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How much worse do things have to get before appropriate pressure is placed on Myanmar by the Muslim world? [Reuters]

By Emanuel Stoakes
Al Jazeera
March 25, 2014

The Myanmar government denies the latest report on violence against the Rohingya minority.

When news broke in mid-January this year of an alleged massacre of ethnic Rohingya Muslims near the town of Maungdaw in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state, it elicited widespread international concern.

Shortly after the story made headlines in international media, spokesmen for the government of Myanmar, by contrast, issued a different account of the events denying that anyone had been killed.

Questions remain as to why or how they arrived at such a conclusion so quickly.

Following this, a number of NGOs and monitor groups released statements on the incident: The United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights augmented earlier press pieces on the reported slaughter, all of which strongly indicated that dozens had been killed, while the local police did not attempt to prevent the attack.

Around this time, the medical aid charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) independently corroborated claims of violence by publicly stating that they had treated people from the affected village of Du Chee Yar Tan.

These concurring reports from respected NGOs and media outlets stood sharply at odds with Myanmar's hastily-issued and persisting living in denial rhetoric.

Shortly after this incident, MSF were expelled from the country; a suspension that was later revised to include Rakhine state only.

A farcical inquiry

In March, the final and most complete of three inquiries ordered by the Myanmar government in the wake of the alleged attack was released. Many had hoped that it would provide a balanced assessment of the available evidence, prefiguring a modification of Naypyidaw's standpoint.

This, however, was not the case: In a manner reminiscent of the findings of Sri Lanka's self-commissioned and heavily criticised "Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission" report, the paper's conclusions conveniently all but endorsed the position maintained from the beginning by the government.

While the investigators firmly denied doing the government's bidding, however, when one reads the commission's report, it appears to be so permeated with anti-Rohingya bias and methodological flaws.

In the report, which was distributed among NGOs and was not made available online, de facto opinion polls were cited as evidence and Rohingya testimony was used selectively . For example, the report's authors refer to Rohingya statements approvingly when assessing the veracity of the claims related to the killing of the Rakhine policeman, but dismiss them when dealing with allegations of the slaughter of their brethren.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the report, beyond what some may consider its almost confessional symmetry with the stance of the government, are some of its recommendations. They read more like an attempt to license authoritarian practices than advance transparency or human rights.

One of the suggestions made is that the media and NGOs be unilaterally made to abide by "operational procedures" set by the government - by implication including how they report on such incidents - and that "firm and effective action" be taken against those that violate such impositions.

There are reasonable grounds to fear that if implemented, such measures could be used as a pretext to expel NGOs that speak out in similar circumstances in the future, or even grant the government effective veto power on statements by international groups.

Another striking recommendation was the security forces in Rakhine State be provided with training and equipment in order to better deploy "psychological warfare" in similar situations - evidently not for the benefit of any putative victims in such circumstances.

Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights, an organisation which also investigated the incident, described the report in scathing terms. He contended that the inquiry's paper represented a "surprisingly crude cover up" of the events near Maungdaw, noting also that "following the violence, the village was cordoned off for an extended period of time and important questions remain about the location of bodies".

"The commission's self-imposed methodology required physical evidence of dead bodies to even suggest killings may have taken place. That's a conveniently high evidentiary threshold, basically allowing the government to call into question the UN report... Entire firsthand testimonies from Rohingya were discounted for lack of evidence or because alleged victims names weren't on the household registries," he added.

Given the above, for anyone to suggest that the issues related to Du Chee Yar Tan have been "dealt with" by the government, would be intellectually dishonest in the extreme.

But this should surprise no one: In order to judge Naypyidaw's interest in the human rights of the Rohingya, one has to simply review its response to damning evidence of such crimes over the past 12 months.

When Human Rights Watch accused state agencies of complicity in crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at the Rohingya in 2013, the president simply dismissed the accusations against security forces and the military as a "smear campaign". When protesters against the Letpadaung copper mine were burnt with white phosphorous by the police in Northern Myanmar in 2012, impunity reigned in the aftermath.

Most recently, when careful analysis of leaked government documents by Fortify Rights proved beyond doubt that Naypyidaw is backing the persecution of the minority as part of long-standing government policy, a spokesman for the president contemptuously responded "we never pay attention to organisations such as Fortify Rights, which openly lobby for the Bengalis".

The government of Myanmar refers to Rohingya as "Bengalis", in accordance with its official depiction of the group as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, who entered the country during the British colonial era. Such a stance isat variance with evidence that strongly indicates that the group have a far longer history in the country.

Official silence

Meanwhile, for the Rohingya, life is only getting worse. Now that MSF has gone, according to sources in the press and reliable contacts on the ground with whom I have spoken, so have all emergency services. This is no small matter, and its consequences are being felt already. According to the New York Times, 150 people have already died, including 20 women in childbirth - and more will inevitably die, as MSF torturously negotiates some way to return.

As the plight of the minority continues to worsen, moving with a trajectory that appears deeply ominous, it remains an issue that those ultimately responsible - the government of Myanmar - have hardly been taken to task about by politicians from Muslim nations. Turkey, perhaps the best respondent to the crisis, has been rather mild in its criticism of the government. 

Members of ASEAN, with influence over the country, are perhaps the most culpable of neglect in this regard. 

As a consequence, this friendless and highly imperilled minority are made even more hopeless, to the shame of those who can and should be doing more. This begs the question: How much worse do things have to get before appropriate pressure is placed on Myanmar by the Muslim world?

It is a question that may yet be answered in the grimmest fashion.

Emanuel Stoakes is a freelance journalist and researcher whose principal area of interest is human rights and conflict. He has produced work for Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The New Statesman and Souciant Magazine, among others.



For Immediate Release
March 24, 2014
Contact: Erik Leaver
240-535-8725 | eleaver@endgenocide.org

Interviews with former Congressman Tom Andrews available

Campaign Launched to Stop March to Genocide Against Muslim Minority In Burma

Calls on President Obama to Act Immediately to Pressure Government of Burma to End Lethal Attacks

140,000 Living in Concentration Camp-like Conditions, Denied Medical Aid; 
Tens of Thousands Risking Lives to Flee by Sea

The situation in Burma could soon result in genocide if the United States and the international community fail to act immediately.

Former U.S. Congressman and United to End Genocide President Tom Andrews and United to End Genocide Policy Director Dan Sullivan just returned from Burma after spending nearly a month on a fact finding mission.

