By Libby Hogan

Democratic Voice of Burma

August 31, 2016

The 21st Century Panglong Conference kicked off today— a forum that aims to help bring peace and reconciliation to Burma, and end decades of armed conflict between ethnic armed groups and the Burmese military.

Before the opening ceremony this morning, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with representatives of civil society organisations over breakfast to hear their views.

“This morning was very exciting to meet with Mr Ban Ki-moon and to have a chance to raise our concerns and recommendations,” said Thinzar Shunlei Yi, secretary of the National Youth Congress. “The first issue I raised was the need for young people’s voice at the conference in designing our future.”

She said she hoped that young people would gain a formal seat at the table inside the conference.

“At the moment we are not identified as an important peace-making partner, so I encouraged the Secretary-General to make sure that we are placed as an important peace-making partner,” said Thinzar Shunlei Yi, speaking to DVB after the breakfast. “Youths [are involved in] every issue. We suffer from environmental projects and are accused as the ones who [threaten] the country’s solidarity because we go out to protest on the street – such as against the controversial education bill.

“We are also mobilised in armed groups. They are the ones who die first — so in history, we are always on the front line striving for democracy.”

There is a long wish list of issues to be discussed at the conference. Although it’s not likely that any formal agreements will be signed, UN chief Ban says it’s a “promising first step”.

Some 20 ethnic armed groups will attend the peace conference. But three militias — the Arakan Army (AA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) – have refused to put down their arms, and will not take part in the discussions.

Soe Lunn, the director of People for People, an organisation that advocates on behalf of issues in Arakan State, said that the conference falls short of its stated aim of being fully inclusive of all groups: “Rakhine [Arakan] State was not included when the first Panglong Agreement was signed, and now this Panglong Conference is not inclusive as it does not include the AA, the MNDAA, and the TNLA, nor the ALP [Arakan Liberation Party] and Arakan National Council.”

Soe Lunn also met with Ban at the breakfast, and said he hopes that recognition of the problems in Arakan State will receive some of the spotlight. “There are land issues, poor education and health, women’s and children’s rights, and the conflict issue — everything is in crisis,” he told DVB.

Wai Wai Nu, the director of Women Peace Network-Arakan, echoed those calls. “Ban Ki-moon said how much he cares about the role of civil society groups, and I talked about the need for women’s peace and security,” she said.

After the transition in 2010, there was conflict between Muslims and Buddhists and about 130,000 people were displaced. Since then, conditions have been deteriorating day by day. We haven’t seen any changes since the democratic transition — we are seeing just more deterioration in Rakhine, and no feasible steps to address the root causes.”

A commission to focus on Arakan issues was established last week, and will be headed by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Soe Lunn said he hopes there will be some momentum from this conference to focus on building peace in Arakan State as well. “I don’t know if it [Kofi Annan leading the committee] is good or not good – but people hope that it will be good. International aid brings attention to development in Arakan State but every person living in Arakan State needs to work together.”

Wai Wai Nu says the key to success for the 21st Century Panglong Conference will be respect for the different groups in society.

“In my understanding, it is not just about peace between armed groups and the Tatmadaw [armed forces], but national reconciliation and state-building again — so I think it should be more inclusive, including the Rohingya and the armed groups who are not able to attend, and also more women in the peace conference.”

Ko Shine, the founder of Interfaith Youth Coalition on AIDS in Myanmar, a coalition of young people from different religious backgrounds, is attending the conference and says he is focused on drawing attention to the need for reconciliation among religions: “This conference is not just about co-operation among ethnic armed groups, but there also needs to be co-operation among faith groups.”

Ko Shine welcomed Ban’s opening address but said he hopes there will be more support from Aung San Suu Kyi “Mr Ban Ki-moon used the terms ‘multi-faith’ and ‘multicultural’, but nobody else did. I think it would be more powerful if Aung San Suu Kyi and the Senior General [Min Aung Hlaing] also used these terms.”

By Moe Myint

The Irrawaddy

August 30, 2016

RANGOON – Arakan National Party (ANP) Lower House lawmaker Aung Kyaw San submitted an urgent parliamentary proposal on Tuesday calling for three non-Burmese experts on the Arakan State Advisory Commission to be replaced with local academic specialists.

The proposal will be debated in Parliament on Sept. 1 with the vote for further discussion receiving backing from Lower House military representatives. According to MP Aung Kyaw San, about 20 legislators expressed interest in joining the debate.

“Even some NLD members support the proposal, but I don’t know what will happen in the next session,” he said, referring to parliamentarians belonging to the ruling National League for Democracy party.

The State Counselor’s Office—headed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi—formed the nine-member Arakan State Advisory Commission with three international representatives on August 24. The commission will reportedly recommend “lasting solutions to complex and delicate issues” in Arakan State, in reference to ongoing tension and a history of violence often directed toward the self-identifying Rohingya minority.

The international commission members include former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Ghassan Salamé, a scholar from Lebanon and once-advisor to Mr. Annan, and Laetitia van den Assum, a diplomat from the Netherlands and a UN advisor.

There are also six members from Burma—two Buddhist Arakanese members, two Muslim members and two government representatives are included in the commission. The Arakanese Buddhist members and the Muslim members are from the commercial capital of Rangoon; the Muslim members are not themselves linked to Arakan State. There are no Rohingya members of the commission.

On August 25, the ANP published a letter of objection to the government demanding a cancellation of the commission, stating that it would diminish the rights of indigenous people—a reference to the Buddhist Arakanese—and national sovereignty.

The commission’s purpose is to gather suggestions from relevant people, including international experts, regarding the most appropriate manner to address the conflict in Arakan State. Also a priority is the guarantee the security of the region’s residents. Recommendations for prevention of conflict, further provision of humanitarian support, addressing the issues of rights and reconciliation, and contributing to the construction of basic infrastructure are also included in the commission’s work.

