Forced Bengali-zation of Rohingyas Led to a Quarrel between Rohingya Refugees and Immigration

RB News 

April 27, 2013 

Sittway (Akyab), Arakan - Yesterday (i.e. on 26th April 2013), starting at 9AM, a forced attempt to Bengali-ze Rohingyas, under the banner of so-called census on Rohingya population in the camps of displaced Rohingyas in Sittwe, took place led by a joint group of immigration, Police, NaSaKa (Border Security Force), Lone Htain (Security Force), Military, State Administration and the representatives from Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP). 

In the end, refugees from the respective camps, in their inability to take the forced Bengali-zation anymore, protested that they were not Bengalis but Rohingyas only. 

Meanwhile, one of the joint groups left the Rohingya quarter of Bumay upon the denials of theirs (Rohingyas) to participate in any such process of Benga-lization of Rohingyas. 

Then, upon the arrival of another group to the camps of displaced Rohingyas in Thay-Chaung (Than-Paing-Nya) with the same purpose, women and children in the camps refused to participate in such fraudulent process. The group, too, left without carrying out their process. 

A similar incidence took place in the village of Da’-Paing as well. 

Starting around 10AM, a group came to the camp of Bawdupha. Children and Women in the camp demonstrated for about two hours that they could not participate in the process that would give them a wrong identity forever. 

It led to a quarrel between the local and displaced Rohingyas (in the Bawdupha camp and the village of Thet Kay Pyin) and the inquiry group. Police and NaSaKa shot 20 times in the air and then, at the crowd. A 15-year-old teenager named Mohammed Ali S/o Kabir Ahmed got severely injured as he was hit by a bullet. Although his injury is severe, he is finding hard to take medication. 

The inquiry personnel entered a Rohingya house nearby the school of Thet Kay Pyin and called up its family for investigation. Upon questioning the race of a Rohingya teenager in the family, he replied “Rohingya.” One of the officers forced him to say “Bengali” through the interpreter; he (the teenager) refused to follow. And then, the officer slapped the teenage boy screaming “do you know where I am from? I am from Taunggup Township.” Therefore, other Rohingyas were unable to take the insults and offence at the boy and started to throw stones at the inquiry group. A military person, on his run, broke his nose and chin as he stumbled on the road and other few members also got some minor injuries because of the stones thrown at them” said a Rohingya from Sittwe. 

“They don’t want to give us time or space to breathe. They carry out an operation after an operation against us: sometimes by central government, sometimes by Police or NaSaka or some other time by the state government. Their ultimate plan is to drive all of us out” he added. 

After an hour, Security Forces, Military and other concerned authority came to Thet Kay Pyin camp and others where the quarrel took place accused the elders of the villages and camps that the quarrel happened because of their incitements. Then, they arrested Daw Salema Khatun D/o U Siraaz (42) from the village of Thet Kay Pyin and Mohammed Hashim S/o Mohammed Hussain (15) from Dun-Pyin (South) just because the immigration officers demonstrated at them that they knew how the quarrel took place. 

Besides, at 4:45PM, the State Government arrested 2 Rohingya elders, U Kyaw Myint and U Ba Tha. The reason for their arrest has not been known yet. While they have still been detained, many other people are also being arbitrarily arrested. Therefore, Rohingyas in the region are extremely worried. 

“Today morning police came. They searched for 3 persons. They arrested U Kyaw Khin, Chairman of Thet Kay Pyin village and U San Linn, an officer from Fire Brigade Department. Yet, they are looking for U Yusuf who is working at Postal Office.” a villager from Thet Kay Pyin told to RB News. 

Since last week, the officers from the Arakan State Government in Sittwe have been visiting Rohingya areas by cars and announcing (through amplifiers) that there would be a 50-day census (from 26.4.2013 to 15.6.2013) carried out on the population of Bengalis (in their term). They have also distributed leaflets. 

Rohingya elders mentioned in the weekly meeting at the Camp Management Office last week that the whole Rohingya community rejects the term “Bengali Representative” used in the leaflets. 

(Translated into English by Maung Aurther)