In a report released today, “Marching to Genocide in Burma” they find that the warning signs of mass violence are clear. Documented murderous attacks fomented by radical Buddhist monks have killed hundreds, forced tens of thousands to flee the country, and driven 140,000 into internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. The government of Burma has ordered the Nobel Peace Laureate organization Doctors Without Borders to shut down all medical care operations in Rakhine State, home to an estimated 800,000 Rohingya, including the camps.

In response to what they saw, United to End Genocide, the largest organization in America dedicated to preventing and ending genocide and mass atrocities worldwide, is launching a report and campaign today demanding that President Obama pressure the government of Burma to immediately protect the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.

The campaign calls on President Obama to:

1) Issue a public demand to President Thein Sein of Burma to allow Doctors Without Borders to unconditionally re-open all clinics in Rakhine State and restore all health care services to those in desperate need;

2) Demand a credible independent investigation of violence against Muslims in Burma – that includes international investigators - and hold perpetrators of this violence fully accountable;

3) Rescind the invitation to the Defense Minister of Burma to the ASEAN meeting of Defense Ministers April 1-3 in Hawaii and suspend other official engagements until the above mentioned concerns are addressed;

4) Update the targeted sanctions list of Specially Designated Nationals to include individuals responsible for perpetrating the recent violence in Burma and announce consideration of renewal of U.S. sanctions and continued suspension of trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences.

Copies of the report, “Marching to Genocide in Burma” are available at: 



RB News 
March 24, 2014

Maungdaw, Arakan – Police from Kyain Chaung police station have burned the genitals of five innocent Rohingya women after being arrested on March 10th and 15th on false allegations. 

An innocent Rohingya woman from Sin Thay Pyin hamlet of Longdon village tract was arrested by police on false allegation that she torched houses within the village. More than 100 houses were burnt down to ashes on March 10th. Although Phan Myaung hamlet of Nga Sar Kyu village tract was a distance away and a there is stream that is 100 feet wide between the two hamlets, 72 houses in Phan Myaung hamlet was also burnt down. The fire wasn’t accidental but it was systematically torched by Rakhine extremists by using chemicals. 

Again, fire started in the same hamlets on March 15th and 15 houses burnt down to ashes. Four innocent Rohingya women were arrested on that day and were brought to Kyain Chaung police station. The police harassed them by various ways. They burnt their genitals with candles. The women were sent to Kyain Chaung hospital on March 16th for the treatment. The doctor of the hospital, Dr. Nu Kaythi Zan blamed the police for inhumanly burning the genitals of the women, according to locals.

On March 17th, the women were sent to the court in Maungdaw for interrogation and later brought back to Kyain Chaung police station. As one woman has a baby who still in need of mother’s milk, the police brought the baby to the police station through the village administrator. The villagers from Kyain Chaung provided 3 sets of clothes for the women as they don’t have the clothes to change into.

From March 21st, the women were brought to Maungdaw police station and now they are under custody of Maungdaw police, the locals told RB News.

MYRAF contributed in reporting. 

Muslim Rohingyas at prayer (Photo: Reuters)

March 24, 2014

Ye Htut, spokesman for the President’s Office, told DVB on Monday that the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to summon the Bangladeshi ambassador to object to an article in the Dhaka Tribune which opined that Burma’s Rohingyas be offered a referendum on whether to secede from the Union.

“We will never allow such damage to the sovereignty and territory of our country,” Ye Htut said. “Therefore we will object to this kind of writing. We will also monitor our own country to ensure the same situation is not replicated.”

Written as an op-ed by journalist Zasheen Khan, the Dhaka Tribune article draws upon the recent precedence of Crimea to suggest that the Rohingyas “should have the option of forming an independent country between Bangladesh and Myanmar [Burma], unfeasible as that might be, its incorporation into Bangladesh should not be taken off the table if such an opportunity ever presents itself.”

The author does not quote any Bangladeshi government source, nor a Rohingya, to corroborate any support for his proposition, relying instead on allegations of persecution of the Rohingya community in Burma, selected historical tidbits, and some miscellaneous international precedents to outline his case.

Despite the inefficacy of the argument presented, the article immediately caused a stir on social media sites among Burmese and Bangladeshis. Even Rohingya commentators weighed in, expressing displeasure and contempt for any notion of autonomy or secession from Burma for the Rohingya Muslim community in Arakan State.

Outspoken Nay San Lwin of the website Rohingya Blogger called the article “horrible” and said Rohingyas would never separate from Burma.

“If there was a referendum Rohingyas will say, ‘We are Burmese. We are Myanmar’s Rohingya. We are part of Myanmar and we will always be part of Myanmar’,” the blogger concluded.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s Journalists Association has also condemned the author, saying the article was written based on “fabricated and distorted historical backgrounds and facts with intent to incite religious and racial hatred and conflicts in Myanmar, violating journalistic ethics, interfering in Myanmar’s domestic affairs and infringing on Myanmar’s sovereignty.”



RB News 
March 24, 2014

A side event took place at the 25th UN Human Rights Council Session on the 17th of March, 2014. The event was organized by the International Peace Bureau. The speakers are Mr Tomas Ojea Quintana, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Burma, Maung Tun Khin President of Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Chris Lewa, Director of Arakan Project and Melanie Teff Senior Advocate and European Representative of Refugees International. The event was hosted by Me Colin Archer, Secretary General of International Peace Bureau. Diplomatics, INGOs and officials from UK, USA, OIC and Norway joined the event. 

BROUK President Tun Khin mainly spoke about the Rohingya people’s urgent demand for urgent safety and security in Arakan State. He also raised the mission at the meeting to support an International independent investigation. The Burmese government is allowing mass protests against the Rohingya being able to register as Rohingya, and then attempting to use these protests as justification for its own pre-planned discriminatory and illegal policies against the Rohingya. 

Moreover Tun Khin informed about current census to the mission. “I believed that it is critical for Rohingyas to put our ethnicity name Rohingya. I pinpointed discrimination against the Rohingya, and is triggering a new wave of anti-Rohingya protests which are likely to lead to more violence against the Rohingya. Why are the United Nations and international donors helping the Burmese government conduct a census which discriminates against the Rohingya and could lead to more Rohingya people being killed?” Tun Khin told RB News.

Quintana joined the event and he mentioned that the Rohingya situation is totally opposite from other parts of Burma. Quintana said that "The pattern of widespread and systematic human rights violations in Rakhine State may constitute crimes against humanity as defined under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court."

Chris Lewa and Melanie Teff talked about current situation of Rohingyas in camps and others parts of Arakan. Both of the speakers pushed international community in a strong way to handle to reach aid and to pressure President Thein Sein to lift up restrictions on movement, marriage and education. 

