Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing - Updates & Discussions

[Banglar Bir]

10:35 AM, December 03, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 10:53 AM, December 03, 2017
Pope says defence of Rohingya got through in Myanmar

Pope Francis gestures during a news conference on board of the plane during his flight back from a trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh, December 2, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Vincenzo Pinto/Pool
Reuters, Aboard The Papal Plane
Pope Francis on Saturday defended his strategy of avoiding the term “Rohingya” in Myanmar, saying he believed he got his message across to both the civilian and military leadership without shutting down dialogue.
Speaking to reporters aboard the plane returning to Rome from Bangladesh, the pontiff also indicated that he had been firm with Myanmar's military leaders in private meetings about the need for them to respect the rights of Rohingya refugees.
Read More

Stand by Bangladesh

‘Gossip is a kind of terrorism’
He also disclosed that he cried when he met a group of Rohingya refugees on Friday in Bangladesh, where he defended their rights by name in an emotional meeting.

“For me, the most important thing is that message gets through, to try to say things one step at a time and listen to the responses,” he said.

“I knew that if in the official speeches I would have used that word, they would have closed the door in our faces. But (in public) I described situations, rights, said that no one should be excluded, (the right to) citizenship, in order to allow myself to go further in the private meetings,” he said.

Francis did not use the word Rohingya in public while on the first leg of the trip in Myanmar. Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar does not recognise the mostly Muslim Rohingya as an ethnic group with its own identity but as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Local Roman Catholic Church authorities had advised him not to say it because it could spark a backlash against Christians and other minority groups.

The pope met Myanmar's military leaders privately on Monday, shortly after his arrival in the nation's biggest city, Yangon.

The meeting had been scheduled for Thursday morning but the military pointedly asked at the last minute that it be pushed forward. The result was they saw the pope before the civilian leaders instead of the other way around, as had been planned.

Non-negotiable truths
“It was a good conversation and the truth was non-negotiable,” he said of his meeting with the military leaders.

The latest exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh of about 625,000 people followed a Myanmar military crackdown in response to Rohingya militant attacks on an army base and police posts on August 25.

Refugees have said scores of Rohingya villages were burnt to the ground, people were killed and women were raped. The military have denied accusations of ethnic cleansing by the United States and United Nations.

Asked if he used the word Rohingya during the private meeting with the military chiefs, the pope said: “I used words in order to arrive at the message and when I saw that the message had arrived, I dared to say everything that I wanted say”.

He then gave a reporter a mischievous grin and ended his answer with the Latin phrase “IntelligentiPauca,” which means "Few words are enough for those who understand," strongly hinting that he had used the word the military detests while in their presence.

Human rights groups have criticised the country's de facto civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was under house arrest for a total of 15 years before the 2015 elections, for not taking a stand against the generals.

But Francis, who met with her privately on Tuesday, appeared to give her the benefit of the doubt because of her delicate relationship with the generals who were once her jailers.

“Myanmar is a nation that is growing politically, in transition,” Francis said in response to a question about Suu Kyi and budding democracy in Myanmar.

“So things have to be viewed through this lens. Myanmar has to be able to look forward to the building of the country”.

On Friday in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, Francis held an emotional encounter with Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and then used the word Rohingya for the first time on the trip, although he had defended them by name twice from the Vatican earlier this year.

He told the crowd where the Rohingya were that God's presence was within them and they should be respected.

“I was crying and tried to hide it,” Francis said on the plane, recounting how moved he felt when the refugees recounted their ordeals to him.
http://www.thedailystar.net/rohingy...f-rohingya-got-through-myanmar-crisis-1499470
10:35 AM, December 03, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 10:53 AM, December 03, 2017
Pope says defence of Rohingya got through in Myanmar

Pope Francis gestures during a news conference on board of the plane during his flight back from a trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh, December 2, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Vincenzo Pinto/Pool
Reuters, Aboard The Papal Plane
Pope Francis on Saturday defended his strategy of avoiding the term “Rohingya” in Myanmar, saying he believed he got his message across to both the civilian and military leadership without shutting down dialogue.
Speaking to reporters aboard the plane returning to Rome from Bangladesh, the pontiff also indicated that he had been firm with Myanmar's military leaders in private meetings about the need for them to respect the rights of Rohingya refugees.

Read More

Stand by Bangladesh

‘Gossip is a kind of terrorism’
He also disclosed that he cried when he met a group of Rohingya refugees on Friday in Bangladesh, where he defended their rights by name in an emotional meeting.

“For me, the most important thing is that message gets through, to try to say things one step at a time and listen to the responses,” he said.

“I knew that if in the official speeches I would have used that word, they would have closed the door in our faces. But (in public) I described situations, rights, said that no one should be excluded, (the right to) citizenship, in order to allow myself to go further in the private meetings,” he said.

Francis did not use the word Rohingya in public while on the first leg of the trip in Myanmar. Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar does not recognise the mostly Muslim Rohingya as an ethnic group with its own identity but as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Local Roman Catholic Church authorities had advised him not to say it because it could spark a backlash against Christians and other minority groups.

The pope met Myanmar's military leaders privately on Monday, shortly after his arrival in the nation's biggest city, Yangon.

The meeting had been scheduled for Thursday morning but the military pointedly asked at the last minute that it be pushed forward. The result was they saw the pope before the civilian leaders instead of the other way around, as had been planned.

Non-negotiable truths
“It was a good conversation and the truth was non-negotiable,” he said of his meeting with the military leaders.

The latest exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh of about 625,000 people followed a Myanmar military crackdown in response to Rohingya militant attacks on an army base and police posts on August 25.

Refugees have said scores of Rohingya villages were burnt to the ground, people were killed and women were raped. The military have denied accusations of ethnic cleansing by the United States and United Nations.

Asked if he used the word Rohingya during the private meeting with the military chiefs, the pope said: “I used words in order to arrive at the message and when I saw that the message had arrived, I dared to say everything that I wanted say”.

He then gave a reporter a mischievous grin and ended his answer with the Latin phrase “IntelligentiPauca,” which means "Few words are enough for those who understand," strongly hinting that he had used the word the military detests while in their presence.

Human rights groups have criticised the country's de facto civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was under house arrest for a total of 15 years before the 2015 elections, for not taking a stand against the generals.

But Francis, who met with her privately on Tuesday, appeared to give her the benefit of the doubt because of her delicate relationship with the generals who were once her jailers.

“Myanmar is a nation that is growing politically, in transition,” Francis said in response to a question about Suu Kyi and budding democracy in Myanmar.

“So things have to be viewed through this lens. Myanmar has to be able to look forward to the building of the country”.

On Friday in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, Francis held an emotional encounter with Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and then used the word Rohingya for the first time on the trip, although he had defended them by name twice from the Vatican earlier this year.

He told the crowd where the Rohingya were that God's presence was within them and they should be respected.

“I was crying and tried to hide it,” Francis said on the plane, recounting how moved he felt when the refugees recounted their ordeals to him.
http://www.thedailystar.net/rohingy...f-rohingya-got-through-myanmar-crisis-1499470

dang n
dang no one else responding to you that sucks

Noting to be concerned about,as this is a pinned thread,all incidents are being recorded for future references,not really interested in earning thanks or derailing the topic.
Reference materials for future generations to come along with other distinguished members,those all are not interested in browsing the Bangladesh thread sub forum.

