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Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (left) welcomes Myanmar foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi to Downing Street in London on Tuesday. (AP)

By Prasun Sonwalkar
September 14, 2016

London -- Britain raised the “desperate situation” of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar during meetings on Monday and Tuesday with visiting state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

On her first visit to Britain after the November 2015 elections, Suu Kyi met Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Prime Minister Theresa May. 

The prime minister’s official spokeswoman said the meeting was an opportunity to talk about bilateral relations, “the process that’s under way in Burma and what we can do to support reconciliation and democracy and respect for human rights there.”

Britain continues to use the nomenclature of ‘Burma’ instead of ‘Myanmar’, which was adopted during the preceding military rule. 

Johnson said after meeting Suu Kyi: “The Burmese transition to democracy is a historic achievement. The courage and sacrifice of the Burmese people, not least of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself, has led to a major shift from military dictatorship to a more civilian, democratic and accountable government.”

Official sources said the two leaders also discussed the Panglong Peace Conference and plans for the peace process. Several human rights groups have appealed to Suu Kyi to help resolve the plight of Rohingya Muslims, who allegedly face persecution in Myanmar.

“The foreign secretary welcomed early progress in freeing political prisoners as well as the establishment of the Rakhine Commission, led by Kofi Annan, which is an important step in beginning to tackle the desperate situation of the Rohingya community there,” they added.

Johnson said: “The UK is pleased to have played an important role in bringing about Burma’s emergence from decades of repression and isolation. We remain committed to supporting Burma’s extraordinary reforms and we welcome a democratic, stable and prosperous Burma that can contribute to stability and security in South East Asia and beyond.”

The Arakan State parliament in session on Wednesday. (Photo: Marayu / Facebook)
By Lawi Weng
September 14, 2016

The Arakan State parliament is debating on Wednesday and Thursday this week a proposal from the Arakan National Party (ANP) to withhold recognition from the new Arakan State Advisory Commission chaired by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.

Lawmakers from the ANP told The Irrawaddy that the proposal was likely to succeed, because the ANP are the largest party in the Arakan State parliament and can rely on the military representatives and the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to gain a majority vote.

The Arakan State Advisory Commission was appointed by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi last month, and consists of nine members: three international, including Kofi Annan, and six from Burma, including two Buddhist Arakanese, two Muslims, and two government representatives. It is mandated to provide a report within a year, with recommendations on resolving the Buddhist-Muslim conflict, and on meeting humanitarian and development needs.

The legal and practical implications of a vote in the state parliament to withhold recognition are unclear. Under the nominally devolved structures outlined in the 2008 Constitution, powers granted to regional governments and parliaments are limited or vaguely defined.

However, ANP members claim that such a resolution would make it difficult for the advisory commission to gain the cooperation of actors on the ground in Arakan State, and cause the commission’s recommendations to be rejected by local stakeholders, frustrating implementation.

The ANP represents the interests of the Arakanese Buddhist majority in the state, and takes a hard line against the granting of citizenship rights to the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Earlier this month, an urgent proposal put forward by the ANP in the Lower House of the Union Parliament, calling for international members of the new advisory commission to be replaced with Burmese experts—arguing that the involvement of international figures amounted to an infringement of Burma’s sovereignty—was defeated by votes from the ruling National League for Democracy, although it won the support of military and USDP members.

The ANP’s U Kyaw Zwa Oo, who represents the state capital Sittwe, submitted the proposal to the Arakan State parliament on Monday. The parliament approved it for debate the same week.

Lawmakers from the ANP said the central government had failed to consult with locals of Arakan State before forming the advisory commission.

“We will not recognize this commission,” said U Kyaw Lwin of the ANP.

U Pe Than, an ANP lawmaker in the Lower House, claimed to The Irrawaddy that, although the state government remains “under the control of the Union government,” the state parliament is “independent” of the Union parliament, “according to the constitution”—so its decisions can determine how projects are implemented on the ground.

The Union parliament could not “pressure” the state parliament to recognize, or work with, the Kofi Annan-led advisory commission, he said.

“The state parliament represents locals, not the government. The government has to implement decisions reached by the state parliament. It will have problems in the future if it does not do so,” he claimed.

