Indo-Bangladesh border and the “shoot at sight” orders given to the Border Security Force (BSF), have reduced infiltration to a great extent.

Nevertheless, the issue of weeding out “illegal” Bengali Muslim immigrants has come up off and on, gathering momentum in the last three or four years with the ascendency of the aggressively Hindu BJP both at the Center and the State as the ruling party.

In Assam, the BJP has been feeding the Assamese Hindu majority with a potent mixture of Hindu nationalism and Assamese pride, which has revived the bogey of being overrun by Bengali Muslims from across the border. The scare created has worked in as much as for the first time the BJP has been able to win the Assam State Assembly elections.
Blatant Injustice
Revision of the NRC has already led to blatant injustice. In October, Mohd. Azmal Haque, a retired Bengali Muslim Indian Army Junior Commissioned Officer, with 30 years’ service in the force was notified as a “foreigner” and asked to prove his Indian citizenship. The move shocked him and also the rest of the Bengali Muslim community which apprehends that more such cases could come up as work on the NRC proceeds apace.

Add to this the Guwahati High Court’s nullification of the Panchayat Secretary’s certificates and the result is panic. The fact of the matter is that lakhs of married Bengali Muslim women have no other document to prove their residence in India.

Being poor and illiterate, these women do not have documents identified by the authorities as “valid”.

“List A” includes documents which were issued before midnight on March 24, 1971 and have the name of the applicant or his/her ancestor to prove residence in Assam. The valid documents are: The 1951 NRC; 1971 Electoral Rolls; Land and tenancy records; Citizenship certificate;Permanent residential certificate; Refugee registration certificate; Passport; LIC; Any government issued licence/certificate; Government service/employment certificate; Bank/post office accounts; or Birth certificate.

If only the name of the ancestor appears in the document submitted as per “List A”, then the applicant will have to submit documents as per “List B” to establish his/her relationship with such ancestor/parents.

“List B” includes the following documents: Birth certificate; Land document; Board/university certificate; Bank/LIC/Post office records; Circle officer/gram panchayat secretary certificate in case of married women; Electoral roll; Ration card; Any other legally acceptable document.

However, the ration card and Panchayat Secretary’s Certificate mentioned above are no longer acceptable. But as stated earlier, these are the only documents the poor would have. From 2010 to the recent Guwahati High Court judgment, the Panchayat Secretary’s certificate had been deemed valid, because it had the approval of the State cabinet.

It is the upsetting of the apple cart which made Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind President Arshad Madani approachthe Supreme Court along with others.
Unabashedly Anti-Muslim Ordinance and Bill
Bengali Muslims’ fears of discrimination is further heightened by the BJP government’s open preference for Hindu immigrants in the matter of granting citizenship.

In 2015, more than 4,000 Hindus from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh were granted Indian citizenship on the grounds that they had been persecuted in these Muslim majority countries.

There is in addition, the Citizenship Act Amendment Bill of 2016, which seeks to give effect to the 2014 election promise to give citizenship to persecuted Hindus from other countries. The bill envisages granting citizenship to illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Significantly, Muslims are left out.

But the Bill could be challenged in court on the grounds that it discriminates on the basis of religion, violating Art 14 of the constitution which guarantees equality in the eyes of the law.
https://southasianmonitor.com/2017/...rced-exodus-la-myanmar-angers-assams-leaders/

Pranab Mukherjee plans to visit the Rohingya in Bangladesh

• Tribune Desk

Published at 10:55 AM November 19, 2017

According to the Anandabazar report, governments of Bangladesh and India will soon be approached for discussing the details of Pranab’s visit
Pranab Mukherjee, who had served as the 13th president of India, has been enjoying his retirement life by reading books and writing his diary.

On rare occasions, he leaves his bungalow at 10 Rajaji Marg, New Delhi to attend programmes.

Quoting a source close to Pranab, a report published by the Anandabazar Patrika revealed that the former Indian president has chosen Bangladesh as his next travel destination, and he plans visit the Rohingya refugee camps.

According to the Anandabazar report, governments of Bangladesh and India will soon be approached for discussing the details of Pranab’s visit.

Several other reputed media portals have also reported about the former Indian president’s upcoming Bangladesh visit.

Pranab reportedly told his inner circle that he wants to avoid raising any complications centring his visit to Bangladesh, as the 11th general polls is right around the corner.

If could be noted, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the country’s former president a days ago.

Sources said Modi discussed present diplomatic issues with the neighbouring countries, especially the Rohingya crisis, with Pranab.