 

[Banglar Bir]

‘No Such Thing as Rohingya’: Myanmar Erases a History
By HANNAH BEECH
DEC. 2, 2017

A Rohingya woman and her child returning to the Basara camp in Sittwe, Myanmar. Across central Rakhine, about 120,000 Rohingya have been interned in camps. Many more have fled the country. Credit Adam Dean for The New York Times

SITTWE, Myanmar — He was a member of the Rohingya student union in college, taught at a public high school and even won a parliamentary seat in Myanmar’s thwarted elections in 1990.
But according to the government of Myanmar, U Kyaw Min’s fellow Rohingya do not exist.
A long-persecuted Muslim minority concentrated in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine, the Rohingya have been deemed
dangerous interlopers from neighboring Bangladesh. Today, they are mostly stateless, their very identity denied by the Buddhist-majority Myanmar state.

“There is no such thing as Rohingya,” said U Kyaw San Hla, an officer in Rakhine’s state security ministry. “It is fake news.”

Such denials bewilder Mr. Kyaw Min. He has lived in Myanmar all of his 72 years, and the history of the Rohingya as a distinct ethnic group in Myanmar stretches back for generations before.

Now, human rights watchdogs warn that much of the evidence of the Rohingya’s history in Myanmar is in danger of being eradicated by a military campaign the United States has declared to be ethnic cleansing.

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

Fate of Stateless Rohingya Muslims Is in Antagonistic Hands NOV. 3, 2017

Rohingya Recount Atrocities: ‘They Threw My Baby Into a Fire’OCT. 11, 2017

Desperate Rohingya Flee Myanmar on Trail of Suffering: ‘It Is All Gone’ SEPT. 2, 2017

Since late August, more than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims, about two-thirds of the population that lived in Myanmar in 2016, have fled to Bangladesh, driven out by the military’s systematic campaign of massacre, rape and arson in Rakhine.

In a report released in October, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that Myanmar’s security forces had worked to “effectively erase all signs of memorable landmarks in the geography of the Rohingya landscape and memory in such a way that a return to their lands would yield nothing but a desolate and unrecognizable terrain.

“The Rohingya are finished in our country,” said U Kyaw Min, a former schoolteacher and the president of the Democracy and Human Rights Party. “Soon we will all be dead or gone.” CreditAdam Dean for The New York Times

“The Rohingya are finished in our country,” said Mr. Kyaw Min, who lives in Yangon, the commercial capital of Myanmar. “Soon we will all be dead or gone.”

The United Nations report also said that the crackdown in Rakhine had “targeted teachers, the cultural and religious leadership, and other people of influence in the Rohingya community in an effort to diminish Rohingya history, culture and knowledge.”

“We are people with our own history and traditions,” said U Kyaw Hla Aung, a Rohingya lawyer and former political prisoner, whose father served as a court clerk in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine.

“How can they pretend we are nothing?” he asked.

Speaking over the phone, Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung, who has been jailed repeatedly for his activism and is now interned in a Sittwe camp, said his family did not have enough food because officials have prevented full distribution of international aid.

Myanmar’s sudden amnesia about the Rohingya is as bold as it is systematic. Five years ago, Sittwe, nestled in an estuary in the Bay of Bengal, was a mixed city, divided between an ethnic Rakhine Buddhist majority and the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Walking Sittwe’s crowded bazaar in 2009, I saw Rohingya fishermen selling seafood to Rakhine women. Rohingya professionals practiced law and medicine. The main street in town was dominated by the Jama mosque, an Arabesque confection built in the mid-19th century. The imam spoke proudly of Sittwe’s multicultural heritage.

But since sectarian riots in 2012, which resulted in a disproportionate number of Rohingya casualties, the city has been mostly cleared of Muslims. Across central Rakhine, about 120,000 Rohingya, even those who had citizenship, have been interned in camps, stripped of their livelihoods and prevented from accessing proper schools or health care.

A house burned by Myanmar’s military in a Rohingya village in Rakhine State in September. Credit Nyein Chan Naing/European Pressphoto Agency

They cannot leave the ghettos without official authorization. In July, a Rohingya man who was allowed out for a court appearance in Sittwe was lynched by an ethnic Rakhine mob.

The Jama mosque now stands disused and moldering, behind barbed wire. Its 89-year-old imam is interned.

“We have no rights as human beings,” he said, asking not to use his name because of safety concerns. “This is state-run ethnic cleansing and nothing else.”

Sittwe’s psyche has adapted to the new circumstances. In the bazaar recently, every Rakhine resident I talked to claimed, falsely, that no Muslims had ever owned shops there.

Sittwe University, which used to enroll hundreds of Muslim students, now only teaches around 30 Rohingya, all of whom are in a distance-learning program.

“We don’t have restrictions on any religion,” said U Shwe Khaing Kyaw, the university’s registrar, “but they just don’t come.”

Mr. Kyaw Min used to teach in Sittwe, where most of his students were Rakhine Buddhists. Now, he said, even Buddhist acquaintances in Yangon are embarrassed to talk with him.

Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh across the Naf River, in September.Credit Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

“They want the conversation to end quickly because they don’t want to think about who I am or where I came from,” he said.

In 1990, Mr. Kyaw Min won a seat in Parliament as part of a Rohingya party aligned with the National League for Democracy, Myanmar’s current governing party. But the country’s military junta ignored the electoral results nationwide. Mr. Kyaw Min ended up in prison.

Rohingya Muslims have lived in Rakhine for generations, their Bengali dialect and South Asian features often distinguishing them from Rakhine Buddhists.

During the colonial era, the British encouraged South Asian rice farmers, merchants and civil servants to migrate to what was then known as Burma.

Some of these new arrivals mixed with the Rohingya, then known more commonly as Arakanese Indians or Arakanese Muslims. Others spread out across Burma. By the 1930s, South Asians, both Muslim and Hindu, comprised the largest population in Yangon.

The demographic shift left some Buddhists feeling besieged. During the xenophobic leadership of Gen. Ne Win, who ushered in nearly half a century of military rule, hundreds of thousands of South Asians fled Burma for India.

Rakhine, on Burma’s western fringe, was where Islam and Buddhism collided most violently, especially after World War II, during which the Rakhine supported the Axis and Rohingya the Allies.

Rohingya crossing a makeshift bridge in the Kutupalong refugee camp, outside Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. CreditSergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

Later attempts by a Rohingya insurgent group to exit Burma and attach northern Rakhine to East Pakistan, as Bangladesh was then known, further strained relations.

By the 1980s, the military junta had stripped most Rohingya of citizenship. Brutal security offensives drove waves of Rohingya to flee the country.

Today, far more Rohingya live outside of Myanmar — mostly in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia — than remain in what they consider their homeland.

Yet in the early decades of Burma’s independence, a Rohingya elite thrived. Rangoon University, the country’s top institution, had enough Rohingya students to form their own union. One of the cabinets of U Nu, the country’s first post-independence leader, included a health minister who identified himself as Arakanese Muslim.

Even under Ne Win, the general, Burmese national radio aired broadcasts in the Rohingya language. Rohingya, women among them, were represented in Parliament.

U Shwe Maung, a Rohingya from Buthidaung Township in northern Rakhine, served in Parliament between 2011 and 2015, as a member of the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party. In the 2015 elections, however, he was barred from running.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were disenfranchised in those polls.

Mr. Shwe Maung’s electoral district, which had been 90 percent Rohingya, is now represented by a Rakhine Buddhist.

In September, a local police officer filed a counterterrorism suit accusing Mr. Shwe Maung of instigating violence through Facebook posts that called for an end to the security offensive in Rakhine. (The military operation began after Rohingya militants besieged government security posts in late August.)

Mr. Shwe Maung, the son of a police officer himself, is in exile in the United States and denies the charges.