In his proposal, Aung Kyaw San specifically objected to what he described as foreigners’ “interference in internal affairs,” stating that selecting international members for the commission demonstrated the “low confidence” of the government in the country’s ability to address its own issues.

The ANP MP also objected to a commission review of refugees from Arakan State—most of whom identify as Rohingya Muslims—with the purpose of possibly facilitating some of the individuals’ returns to Burma. This, Aung Kyaw San said, would be like “pouring fuel on the fire.”

“I don’t believe that the commission will have a good impact on us,” he added.

In an interview with The Irrawaddy last week, Muslim commission member Al Haj U Aye Lwin said that he welcomed the involvement of international committee members, noting that the challenges facing Arakan State have grown beyond those of a domestic issue and have become the focus of global concern.

By Beh Lih Yi

Thomson Reuters Foundation

August 30, 2016

KUALA LUMPUR -- The first time he tried to escape a tough existence in his village in western Myanmar in 2004, Junaid Zafar was thrown in jail for five years.

Like many other Rohingya Muslims, Zafar was seeking to flee poverty and persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and he did not wait long after being released from jail to try again.

This time, his parents sold off possessions to raise about $1,000 to pay people smugglers to take him to Malaysia. Zafar, the eldest of three siblings, finally made it in 2011.

But like thousands of other Rohingya in Malaysia, he now finds himself living in a precarious limbo, having to work illegally due to official restrictions, and with resettlement to another country where he could lead a more stable life a distant dream.

"I have been here for five years, some other refugees have been here for 10 years. I feel like I am wasting my life," the tall, slender man, now 31, said.

Zafar - like some 150,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia, mainly from Myanmar - does not have formal status in the country as Malaysia is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention. The government considers them to be illegal migrants.

Now there is a glimmer of hope for the many Rohingya and other refugees living in Malaysia, as authorities make a renewed effort to try to improve their access to work.

"DIRTY, DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS" 

The government has in the past said it would consider allowing refugees to work but details and implementation had been sketchy. Some officials feared a relaxation of the policy would lead to an influx of migrant workers.

But this month the creation of a government-led task force was announced to handle refugee registration issues.

Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the task force would also look into the possibility of opening up the job market for refugees and allowing refugee children formal education. 

"(The task force) will look into issues of refugees in Malaysia, which include the Rohingya, in a more comprehensive manner," he said in a telephone interview.

"It will decide on the recognition of these people first and then decide on the short-, medium- and long-term solution for them including job and education opportunities," he said.

While the refugees are recognised by the U.N.'s refugee agency UNHCR, Malaysia does not extend protection, job opportunities or education to them, as it is not party to the refugee convention. 

Barred from working officially, many refugees end up finding odd jobs as cleaners, or working in restaurants or on construction sites.

The country relies heavily on foreign labourers for jobs shunned by Malaysians in what is known as the "3D" - dirty, difficult and dangerous - industries.

But the lack of a formal status often leaves refugees vulnerable to exploitation, said lawyer Andrew Khoo, a co-chairperson of the human rights committee at the Malaysian Bar, the country's main legal professional body.

"As long as the government doesn't recognise their status, let alone the ability to access work legally, they are susceptible to abuse, exploitation and mistreatment," Khoo said.

A conference in Bangkok this week as part of the so-called Bali process on people smuggling and trafficking, will gather experts and officials to discuss ways to absorb refugees in Southeast Asia into the legal workforce.

'IT'S NOT EASY'

For Zafar, he said even when he managed to find a job, usually as a waiter in restaurants, his wage is only half of what other migrant workers get, and that he can be dismissed at any time.

"Sometimes I have a job, sometimes I don't. You never know, it's not easy," he told Thomson Reuters Foundation at a Rohingya community centre in Ampang, a neighbourhood that is home to many refugees and a short drive from downtown Kuala Lumpur.

At the restaurant, he is paid about 30 Malaysian ringgit ($7.50) for a 12 hour-shift. On a few occasions, the restaurant owners refused to pay him, but he had no legal recourse and had to look for new jobs, he said.

Without a formal status, other refugees Thomson Reuters Foundation spoke to also described harassment from law enforcement officials, who demand bribes or threaten arrests.

Other challenges they face include paying for medical treatment or even just finding a place to rent.

In an open-air market in Ampang, where refugees gather in the evening, another Rohingya Muhammad Ayub has been working as a tailor since arriving in Malaysia four years ago.

He worked from home in the beginning but was later given a job at a shop by a sympathetic employer.

"I am grateful I can find work and send money home. Although when the local authorities come for their routine check, we have to pull down the shutter straight away and run," Ayub said.

Zafar said he could not face going home, but looked forward to the day he could resettle in another country, and bring his parents and siblings there.

"I want to go back to my village but our situation hasn't improved," he said of the new Myanmar government led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's party.

For the time being, Zafar said he was hoping to get a stable job in Malaysia, and perhaps one day, he said with a shy grin, he would be able to bring his childhood sweetheart from his village to a better country and marry her.

($1 = 4.0180 ringgit)

By Beh Lih Yi

Thomson Reuters Foundation

August 30, 2016

There are more than 150,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia - 90 percent of them are from Myanmar

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia is considering opening up its job market for thousands of refugees, who are mostly Rohingya and up until now have no legal right to work in the country.