After the event all the speakers joined with Quitana at UN Human Rights Council hall to listen to Quintana's presentation. Many countries including US, UK and EU countries supported Quintana’s report and comments that it is important to call for credible investigation recent Du Chee Yar Tan Massacre in Arakan State.



By C.R. Abrar
March 23, 2014

Murky side of the new Burma

FOR investors, corporations and governments of the West, the last couple of years were perhaps the beginning of the best of times in Burma. The opening up of the economy and the concomitant liberalisation of the country's political process has been welcome by all. Such moves of the Burmese government have been reciprocated by rather quick return of the one-time pariah state back into the comity of nations as evidenced in the high level visits by the who's who of the world.

While the west celebrates its success in bringing the one time reclusive yet brutal regime to engage in democratic civility, facts emerging from just leaked confidential state documents provide the uncomfortable fact that the Burmese leadership has been engaged in a sustained insidious campaign against the Rohingya population of the Arakan state.

The world had heard and wished to believe that the events that unfolded in the Arakan state and beyond in 2012 and 2013 were aberrations rather than outcomes of deliberate policy of the Burmese and Arakan state governments. Arguments were also made that such occurrences were orchestrated by those who are opposed to the democratisation process. The regime was at pains to make the world believe that it was doing its best to bring order and harmony to the region. The recently published document by the Bangkok based Fortify Rights has debunked all the above claims and rationalisations of the regime and its apologists. In effect, the Report establishes the fact that expulsion of the Rohingyas has been a carefully planned agenda of the Burmese leadership both at the State and the national levels and there is no evidence that they have abandoned the pursuit of that agenda.

The publication validates the contention that the “state and the central government authorities are responsible for denying Rohingyas fundamental human rights by limiting their freedom of movement, marriage and childbirth, among other aspects of the daily life.” Fortify Rights report provides evidence that protracted human rights violations result from state policies and “could amount to crime against humanity...”

In total, the Report identifies twelve internal government documents, eight of which outline official policies targeting Rohingyas in the Arakan state. Three among them are 'regional orders' issued between 1993 and 2008, five are addenda to those orders. The other four documents relate specifically to Muslims who live outside the Arakan state.

It may be noted that reports published from to time in the past by various offices such as the UN Special Rapporteurs and agencies, international human rights organisations and news agencies had referred to these Orders, but so far they had remained unpublished. The policies incorporated in the report all point to the Burmese authorities' determination of cutting the lifeline of the Rohingyas so that their existence in that country become unsustainable.

The Report reveals that an important aspect of the government concerns has been 'population control' of the Rohingyas. The security forces were empowered and provided with guidelines to resort to abusive practices in order to check the birth rate of the Rohingyas. The Regional Order 1/ 2005 outlines a strict two-child policy for those Rohingyas “who have permission to marry” as well as “to limit the number of children, in order to control the birth rate so that there is enough food and shelter.” Under the Order, Rohingyas were also barred from having children out of wedlock. Needless to say, such a draconian policy has resulted in serious hardship for women and children as they had to resort to illegal and unsafe clinics resulting in serious consequences and even death.

Another “population control” related edict authorised officials to force Rohingya women to breastfeed infants in the presence of soldiers. This was to be implemented “if there is suspicion of someone being substituted (in the family registry)” in order to confirm the women are the birth mothers and to accurately record the mother of the children in each family.

The released documents bring out in the open the official policies pertaining to marriage of the Rohingyas. Between 1993 and 2008 the Rakhine State authority fine tuned a number of measures and developed a consistent policy document named “Requirements for Bengalis (Rohingyas) who apply for Permission to Marry.” It detailed ten requirements that Rohingyas needed to meet in order for the authorities to approve a marriage request. The Rohingya community found the conditions humiliating and prohibitively expensive. Fortify Rights and other activists have argued such stiff policy violates the right to marriage as articulated by Article 23 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is pertinent to note that no other ethnic community is required to seek permission for marriage. That makes the Order discriminatory against the Rohingyas.

Restrictions on freedom of movement of the Rohingyas were the concern of a few other Orders. These measures brought major hardships to the Rohingyas as they severely curtailed the scope to eke out a living under a very difficult condition. They also constrained them to seek medical attention outside their places of habitat. The Orders essentially barred movement of Rohingyas within and between townships without prior authorisation. They also made travel outside the Arakan state even more difficult as further stipulations were imposed for securing permission for that kind of travel. Again, a close scrutiny would reveal that these restrictions on freedom of movement are in conflict with international human rights standards.

A number of leaked documents inform that breaches of the Orders would amount to criminal offense. The penalties range from several years of imprisonment or fine or both.

There is a strong case to argue that the Orders and the restrictions scripted in those documents are still in force. Senior functionaries of the central government and those of the State government of Arakan have made approving references to those Orders in their private and public pronouncements, particularly during and in the aftermath of recent spates of violence of 2012 and 2013. Fortify Rights provides evidence that in 2011 the then minister of defence cited these Orders and so did the minister of home affairs on July 31, 2012 on the floor of the Parliament. The latter said that the Burmese authorities were “tightening the regulations [against Rohingyas] in order to handle travelling, birth, death, immigration, migration, marriage, construction of new religious buildings, repairing and land ownership and right to construct building [sic[ of Bengalis [Rohingyas] under the law.”
It is widely acknowledged that the new leaders of Burma are continuing the policies of their predecessors to attain the goal of ridding Arakan of the undesirable Rohinygas. In the pursuit of this policy, instead of rescinding the harsh and illegal Orders framed by the junta, they continue to uphold and nurture them. These policies have brought untold sufferings to the Rohingyas, making them the most vulnerable minority community of the world.

Prima facie evidence has been established that in dealing with the Rohingyas the Burmese leadership has engaged in acts of 'crime against humanity.' It is time the international community, particularly the West, exerts meaningful pressure on the Burmese leaders to reverse their Rohingya policy. The world must come to terms with the counter factual that the best of times for the western corporations in Burma is paralleled by the worst of times for the Rohingya population. Inaction in the face of expulsion of the Rohingyas will indeed be a blot on humanity's conscience as was the extermination of the Jews in Nazi Germany.

The writer teaches International Relations and coordinates the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit, University of Dhaka.

RB News 
March 23, 2014 

Maungdaw, Arakan – A staged video shoot took place in Maungdaw Township of Arakan state by the authorities and Rakhines group. 