“They want every Rohingya to be considered a terrorist or an illegal immigrant,” he said. “We are much more than that.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/...lights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

 

[Banglar Bir]

‘No Such Thing as Rohingya’: Myanmar Erases a History
By HANNAH BEECH
DEC. 2, 2017

A Rohingya woman and her child returning to the Basara camp in Sittwe, Myanmar. Across central Rakhine, about 120,000 Rohingya have been interned in camps. Many more have fled the country. Credit Adam Dean for The New York Times

SITTWE, Myanmar — He was a member of the Rohingya student union in college, taught at a public high school and even won a parliamentary seat in Myanmar’s thwarted elections in 1990.
But according to the government of Myanmar, U Kyaw Min’s fellow Rohingya do not exist.
A long-persecuted Muslim minority concentrated in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine, the Rohingya have been deemed
dangerous interlopers from neighboring Bangladesh. Today, they are mostly stateless, their very identity denied by the Buddhist-majority Myanmar state.

“There is no such thing as Rohingya,” said U Kyaw San Hla, an officer in Rakhine’s state security ministry. “It is fake news.”

Such denials bewilder Mr. Kyaw Min. He has lived in Myanmar all of his 72 years, and the history of the Rohingya as a distinct ethnic group in Myanmar stretches back for generations before.

Now, human rights watchdogs warn that much of the evidence of the Rohingya’s history in Myanmar is in danger of being eradicated by a military campaign the United States has declared to be ethnic cleansing.

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

Fate of Stateless Rohingya Muslims Is in Antagonistic Hands NOV. 3, 2017

Rohingya Recount Atrocities: ‘They Threw My Baby Into a Fire’OCT. 11, 2017

Desperate Rohingya Flee Myanmar on Trail of Suffering: ‘It Is All Gone’ SEPT. 2, 2017

Since late August, more than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims, about two-thirds of the population that lived in Myanmar in 2016, have fled to Bangladesh, driven out by the military’s systematic campaign of massacre, rape and arson in Rakhine.

In a report released in October, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that Myanmar’s security forces had worked to “effectively erase all signs of memorable landmarks in the geography of the Rohingya landscape and memory in such a way that a return to their lands would yield nothing but a desolate and unrecognizable
terrain.

“The Rohingya are finished in our country,” said U Kyaw Min, a former schoolteacher and the president of the Democracy and Human Rights Party. “Soon we will all be dead or gone.” CreditAdam Dean for The New York Times

“The Rohingya are finished in our country,” said Mr. Kyaw Min, who lives in Yangon, the commercial capital of Myanmar. “Soon we will all be dead or gone.”

The United Nations report also said that the crackdown in Rakhine had “targeted teachers, the cultural and religious leadership, and other people of influence in the Rohingya community in an effort to diminish Rohingya history, culture and knowledge.”

“We are people with our own history and traditions,” said U Kyaw Hla Aung, a Rohingya lawyer and former political prisoner, whose father served as a court clerk in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine.

“How can they pretend we are nothing?” he asked.

Speaking over the phone, Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung, who has been jailed repeatedly for his activism and is now interned in a Sittwe camp, said his family did not have enough food because officials have prevented full distribution of international aid.

Myanmar’s sudden amnesia about the Rohingya is as bold as it is systematic. Five years ago, Sittwe, nestled in an estuary in the Bay of Bengal, was a mixed city, divided between an ethnic Rakhine Buddhist majority and the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Walking Sittwe’s crowded bazaar in 2009, I saw Rohingya fishermen selling seafood to Rakhine women. Rohingya professionals practiced law and medicine. The main street in town was dominated by the Jama mosque, an Arabesque confection built in the mid-19th century. The imam spoke proudly of Sittwe’s multicultural heritage.

But since sectarian riots in 2012, which resulted in a disproportionate number of Rohingya casualties, the city has been mostly cleared of Muslims. Across central Rakhine, about 120,000 Rohingya, even those who had citizenship, have been interned in camps, stripped of their livelihoods and prevented from accessing proper schools or health care.

A house burned by Myanmar’s military in a Rohingya village in Rakhine State in September. Credit Nyein Chan Naing/European Pressphoto Agency

They cannot leave the ghettos without official authorization. In July, a Rohingya man who was allowed out for a court appearance in Sittwe was lynched by an ethnic Rakhine mob.

The Jama mosque now stands disused and moldering, behind barbed wire. Its 89-year-old imam is interned.

“We have no rights as human beings,” he said, asking not to use his name because of safety concerns. “This is state-run ethnic cleansing and nothing else.”

Sittwe’s psyche has adapted to the new circumstances. In the bazaar recently, every Rakhine resident I talked to claimed, falsely, that no Muslims had ever owned shops there.

Sittwe University, which used to enroll hundreds of Muslim students, now only teaches around 30 Rohingya, all of whom are in a distance-learning program.

“We don’t have restrictions on any religion,” said U Shwe Khaing Kyaw, the university’s registrar, “but they just don’t come.”

Mr. Kyaw Min used to teach in Sittwe, where most of his students were Rakhine Buddhists. Now, he said, even Buddhist acquaintances in Yangon are embarrassed to talk with him.

Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh across the Naf River, in September.Credit Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

“They want the conversation to end quickly because they don’t want to think about who I am or where I came from,” he said.

In 1990, Mr. Kyaw Min won a seat in Parliament as part of a Rohingya party aligned with the National League for Democracy, Myanmar’s current governing party. But the country’s military junta ignored the electoral results nationwide. Mr. Kyaw Min ended up in prison.

Rohingya Muslims have lived in Rakhine for generations, their Bengali dialect and South Asian features often distinguishing them from Rakhine Buddhists.

During the colonial era, the British encouraged South Asian rice farmers, merchants and civil servants to migrate to what was then known as Burma.

Some of these new arrivals mixed with the Rohingya, then known more commonly as Arakanese Indians or Arakanese Muslims. Others spread out across Burma. By the 1930s, South Asians, both Muslim and Hindu, comprised the largest population in Yangon.

The demographic shift left some Buddhists feeling besieged. During the xenophobic leadership of Gen. Ne Win, who ushered in nearly half a century of military rule, hundreds of thousands of South Asians fled Burma for India.

Rakhine, on Burma’s western fringe, was where Islam and Buddhism collided most violently, especially after World War II, during which the Rakhine supported the Axis and Rohingya the Allies.

Rohingya crossing a makeshift bridge in the Kutupalong refugee camp, outside Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. CreditSergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

Later attempts by a Rohingya insurgent group to exit Burma and attach northern Rakhine to East Pakistan, as Bangladesh was then known, further strained relations.

By the 1980s, the military junta had stripped most Rohingya of citizenship. Brutal security offensives drove waves of Rohingya to flee the country.

Today, far more Rohingya live outside of Myanmar — mostly in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia — than remain in what they consider their homeland.

Yet in the early decades of Burma’s independence, a Rohingya elite thrived. Rangoon University, the country’s top institution, had enough Rohingya students to form their own union. One of the cabinets of U Nu, the country’s first post-independence leader, included a health minister who identified himself as Arakanese Muslim.

Even under Ne Win, the general, Burmese national radio aired broadcasts in the Rohingya language. Rohingya, women among them, were represented in Parliament.

U Shwe Maung, a Rohingya from Buthidaung Township in northern Rakhine, served in Parliament between 2011 and 2015, as a member of the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party. In the 2015 elections, however, he was barred from running.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were disenfranchised in those polls.

Mr. Shwe Maung’s electoral district, which had been 90 percent Rohingya, is now represented by a Rakhine Buddhist.

In September, a local police officer filed a counterterrorism suit accusing Mr. Shwe Maung of instigating violence through Facebook posts that called for an end to the security offensive in Rakhine. (The military operation began after Rohingya militants besieged government security posts in late August.)

Mr. Shwe Maung, the son of a police officer himself, is in exile in the United States and denies the charges.

“They want every Rohingya to be considered a terrorist or an illegal immigrant,” he said. “We are much more than that.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/...lights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

 

[Brainsucker]

Myanmar truly has a lot of trouble. Yesterday was Kokang, now Rohingya. Not long time ago, their conflict made a lot of Kokang civilian run into China to save their life. Now Rohingya has to leave Myanmar because of the same reason.