Although not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention, Muslim-majority Malaysia has been hosting a large number of Muslim Rohingya, who are shunned and persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

Here are some facts about refugees in Malaysia and the Rohingya:

• As of end of June this year, there are some 150,700 refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, Southeast Asia's third-largest economy with a population of 30 million. Among them are 34,000 children aged below 18.
• About 90 percent of the country's refugees and asylum seekers are from Myanmar. Topping the list are 53,140 Rohingya, followed by ethnic Chin from the country, Myanmar Muslims, Rakhines and other ethnicities.
• The remaining refugees and asylum seekers are from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestinian territories.
• The Rohingya are often referred to as "Bengali" in Myanmar, a term that implies they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, although Rohingya families have lived in the area for generations. They are stateless as the state does not recognise their citizenship.
• Sectarian violence between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's western Rakhine state in 2012 displaced about 145,000 people and around 20,000 homes were destroyed. An estimated one million Rohingya live in Rakhine.
• Worsening violence sparked an exodus by boat. Some 25,000 Rohingya and economic migrants from Bangladesh boarded smugglers' boats between January and March 2015, almost double the number over the same period in 2014. An estimated 300 people died at sea during this period as a result of starvation, dehydration and abuse by boat crews.
• Thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshis were left stranded in the sea for weeks in May 2015 after Thai authorities cracked down on a popular smuggling route, sparking the Asian migrant crisis.
• Malaysia and Indonesia ended the impasse by agreeing to offer temporary shelter to the boat people on condition that a resettlement and repatriation process would be carried out within a year by the international community.
• Of over 1,000 people who landed in Malaysia in May 2015, 371 were identified as Rohingya and "of concern" to the U.N. refugee agency. So far, only 36 have been resettled in the United States, leaving in May this year.

Sources: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Fortify Rights

By Associated Press

August 30, 2016

YANGON, Myanmar — A prominent anti-Muslim group of Buddhist nationalists in Myanmar is criticizing former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on social media, and accidentally taking actor Morgan Freeman down with him.

Myanmar’s government announced last week that Annan will lead an advisory panel aimed at finding “lasting solutions” to the conflict in Rakhine state, where human rights groups have documented widespread abuses against minority Rohingya Muslims. The group Ma Ba Tha, led by Buddhist monks, has been accused of helping to incite violence in the region that left hundreds of Muslims dead in 2012.

Ma Ba Tha condemned Annan’s involvement in a Facebook post Monday that called him “a funny-looking and disrespectful person cannot talk about our own issues in the country.” It also called Annan, who is from Ghana, a “kalar,” a slur used in Myanmar against Muslims and Indians.

The post, however, included a photo not of Annan but of Morgan Freeman, the Oscar-winning actor. Freeman was marked with a red “X’’ next to the words “We no need Coffee Annan he go away.”

Freeman has been confused previously not only with Annan but also with late South African President Nelson Mandela.

The post has been widely circulated, and mocked, among Myanmar social media users.

___

Online: https://www.facebook.com/mabatha.mandalay/?fref=ts

By Shwe Yee Saw Myint and Antoni Slodkowski 

Reuters

August 30, 2016

NAYPYITAW -- United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Myanmar to improve living conditionsfor its Rohingya Muslim minority on Tuesday, ahead of peace talks between leader Aung San Suu Kyi and many of the country's ethnic armed rebel groups.

Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya will not be represented at the conference starting on Wednesday, but the fact Ban raised their plight - and used the term for the group that is divisive in Myanmar - may add to international pressure on Suu Kyi to address the issue.

"The government has assured me about its commitment to address the roots of the problem," Ban told a news conference in the capital Naypyitaw.

"Like all people everywhere, they need and deserve a future, hope and dignity. This is not just a question of the Rohingya community's right to self-identity."

Ban and Suu Kyi met reporters as the Nobel Peace Prize laureate launched a push to end decades of fighting between Myanmar's military and ethnic rebels. 

Suu Kyi has made the peace process a priority for her administration, which faces sky-high expectations at home and abroad after sweeping to power in an election last November to end more than half a century of military-backed rule.

Tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in western Myanmar, however, are not being tackled as part of that process.

Many in the Buddhist majority country regard the largely stateless Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and they are not among the 135 ethnic groups recognized by law. Suu Kyi has asked foreign diplomats and leaders not to use the term "Rohingya" because in her view it is inflammatory.

Some 120,000 Rohingya remain displaced in squalid "internally displaced persons" (IDP) camps since fighting erupted in Rakhine state between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012. Thousands have fled persecution and poverty.

"I conveyed the concern of the international community about tens of thousands of people who have been living in very poor conditions in IDP camps for over four years," said Ban.

He added that if they had lived in the country for generations, all people in Myanmar should enjoy the same legal status and citizenship as everyone else. Many Rohingya families have lived in Myanmar for that long.

Last week Suu Kyi picked former U.N. chief Kofi Annan to lead a commission to stop human rights abuses in Rakhine.

PEACE CONFERENCE

Few concrete proposals are to emerge from this week's talks, with delegates expecting to meet every six months to discuss issues ranging from security, political representation and culture to sharing the fruits of Myanmar's mineral riches.

The gathering has been compared to the Panglong Conference, a meeting between Suu Kyi's father, Myanmar's national hero General Aung San, and ethnic minorities in 1947 that led to the formation of the Union of Burma after independence from Britain. 

"The 21st Century Panglong conference is a promising first step," said Ban. "I congratulate all participants for their patience, determination and spirit of compromise."

The fact that Suu Kyi has been able to bring the vast majority of the rebels to the negotiating table only five months after taking power is a sign of progress, experts say.

Powerful armed groups from regions bordering China, who refused to sign a ceasefire last October under the previous military-backed government, are now set to take part, partly owing to China's tacit support for the talks.

As Myanmar's economy opens up, China is vying for influence with the United States. President Xi Jinping pledged his country would play a "constructive role" in the peace process when Suu Kyi visited China this month.

Suu Kyi is traveling to Washington in September where she is likely to face questions on the treatment of the Rohingya.