The former president reportedly spoke in favour of increasing diplomatic pressure on Myanmar to resolve the ongoing refugee crisis.

Pranab however expressed his doubt over whether Myanmar will take back the displaced Rohingya or not.

The 40,000 Rohingya refugees that entered India following the recent unrest in northern Rakhine, is not huge burden for the country. However, New Delhi is concerned about thousands of refugees that are currently staying in Bangladesh.

An Indian government official told the Anandabazar that it is possible that some Rohingya refugees will refuse to return to their home land.

A significant number of Indian diplomats believe that to prevent a sudden spike in border infiltration, New Delhi must work with Dhaka to resolve the ongoing refugee crisis.

Under the current circumstances, the possible Bangladesh visit of Pranab Mukherjee could hold great diplomatic importance to the south bloc nations. The former president’s contributions for further developing Indo-Bangla diplomatic ties during the tenure of Congress-led government are well known.

According to Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission, more than 625,000 Rohingya refugees entered Bangladesh from August 25 to November 8, fleeing a brutal military campaign in Rakhine state.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/s...ab-mukherjee-plans-visit-rohingya-bangladesh/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Where’s the international community?
Tasmiah Nuhiya AhmedTahsin Noor Salim
Published at 08:14 PM November 17, 2017

How long will it take the world to resolve the Rohingya crisis? REUTERS
The world has a major role to play in the Rohingya crisis
The Rohingya crisis has been documented by the Bangladesh government, UNHCR, and many other global institutions as ethnic cleansing.

Ethnic cleansing is the concept that a minority is mistreated, killed, or forcibly removed from a territory to “cleanse” the region, so to speak. This is evidently forbidden by overflowing number of international human rights treaties and instruments.
Existing conventions and treaties
For instance, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, adopted and opened for signature and ratification by General Assembly resolution 2106, (XX) clearly prohibits such activities when done on the basis of race or ethnicity.

The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment prohibits the mistreatment of people when they are forcibly expelled from their homes and their possessions and property destroyed.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted and opened for signature, ratification, and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) also speaks of prohibition of such immoral activities.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted and opened for signature, ratification, and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of December 16, 1966, came into effect on March 23, 1976, and under Article 27 states:

“In those states in which ethnic, religious, or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language.”

Ethnic cleansing means the infringement of the right to life, the right to housing, and food — in violation to the aforementioned treaties, and many more. From this aspect, international human rights law is clearly engaged but Myanmar is not party to either the ICCPR, ICESCR, UNCAT, nor the Race Convention — although aspects of the rights in question are part of the corpus of customary international law.

The plight of Rohingya implies that the R2P-bound international community has no alternative but to intervene
The purpose of R2P
In 2005, the UN sanctioned the global political commitment of Responsibility to Protect (R2P or RtoP) with a view to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.

R2P stresses that national governments do not take sovereignty for granted in any intent or purpose, is based on the theory that sovereignty necessitates a conscientiousness to shield all populations from mass atrocity crimes and human rights infringements.

Myanmar government’s failure to safeguard the Rohingya makes a strong case for the international community to deal with this crisis. This can be done either by way of undertaking measures acknowledged in the R2P frame or by linking regional powers.

R2P’s exposure is far-reaching because it recognises the fundamental rights of all people, regardless of citizenship — and in doing so, it recognises the fundamental rights of “aliens” or stateless people too.

The plight of the Rohingya implies that the R2P-bound international community has no alternative but to intervene. It also entails that the international community has ethical and legal obligations under international law to pressure Myanmar to take actions to end ethnic cleansing, and simultaneously support Bangladesh in her effort to ensure the survival of the refugees.

To invoke the Right to Protect (R2P) in Myanmar, the international community needs proof of all or any one of the four atrocities among ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, war crimes, or genocide.
Suggestions and a way forward
A report of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect recommends several actions to be undertaken on an urgent basis to address the Rohingya crisis. It suggests that the UN Security Council immediately adopt a resolution to tackle the ongoing mass murder in Myanmar, through imposing an arms embargo and targeted sanctions directed at senior military officers in command and the key forces in ethnic cleansing in Myanmar.
Individual governments and regional organisations should also impose targeted sanctions and discontinue all bilateral aids and training programs with Myanmar’s security forces.

The Myanmar authorities should allow the UN Human Rights Council-mandated Fact-Finding Mission to go into Rakhine State and expeditiously implement the recommendations of the Advisory Commission led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The authorities should also permit humanitarian and human rights organisations unimpeded right of entry to susceptible populations in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan states.