I think Myanmar Government truly need a new approach to solve their separatist problem.

 

[Banglar Bir]

Rohingya Crisis: Will China’s Mediation Succeed? November 26, 2017 Jamestown Foundation Publication: China Brief Volume: 17 Issue: 15,
Jamestown Foundation By: Sudha Ramachandran
November 22, 2017

During his visits to Dhaka, Bangladesh and Naypyitaw, Myanmar on November 18 and 19, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward a three-phase plan to resolve the Rohingya crisis.
First, Wang called for a ceasefire in Myanmar’s devastated Rakhine state, which is at the center of the crisis. Aimed at restoring order and stability in the Rakhine state, the ceasefire is expected to halt the flow of Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh.

China envisages that this will pave the way for the
second stage: negotiations between Myanmar and Bangladesh to address the refugee problem.

The third and final stage will involve the economic development of the Rakhine state to address the underlying causes of the violence (Global Times, November 20).

China’s plan has reportedly found acceptance in Naypyitaw and Dhaka and marks the start of a new phase in Beijing’s involvement in the Rohingya conflict (FMPRC, November 20). China’s role has hitherto been limited to providing humanitarian aid to the Rohingya refugees and protecting Myanmar from international censure.
Why is China now adopting a mediatory role in the conflict?
And is it likely to succeed in bringing peace to a restive region?
The Rohingya Conflict The Rohingya crisis began on August 25 when the Myanmar government declared the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) a terrorist organization in response to deadly attacks on police and army posts in Rakhine state in western Myanmar (Mizzima, August 28).

It also launched a military crackdown in Rakhine, which it maintains is aimed at the militants (Mizzima, October 16; Terrorism Monitor, November 10).

However, horrific violence has been unleashed on Rohingya civilians, including women and children. Entire villages have been razed. Over 600,000 of the estimated 1.1 million Rohingya in Myanmar are reported to have fled to Bangladesh (The Wire, November 17).

The current crisis is the most severe that the decades-old Rohingya conflict has witnessed. While the roots of the Rohingya conflict (like Myanmar’s other ethnic conflicts) can be traced back to colonial times, independence brought with it discrimination against the Rohingya that became systematic and serious.

A Muslim ethnic group that has inhabited the Rakhine state for centuries, the Rohingya do not figure among Myanmar’s 135 official ethnic groups. Since 1982, they have been denied citizenship, effectively rendering them stateless (Daily Sabah, October 23).

In addition to suffering at the hands of the military, the Rohingya have been targeted by Rakhine Buddhist vigilante groups too (The Wire, November 17).

The violence has triggered waves of Rohingya migration to neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Thailand, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Unwelcome in these countries as well, Rohingya refugees have been pushed back or languish in makeshift, overcrowded camps (The National, September 13). China’s Support The Myanmar military’s reported atrocities against fleeing Rohingya civilians have evoked international outrage.
UN Human Rights Council Chief Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein described the situation in the Rakhine state as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” (UN News Centre, September 11). Several Muslim countries and the western powers have criticized Myanmar’s brutal crackdowns on the Rohingya too (Arab News, September 5 and First Post, September 23).

However, China has publically praised the Myanmar government’s crackdowns in Rakhine.
In September, the Chinese ambassador to Myanmar, Hong Liang, “strongly welcomed” “the counterattacks of Myanmar security forces against [Rohingya] extremist terrorists” and described its military campaign as “just an internal affair” (The Global New Light of Myanmar, September 14).

Later that month, Hong assured the Myanmar government that China would stand “firmly” by it on the international stage and continue providing it with “necessary assistance” to help it “uphold internal stability and development” (The Irrawaddy, September 27). At the UN, China has blocked resolutions against Myanmar and forced statements critical of its brutal military campaign against the Rohingyas to be watered down.

On November 6, for instance, the UN Security Council (UNSC) expressed “grave concern over reports of human rights violations and abuses in Rakhine State” and called on the Myanmar government “to ensure no further excessive use of military forces” there (United Nations, November 6).

While this was strong censure of the Myanmar military’s use of force against the Rohingya, this being a statement—and not a resolution—is not enforceable. China and Russia are reported to have forced the UNSC to issue a presidential statement rather than a resolution.

The UNSC statement denounces Myanmar’s violent handling of the crisis but it is inconsequential. China’s Interests in Rakhine China’s interest in the Rakhine state stems from its strategic location and rich resources.

The state is located on the Bay of Bengal, which opens into the Indian Ocean. Like Pakistan’s Gwadar port, which enables Beijing to transport West Asian oil, gas and other commodities through a shorter route via Pakistan to underdeveloped western China, the long Rakhine coastline provides southern China with access to the sea and eastern China with a shorter route to the Indian Ocean (China Brief, July 31, 2015 and Mizzima, October 31).

Ports and pipelines in Rakhine significantly free China’s trade with Africa and West Asia, especially its oil imports, from dependence on the congested Straits of Malacca (China Brief, July 31, 2015).
Additionally, Rakhine is rich in natural resources.
Large gas reserves were discovered in the waters off its coast in 2004. Beginning in 2008, China has bought gas from the area and transported it from Kyaukphyu on Rakhine’s coast to China’s Yunnan Province through the Myanmar-China Gas Pipeline since 2013.

This gas meets the needs of China’s Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces as well as that of other counties and cities. Since April this year, oil from Rakhine is being transported to China through a pipeline running parallel to the gas pipeline (China Daily, May 11 and Mizzima, October 31).

China is said to have invested around $2.5 billion in the oil and gas pipeline projects and is also investing $10 billion in the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone, which will include a deep-sea port and an industrial park, with the goal of turning Kyaukphyu into a maritime economic hub (Mizzima, October 31).

The areas that are the worst affected by the ongoing violence are in the north of Rakhine, near Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh. Although neither Kyaukphyu nor the oil and gas pipelines are located in or run through these restive areas, Beijing is still concerned.

The rise of ARSA and its mounting capacity to carry out attacks on well-secured targets indicates that it is only a matter of time before it strikes outside its stronghold. This has triggered concern in Beijing over the safety of infrastructure it has invested and built in the Rakhine state.

The Rakhine state plays a significant role in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Like Gwadar port in Pakistan, Kyaukphyu port and Myanmar will be important links in both the Maritime Belt and Silk Road components of the BRI.

As a result, the “stability of Rakhine” is regarded as “important” to the success of the BRI, political and ethnic affairs analyst U Maung Maung Soe has said (The Irrawaddy, September 4).

Concerns over the impact that violence and unrest in Rakhine could have on the success of its projects in Myanmar and the BRI, in particular, underlie China’s interest to end the Rohingya crisis and restore stability in the region.
China’s Strong Ties with Bangladesh
China has similarly invested heavily in upgrading and building port infrastructure, roads, bridges and railway lines in Bangladesh too. It is also Bangladesh’s top trade partner; Bangladesh provides a large market for Chinese goods. Defense ties are strong as well; Bangladesh is the second largest importer of Chinese weapons (after Pakistan) and accounted for 82 percent of all Bangladesh weapons purchases between 2009–2013 (China Brief, June 21, 2016).
China is also keen to protect its strong and growing interests and ties in Bangladesh.
There is concern in Bangladesh about Myanmar’s military campaign against the Rohingya, which is directly responsible for the flood of refugees into Bangladesh and has left Dhaka with the burden of providing shelter and relief to the Rohingya refugees.

Not only has Myanmar’s military strategy contributed to the refugee exodus but also, this has triggered Rohingya militancy. For Bangladesh, which is grappling with an array of jihadist groups already, the emergence of ARSA and the reported training of its cadres in sanctuaries in Bangladesh, poses an additional security threat.