Today at 8:30 am a video shoot started in Maungdaw Township. The video was being shot at Myoma stadium and north eastern side of stadium. The scene they filmed imitated firing at a Rakhine crowd by the Hlun Htain police. 

Specifically, the filming was of a group of about 300 Rakhines who were chanting and coming from the west side of the road while holding swords and sticks. About 100 Hlun Htain police spread into three lines in front of Rakhine group. The Hlun Htaine opened fire into the air and each time they fired at least two Rakhines fell down. Some people picked the people who had fallen. 

The filming was from 8:30 am to 11 am. Local Rohingya residents fear it is to cover up something in front of international community. They are very concerned about possible reasons Rakhine and Police would want to stage such an event.

MYARF contributed in reporting.
By Nay San Lwin
RB Opinion
March 22, 2014

A controversial article written by Zeeshan Khan from Dhaka Tribune on March 20, 2014 is horrible and has cause problems. The author, Zeeshan Khan isn’t an external contributor to Dhaka Tribune but he is journalist of it. According to his name I believe that he is a Muslim.

Many Rohingyas left from their native land because of the persecution by Myanmar authorities and most of them are taking refuge in the neighbouring country of Bangladesh. As they are again persecuted in Bangladesh by local people, we can’t say that Muslims sympathize the Muslims. Although about 500,000 Rohingyas are in Bangladesh as documented refugees and undocumented refugees, not one has a chance to move politically or anything else. The Rakhine Buddhists on the other hand, who have fled from Myanmar have many chances.

I know some journalists in Bangladesh are taking money from Rakhine politicians and are writing up many wrongs against Rohingyas and publishing in the media. As an example: Rakhine historian Professor Aye Chan used to send articles to Rahul Chakma and posted many articles in Bangladesh media against Rohingyas. If Professor Aye Chan denied this fact, I can challenge him to talk to me face to face. Now I’d like to accuse that something of the author of “A referendum in Rakhine state?”, Zeeshan Khan.

Rohingyas are taking risky sea journeys and leaving from their native land because of torture, extortion and various types of oppression. Yet none of the Rohingya think for an armed revolution, separating the state from the country and collaborating with the neighboring country Bangladesh. There was proof of whether Rohingyas wanted to be part of Myanmar when Rakhine Buddhists asked for Rakhine state. The Rohingyas wanted to be part of Union of Burma and they were under direct administration of central government by the name of Mayu Frontier special administration when Rakhine state was allowed to form.

I have only two points to criticize the article of Zeeshan Khan. First is that as I said above, something is behind the author of that controversial article. If I accuse more the author, Zeeshan Khan was backed by Rakhine politicians to do so. Why I am accusing this is that the census is too close in Myanmar and we have enough evidence that president Thein Sein accused that all violence based on religious were organized by Rakhine politicians. So, the intention of this article is to create more tension while the census is knocking their doors. Another point is that as the government is accusing the Rohingyas to be illegal intruders or immigrants. The author’s intention is to realize what can happen if this accusation continues.

So the Myanmar Government must realize now what an outcome would be if an unjust accusation keep continuing if Rohingyas are willing to do what the article author wrote. A journalist has ability to change opinions and can also make things better or worse. The Myanmar government must be very careful.

However whether the author wrote that article with good intention or backed by Rakhine politicians, this has nothing to do with the Rohingyas. Rohingyas only want the same rights as other ethnic groups have in Myanmar. They are not going to betray Myanmar. I know that the international community won’t leave the Rohingyas in this persecution and they will find out many ways to free these persecuted people.

Although there were some Rohingya armed insurgency groups they all decided to move forward with non-violent struggle and left their revolution since the past twenty years. They even do not think to take back arms when many lives were claimed since June, 2012. Everyone must investigate whether Rohingya rebel groups are present or Rakhine Buddhist extremist groups. Many fake photos spread through Indonesia and Turkey. Those were doctored and completely a conspiracy against Rohingyas. Myanmar has earned a very bad image in the world because of the extremism of Rakhine Buddhists. So this is the time to be careful more than ever.

Here I want to say again, Rohingyas will never separate from Myanmar. So it is the responsibility of the Myanmar government whether they like to talk to the Bangladesh government through diplomatic channel or whatever they like to about the article. Myanmar presidential office director Zaw Htay said they will talk to the Bangladesh government through Bangladesh embassy in Yangon, according to local journals.

If there was a referendum, the Rohingyas will say “We are Burmese. We are Myanmar’s Rohingya. We are part of Myanmar and we will always be part of Myanmar.”

Nay San Lwin is an activist and blogger. He can be reached via Twitter @nslwin.

(Photo: Greg Constantine)

By Huson Salm
RB Opinion
March 22, 2014

President U Thein Sein has repeatedly promised the international community that he would deal with the communal problems honestly, justly and impartially. The tension between radical Buddhists and the already persecuted Rohingya Muslims have continued even after his inauguration as the first president in Myanmar’s history.

U Thein Sein, is widely believed to be nothing more than a puppet who is controlled by U Than Shwe who has inherited the legacy of general Ne Win. Ne Win was one of the most brutal, atrocious and wicked dictators that Myanmar has seen. His oppressive regime was known for crushing the democratic movements and political dissidents from 1989 to 2010.

Soon the matriculation examinations in Myanmar will be over and there are already destructive elements who are being positioned in targeted locations, created by the government agents to cause unrest and then culminating in the eruption of communal violence in several parts of the nation as a part of government sponsored programs.

Most people have no doubt that the strategist behind the ‘communal riots’ has been Minister U Aung Thaung. In fact, U Aung Thaung, who is the closest figure to U Than Shwe who is ordering the destruction from the shadows. His plans to hoard assets and keeping his favored cronies in power has been the biggest impediment to pure democratization and totally at odds with the position against Daw Aung San Kyi.

U Wirathu, is more a charismatic ‘Buddhist ghost priest’ than a peaceful monk. He is well-organized, trained and in agreement with the appalling tactics of the state which have been created and executed by U Than Shwe together with his cronies who are currently occupying positions in cabinet.

Every trip U Wirathu takes to the countryside is done with the sole aim of sowing seeds of communal hatred which later bloom into deadly communal violence. On his latest tour to Arakan’s townships he met with many fanatical Rakhine leaders to further his aim of disseminating ready propaganda as per the directions of the gang-networks players.

Soon after massacres and other violence throughout the country U Thein Sein forms so called ‘commissions’ , which translate into vague investigations by his brain-washed colleagues as an alternative to the international investigations that are desperately required to shed some light on the brutality and complicity of the ruling regime.