Myanmar has been torn by fighting between the military, which seized power in the 1962 coup, and ethnic armed groups almost without a break since the end of the Second World War.

Casting a shadow over the talks is a recent flare-up in fighting in northernmost Kachin State and clashes in northeastern Shan State, which is home to several large groups operating close to borders with China and Thailand.

The still-powerful military has also strongly opposed talks with three groups that fought it in the remote Kokang area last year unless they disarm. The groups have said they cannot, citing continued pressure from the army. It was unclear whether they would be allowed to attend the summit.

Ethnic delegates have complained about what they saw as an arbitrary schedule set by the government.

Suu Kyi, who said little at Tuesday's joint appearance with Ban, has not consulted the groups about the date of the conference or the specific agenda, diplomats familiar with the situation said.

"I will do my best to let all ethnic leaders attend tomorrow's conference," said Suu Kyi. "It's their own decision whether they attend or not."

(Additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun and Aye Win Myint; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Date 30thAugust 2016 

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Must Press For Practical Steps on Rohingya

We, BROUK are grateful for the UN Secretary General stressing the need for action on problems facing Rohingya, during his press conference with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today. 

The Annan Commission is looking at long-term solutions on the Rohingya issue, but many problems faced by the Rohingya, including what Ban Ki-moon’s own United Nations has described as crimes against humanity, cannot wait a year or more for this report of the Commission. We therefore request that Ban Ki-moon ask the NLD government to take immediate action to lift all aid restrictions in Rakhine State, and to lift restrictions on movement, education and marriage. These are basic human rights and there is no need or justification for the NLD to continue with these military regime era policies of discrimination.

At the same time we are also concerned that at the 21st Century Pinlong Conference Rohingya and other Muslims are excluded. The Pinlong Conference is going beyond ceasefires, and wider issues about the future of the country are being discussed. Rohingya and Muslim voices should not be excluded from such discussions. 

Even though we welcome the announcement last week of the Kofi Annan led Commission, we are seriously concerned that people are dying in the camps where they fled to four years ago after they fled mobs that had burned their homes and villages. They are dying in part because the new government has kept in place severe restrictions on delivery of aid. 

“We need long-term solutions and short-term action to start to address the Rohingya crisis,” said Tun Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK. “We hope that Ban Ki-moon is stressing the need for this approach rather than just waiting for the Annan Commission to make its report.”

For more information please contact Tun Khin ; Mobile +44 7888714866 and Twitter@tunkhin80.

Press Release 

August 29, 2016

ARNO cautiously welcomes the Annan Commission on Arakan

Arakan Rohingya National Organisation cautiously welcomes the formation of a nine-member Advisory Commission chaired by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan to find out lasting solutions to the issues in the Arakan/Rakhine State. 

“The situation of Rohingya people in Myanmar represents a global challenge for the entire international community”. It is encouraging that the Government of Myanmar, for the first time, appreciates the importance of efforts by international dignitaries like Nobel Laureate Kofi Annan and two other diplomats in resolving the long standing Rohingya problem of ethnic, religious and political persecution. 

The problem in Arakan is not an immigration issue, but systematic, deliberate and often brute forced removal of ethnic Rohingya from their ancestral homeland by organized use of intimidation, terror, rape, murder, destruction and other inhuman acts, under intolerant state policies, with a view to transforming the region into a close-knit homogenous Buddhist Rakhine territory. Decades of Rohingyas’ victimization in Myanmar, including the organized deadly violence occurred and reoccurred against them in Arakan from 2012, have not yet been properly and truthfully investigated. We hope the Annan Commission will leave no stone unturned in looking for an objective assessment. 

However, it remains a concern that no Rohingya of repute has been taken in the Commission whereas the two Buddhist Rakhines -- U Win Mra, Chair of the Myanmar Human Rights Commission who officially denied persecuting Rohingya, and Daw Saw Khin Tint who has publicly launched hate-mongering and Islamophobia campaigns and provocation against ethnic Rohingya -- are included in the 6 national members of the Commission. Nonetheless, the Commission:

1. Must ensure independent, impartial, full and effective investigation into all atrocity crimes, human rights violations and abuses against Rohingya and other minorities in Arakan and hold those responsible accountable under all relevant laws. 

2. Must ensure that all Rohingya victims of human rights violations and atrocity crimes, including the large numbers who have fled their homeland to escape persecution are given full and free access to effective mechanisms of justice and redress. 

3. Should recommend immediately lifting all the restrictions on the basic freedoms of Rohingya, including their freedom of movement and worship, and allowing them access to education, healthcare, political participation, right to marry, and the right to employment and property ownership, right to return to their original places and homes without obstruction. 

4. Must ensure reconciliation between the two sister communities of Rohingya and Rakhine in Arakan. 

Last but not least, The Rohingya are on the verge of total annihilation. It is too pressing to relieve their untold sufferings. It is imperative that the NLD-led Government has a political will to act upon the recommendations of Kofi Annan Commission.

For more details, please contact: 

Ronnie: Mob: +44-7783118354 

Ko Ko Linn: Mob: +880 1726068414

Email: info@rohingya.org 

www.rohingya.org

Date: 25th August 2016

Statement of ARNO on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s 21st Century Panglong Convention

1. The Panglong Agreement signed on February 12, 1947 between the independence hero late Gen. Aung San and leaders of the several ethnic groups in Panglong, Shan State, was an epoch-making event in the history of Burma to build the Union of Burma together. The history of Burma/Myanmar would have developed differently if there was no Panglong Treaty. 

2. But the true spirit of the Panglong -- ‘unity in diversity’-- has never been realized since Burma’s independence on January 4, 1948. The agreed upon principles of federal democracy, equal rights, autonomy and self-determination of the ethnic nationalities have been largely ignored which developed resentment giving rise to long civil war continuing till today. 