China’s endorsement of Myanmar’s strategy on the Rohingya issue has understandably evoked “great disappointment” in Dhaka (Daily Star, November 13). To ease Dhaka’s burden of looking after the Rohingya refugees, China is providing aid, including tents and blankets to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh (Xinhuanet, October 13).

Chinese leaders are concerned with Bangladesh’s attempts to draw extra-regional powers to intervene in the crisis, prompting Beijing to accelerate efforts to bring Myanmar and Bangladesh to the negotiation table and end the refugee problem.
Will China’s Mediation Work?
In the past, China avoided playing mediator in conflicts beyond its borders, arguing that this went against its principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries. However, in recent years it has shown increasing willingness to mediate an end to conflicts.

It has, for instance, been involved in efforts to bring the Afghan government and the Taliban to the negotiation table (Express Tribune, March 7). More recently, it undertook shuttle diplomacy between Afghanistan and Pakistan to arrest spiraling tensions between the two neighbors (Times of India, June 26).

China appears to be taking on a mediatory role in regions where it has strong economic and other interests, and is the primary motivation behind Beijing’s mediation in the Rohingya crisis. China’s promotion of a military-economic development approach to the Rohingya crisis can be expected to worsen the conflict.

Development of a violent region by external actors rarely benefits locals, as seen in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. China’s development of Gwadar port in the region prompted militants to target outsiders (Express Tribune, April 12, 2015; China Brief, July 31, 2015).

Projects in Rakhine are likely to benefit foreign investors, Rakhine Buddhists and the Barmar majority, not the marginalized Rohingya. Development that does not result in economic inclusion of the Rohingya will deepen existing grievances and generate new conflicts.

To resolve the conflict, it is important that Myanmar tackle the roots of the problems, which are primarily political: denial of citizenship and rights to the Rohingya people and discriminatory policies.
China is unlikely to nudge Myanmar on the citizenship issue.

Moreover, Myanmar’s military is known to be sensitive regarding state sovereignty, and is unlikely to respond positively to Chinese pressure on these issues. China may have significant political and economic influence in Bangladesh and Myanmar but it lacks other qualities that a mediator would need to succeed in settling the Rohingya conflict.

Notably, Bangladesh believes that China is biased towards Myanmar, and Beijing’s substantial economic and other interests in Rakhine can be expected to fuel Myanmar’s suspicions of China’s intentions and actions.
Conclusion Chinese mediation is unlikely to resolve the Rohingya conflict.
At best, its intervention could keep a lid on the violence being unleashed by the Myanmar military in the Rakhine state. This could usher in a measure of stability but not peace in Rakhine. In the future, China can be expected to offer to mediate in conflicts within and between countries where it has significant interests, especially involving countries that are part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Related Bangladesh says agreed with Myanmar for UNHCR to assist Rohingya's return
November 26, 2017
In "Blog" Mishandling the Rohingya Crisis May Open New Frontier for Terrorism
September 28, 2017
In "Commentary" Tentative Deal May See Myanmar’s Rohingya Go Home—But To What?
November 28, 2017 In "Blog"

- See more at: http://southasiajournal.net/rohingya-crisis-will-chinas-mediation-succeed/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Rohingya Crisis: Will China’s Mediation Succeed?
November 26, 2017 Jamestown Foundation Publication: China Brief Volume: 17 Issue: 15,
Jamestown Foundation By: Sudha Ramachandran
November 22, 2017

During his visits to Dhaka, Bangladesh and Naypyitaw, Myanmar on November 18 and 19, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward a three-phase plan to resolve the Rohingya crisis.

First, Wang called for a ceasefire in Myanmar’s devastated Rakhine state, which is at the center of the crisis. Aimed at restoring order and stability in the Rakhine state, the ceasefire is expected to halt the flow of Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh.

China envisages that this will pave the way for the
second stage: negotiations between Myanmar and Bangladesh to address the refugee problem.

The third and final stage will involve the economic development of the Rakhine state to address the underlying causes of the violence (Global Times, November 20).

China’s plan has reportedly found acceptance in Naypyitaw and Dhaka and marks the start of a new phase in Beijing’s involvement in the Rohingya conflict (FMPRC, November 20). China’s role has hitherto been limited to providing humanitarian aid to the Rohingya refugees and protecting Myanmar from international censure.
Why is China now adopting a mediatory role in the conflict?
And is it likely to succeed in bringing peace to a restive region?
The Rohingya Conflict The Rohingya crisis began on August 25 when the Myanmar government declared the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) a terrorist organization in response to deadly attacks on police and army posts in Rakhine state in western Myanmar (Mizzima, August 28).

It also launched a military crackdown in Rakhine, which it maintains is aimed at the militants (Mizzima, October 16; Terrorism Monitor, November 10).

However, horrific violence has been unleashed on Rohingya civilians, including women and children. Entire villages have been razed. Over 600,000 of the estimated 1.1 million Rohingya in Myanmar are reported to have fled to Bangladesh (The Wire, November 17).

The current crisis is the most severe that the decades-old Rohingya conflict has witnessed. While the roots of the Rohingya conflict (like Myanmar’s other ethnic conflicts) can be traced back to colonial times, independence brought with it discrimination against the Rohingya that became systematic and serious.

A Muslim ethnic group that has inhabited the Rakhine state for centuries, the Rohingya do not figure among Myanmar’s 135 official ethnic groups. Since 1982, they have been denied citizenship, effectively rendering them stateless (Daily Sabah, October 23).

In addition to suffering at the hands of the military, the Rohingya have been targeted by Rakhine Buddhist vigilante groups too (The Wire, November 17).

The violence has triggered waves of Rohingya migration to neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Thailand, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Unwelcome in these countries as well, Rohingya refugees have been pushed back or languish in makeshift, overcrowded camps (The National, September 13).
China’s Support The Myanmar military’s reported atrocities against fleeing Rohingya civilians have evoked international outrage.
UN Human Rights Council Chief Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein described the situation in the Rakhine state as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” (UN News Centre, September 11). Several Muslim countries and the western powers have criticized Myanmar’s brutal crackdowns on the Rohingya too (Arab News, September 5 and First Post, September 23).

However, China has publically praised the Myanmar government’s crackdowns in Rakhine.
In September, the Chinese ambassador to Myanmar, Hong Liang, “strongly welcomed” “the counterattacks of Myanmar security forces against [Rohingya] extremist terrorists” and described its military campaign as “just an internal affair” (The Global New Light of Myanmar, September 14).

Later that month, Hong assured the Myanmar government that China would stand “firmly” by it on the international stage and continue providing it with “necessary assistance” to help it “uphold internal stability and development” (The Irrawaddy, September 27). At the UN, China has blocked resolutions against Myanmar and forced statements critical of its brutal military campaign against the Rohingyas to be watered down.

On November 6, for instance, the UN Security Council (UNSC) expressed “grave concern over reports of human rights violations and abuses in Rakhine State” and called on the Myanmar government “to ensure no further excessive use of military forces” there (United Nations, November 6).

While this was strong censure of the Myanmar military’s use of force against the Rohingya, this being a statement—and not a resolution—is not enforceable. China and Russia are reported to have forced the UNSC to issue a presidential statement rather than a resolution.

The UNSC statement denounces Myanmar’s violent handling of the crisis but it is inconsequential. China’s Interests in Rakhine China’s interest in the Rakhine state stems from its strategic location and rich resources.

The state is located on the Bay of Bengal, which opens into the Indian Ocean. Like Pakistan’s Gwadar port, which enables Beijing to transport West Asian oil, gas and other commodities through a shorter route via Pakistan to underdeveloped western China, the long Rakhine coastline provides southern China with access to the sea and eastern China with a shorter route to the Indian Ocean (China Brief, July 31, 2015 and Mizzima, October 31).