Regarding the three major incidents which occurred namely, the 2012 Rakhine crisis, the Meittilar massacre and the Duchiratan massacre in 2014, the government commission failed to find any violence was committed by the offenders despite first hand information that was obtained by international organizations such United Nations and Human Rights Watch clearly stating the opposite.

Instead the commission altered the truth and put all the blame squarely on the shoulders of the innocent Rohingya community. Myanmar was faced with international criticism for the irrational accusations put on massacred families. With the regional and international community absolutely dissatisfied with the treatment of victims the commission was challenged to set up a global inquiry which resulted in proper investigations and reports.

The remorseless Dr. Kyaw Yin Hlaing, who is responsible to answer the media’s questions regards the investigations into Duchiratan, clearly stated that they did not find any offenders from within the Rakhine people who are believed to have killed Rohingya muslims but rather that the commission found that Muslims attacked each other and burnt homes based on their old personal grudges. When asked about his thoughts on Myanmar being charges with “crimes against humanity and genocide” he said that he could not answer such questions and did not know about that because he was not employed in the state administration but only advises the President of the state and that the massacres and crimes against humanity which have been assumed by the international community against might be “the state policy”. 

I learned from one of the attendees at the Bangkok forum which was held on 7 March 2014 that every time the international community approaches the government to cooperate in inquiries it has been neglected, denied and blatantly ignored, the reasoning being that ‘the Rohingya issue is an internal affair and therefore a matter related to state integrity and sovereignty”.

Myanmar as a part of the world community and a member of United Nations should abide by international law and should cooperate with the world community as a member country. Sovereignty does not mean the freedom to exterminate, annihilate and oppress a particular minority after enclosing them in designated camps and gradually disenfranchising every single citizenship right for three decades. The concept of sovereignty requires a government to protect its citizens and fulfill their basic human rights as far as possible. The Rohingya are in desperate need of a secure life and livelihood, adequate food and good shelter, qualitative education, and a dignified human existence and above all they are entitled to full citizenship rights.

The Rohingyas are by no means a threat to the sovereignty of the state rather they are a part of the state and belong to mainstream society in the same way that all the other ethnicities are. The situation of the Rohingyas people’ in northern Rakhine and elsewhere in Myanmar has become like ‘hell in the cell’. I often watch the show ‘HELL IN THE CELL’, an American wrestling show where rivals are put into a cell which is tightly constructed from iron bars and closed by sheets on the sides. The single door is locked and there is no way out except to fight or disable your opponent. They fight until a winner appears. Similarly the Rohingya in Arakan have been confined by successive governments for more than 60 years, they have been even more strictly confined since 1990. The authorities’ have allowed no movement from one place to another for the purpose of education, medical treatment, commerce, and social visits. They have not been allowed any university education. For the past 40 years all school teachers, university lecturers, doctors and nurses have been instilled by Rakhine nationalists to further their brand of nationalism. Discrimination against Rohingya is the norm in schools, colleges and universities as well as in clinics and hospitals.

Doctors and nurses have been the worst who usually allow irrelevant treatment to Rohingyas patients and in some cases Rohingya have found some disguised nurses have paid visits to women to administer sterilisation injections without prior knowledge or consent of the individuals. Some Rakhine doctors are in the habit of injecting deadly diseases into the bodies of Rohingya patients. As a result of the aforementioned cases the Rohingya do not trust Rakhine doctors and nurses and turn to local practitioners for a temporary relief. MSF, which is run by Doctors without Borders has been a merciful medical facility and the only outreach medical facility for the vulnerable Rohingya. 

Unfortunately MSF was forced out of the region by Rakhine thugs because it treated some 22 Rohingya who were injured in attacks by Rakhine police and their treatment was exposed to the media as a medical accomplishment and was not politically motivated. The reality remains that there is currently no medical treatment for Rohingya, there has been no tertiary education for the past 2 ½ years, no employment at all, no access to jungles to gather wood or do other forest related work, no water in which to fish, no freedom to travel, no police stations to bring complaints, no courts to appeal to and no advocates to hire. There is no protection for homes or residences and Rakhine terrorists move easily from one place to the next burning down Muslims houses and properties with the help of the police and Rakhine security who have been condoning the acts of Rakhine vigilantes all along.

The international community has been sympathetic but are not entirely free and being curbed by the government with regards to the type of assitance they may provide. The Rakhine are above the law and have been protected from punishment despite their constant intimidation, attacks and forceful attempts to impede the global assistance providers and social workers in Rakhine state.

The situation in Aungminglar quarter, Rathedaung township, Mrauk Oo, Pauktaw, Myaybone and Kyauknimaw – are terribly affected areas and constantly under attack by Rakhine assailants for the past two and half years. The situation is now dire and they are now facing shortages of food, medicine, shelter, and require daily humanitarian necessities.

It seems that democracy does not include the Rohingya and the sole aim of the Rakhine has to been to expel the Rohingya to Bangladesh because they are not citizens of the state while majority of who were made as White Card holders. Base on this line of thought Rhakines have begun to confiscate Rohingya lands, stop them pursuing higher education or economic activities, limit their birth in order to shrink their population, to burn, loot and destroy their homes, cattle and businesses in order to gradually force them into the dire poverty and make them flee from the land rather than attempting for Rakhine themselves to get lost rights from the Union government. It seems that the Rakhine are content with the Rohingya having no rights instead of regaining their own rights and having a government that is truly a democracy.

U Thein Sein’s democracy is based on blasphemous media propaganda that included several journalists and locals with disguised agents to make mess up the normal life of the public, and the cheating policies which become the repeating theories through his elite in local and international inexorably which is nothing more than a coward, dishonest, cruel, unreliable and unpredictable than praiseworthy for which he has done and earned some changes after his inauguration.

Every department of government relies on the 1982 citizenship law which is the most oppressive machine inherited from Ne Win. The clauses imbued in 1982 citizenship laws are confusing to apply and practice. At this point, all state stakeholders who want Rohingyas to be disenfranchised should consider whether they were accepting and happy with the drive general Ne Win’s caretaker government coup? Who will agree to say yes? Were we accepted and satisfied the 1963’s revolutionary council’s nationalization? No one will agree about that! Have we been happy with the military administration by Ne Win who was ostracized by the international community and cut off relations even with neighboring countries? Not at all! Haven’t we got a harsh and totally shut up life whatever Ne Win and his close elite did to the people of Burma which hard-pressed the country into abysmal conditions by the illegalization of the Myanmar currencies one after another and which led to mass chaos and total destructions in the year 1988? Yes, of course! Didn’t U Ne Win order to kill the innocent people who were peacefully involved in non-violent demonstrations to regain the democracy which was lost at the hands of U Ne Win in the year 1958? Yes he ordered to kill! Haven’t U Ne Win’s elite dragged the country down after the 1988 coup and refused to hand over power to the landslide victory winner, the NLD in the 1990 elections?