3. Gen. Ne Win seized the power in 1962 and ended the Union Treaty and destroyed all vestiges of democratic structures while perpetrating human rights violations in the whole country and exterminating the ethnic Rohingya under state programme. 

4. The long military dictatorship has promoted hate speech and Islamophobia, perpetrated discriminatory and repugnant policies of segregation, crimes against humanity and slow genocide against Rohingya, including restriction on their basic freedoms and freedom of movement. Despite democratic transitions, there is no fundamental change of attitude towards Rohingya. Their untold sufferings are callous and are facing existential threat in Myanmar.

5. It is of much interest that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is holding an all- inclusive Second Panglong Conference or 21st Century Panglong Convention on 31st August 2016 to revitalize and translate the true spirit of Panglong with a view to establishing a blissful and well-built Union of Myanmar.

6. However, the ethnic Rohingya, who rank among the world’s most persecuted and forgotten peoples, and Myanmar’s Muslim communities are prevented from being included, considered or accepted. Thus their voices continue to be unheard.

7. We, therefore, express our serious concern that this is not a holistic approach to resolve the long plagued ethnic problems to bring about peace in Myanmar; and without Rohingya representation the convention will not be all inclusive on democratic principle. 

For more information, please contact:

Nurul Islam: Mob: +44-7947854652 

Ko Ko Linn: Mob: +880 1726068413

Email: info@rohingya.org 

www.rohingya.org

By Nyan Hlaing Lynn 

Frontier Myanmar 

August 29, 2016

NAY PYI TAW — The government of Myanmar is underwriting the entire cost of its proposed Advisory Committee on Rakhine State, a spokesman said on Monday, in response to rumours spread on social media that the body would be funded by the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation.

U Zaw Htay, a spokesman for State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, added that committee chair Kofi Annan, a former United Nations secretary-general, was working on a voluntary basis and would not be remunerated by either the Myanmar government or foreign donors.

“There is no foreign financial aid for the commission. Kofi Annan’s work is purely voluntary and at the request of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The Myanmar government is bearing all the expenses for the Rakhine Commission,” he told Frontier.

He added that the program and expenses of the committee would be managed by the National Peace and Reconciliation Centre, the successor to the former government’s Myanmar Peace Centre, which is also charged with managing the country’s delicate peace process.

Announced on August 24, the committee will have 12 months to prepare a report on humanitarian, human rights and development issues to the government. Its first meeting will be held on September 5.

In recent years, Buddhist hardliners in Myanmar have railed against what they allege to be an effort by the OIC to undermine the traditions of the country’s Buddhist majority.

Plans for the OIC to open a representative office in 2012 were abandoned after protests, which also dogged subsequent visits by OIC officials.

In 2014, chapters of the Buddhist nationalist group Ma Ba Tha called for a boycott of Ooredoo, which was then preparing to enter the local market, after alleging the Qatari-based telecommunications company was affiliated with the OIC.

Speaking at a Friday press conference at the Ministry of Information building in Nay Pyi Taw, U Zaw Htay told journalists the committee was vital to brokering a peaceful settlement in Rakhine State, where more than 100,000 people remain displaced after an outbreak of communal violence in 2012.

Zaw Htay noted that the committee had a purely advisory role and would implement any recommendations in line with existing laws, including the 1982 Citizenship Law.

By AFP

August 29, 2016

Myanmar's new leadership must overcome discrimination and promote inclusive development with "full respect" for human rights, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday on the eve of a visit to the country.

Ban said elections last November, won overwhelmingly by Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, had opened the way to include various ethnic groups in Myanmar's newfound democracy.

The recent setting up of an advisory panel on Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state headed by former UN chief Kofi Annan is an "encouraging step", Ban said, speaking in Singapore at an event organised by the Singapore Management University at the start of a two-day visit to the city-state.

Annan will advise Myanmar's new government on resolving conflicts in Rakhine, a region divided on religious grounds and home to the stateless Muslim Rohingya.

"The new leadership must now overcome discrimination, ensure equality and promote inclusive development for all, with full respect for human rights," Ban added.

The UN chief will arrive in Myanmar on Tuesday for talks with Suu Kyi, the de facto prime minister who is leading reforms after decades of military rule.

He will address a peace conference organised by Suu Kyi that aims to bring ethnic rebel groups to the table to end decades of fighting.

Ban will also meet President Htin Kyaw, General Ming Aung Hlaing, commander in chief of Myanmar's armed forces, and other political and civil society representatives.

The United Nations has criticised Myanmar's treatment of its Muslim Rohingya minority, who are denied citizenship and have been living in squalid displacement camps.

Ban will call on Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday before flying to Myanmar.

By Shoon Naing

The Myanmar Times

August 29, 2016

By AFP

August 29, 2016

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi faces what could be the toughest test of her leadership yet when she opens a major ethnic peace conference Wednesday aimed at ending wars that have blighted the country since its independence. 

The five-day talks will bring hundreds of ethnic minority rebel leaders to the capital, along with military top brass and international delegates such as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. 

The conference is Suu Kyi's flagship effort to quell the long-running rebellions rumbling across Myanmar's impoverished frontier states, fuelled in part by the illegal drugs, jade and timber trades. 

Myanmar is home to more than 100 ethnic groups and many minorities harbour deep seated historical suspicions of the Bamar majority group -- which includes Suu Kyi -- complaining that they have endured decades of discrimination.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has made ending the nearly 70 years of fighting the first priority of her newly minted government, which took over from the military in March after sweeping the first free election in generations. 

"If you ask me what my most important aim is for my country, that is to achieve peace and unity among the different peoples of our union," she said during a recent visit to China.