Ports and pipelines in Rakhine significantly free China’s trade with Africa and West Asia, especially its oil imports, from dependence on the congested Straits of Malacca (China Brief, July 31, 2015).
Additionally, Rakhine is rich in natural resources.
Large gas reserves were discovered in the waters off its coast in 2004. Beginning in 2008, China has bought gas from the area and transported it from Kyaukphyu on Rakhine’s coast to China’s Yunnan Province through the Myanmar-China Gas Pipeline since 2013.

This gas meets the needs of China’s Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces as well as that of other counties and cities. Since April this year, oil from Rakhine is being transported to China through a pipeline running parallel to the gas pipeline (China Daily, May 11 and Mizzima, October 31).

China is said to have invested around $2.5 billion in the oil and gas pipeline projects and is also investing $10 billion in the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone, which will include a deep-sea port and an industrial park, with the goal of turning Kyaukphyu into a maritime economic hub (Mizzima, October 31).

The areas that are the worst affected by the ongoing violence are in the north of Rakhine, near Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh. Although neither Kyaukphyu nor the oil and gas pipelines are located in or run through these restive areas, Beijing is still concerned.

The rise of ARSA and its mounting capacity to carry out attacks on well-secured targets indicates that it is only a matter of time before it strikes outside its stronghold. This has triggered concern in Beijing over the safety of infrastructure it has invested and built in the Rakhine state.

The Rakhine state plays a significant role in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Like Gwadar port in Pakistan, Kyaukphyu port and Myanmar will be important links in both the Maritime Belt and Silk Road components of the BRI.

As a result, the “stability of Rakhine” is regarded as “important” to the success of the BRI, political and ethnic affairs analyst U Maung Maung Soe has said (The Irrawaddy, September 4).

Concerns over the impact that violence and unrest in Rakhine could have on the success of its projects in Myanmar and the BRI, in particular, underlie China’s interest to end the Rohingya crisis and restore stability in the region.
China’s Strong Ties with Bangladesh
China has similarly invested heavily in upgrading and building port infrastructure, roads, bridges and railway lines in Bangladesh too. It is also Bangladesh’s top trade partner; Bangladesh provides a large market for Chinese goods. Defense ties are strong as well; Bangladesh is the second largest importer of Chinese weapons (after Pakistan) and accounted for 82 percent of all Bangladesh weapons purchases between 2009–2013 (China Brief, June 21, 2016).
China is also keen to protect its strong and growing interests and ties in Bangladesh.
There is concern in Bangladesh about Myanmar’s military campaign against the Rohingya, which is directly responsible for the flood of refugees into Bangladesh and has left Dhaka with the burden of providing shelter and relief to the Rohingya refugees.

Not only has Myanmar’s military strategy contributed to the refugee exodus but also, this has triggered Rohingya militancy. For Bangladesh, which is grappling with an array of jihadist groups already, the emergence of ARSA and the reported training of its cadres in sanctuaries in Bangladesh, poses an additional security threat.

China’s endorsement of Myanmar’s strategy on the Rohingya issue has understandably evoked “great disappointment” in Dhaka (Daily Star, November 13). To ease Dhaka’s burden of looking after the Rohingya refugees, China is providing aid, including tents and blankets to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh (Xinhuanet, October 13).

Chinese leaders are concerned with Bangladesh’s attempts to draw extra-regional powers to intervene in the crisis, prompting Beijing to accelerate efforts to bring Myanmar and Bangladesh to the negotiation table and end the refugee problem.
Will China’s Mediation Work?
In the past, China avoided playing mediator in conflicts beyond its borders, arguing that this went against its principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries. However, in recent years it has shown increasing willingness to mediate an end to conflicts.

It has, for instance, been involved in efforts to bring the Afghan government and the Taliban to the negotiation table (Express Tribune, March 7).
More recently, it undertook shuttle diplomacy between Afghanistan and Pakistan to arrest spiraling tensions between the two neighbors (Times of India, June 26).

China appears to be taking on a mediatory role in regions where it has strong economic and other interests, and is the primary motivation behind Beijing’s mediation in the Rohingya crisis. China’s promotion of a military-economic development approach to the Rohingya crisis can be expected to worsen the conflict.

Development of a violent region by external actors rarely benefits locals, as seen in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. China’s development of Gwadar port in the region prompted militants to target outsiders (Express Tribune, April 12, 2015; China Brief, July 31, 2015).

Projects in Rakhine are likely to benefit foreign investors, Rakhine Buddhists and the Barmar majority, not the marginalized Rohingya. Development that does not result in economic inclusion of the Rohingya will deepen existing grievances and generate new conflicts.

To resolve the conflict, it is important that Myanmar tackle the roots of the problems, which are primarily political: denial of citizenship and rights to the Rohingya people and discriminatory policies.
China is unlikely to nudge Myanmar on the citizenship issue.

Moreover, Myanmar’s military is known to be sensitive regarding state sovereignty, and is unlikely to respond positively to Chinese pressure on these issues. China may have significant political and economic influence in Bangladesh and Myanmar but it lacks other qualities that a mediator would need to succeed in settling the Rohingya conflict.

Notably, Bangladesh believes that China is biased towards Myanmar, and Beijing’s substantial economic and other interests in Rakhine can be expected to fuel Myanmar’s suspicions of China’s intentions and actions.
Conclusion Chinese mediation is unlikely to resolve the Rohingya conflict.
At best, its intervention could keep a lid on the violence being unleashed by the Myanmar military in the Rakhine state. This could usher in a measure of stability but not peace in Rakhine. In the future, China can be expected to offer to mediate in conflicts within and between countries where it has significant interests, especially involving countries that are part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Related Bangladesh says agreed with Myanmar for UNHCR to assist Rohingya's return
November 26, 2017
In "Blog" Mishandling the Rohingya Crisis May Open New Frontier for Terrorism
September 28, 2017
In "Commentary" Tentative Deal May See Myanmar’s Rohingya Go Home—But To What?
November 28, 2017 In "Blog"

- See more at: http://southasiajournal.net/rohingya-crisis-will-chinas-mediation-succeed/

 

[Banglar Bir]

https://www.facebook.com/

 

[Muhammed45]

https://www.facebook.com/

Evidence for Buddhists terrorists' torturing of the Rohingyan Muslims ::

 

[mb444]

BD need to begin arming and training the rohingya.

 

[mb444]

China has its own interest that they are seeking towards protect.

BD needs to do the same. Stability in Burma should not be our concern... make the Burmese monkeys bleed.

BD should continue to highlight the situation and exercise other options.

 

[UKBengali]

China has its own interest that they are seeking towards protect.

BD needs to do the same. Stability in Burma should not be our concern... make the Burmese monkeys bleed.

BD should continue to highlight the situation and exercise other options.

The refugees will not be going back as the Barmans have said they can take a maximum of 300 a day. This is 100,000 a year maximum.

BD needs to have a 5 year plan and it should look something like this:

1. 2019 - Deploy 1-2 squadrons of new 4th generation fighters and upgrade the 8 existing Mig-29s. BAF can then handle the MAF with ease.

2. 2020-201 - Train and arm the Rohingya to fight for their land

3. 2021-2022 - If the Rohingya are not able to free their homeland then BD needs to invade and annex northern Arakan.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Even the Bengali ethnic identity is new one, people before 1906 had no sense of it. So people who adopted the Rohingya name certainly has history without the Rohingya name around Bay of Bengal.

 

[Banglar Bir]

12:00 AM, December 04, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 02:30 AM, December 04, 2017
Pope defends his Myanmar strategy

Pope Francis
Agencies
Pope Francis on Saturday defended his strategy of avoiding the term "Rohingya" in Myanmar, saying he believed he got his message across to both the civilian and military leadership without shutting down dialogue.