The government of Myanmar must revoke or amend all laws and regulations that methodically discriminate against Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar, including the Protection of Race and Religion laws and the 1982 Citizenship Law.

The government should undertake adjoining steps towards building a more general society in which the rights of Myanmar’s diverse populations are protected.

Evidence strongly indicates that the Myanmar government has failed in its duty to protect her own population, a duty it has acknowledged and accepted in the World Summit 2005 and in the General Assembly Interactive Dialogue in 2009.

Therefore, this article is aimed at presenting the proposition that due to the Myanmar government’s failure, the duty to protect the Rohingya falls on the international community.

Thus, it is crucial that the international community makes the Myanmar government understand the consequence of this atrocity and to seriously treat its population in accordance with the standard of international human rights law.

It is hoped that a long-term resolution of the Rohingya crisis can be achieved with the combined efforts of the government of Myanmar and the international community.

Rohingya have been suffering for long.

In spite of their contributions to the economy and society of Myanmar, their origin, ethnicity, and identity have been questioned.

The Myanmar government categorises them as “illegal Bengali immigrants.”

Now, after the latest influx of Rohingya into Bangladesh starting from August 2017, the government of Bangladesh has not recognised them as Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, instead identifying them as “forcefully displaced Myanmar citizens.”

Bangladesh is pushing the Rohingya agenda at the UN Security Council, even though it is doubtful that it will result in swift action, thanks to the council’s history of bureaucratic red tape and veto politics.

Nevertheless, there can be a sliver of hope. European nations have backed Bangladesh’s stance on the crisis, with UN-based organisations requesting nations for more resources and moral support towards Bangladesh. We may be on the right track.
Tasmiah Nuhiya Ahmed is Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh and a research assistant at Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) and Tahsin Noor Salim is a research assistant at Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA).
http://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2017/11/17/wheres-international-community/

Military ‘burns Rohingya alive’, says Human Rights Watch

Rohingya fetch firewood at Bangladesh’s Kutupalong refugee camp. Picture: AP
Reuters
12:00 AM November 17, 2017
Human Rights Watch yesterday accused Myanmar security forces of committing widespread rape against women and girls as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing during the past three months against Rohingya Muslims in the country’s Rakhine state.
The New York-based HRW report echoes one released on Wednesday by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Southeast Asia-based Fortify Rights that alleged security forces slit the throats of Rohingya and burned victims alive.

They support an accusation by UN special envoy Pramila Patten this week, who said sexual violence was “being commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Myanmar”.

The army released a report on Monday denying all allegations of rape and killings by security forces, days after replacing the general in charge of the operation that drove more than 600,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh.

HRW spoke to 52 women and girls who fled to Bangladesh, 29 of whom said they had been raped. All but one of the rapes were gang rapes. “Rape has been a prominent and devastating feature of the Burmese military’s campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya,” said author Skye Wheeler.

The Holocaust Memorial Museum and Fortify Rights documented “widespread and systematic attacks” on Rohingya civilians between October 9 and December last year, and from August 25 this year.

It said evidence gathered from more than 200 interviews with survivors, witnesses and international aid workers demonstrated that “Myanmar state security forces and civilian perpetrators committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing”.

More than half of the population of Rakhine has been displaced since October last year in Myanmar’s army “clearance operations” after Rohingya militants killed security officers.

“State security forces opened fire on Rohingya civilians from the land and sky. Soldiers and knife-wielding civilians hacked to death and slit the throats of Rohingya men, women, and children,” it said. “Rohingya civilians were burned alive. Soldiers raped and gang-raped Rohingya women and girls and arbitrarily arrested men and boys en masse.”
Reuters, AFP
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...h/news-story/ca0e4947dda3a8b4fa46dcff83d912de

Unspeakable acts of cruelty
Tribune Editorial
Published at 08:13 PM November 17, 2017

Photo: SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN
It is about time these actions of Myanmar were recognised as the crimes against humanity that they are
When it comes to describing the acts of cruelty perpetrated by Myanmar’s security forces against the Rohingya people, words fail.

Indeed, by using rape of women and girls as part of its ethnic cleansing campaign, Myanmar has shown the world that there is nothing its army will not do in order to rid the country of Rohingya.

A report from Human Rights Watch documents the extensive use of sexual violence by Myanmar’s military against women and girls, as well as other acts of violence, cruelty, and humiliation — are these accounts not enough to unite the whole world against the Myanmar regime’s current ways?