My point here is to make it clear that the reason for the situation Myanmar finds itself in currently was U Ne Win’s lack of knowledge, ignorance, selfishness, stubbornness, mismanagement, discriminatory mindedness and bullshit policy of the state in the region. People in 1988, the mass and class demonstrations have fully understood that they never needed U Ne Win or his rule and the brave people have overturned all the ruling systems of U Ne Win. Why is it that the legacy of the brutal citizenship law is dragged into practice to apply only to the Rohingya.

None of us has a desire to inherit the legacy of Ne Win because every one of us knows it is disgusting and unacceptable in society that is why we renounce the system of Ne Win and march towards democratization which is the only a way for us to unite under the path of peace, love, unity, respecting and honoring the equal human rights in nation building tasks.

Let us not move backwards because there is no room for backtracking in this 21st borderless century era. To remove Rohingya rights, the several demonstrations-- which have been advised or have been condoned by president, the two cabinets, parliamentarian members, RNDP MPs, 88 generation leader particularly by Ko Ko Gyi, several ignitable journals, some politicians and political parties, and disguised monks from numerous monasteries—have evidently shown to entire world that the government of Myanmar does not care for the soft advocacy of ‘non-binding resolutions’.

All in all the atrocities being practiced against Muslims by township police, Rakhine armed mobs and concerned authorities from village to union level have become totally intolerable while there is no thread of hope or resolute action against the brutal Myanmar authorities from the international community. with a rigid binding resolution after having suffered year on year. How much worse should the situation faced by the helpless Rohingya get and how much longer should they wait for international jurisdiction to save them? How many helpless, hopeless, and vulnerable Rohingya should be brutalized, killed and distressed in fields, seas, jungles and jails in the country and beyond? Please take care of us to survive in our land as other people of the world.



By Assed Baig
March 21, 2014

Many Muslim victims continue to live in Internally Displaced People camps, still dreaming of returning home.

It’s been one year since a Buddhist mob rampaged through the central Myanmar town of Meiktila, killing local residents and setting fire to their homes. Today, the violence is over, but many of the Muslim victims continue to live in Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps, still dreaming of returning home. 

The violence started after a mob attacked a Muslim-owned gold shop in the center of Meiktila following a dispute. Later that evening, a Buddhist monk was dragged off a motorbike and beaten by a group of Muslims. He later died in hospital.

Over the next two days over 40 people were killed by the mob, which also set about destroying Muslim homes, setting fire to mosques and attacking religious schools. 

"They brought them out and killed them with swords," said Thin Thin OO - an eyewitness to the violence. She told the Anadolu Agency that she was standing by the Muslim madrassa, having just got off her moped, when three students were brought out.

"All of the children were hit in the neck," she said, as she placed the side of her straightened hand on her neck to illustrate a chopping motion. "One of the children was hit on the neck with a sword. He dropped to the ground but they carried on hitting him. They just didn’t stop."

OO is Muslim, but she may have been left unscathed as there was no visible way the mob could determine her faith. It’s impossible to distinguish many Muslims and Buddhists, bar a beard, a hijab or other visible symbols of faith.

The memories, however, remain.

"The Buddhists were calling the children 'Kalars,' they were saying: 'Don't leave anyone, finish off all the Kalars'," she said.

"I remember the children begging the Buddhists to let them go - they (the children) were around 16-years-old."

One year on, she is still haunted by the moment, adding that she still sees some of "the murderers" around town.

Eighteen-year-old Assad Ullah was a student at the Madrassah. He said he still remembers what happened.

"We were hiding, and the police came to take us to safety, but when we came out and walked through the Buddhist area, the Buddhists attacked us," he told the AA.

He said that his attackers were armed with knives and swords, and launched themselves at them in full view of the police who were helpless to do anything. 

"The Buddhists told us to worship them… They said 'if you worship us, you will be saved,'" he said. "Some did and (yet they) were still killed."

He said he remembered one of his teachers - Maulana Shafi - refusing to bow down to the mob and being killed before his eyes. 

"He was beaten and stabbed; he was still alive when they poured petrol on him and set him on fire."

Ullah started to cry at the memory of the day: "Everyone ran, whoever was found was killed," he said. "I was lucky."

By the time police intervened and the shaken Muslims were taken to the station four teachers were missing and 30 students had been killed. 

"I think about it a lot… It is hard to study now… It's hard to bear. It is very hard to deal with," said Ullah.

On that note, Ullah suddenly stopped talking, the pain of the memory clearly too much, our conversation coming to an abrupt end.

Two days later, with the town smoldering, the military intervened and declared martial law. What was left of the homes was a trail of destruction with thousands of Muslims displaced.

The properties destroyed in the center of Meiktila are still to be rebuilt, leaving many victims unable to return, their homes reduced to burnt-out rubble. 

Those whose properties were not destroyed and have felt that it is safe to return have done so, while others have gone to live with relatives or remain in the IDP camps, where they are dependent on aid from charities such as the World Food Programme. In the town center. mosques remain closed and only a handful of businesses operate.

Tint Hetw, 70, sits outside the Chan Aye Tha Ya mosque in Meiktila. There have been attempts to rebuild the homes around it, but the mosque still stands.

"First a mob of around 40 people came. They had knives and sticks," he told the AA. "Behind them were even more, thousands of Buddhists, that had come to destroy the Muslim area."

He said that although police came to protect the Muslims "they could not do anything to stop the mob."

Al Hajj Maulana Hanif still lives in a camp with his wife and two daughters, exactly one year after the mob burnt down his and his neighbors' homes.

He told the AA that he was one of around 5,000 people who hid in a nearby forest as the mob laid siege, only to reappear when police arrived and said they would protect them.

"The police took us in vehicles to the police station. There were also Buddhists with us, their homes also burnt down as they lived in our area."

Hanif told the AA that not only was his house razed, he has no job, no home, no goods to sell, and accused the government of taking their land.

"We have no solace, peace or security. We are always worrying. What is happening? What will the future hold?" he said.

Hanif lives in a government camp where journalists are denied access. There are around 1,300 displaced people there. In Yandaw, at Madinatul Uloom mosque, there are 1,200 internally displaced people. They are all reliant on aid and have been there for a year.

