BRAFA Delegation met with Congresswomen Gwen Moore’s District Office Director in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
A delegation of BRAFA consisting of Shaukhat @ MSK Jilani (Chairman), Hussain Saifula (Vice-Chairman), and Max Zubair Ahamad (General Secretary) met with District Director Lois O’Keefe of the Congresswomen Gwen Moore’s District Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the date of January 23, 2013 and discussed about the plights of Burmese Rohingyas and Arakan Muslim population in Burma.
During the discussion on the roundtable, BRAFA Chairman highlighted and draw the attention of Congresswomen Gwen Moore as following:-
Since June 03, 2012 to October 2012, due to the atrocities, persecutions, ethnic cleansing and genocidal actions carried out by the Buddhist Rakhine political and elites group with the full supporting of Burmese military security forces on the indigenous Rohingya people in Arakan State, Burma which affected:-
1- Over 10,000 Rohingya people were killed and burned down by the Buddhist Rakhine groups and Burmese security forces in duty,
2- About 20,000 Rohingyas houses plus 57 mosques have been set fire and destroyed from 70 Muslim villages across 8 Townships of Arakan, Burma,
3- More than 135,000 Muslim Rohingyas have been displaced and became homeless and now living in the concentration camps as internally displaced persons (IDP) and refugees in their own country,
4- The living condition of the concentration camp is very poor, unhygienic, and overcrowded. the people in the concentration camp are not getting enough foods, clean water, and medical supplies and even people cannot move from one place to another, and no safety and protection at all, as well as elderly people, pregnant women and minor children are dying day to day because of shortages of food, poor hygiene, lack of medical facilities and malnutrition.
5- Thousands of Muslim population owned shops, market and commercial store have been confiscated by the Burmese government officials and never return back to the rightful owners,
6- hundreds of Muslims women and girls were raped by the Buddhists Rakhine people and Burmese security forces during the attack and violence in the name of protecting and helping them, and also many Muslim youths, students and religious scholars are being arrested by the Burmese government security forces and charged them with false and illegal allegations and presently, estimated 1,200 Muslim Rohingyas are in the Burmese jails in Arakan,
The BRAFA Chairman also told that Muslim Rohingyas are deprived of Burmese citizenship rights in Burma and currently, living as stateless people in their native land. In addition, the Arakan State Government officials, Immigration Authorities, NASAKA (Burma Border Security Forces) and Dr. Aye Maung led Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) members are now compelling the innocent Rohingya people to confess Bengali ethnicity and taking signatures by force in family data check-up to prove them foreigners. The leaders and members of RNDP and Arakan State Government authorities are also being implemented a program of segregation policy not allowing the Rohingyas and Arakan Muslims to go to Downtown and other places of inside Arakan State.
He further said that because of continuous persecutions, looting, torture and harassment by the Burmese security forces and armed Buddhist Rakhine groups, thousands of Muslim Rohingyas fled the country through the sea and now entering into neighboring ASEAN countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, and moreover currently, many Rohingya people are under immigration detention in Thailand and Malaysia who fled the country to escape persecution and torture at the hands of Burmese security forces and armed Rakhine groups in Arakan,
The BRAFA Chairman also appealed to Congresswomen Gwen Moore through her District Director Lois O’Keefe the following three (3) points:-
1- To put paramount pressure on the Burmese President Thein Sein and his military Government Ministers through US Congress to end atrocities, rapes, torture and controlled genocide against the civilian Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority group in Arakan,
2- To introduce a legislation in favor of suffering Rohingya ethnic minority people of Arakan in the US Congress and also send strong messages to Burmese President Thein Sein to restore Burmese citizenship and basic fundamental human rights for the Rohingya ethnic minority people who were living in Arakan for centuries,
3- Until peace and security prevailing in Arakan State, recommend to dispatch UN Peace Keeping Forces in Arakan to protect the Rohingya ethnic minority and Arakan Muslim population from the ongoing atrocities, gross human rights violation, extermination and genocide committed by the Burmese government, its security forces and Buddhist Rakhine people.