The bare facts are so horrific they need no sensationalising — many women said their spouses, parents, and young children were murdered right in front of them.

Many of the rape victims who fled to Bangladesh did so with swollen and torn genitals, all the while being deprived of food, shelter, or — it goes without saying — medical attention.

Any country that chooses to look away when it comes to these atrocities forfeits its right to claim any moral ground in any matter.

It is about time these actions of Myanmar were recognised as the crimes against humanity that they are, because to sit by and do nothing but exchange words will not make Myanmar change its ways.

It is certainly not enough to merely make statements requesting Myanmar to stop using excessive force — it is blatantly clear that Myanmar has no intention to stop its operations.

We do not need another eyewash from the international community, we need stern action.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/editorial/2017/11/17/unspeakable-act-horror/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Rohingya crisis: Canadian minister to visit Bangladesh on Nov 21
UNB
Published at 11:20 AM November 19, 2017
Last updated at 01:11 PM November 19, 2017

Exhausted, tired, undefed, malnourished and scared- the five criteria every fleeing Rohingya person possess . The picture was taken on Thursday, September 9, 2017 at a temporary refugee shelter in Cox's BazarSyed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
The Rohingya refugee situation has become the world's fastest-growing refugee and humanitarian crisis
Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canadian minister of International Development and La Francophonie, will travel to Bangladesh from November 21 to 23 to witness first-hand the devastating impact of the Rohingya crisis.

The Canadian minister will assess the best ways for Canada to assist the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled from Myanmar.

Minister Bibeau will also meet with the government of Bangladesh to discuss its efforts to address the Rohingya crisis.

Since August 25, more than 620,000 Rohingya, mainly women and children, have fled to Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar.

This is in addition to an estimated 300,000 Rohingyas who had previously sought refuge in Bangladesh.

The country has opened its borders and is providing life-saving assistance in camps and informal settlements in the Cox’s Bazar area located in the south of the country along the border with Myanmar.

During her visit, Minister Bibeau will visit refugee settlements and host communities to engage with beneficiaries, including Rohingya women, children and local Bangladeshi, to gain a deeper understanding of the needs on the ground.

She will also meet with humanitarian partners and representatives of local civil society to discuss the response and coordination of efforts to assist the most vulnerable.

Canada has had a long-standing development programme in Bangladesh, which includes support to health and education.

On the last day of her visit, Minister Bibeau will meet with senior Bangladeshi government officials, local women’s organisations and other partners to discuss development needs in Bangladesh, particularly as they relate to the empowerment of women and girls.

“The unprecedented scale of the current Rohingya crisis and its dire impact on women and children requires us all to take urgent action,” said the Minister.

That is why, the minister said, Canada launched the Myanmar Crisis Relief Fund, which matches dollar for dollar every eligible donation that Canadians make to an organisation providing life-saving assistance to the Rohingya people.

“Canadians can be proud of our country’s experienced humanitarian partners that are providing vital assistance to meet the basic needs of the most vulnerable, especially women and girls,” said Marie-Claude Bibeau.

The Rohingya refugee situation has become the world’s fastest-growing refugee and humanitarian crisis.

Thus far in 2017, Canada has committed over $25 million in humanitarian assistance funding in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

On October 31, Canada launched the Myanmar Crisis Relief Fund. For every eligible donation made by individuals to registered Canadian charities between August 25 and November 28, 2017, the government of Canada will contribute an equivalent amount to the Myanmar Crisis Relief Fund.

On October 23, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named the Honourable Bob Rae as his special envoy to Myanmar.

As special envoy, Rae will reinforce the urgent need to resolve the humanitarian and security crisis in Myanmar and to address the situation affecting these vulnerable people.

Rae visited the refugee settlements in Bangladesh on November 4 and subsequently briefed Minister Bibeau as she prepared for her own visit.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/banglad...gya-crisis-canadian-minister-visit-bd-nov-21/

Bangladesh to reject China’s proposals on Rohingya crisis
Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Published at 08:47 PM November 18, 2017

Bangladesh will continue to hold dialogue with Myanmar to resolve the refugee crisis
The government plans to reject a proposal by China recommending Bangladesh seek a bilateral solution to the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis with Myanmar.

The Bangladesh government will speak in favour of international pressure on Myanmar, and will reject China’s offer for mediating an agreement with Myanmar during a meeting scheduled for Saturday.

The meeting will be attended by Bangladesh Minister of Foreign Affairs AH Mahmud Ali and his Chinese counterpart Wang YI, a government official told the Bangla Tribune.