AA was given access to Yandaw camp as is not run by the Myanmar government, but by local Muslims.

Laila Bi -- a 33-year-old resident of Yandaw -- told the AA that she used to have a restaurant in Meiktila but it was destroyed during the violence.

"We put everything into our restaurant, and when it was destroyed we fell into debt. How were we supposed to pay back the money if we did not have our business anymore?" she asked. 

She said her husband has also now left, leaving Myanmar and travelling to Malaysia in search for work so he can pay back the debt. 

"It’s very difficult. I feel depressed all the time," she said, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "I feel like it (the situation) is useless."

As she tried to wipe the tears away, camp trustee Muhammad Ali stood over her and told her things will be "OK."

Bi’s older brother was also killed during the violence. She now lives in a small, one room bamboo hut with her four-year-old daughter. All the families live in similar huts regardless of their size.

They all want to return to Meiktila but feel it is not yet safe, and there is always a concern that the violence could start again at any time. 

Ali told the AA that Muslims from around Myanmar and others from overseas had donated aid to the people in the camp, but "right now we can only give them rice and oil," to eat he said.

There may, however, be a bigger issue at the heart of the violence.

Most of the Muslims that the AA met believed that the violence was orchestrated, and not necessarily related to the argument at the gold shop, or the beating of the monk.

“I think it was a plan to move Muslims out of the main economic area. Some Buddhists are occupying the land and hoping that they will have future market control," said Ali.

Unlike the Rohingya Muslims of Rakhine state, the Muslims of Meiktila are considered Myanmar citizens, but this does not appear to have stopped extremists from targeting them. Their businesses have been the focus of protests for some time, not least from extreme militant Buddhist monk - and leader of anti-Muslim 969 group - Ashin Wirathu, who has urged Buddhists to boycott Muslim businesses and even likened them to dogs. 

Such attacks have led Myanmar’s Muslims -- who make up 4 percent of the country’s population -- to complain about such hate speech. They have lobbied the government to put a stop to it.

Leaflets distributed by Buddhist monks often claim that Muslims are conspiring against Buddhists with help and money from Saudi Arabia. The narrative the extremists adopt is one that Buddhism is under threat from Islam, and Buddhists must defend their faith. 

Little has so far been done following the violence, however, Myanmar President U Thein Sein did touch on the subject soon after.

"I am deeply saddened to find out that a simple private dispute led to such deadly violence and those instigators, taking advantages of the disingenuousness of the public, attempted to exploit the situation to engineer violence in other parts of the country," he said.

Phoe Ti wants to rebuild his home (Photo: Nyan Lynn/IRIN)

By IRIN
March 21, 2014

MEIKTILA - Thousands of residents displaced by inter-communal violence a year ago in this central town in Myanmar are being allowed to rebuild their homes. 

“We want to finish them as soon as possible,” Phoe Ti, a 35-year-old Muslim bricklayer whose home was burnt to the ground in the violence, told IRIN. New brick homes are under construction nearby in the Chan Aye quarter of Meiktila where Buddhists and Muslims once lived peacefully side by side. 

According to the Meiktila local authorities, the initiative is part of a government-approved plan allowing more than 400 families with ownership documents to return and rebuild their homes with help from private donors and local NGOs. 

Launched in January, the project is expected to be completed in April 2014, just before the rainy season. 

“There is still a lot of work and construction to be completed, but we are pleased to see that the process is moving in the right direction,” Pierre Péron, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said from Yangon. 

More than 40 people were killed and over 12,000 displaced, after a heated argument in a Meiktila gold shop on 20 March 2013 between its Muslim owner and Buddhist customers quickly degenerated into violence, with crowds setting fire to businesses, religious buildings and homes. This was the worst sectarian violence in Myanmar since the 2012 unrest in western Rakhine State, where more than 120,000 Muslim Rohingyas remain displaced. 

More than 800 homes were destroyed and another 35 buildings damaged in Meiktila (Mandalay Region) from 20 to 22 March, Human Rights Watchreported. 

Over 4,000 still displaced 

One year on, more than 4,000 people remain displaced, mostly Muslims, who are living in five overcrowded camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Meiktila and Yin Daw, say district authorities. 

Under the government plan, those with land deeds will be resettled in homes being built in Chan Aye. Those without will be resettled in 20 three-storey blocks to be built by the government and private donors in or near the town (either in Chan Aye or Thiri Mingalar).

However, some disapprove of the scheme. 

Aye Sint believes outside instigators were behind the violence (Photo: Nyan Lynn/IRIN)

“It’s not fair,” said Phoe Thar, a 43-year-old Buddhist resident, now living in an IDP camp. “There are many people who lost their title deeds and related documents to fire.” 

Some IDPs complain they need more assistance from the government to get back on their feet and find employment, while others decry camp conditions. 

“In the camps, we often face lack of food,” said Soe Thandar Aung, a 13-year-old Muslim girl, who works with her mother to carry bricks in Chan Aye for the equivalent of US$2.5 a day. 

While government and international organizations are providing assistance to the IDPs, an OCHA mission to Meiktila in October 2013 found assistance had been scaled back due to budget limitations. 

The mission also found shortages in camp clinics, reduced drinking water supplies, as well as the need for hygiene interventions in the camps. 

Tensions abating? 

Whatever complaints the IDPs may have, relations between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Meiktila remain calm, with most residents still convinced the 2013 violence was the work of others. 

“We still believe it was outsiders involved in the killing, looting and burning houses,” Aye Sint, a 49-year-old Buddhist noodles seller, whose customers include Muslims, insisted. “We never had such problems between us [Buddhists and Muslims] in our town before.” 

However, many residents are cautious: To safeguard their communities, some have established neighbourhood watch groups - comprised of Buddhists and Muslims - to patrol their communities at night, said Aye Lwin, chief of Aung Zaya quarter. “We are doing our best not to let the same kind of violence happen in our area [again].”

A session of Union Parliament in Burma’s capital, Naypyidaw. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

By Lawi Weng
March 21, 2014

RANGOON — Burma’s Upper House on Thursday passed an amendment to a clause in the Constitution, removing the right of temporary citizenship card holders to form parties.

The decision could further reduce the rights of stateless Rohingya minority in Arakan State, many of who only hold such cards. The proposed amendment could also pose a problem for political dissidents who lack citizenship cards because they lived abroad for decades under the former military regime and are now returning to Burma during the democratic transition.