"Without peace, there can be no sustained development."

The 71-year-old is hoping to expand a shaky ceasefire signed last year between some rebel armies and the military-backed government.

This week's conference will include both signatories to the ceasefire agreement and non-signatories, although some groups are still locked in intense fighting with government forces and their role in the talks remains unclear. 

Success also depends heavily on the military, which controls key levers of government and whose leaders are thought to have made billions from the vast natural resources of Myanmar's borderlands.

"Anyone who is suggesting there could be any sort of agreement in the coming days or weeks is dreaming," said Anthony Davis, a security analyst and writer for IHS-Jane's, predicting the negotiations could take "many years".

The conference has nevertheless been hailed as an important first step and one loaded with symbolism in a nation emerging from a dark military past. 

It is dubbed the '21st Century Panglong' -- a reference to a 1947 agreement signed by Suu Kyi's independence hero father that granted a level of autonomy to major ethnic groups.

The deal collapsed after Aung San was assassinated months later, precipitating half a century of brutal junta rule.

Suu Kyi has followed in her father's footsteps with similar pledges to form a federalist state -- though she has never spelt out the details.

- 'Grand opening ceremony' –

A spokesman for the UNFC, one of the rebel coalitions attending the talks whose 11 ethnic groups include both ceasefire signatories and non-signatories, said the conference would be "like a grand opening ceremony".

Ethnic groups will be allowed to give brief speeches, but there will be no time for follow-up debates and plans are already in the works to hold more talks every six months.

One rebel leader, who asked not to be named, put it more frankly.

"We will not get a solution from this conference because there will be no discussion or debate," he told AFP, adding that it will however be a rare chance to "talk openly" with the government. 

Myanmar's Muslim minority Rohingya population, who are subject to state-sponsored discrimination, have never taken up arms against the state and therefore are not included in Suu Kyi's peace process. 

The country's diverse patchwork of ethnic groups make up a third of the population, but the government and military have long been dominated by members of the majority Bamar ethnicity.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) -- also mostly Bamar -- surprised observers when it won a strong support from ethnic minority voters in November's polls. 

Yet distrust of the military runs deep in rebel regions where there have been many documented cases of torture, rape and forced labour by state troops.

Hundreds of thousands have fled to Thailand and China, while those that remain live in communities devastated by drugs, forbidden from teaching in their own language and stigmatised for not being Buddhist.

Experts say the military's limited ceasefire pact has also driven a wedge between groups that signed and those that did not.

Richard Dolan, an independent researcher who works with the Karen people, warned minorities outside the peace process could start to see the NLD and military as forming a "united Burman front", using another term for the Bamar.

"If it is not careful in how it proceeds, the NLD risks fuelling suspicion that it is a Burman-Buddhist party which does not understand the sufferings of non-Burman people," he said.

By Htet Naing Zaw

The Irrawaddy

August 29, 2016

Amid criticism of former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan’s appointment to chairman of the new Arakan State Advisory Committee, the deputy-director general of the State Counselor’s Office said the choice was made in response to international pressure.

Deputy director-general U Zaw Htay told reporters at a press conference on the government’s 100-day plan in Naypyidaw on Friday that the decision to include international representatives followed outside pressure, after previous local commissions failed to resolve the Arakan State issue.

The nine-member team includes three international representatives, including Kofi Annan, and six from Burma—including two Buddhist Arakanese members, two Rangoon-based Muslim members and two government representatives.

“The commission must include impartial, respected and experienced people. We planned to form the commission with three international representatives and six local representatives. The three international representatives we have selected are very seasoned,” U Zaw Htay told reporters.

Burma’s main opposition party—the Union and Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)—and nationalist forces have criticized the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government’s decision to involve international representatives in the Arakan State issue, stating that the move “neglects national security.”

The USDP released a statement that criticized “bringing an internal issue into the international spotlight.”

U Zaw Htay said the Arakan State crisis was not merely an internal issue, adding that the international community was already involved through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

“No matter how unwilling we are to accept it, international pressure does exist. International involvement could clearly be seen in the previous boat people crisis,” said U Zaw Htay.

He said the government understands the concerns of political parties over the formation of the advisory commission but that they should not worry given that its mandate only allows for recommendations, submitted to the government via State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The State Counselor’s Office and the Kofi Annan Foundation have yet to sign a memorandum of understanding to form the advisory commission. A draft MoU has been submitted to the attorney general’s office to seek further advice, U Zaw Htay said.

“We have heard what [critics] say about Kofi Annan. But we appointed him not because he is the former UN secretary-general. He adopted the Millennium Development Goals, won a Nobel Peace Prize and helped resolve many conflicts—including issues in Syria,” he said.

The Arakan National Party (ANP) previously demanded the cancellation of the committee, stating that the non-Burmese members would not be able to understand the background of the current situation in Arakan State.

The region saw significant violence in 2012 and 2013, largely affecting the stateless Muslim Rohingya community. The ANP does not recognize the self-identifying Rohingya minority and instead refers to them as interlopers from Bangladesh.

Regarding the issue of citizenship and the Rohingya, U Zaw Htay said that decisions going forward would be made in accordance with the contentious 1982 Citizenship Law—which defines eligibility in racial terms and renders stateless most Rohingya.

“The government does not necessarily have to follow the commission’s recommendations. It is the government’s choice. The issue is not an international issue but draws huge international interest and therefore is politically sensitive,” he said.

Dr Habib Siddiqui

RB Opinion
August 28, 2016

On Friday, 19 August 2016, the first World Rohingya Day demonstrations took place around the world. Rallies and demonstrations took place in London, UK; Washington DC, Toronto, Canada, New York, Chicago; Stockholm, Sweden; Boston; Los Angeles; and many other places. The speakers demanded end to the ongoing genocide of Rohingya people who are indigenous people of Myanmar (formerly Burma) living in their ancestral lands.