The official added that Bangladesh will continue to hold dialogue with Myanmar to resolve the refugee crisis, but the international community must remain involved in the matter.

China has been recommending Bangladesh reach a bilateral solution to the Rohingya issue with Myanmar, and advised against involving the international community.

Chinese special envoy of Asian Affairs Sun Guoxiang pressed this issue during his visit to Dhaka earlier on November this year.

Addressing the matter, the government official said: “Bangladesh has held bilateral discussions with Myanmar over the Rohingya issue on numerous occasions, but had failed to make any headway in resolving the crisis.

“As soon as Bangladesh changed its stance and sought involvement from the international community, attempts to resolve the crisis began,” the official added.

“We do not think China’s offer to help solve the Rohingya crisis, and the recommendation of not involving the international community is acceptable.”

The official also said Bangladesh does not agree with China’s stance on dealing with the Rohingya refugee crisis, and will continue to hold dialogue with the international community, including China, to bring the refugee crisis to an end.

On October 25, following a meeting with Chinese special envoy Sun Guoxiang, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque told reporters: “We have presented our stance over the matter. I told him [Guoxiang] when he visited Bangladesh six months ago, there were only 400,000 Rohingya refugees, now there are over 1,000,000.”

“This is the gravity of the situation,” Shahidul had said.

The foreign secretary had also admitted that China is recommending that Bangladesh should seek a bilateral solution to the Rohingya refugee issue with Myanmar.
This article was first published on Bangla Tribune

http://www.dhakatribune.com/banglad...1/18/bangladesh-reject-china-rohingya-crisis/

 

[Banglar Bir]

05:40 PM, November 19, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 05:49 PM, November 19, 2017
US senators dub atrocities in Myanmar as "war crime"

Visiting US Senators Jeff Merkley and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Photo: BSS
BSS, Dhaka
Visiting US Senators today dubbed as "war crimes" the atrocities inflicted on Rohingyas by Myanmar security forces as they called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a day after visiting them in their makeshift refuge in Cox's Bazar.
"It is like war crimes," premier's press secretary Ihasnul Karim quoted the high-profile delegation's leader Jeff Merkley as telling the Prime Minister during the call on at her Gonobhaban residence.

He said the senators told Sheikh Hasina that every country should condemn the crime and ethnic cleansing and were of the opinion that the crisis deserved more international attention as it was required for its resolution and sending the forcibly displaced people back to their homeland.

Karim said the Prime Minister laid importance on implementation of the Kofi Annan report to resolve the Rohingya crisis.

She said Bangladesh extended Rohingyas the shelter on humanitarian ground remembering the horrifying memories of 1971 when millions of people of Bangladesh were forced to take refuge in India to escape the Pakistani genocide.

The premier also recalled her personal memories of taking refuge along with sister Sheikh Rehana to India following the brutal killing of Bangabandhu in 1975.

"Out of sense we have taken decision to give shelter to these oppressed people of Myanmar and share our food with them if necessary," the premier said.

But, Sheikh Hasina said, Bangladesh wanted next-door Myanmar to take back their nationals with "full security" while under an identification system over five lakh of them were provided identity cards by now.

The premier also pointed out her government's success in resolving the over two decade-long crisis in southeastern hills when Bangladesh returned 60,000 Bangladeshi nationals who took refuge to India.

"Bangladesh brought back the refugees and rehabilitated them with necessary support," she said referring to the landmark 1996 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Agreement.

The US senators call on the premier came a day after the visited the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar's Kutupalang.

The senators, Karim said, appreciated the premier for her generous response to the challenge of bracing the Rohingyas and said the US was ready to provide all assistance to resolve the crisis.

They said the Rohingyas said they were very much pleased with Bangladesh government for giving them the shelter as they interacted with the ethnic minority people.

Merkley said they gathered firsthand information from the persecuted people in the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar while the description of persecution was "horrifying".

The premier's press secretary the US senate team also praised Bangladesh's economic growth calling it the "testimony of hard work of the people of Bangladesh".

They hailed as well the state of women empowerment in Bangladesh and discussed the issues of climate change and appreciated Bangladesh's fore- frontal position on the global issue.

US Senator Richard Durbin, Congresswomen Betty McCollum and Jan Schakowsky and Congressman David N. Cicilline were among others included in the delegation accompanied by US ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat.

PM's advisor Dr Gowher Rizvi and Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury were present on the occasion.
http://www.thedailystar.net/rohingy...ub-atrocities-in-myanmar-as-war-crime-1493461