U Pe Than said the state parliament had the power to refuse cooperation with the advisory commission, and recognition of its recommendations. “The commission will have problems working on the ground if there is no cooperation with the state parliament,” he said.

The commission would be “powerless” in such a situation, he went on, and receive the opposition of locals, who would then pressure the state government to sideline it.

Several hundred local residents emerged to protest the arrival of Kofi Annan and his fellow commission members in Sittwe last week, at the instigation of the ANP.

Buddhist-Muslim conflict broke out in Arakan State in 2012, recurring in 2013 and displacing up to 140,000 people, overwhelmingly Muslim Rohingya, most of whom remain confined to squalid camps with limited access to public services. This has prompted sustained criticism from foreign governments, the United Nations and the international human rights community.

Internally displaced Rohingya stand outside their makeshift tent in a camp in Sittwe in Myanmar's northwestern Rakhine state in 2013.



By Catherine Maddux
September 14, 2016

When Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi meets President Barack Obama at the White House this week, activists will be watching to see how the pro-democracy icon will address the plight of the country's ethnic Rohingya, whom human rights groups say are among the world's most persecuted minority groups.

Since ethnic and sectarian violence erupted in 2012, tens of thousands of Rohingya have been living in overcrowded camps in conditions that rights groups have condemned as deplorable. Mosques have been shuttered and marriages unrecognized by the government. The government restricts their movement, limiting the Rohingya's access to health care, education and job opportunities.

In fact, most Rohingya are not even considered citizens. The Myanmar government and many of its citizens see them as illegal immigrants, and even refuse to call them by their preferred name, "Rohingya."

Instead, Myanmar refers to them as "Bengalis," reflecting the view that they are from neighboring Bangladesh, even though many Rohingya have been living in Myanmar for generations. Aung San Suu Kyi herself has said that the Rohingya term is "divisive" and the government will refrain from using it.

Rohingya people pass their time in a damaged shelter in Rohingya IDP camp outside Sittwe, Rakhine state, Aug. 4, 2015.

Thousands of Rohingya have fled abroad, risking dangerous trips to Indonesia or Malaysia since 2012. But an estimated 140,000 remain displaced in internal camps. Some rights groups have argued the treatment amounts to ethnic cleansing, or even genocide.

“The situation on the ground today is not good,” said Wakar Uddin, a leading U.S.-based Rohingya advocate who met late last week with several U.S. administration officials to brief them — and sat down with VOA for an interview.

“People are dying. We have dire issues that need to be addressed,” Uddin said. “One hundred forty thousand [people] in camps, lingering. They need to be returned.”

Uddin is the founding chairman of the North America Rohingya Association and a professor of agricultural science at Pennsylvania State University.

Wakkar Uddin, founding chairman of North America Rohingya Association and professor of agricultural science at Pennsylvania State University, pictured during a VOA interview. (VOA/Maddux)

Despite his deep concerns, he sees some hope with the creation of a commissionheaded by former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan, which has the blessing of the Myanmar’s quasi-military government. The commission is charged with probing the Rohingya conflict and filing a report within a year’s time, a kind of road map toward a future solution.

“This Kofi Annan commission is highly capable," Uddin said. “They will be able to produce a balanced report: the truth. Whatever the truth is.”

Trust is key, added Uddin. “They will be and they should be talking to the victims, who have gone through this hardship.”

That said, he is calling for immediate action now to alleviate the humanitarian suffering. Uddin told VOA that he specifically pressed U.S. officials this week to remind Aung San Suu Kyi to take steps now. Other experts agree.

“The Annan commission has the ability to propose solutions that will assist the Rohingya and the Rakhine," said Ronan Lee, an Australian-based researcher. “The commission will not make its report until the second half of 2017, meaning human rights for the Rohingya need to be progressed before this.”

Lee also pointed out that Myanmar’s Buddhists also need immediate help.

“It's important to remember, too, that while the Rohingya Muslims have and continue to suffer dreadfully, Rakhine state's majority ethnicity, the Rakhine Buddhists, are often also living in appalling poverty,” he said.

Burma Buddhist monks stage a rally to protest against ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims after sectarian violence erupted between ethnic Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in this 2012 photo.
Uddin believes that, after speaking with U.S. officials, some of these more urgent, immediate humanitarian steps will be taken ahead of the Annan commission’s report.