During a session Thursday, Upper House MPs did not object to the amendment put forth by the Arakan National Party (ANP), a proposal first suggested by ANP in August last year. The amendment will now have to be approved by the Lower House.

ANP Chairman Aye Maung, whose party represents the Buddhist Arakanese community in western Burma, said the decision was important to ensure that the political process in the country remained under control of those with full citizenship rights.

“We need to protect our ethnic rights to participate in politics. I am worried about those who are not citizens of Burma influencing power in the country,” he told The Irrawaddy.

“Those who run political parties in the future have to have citizenship. Those who hold white cards [temporary cards] should apply for citizenship,” said Aye Maung. He added that his party would soon ask Parliament to also remove the voting rights of those with temporary citizenship.

The current 2008 Constitution, written by the former military regime, allows people to form political parties, run for office and vote in elections if they possess a temporary citizenship cards, also called “white cards.”

Burma’s former military government issued white cards to many of the Rohingya population in northern Arakan State’s Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships. Even though the government maintains the approximately 1-million strong minority are not Burmese citizens and officially refers to them as “Bengalis” to suggest they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

The cards were issued to the Muslim group so that they could vote in support of a constitutional referendum in 2008, as well as for the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the national elections in 2010.

Recent reports in local media quoted the parliamentary bill committee information as saying that there are 850,000 white card holders in Burma.

Several USDP lawmakers in Parliament come from Muslim-majority constituencies in northern Arakan State. Despite this situation, the USDP-dominated Upper House did not stop the amendment from being passed on Tuesday.

All Mon Region Democracy Party MP Nai Banyar Aung Moe told The Irrawaddy that he had supported excluding white card holders from forming parties. “It’s very important to have this law, so that Chinese, Muslims and [Burmese] with English nationality who come from other countries cannot have influence and power,” he said.

Abu Tahay, A Rohingya leader and chairman of the Union Nationals Development Party, an organization from Buthidaung Township that the government has declined to recognize, said the new measure would pose problems for Rohingyas seeking exercise their political rights.

Abu Tahay said he could agree with the new amendment if Rohingyas would be given opportunities to obtain citizenship, adding, however, that this was nearly impossible. “People need to have full documents to become citizenship … [but] many of our people do not have full documents for many reasons,” he said.

The Rohingya in northern Arakan have faced widespread discrimination and human rights abuses at the hands of authorities and security forces in recent decades.

In 2012, violence flared up between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the state. About 150,000 people were displaced and about 200 killed in communal violence in June and October 2012.

Manus Island detention centre. (Photo: AAP)

By AAP
March 21, 2014

Detainees at an Australian asylum seeker centre have told a Papua New Guinea court they were not made aware of their right to free legal representation.

Asylum seekers have told a Papua New Guinea court they were not made aware of their right to free legal representation, as the judge refused to allow an Australian lawyer to represent 75 detainees at the inquiry.

However, Justice David Cannings granted Amnesty International leave to join the case as an interested party, and ruled that media be given access to the centre on Friday.

During the fourth day of hearings into human rights obligations at Australia's detention centre on Manus Island, the court has heard transferees were not told of their right to free representation under PNG law.

A 26-year-old Burmese asylum seeker told the court he had not spoken to a lawyer in six months.

"I was not told I could have a lawyer," he said on Thursday.

Under PNG law, anyone who is locked up has the right to free legal advice.

He said he had one interview with an Australian lawyer and two with immigration officials shortly after arriving on Manus Island in August or September.

But he said he had heard nothing since.

At the time, an Australian lawyer at the centre took his statement.

"She said she would do the processing (of his asylum claim)," he said.

Justice Cannings on Thursday refused Sydney lawyer Jay Williams' request to represent 75 asylum seekers detained at the Manus facility.

Mr Williams argued that under PNG's constitution and the Lawyers Act of 1986, judges had the power to admit anyone they wished under exceptional circumstances.

"We have made many requests to the migration officer to visit my clients but those requests have been delayed, frustrated or refused," Mr Williams said.

While Justice Cannings agreed PNG's constitution granted the right of representation, he would not grant Mr Williams' request because the circumstances were not exceptional.

But he did grant Mr Williams' request to visit his clients on Friday.

Justice Cannings also accepted an application by Amnesty International to join the case as an interested party.

Amnesty is expected to tender its recent, highly critical report of the centre as evidence.

So far, 11 asylum seekers have appeared at the inquiry in Lorengau, the Manus capital.

In each of the men's affidavits, the court struck out mention of the February 17 riot that claimed the life of 23-year-old Iranian asylum seeker Reza Berati.

Many of the transferees who have appeared in the past two days have indicated the riots made them feel less safe.

A 22-year-old Iranian man told the court he felt as if he was in a prison, and had almost forgotten his name after months of being referred to by his identification number.

He said he felt terrorised by some staff at the centre.

"The expats always tell us the people here are poor and cannibals," he said.

"That's how they terrorise us."

Nayapara camp (Photo: Flicker)

RB News 
March 21, 2014

Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh - The Chairman of the Block Management Committee in Nayapara refugee camp was beaten and held by police on March 19, 2014 at around 6:30pm. 

The victim of the brutal attack by police was Chairman Mohammed Isaq MRC# Z-2650, from Shed 717 Room 1, Block D. Local refugees told RB News that Isaq was sitting at a tea stall within the camp when three policemen approached him, harassed him and beat him mercilessly. He was held by police for some hours before being released. 

The culprits of the attack are Police Nike, named Zakir, and two other local police named Kayum and Zokir. It is common practise by Police in these refugee camps. To arrest and hold people on false charges as a means to extort the little money that they do have. 

Refugees are powerless against the police and have to secure the money before being released. Often bargaining with them to come to a settlement agreement of whatever money the victims can manage to provide. There is a forced culture of borrowing money for food amongst neighbours and family within the camps and instances of arbitrary arrests are no different. So the victims would beg for money and offer what they can.

Each year the UNCHR elects 11 refugees from each of the 7 Blocks within Nayapara camp including a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson. A total of 77 refugees oversee activity within their respective Blocks. Basically they are community leaders within the camp that will hold the position for a one year span. 

The current Block Management Committee was elected in late November, 2013. According to locals, the police treat the committee members with less respect then one would give to a dog. Consistent reports are found of harassment to these elected people within the camp. 

After Chairman Isaq was attacked the Block Management Committee reported the incident to both the CIC (Camp-In-Charge) and UNCHR office. No action has been taken. Which of course this is no surprise. Yet another situation where the heavily persecuted and stateless Rohingya community will never see justice.

    • Rohingya Exodus