The Rohingyas of Myanmar are a stateless people who are the most persecuted people in our time. They have been facing genocidal campaigns, especially since 2012, which saw a series of ethnic cleansing drives by the Rakhine Buddhists of Arakan – planned and aided by the local and central government and organized and mobilized by racist politicians and bigoted monks. It was a national project put into practice for the elimination of the Rohingya, who differ in ethnicity and religion from the majority Buddhists in this country of 55 million people. As a result, probably thousands were lynched to death, a quarter million lost their homes, tens of thousands were forced to choose exodus from this Buddhist den of intolerance and hatred, and an estimated 140,000 Rohingya internally displaced persons were caged in concentration camps in and around Sittwe (formerly Akyab). 

So evil was this proto-Nazi criminal eliminationist policy that anytime a fact-finding international aid agency or an NGO tried to voice its concern on deplorable inhuman condition of the Rohingya people, it was not only silenced by hateful Buddhist mobs that quickly rallied with hateful banners and posters, but was also barred from visiting the place next time. In this series of government sponsored pogroms, Ma Ba Tha – the terrorist organization of Buddhist monks, led by Wirathu – naturally played the role of Thein Sein’s hound dogs, and made the life of Muslims, living both inside and outside the Arakan state, unlivable. In essence, the world saw Buddhist Nazism in practice in much of Myanmar, especially in the western state of Arakan (Rakhine), bordering Bangladesh, where the Rohingyas have been living for centuries. 

Even the Nobel Laureate for peace, the much hyped democracy icon, Suu Kyi, chose to ignore the serious existential plight of this unfortunate people. An official census taken last year purposefully excluded the Rohingya denying them the voting right in country’s general election. All the political organizations that once represented the Rohingya people were disallowed from contesting in the election, and so were the former elected Rohingya MPs. It was all part of a very sinister plan to eliminate the Rohingya politically, socially and economically. 

The fate of the Rohingya refugees did not fare well in the next-door Bangladesh either; not only were they unwelcome there but aid organizations that provide a modicum of relief to Rohingya continue to be doggedly harassed by government agencies. 

With the election win of Suu Kyi’s NLD in the general election last year, a flicker of hope emerged within the international community who expected that she would self-correct her inexcusable role and do the needful towards improving the lot of the persecuted Rohingya. She had her own problems, too. Constitutional roadblocks were put on her way by Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government that denied her the right to become the president of the country. But she was able to outmaneuver USDP’s intent smartly by creating a new post with more power. 

However, as days turned into months, nothing positive happened even as Suu Kyi took the reign of the government in Myanmar earlier this year. More problematically, she came under widespread international criticism for refusing to even mention the name “Rohingya” and rebuked an American diplomatic who did. Equally disturbingly, she revealed her own prejudice when after a heated interview with BBC’s veteran journalist, Mishal Husain, she was reportedly heard to say angrily, “No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim.” The case of the Rohingya looked utterly hopeless!

Then like a lightning bolt came the latest news: Suu Kyi has solicited the aid of Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN, to lead an “Advisory Commission on the Rakhine State.” The Annan-led commission includes both national and international officials who will recommend “lasting solutions to complex and delicate issues” in Rakhine state. 

What brought this change of heart? Is it because Suu Kyi’s government has realized that for Myanmar to move forward it must loosen its ties with her problematic past that had earned only bad reputation from the international community? Is it because of the realization that the ongoing abuse and discrimination of the Rohingya is also threatening to undermine Myanmar’s historic opening and democratic transition, let alone delaying the needed economic prosperity? 

Whatever may be the true intent of Suu Kyi’s government, there is little doubt that this decision was a timely one, and it was a bold one, too. Many Buddhists inside Myanmar, esp. in the Rakhine state, are die-hard racists and bigots. They resent this decision. They would rather see Rohingya and other religious minorities eliminated altogether from their country one way or another. Decades of falsification of historical truths and hateful propaganda that were propagated by the military government and hate provocateurs like (late) Aye Kyaw and Aye Chan have turned them into killers, justifying and allowing them to do savage crimes against the Rohingya and other Muslims. Forgotten in that lacunar worldview was the hard fact that the forefathers of today’s Rohingya people had settled in Arakan before those of the Rakhine people. 

Myanmar needs the necessary foreign investment to move up economically, and cannot allow a delay of that process until investors’ perception of human rights of the country improves significantly. The international community has been dissatisfied with Suu Kyi’s slow response to ensuring protection, fairness, and justice for all of its people, esp. the Rohingya people whose plight is simply inhumane and unacceptable. Human rights groups have long been demanding donors to leverage their aid, and for the broader international community to pressure the Suu Kyi government to end the repression. They have been demanding that Myanmar respect international law, end its complicity in violating Rohingya rights and punish those promoting and carrying out ethnic cleansing whatever their motivation.

Suu Kyi, thus, had to find someone like Mr. Annan with a prudent track record that would provide the necessary positive publicity for her government, let alone infusion of the needed foreign money. 

After leaving the UN, Mr. Annan has undertaken a few of these missions. In 2007, a disputed election in Kenya lead to widespread communal violence and threatened to unravel and otherwise thriving country. He mediated between the two parties and helped establish a commission of inquiry that investigated post-election violence, turning its findings over the International Criminal Court. He mediated a power sharing agreement that ended the prospect of further violence. It was no accident that groups like the Amnesty International have welcomed the decision. “Today’s announcement is a sign that Myanmar’s authorities are taking the situation in Rakhine state seriously. But it will only have been a worthwhile exercise if it paves the way for the realization of human rights for all people in the state,” said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s Director for South East Asia and the Pacific said in a statement released earlier.