Speaking to reporters aboard the plane returning to Rome from Bangladesh, the pontiff also indicated that he had been firm with Myanmar's military leaders in private meetings about the need for them to respect the rights of Rohingya refugees.

He also disclosed that he cried when he met a group of Rohingya refugees on Friday in Bangladesh, where he defended their rights by name in an emotional meeting, reports Reuters.

"For me, the most important thing is that message gets through, to try to say things one step at a time and listen to the responses," he said.

"I knew that if in the official speeches I would have used that word, they would have closed the door in our faces. But [in public] I described situations, rights, said that no one should be excluded, [the right to] citizenship, in order to allow myself to go further in the private meetings," he said.

Francis did not use the word Rohingya in public while on the first leg of the trip in Myanmar. Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar does not recognise the mostly Muslim Rohingya as an ethnic group with its own identity but as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

The pope met Myanmar's military leaders privately last Monday, shortly after his arrival in the nation's biggest city, Yangon.

The meeting had been scheduled for Thursday morning but the military pointedly asked at the last minute that it be pushed forward. The result was they saw the pope before the civilian leaders instead of the other way around, as had been planned.

NON-NEGOTIABLE TRUTHS
"It was a good conversation and the truth was non-negotiable," he said of his meeting with the military leaders.

The latest exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh of about 625,000 people followed a Myanmar military crackdown in response to Rohingya militant attacks on an army base and police posts on August 25.

Refugees have said scores of Rohingya villages were burnt to the ground, people were killed and women were raped. The military have denied accusations of ethnic cleansing by the United States and United Nations.

Asked if he used the word Rohingya during the private meeting with the military chiefs, the pope said: "I used words in order to arrive at the message and when I saw that the message had arrived, I dared to say everything that I wanted say".

He then gave a reporter a mischievous grin and ended his answer with the Latin phrase "Intelligenti Pauca," which means "Few words are enough for those who understand," strongly hinting that he had used the word the military detests while in their presence.

Human rights groups have criticised the country's de facto civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was under house arrest for a total of 15 years before the 2015 elections, for not taking a stand against the generals.

But Francis, who met with her privately on Tuesday, appeared to give her the benefit of the doubt because of her delicate relationship with the generals who were once her jailers.

"Myanmar is a nation that is growing politically, in transition," Francis said in response to a question about Suu Kyi and budding democracy in Myanmar.

"So things have to be viewed through this lens. Myanmar has to be able to look forward to the building of the country".

On Friday, Francis held an emotional encounter with Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and then used the word Rohingya for the first time on the trip, although he had defended them by name twice from the Vatican earlier this year.

He told the crowd where the Rohingya were that God's presence was within them and they should be respected.

"I was crying and tried to hide it," Francis said on the plane, recounting how moved he felt when the refugees recounted their ordeals to him.

SOCIAL MEDIA REACTIONS
Pope's comments sparked a flurry of online anger in Myanmar, a country locked off from modern communications for five decades but which now has an active social media.

"He is like a lizard whose colour has changed because of weather," said Facebook user Aung Soe Lin of the pope's strikingly different stances on the crisis.

"He should be a salesman or broker for using different words even though he is a religious leader," said another Facebook user called Soe Soe.

Myanmar's Catholic church had advised Francis not to stray into the incendiary issue of the status of the Rohingya in Myanmar, in case he worsened tensions and endangered Christians.

On his Myanmar trip, he treaded softly on the topic, urging unity, compassion and respect for all ethnic groups -- but not naming the Rohingya.

His caution initially won applause from Myanmar's tiny Catholic minority -- who feared a nationalist blowback -- as well as from Buddhist hardliners, who are on the defensive after a global outcry about the treatment of the group, AFP writes.

"The Pope is a holy person... but he said something here [in Myanmar] and he said different in other country," another Facebook user Ye Linn Maung posted.

"He should say the same things if he loves the truth."

Others were more sanguine about Francis' choice of language once he had left Myanmar soil.

Maung Thway Chun, chairman of an unofficial party of nationalists called the 135 Patriots Party, applauded the pope's decision not to name them in Myanmar despite pressure from rights groups.

“It means he respects Myanmar people," he said. "He even did not use the word many times in Bangladesh... I think he said it once, just to comfort human rights organisations."
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpa...sis-pope-defends-his-myanmar-strategy-1499746

 

[Banglar Bir]

Rohingya, realpolitik, and a strategic halo
Towheed Feroze
Published at 07:52 PM December 03, 2017
Last updated at 12:13 AM December 04, 2017

The Pope brought the Rohingya plight in front of the global audience
Photo: REUTERS
What impact can the Pope’s visit have on the Rohingya?
The unfolding Rohingya tragedy has gone through several manifestations, starting with the sea of desolate humanity entering Bangladesh, to the latest situation where the Pope was on stage in Bangladesh with the persecuted people, listening to their tales of woe.

All through this human catastrophe, what became evident plus perturbing at every step was the assertive presence of realpolitik over simple moral imperative.

Those who were supposed to be blamed unequivocally, were spared while international censure by global leaders often seemed too reserved, covered by layers of appeasing mealy-mouthed rhetoric.

We had a papal visit recently and the breaking news was that the Pope had eventually mentioned the word “Rohingya” in the end.

This he had carefully avoided doing in Myanmar, reportedly, to ensure that the minority Christian community in that country did not face the wrath of the people plus the military.

I am not blaming the spiritual leader, whose visit was more of a show of solidarity rather than to achieve anything tangible for the oppressed.

The real problem is pushed under the carpet
In all this frenzied activity around the displaced people, the actual problem — a country where the army is calling the shots with a flimsy face of farcical democracy — is never mentioned by anyone.

While there is circumspect rhetoric about maintaining social harmony among all ethnic minorities, global leaders have not pin-pointed the Rohingya issue, refraining from directly blaming the men in uniform whose actions drove scores of people to leave their homes to seek refuge in another state.

Interestingly, whenever we hear that some global icon is visiting either Myanmar or Bangladesh there is expectation that maybe there will be some direct admonition/denunciation of the atrocities.

The aid agencies have called this “ethnic cleansing,” while the narrative from several global movers and shakers was nebulous. The Indian PM totally ignored it during his trip to Myanmar.

In this whole operation of taking back the displaced people, unwavering involvement of other, more powerful nations are essential

Reportedly, the exodus of the people began following an attack on Myanmar security posts by insurgents.

Obviously, we do not support insurgency of any format but when global personalities only talk of one side of a problem, completely disregarding the other, more diabolical face of a situation, it seems like covert approval.

The deal, sealed?
An agreement has been signed recently between the two states to begin repatriation of the people who fled to Bangladesh. The valid question remains: With memories of torture and violence fresh in the minds, will they want to go back?

Naturally, Bangladesh can’t look after them forever since our resources are finite and, at one point or the other, a process of returning will start, but in this whole operation of taking back the displaced people, unwavering involvement of other, more powerful nations are essential.

The term “Rohingya” seems to be an anathema in Myanmar; and since the Pope cautiously sidelined the word, we can understand that even usage of it carries the potential to spark a socio-political upheaval.

If that is the case, then once these people go back, how will they be identified?

If I am not wrong, one of the desires of the people is to be known as Rohingya. Hypothetically speaking, let’s assume the people go back from where they fled. They will face the uphill task of rebuilding a shattered life plus the ignominy of having no identity.

Bluntly speaking, signing an agreement may be a way forward, though the most important part is to ensure that once the people go back, they feel some sense of security and live freely, not in ghettos.

To ensure this, Bangladesh needs to have major powers by her side, otherwise, down the line, there will be another incident triggering another exodus.

Realpolitik and business
And then there is the real world — comforting and caring in rhetoric, calculating and cold in thought.

Here, own interests take precedence. From what I understand, Myanmar, opening to the world after remaining cloistered for so long, is like corporate-business Shangri La. Everyone wants a chunk of it, either it’s for a fizzy drink or a pizza chain or for imposing infrastructure projects.

The green signal for justifying their commercial interests is the face of Suu Kyi — the so-called fledgling image of democracy.

Who actually calls the shots in Myanmar has become crystal clear from the Rohingya crisis; yet, for some odd reason, foreign dignitaries, during their visit to Myanmar, are mostly seen talking to the civilian face of the government when it’s in fact just a charade.

The rationale given by Western government representatives is that if they are seen talking to the military then it might be interpreted as giving legitimacy to the army control.

But let me ask, when you talk to a civilian front of a regime controlled by the military then what are you giving credence to?

The Pope called for unity among ethnic segments in Myanmar during his visit. Honestly, speaking such a line is so vague that it can actually be used in almost all countries in the world and one does not need a humanitarian disaster either.

But then, coming back to reality, what else could he have done? To look at the positive side, his visit worked indirectly, as the Pope, in Myanmar and Bangladesh, brought the Rohingya plight in front of the global audience, using the spiritual cachet as a catalyst for reconciliation.

Hopefully, this trip will inspire world leaders to unite and pressure Myanmar to treat the returnees with civility.

The halo in the right place at the right time — very strategic indeed.
Towheed Feroze is a journalist working in the development sector.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/2017/12/03/rohingya-realpolitik-strategic-halo/



‘Bangladesh’s image brighter worldwide over Rohingyas’ treatment’
Asif Showkat Kallol
Published at 09:15 PM December 03, 2017

File photo of State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan Dhaka Tribune
The state minister for finance and planning says countries that participated in two recent South-South Cooperation events have appreciated Bangladesh’s efforts in helping the refugees
Bangladesh government’s measures in tackling the ongoing Rohingya crisis have brightened the country’s image around the world, says State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan.

He said this on Sunday at a press conference at the Finance Ministry auditorium at the Secretariat in Dhaka while briefing reporters on Bangladesh’s participation in the South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Brazil and the Global South-South Development Expo 2017 in Turkey. Both events took place in November.

Mannan led the Bangladesh delegation at both events.

South-South Cooperation is a broad framework for collaboration among developing countries based on the concept of solidarity that breaks the traditional dichotomy between donors and recipients.

The state minister told reporters the countries that participated in two South-South Cooperation events last month appreciated Bangladesh’s efforts in helping and sheltering the Rohingya refugees.

The latest exodus from Myanmar’s Rakhine State to Bangladesh of about 625,000 Rohingyas had followed a Myanmar military crackdown in response to Rohingya militant attacks on an army base and police posts on August 25.

Refugees have said scores of Rohingya villages were burnt to the ground, people were killed and women were raped. The military, however, have denied accusations of ethnic cleansing by the US and the UN.
http://www.thedailystar.net/busines...nh-cambodia-sign-10-deals-instruments-1499920

Rohingya crisis: 73 countries respond to Bangladesh’s call at UNHRC
Sheikh Shahriar Zaman
Published at 01:50 AM December 04, 2017

Rohingya refugee children carry supplies through Balukhali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, October 23, 2017 Reuters
China and India have refrained from taking a side, but Bangladesh is continuing diplomatic effort to get its powerful neighbours on board
Bangladesh is yet to sidestep from mounting international pressure on Myanmar even after signing a bilateral agreement on Rohingya repatriation. And as a part of the process, the government has invoked the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to call a special session to discuss the human rights condition of the Muslims and the other minorities in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia recently sent a notice to the UNHRC in this regard, and received support of 33 of the 47 member states. Also, 40 other states, which are not UNHRC members, have given their support to the move.

Although, China and India refrained from taking a side, Bangladesh is continuing diplomatic efforts to get its powerful neighbours on board.

A Bangladesh government official said they were trying to adopt a unanimous resolution regarding the special UNHRC session.

All the subjects mentioned at UN’s Third Committee Resolution are also in the latest resolution of UNHRC. Some new issues have also been appended with it, another official added.

In the Third Committee Resolution, Myanmar was asked to reconsider its 1982 Citizenship Act to provide the Rohingyas with full-fledged citizenship. The resolution had also asked the Myanmar government to bring those involved in the Rohingya persecution to book.

Asked which elements were added to this resolution, the second official said: “We want the UNHRC to be more involved with the issue and that is why we have made the special recommendation.”

For and against Bangladesh’s call
Among the 47 UNHRC member states, China has always been on the side of Myanmar. They had asked Bangladesh to be more ductile and resolved the issue bilaterally.

Referring to this, the government official said: “Our effort to have China change their position is still on.”

Regarding India’s stance, the official said: “We are also maintaining contact with India. We want the resolution to be unanimously adopted. Even if any nation chooses to go against it, we still believe the resolution will be accepted nevertheless receiving majority vote.”

More than 620,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh in the face of an ethnic cleansing carried out by Myanmar military forces in Rakhine state since August 25.

Since then, the Bangladesh government has been making extensive diplomatic efforts to stop the atrocity and send back the Rohingya refugees to their homeland.
The article was first published on banglatribune.com
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2017/12/04/rohingya-crisis-rights-council/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Anger in Myanmar social media as Pope pronounces ‘Rohingya’
Agence France-Presse . Yangon | Published: 01:25, Dec 04,2017 | Updated: 01:37, Dec 04,2017

Pope Francis places his hand on a Rohingya orphan girl during an interreligious meeting in Dhaka on December 1. — AFP photo

Pope Francis’s embrace of the Rohingya during a trip to Bangladesh has sparked some angry comment on social media in Myanmar, where just days earlier he chose not to publicly air their plight.
On Friday the head of the Catholic church met a group of refugees from Myanmar’s stateless Muslim minority in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

He referred to them as ‘Rohingya’ – a term unacceptable to many in Myanmar where they are reviled as alleged ‘Bengali’ illegal immigrants rather than as a distinct ethnic group.

During his public addresses on the previous leg of his trip in mainly Buddhist Myanmar, Francis did not refer to the group by name or directly allude to the crisis in Rakhine state, from where over 623,000 Rohingya have fled since August.

His caution initially won applause from Myanmar’s tiny Catholic minority – who feared a nationalist blowback – as well as from Buddhist hardliners, who are on the defensive after a global outcry about the treatment of the group.

A deadly attack by Rohingya militants on police posts in late August sparked a ferocious crackdown in Rakhine by the Myanmar military, which the US and UN describe as ethnic cleansing.

As he arrived back at the Vatican, the pontiff said he had taken up the Rohingya cause in private in Myanmar, also describing how he wept after meeting the group of refugees.

‘I wept: I tried to do it in a way that it couldn’t be seen,’ he told reporters. ‘They wept too.’
The comments sparked a flurry of online anger in Myanmar, a country locked off from modern communications for five decades but which now has an active social media.

‘He is like a lizard whose colour has changed because of weather,’ said Facebook user Aung Soe Lin of the pope’s strikingly different stances on the crisis.

‘He should be a salesman or broker for using different words even though he is a religious leader,’ said another Facebook user called Soe Soe.

Myanmar’s Catholic church had advised Francis not to stray into the incendiary issue of the status of the Rohingya in Myanmar, in case he worsened tensions and endangered Christians.

In his public addresses he treaded softly on the topic, urging unity, compassion and respect for all ethnic groups – but not naming the Rohingya.

‘The Pope is a holy person... but he said something here (in Myanmar) and he said different in other country,’ another Facebook user Ye Linn Maung posted.
http://www.newagebd.net/article/29648/anger-in-myanmar-social-media-as-pope-pronounces-rohingya