The formation of the advisory commission should be a matter of celebration. However, as hinted above, many Buddhists, esp. Rakhines (e.g., Arakan National Party – a racist group) are opposed to the Annan commission. They don’t want to solve the Rohingya problem. [The ANP has lately objected to the granting of citizenship of 29 white-card holding Muslims in Buthidaung in the Rakhine state. Prior to the 2015 election, the ANP had thrown its weight behind a successful push to disenfranchise white-card holders. It is worth noting here that according to government figures supplied, there were nearly 800,000 white-card holders in Myanmar at the time they were revoked last year, with over 660,000 in Rakhine State. White cards were first issued as a stop-gap measure in the early 1990s, with many of the state’s Muslims being assured it would pave the way to full citizenship.]

For years, the official Burmese mantra has been that "no foreigner can possibly understand Rakhine's problems". Thus, for the first time, the Burmese government is seeking international expertise to try and solve one of the country's most complex problems. It is a big shift for the government in Myanmar. 

Many human rights are also concerned because of the inclusion of Daw Khin Saw Tint - a known racist and bigot - in the commission. She is a Rakhine Buddhist who chairs the Rakhine Literature and Culture Association (Yangon), responsible for promoting intolerance against the Rohingya people. As Burmese human rights activist, Dr. Maung Zarni has shown in his blog, Ms. Khin Saw Tint remains a very hostile, anti-Rohingya zealot who falsely considers that Rohingyas have no history prior to the Burma's independence from Great Britain. I wish Suu Kyi had been more careful in selection of the members of the Advisory Commission. 

After being named in the commission, Khin Saw Tint said she believes working together with independent and highly respected international figures will present a clear image of what is happening in Rakhine State to the international community. “The problem can only be solved with a bilateral approach,” she said. I pray that she is not speaking with a forked tongue and does not torpedo the needed task of the commission, which does not include a single Rohingya. 

The Annan commission is expected to start work in September and will release a full report, including a set of recommendations on “conflict prevention, prevention, humanitarian assistance, rights and reconciliation, institution building and promotion of development of Rakhine state” by the second half of 2017. However, as we all know too well, the litmus test going forward is whether or not the government will accept and implement those recommendations.

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

Anadolu Agency

August 27, 2016

Ex-government, nationalists claim Rakhine State - home to country's Rohingya Muslims - national issue, not international

YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar's former ruling party has said it will closely monitor a newly-formed commission set up to advise the government on resolving conflicts in western Rakhine state.

On Friday, the Union Daily -- owned by the ex-general led-main opposition USDP -- published a party announcement claiming the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State would solely focus on human rights and humanitarian needs in the state while neglecting state interests.

Rakhine houses a majority of the country's Rohingya Muslim population, whom nationalists do not see as Myanmar nationals, rather interlopers from neighboring Bangladesh.

The USDP accused the government -- led by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) -- of viewing Rakhine as a regional or international issue, as the commission includes three people from outside the country.

“Therefore all citizens of Myanmar would need to closely monitor [the commission] for the national interest and national security,” it said.

Since since mid-2012, nearly 100 people have been killed and some 100,000 people displaced after communal violence broke out in the region between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims -- described by the United Nations as among the most persecuted minority groups worldwide.

State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has subsequently formed the commission -- chaired by former United Nations head Kofi Annan -- to finding lasting solutions to the “complex and delicate issues” in western Rakhine -- home to around 1.2 million Rohingya.

But the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) say that the commission -- composed of three international members and six from Myanmar, including representatives from the Buddhist and Muslim communities -- should not include foreign nationals, claiming the Rakhine issue as Myanmar's own internal problem.

On Thursday, Amnesty International described the commission as the most credible and independent attempt yet to address longstanding human rights violations in Rakhine.

“The inclusion of international members should highlight how the situation goes beyond Myanmar’s borders," it highlighted in a statement.

Since 2012, Rohingya have been fleeing Myanmar in droves, terrified of violence that some human rights groups consider to be state sponsored.

Rights groups estimate that as many as 10 percent of the million-strong ethnic group have fled the country in search of better opportunities in Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia -- many of them paying people smugglers to help them achieve their goals.

On Friday, USDP central executive committee member Khin Yi -- who served as the immigration minister under former President Thein Sein -- also underlined to Anadolu Agency that the commission should not include foreign nationals.

“It would make Myanmar people hard to accept the commission’s findings for Rakhine issues,” he said.

The announcement comes a day after a powerful nationalist party in Rakhine demanded the government abolish the commission, stating that non-Burmese members would not be able to understand the background to and the current situation on the ground in Rakhine.

The Arakan National Party (ANP) -- which won the majority of seats in the state in last year’s election -- said the commission would ignore ethnic people's stance, and claimed it would be biased against them, citing that the commission would also examine international aspects of the situation, including the background of those seeking refugee status abroad.

“Therefore we have no confidence in the commission,” the ANP said in a statement.

The commission is scheduled to deliver a report on its findings and recommendations to the Myanmar government within twelve months of its establishment, according to an announcement from Suu Kyi’s office Wednesday.

This will involve consultations with all relevant stakeholders, international experts and foreign dignitaries, it added.

Since her party's victory in the Nov. 8 election, Suu Kyi has been placed under tremendous international pressure to solve problems faced by Rohingya but has had to play a careful balancing act for fear of upsetting the country's nationalists, many of whom have accused Muslims of trying to eradicate the country's Buddhist traditions.

Suu Kyi has, however, enforced the notion that the root of many of the impoverished region's problems are economic, and is encouraging investment in the area, which in turn the NLD hopes will lead to reconciliation between the Buddhist and Muslim communities.