One delicate political issue confronting Myanmar’s leadership, the Obama administration, and activists and Buddhists in Myanmar: Does the treatment of the Rohingya amount to genocide?

"You cannot paint with a broad brush. There are all kinds of voices in the community that use their own terminology,” Uddin said. “I really do not want to dwell on these terms. We want to make every effort to not anger the other side."

Labeling the treatment of Rohingya as genocide could compel the 147 countries that have signed the 1948 Convention on the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide treaty to intervene in the situation. That would mark an extreme step, but one that some activists say is necessary.

“This is the case where we, as the predominantly Buddhist society, has been misled and brainwashed in the way the Nazis brainwashed and turned the German citizens against Jews,” said Maung Zarni, a human rights campaigner and co-author of the book "A Slow Burning Genocide of Myanmar."

Researcher Lee points to other researchers whom he said confirm Zarni's position.

“A well-researched report from the International State Crime Initiative at Queen Mary University of London was certain the Rohingya had been victims of state crimes and ‘genocidal persecution,’" Lee said, while admitting his own research has not focused specifically on the question of genocide. 

A separate legal study by researchers at Yale law school in 2015 that analyzed Rohingya testimonies, Myanmar government documents, and analyses by other aid groups argued that there is strong evidence of genocide. The group argued that while it was difficult to determine whether the treatment of Rohingya was intended to destroy them "in whole or in part," the available evidence strongly suggests that their treatment meets the legal definition of genocide.

Myanmar Foreign Minister and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi is pictuired in a Bangkok airport in June 2016.

As to whether or not Aung San Suu Kyi will act on the Rohingya issue, North America Rohingya Association's Uddin is hopeful.

"I believe Aung San Suu Kyi is a visionary," Uddin said. "She cares about our people. She recognizes that this Rohingya issue has risen to a global scale." 

Ultimately, Uddin added, as one of the most revered and well-known political campaigners in the world, she recognizes that "she cannot ignore this."

(Photo: Adam Jones)


 By Ro Mayyu Ali
RB Article
September 13, 2016

My Higher Education in Sittway University (Part-1)

Parents were cheerful. Siblings were proud. Friends were joyful and neighbors were pleased. All the teachers as well were glad with us because only we 8, out of 236 students, had passed the matriculation examination in the 2008 academic year in the Basic Education High School in Kyein Chaung Village. The school, situated in northern 24-miles away from Maungdaw Township. My eldest brother living abroad, really proud of my success, encouraged me to continue my study and promised that he would give me all the allowances when I go to study higher education in Sittway University, situated in Sittway City, Rakhine State, Myanmar.

I’m from a less-afforded family who lives from hand to mouth. My father is a fisherman, an anchor for us. So, for me, my eldest brother is the only one who can provide for me the means of higher education if my fortune sees the bound. So, being the second ranked matriculated student as well as being the only one with an English major as a specialization subject for the academic program made me celebrated in our school. Perhaps, I was too delighted to be. Everyone was enthralling. A new academic year of 2009 was knocking. Then, it was the time to prepare towards heading to it.

First of all, I had to apply for a White Card because without it, no Rohingya, even a student, is allowed to move from one place to another. For that regard, I had to take the following recommendations;

(1) A Village Authorization Form, locally called Ywa Twar Hla Mat (that should have an attached photo of the holder certified that the one is going to the downtown area. (Administration Office Clerk charges 1000 kyats for it + a copy of passport sized photo costs 200 kyats).

(2) A recommendation letter (It certifies that the holder is a resident of the relevant village and his or her character is good as well. (Village Administrator charges 2000 kyats for it.)

(3) Two copies (It costs 100 kyats per page.) and the original of my family list together.

On next day of 14th of November, 2008 at 7:45 am, I was in a Jeep car heading towards downtown in the Maungdaw Township. It was my second trip downtown. In our area, riding in a car is like frog-dancing that makes all the passengers easily tired and sleepy, but not my sharp mind. Hours later, the car stopped and the conductor sounded us to get off. When I looked up, I realized it was in front of Border Immigration Head Quarter in Kyi Kan Pyin. No sooner I got out of the car I remembered the word of in-charge Nasaka (an immigration personal) in that check point when I was going to sit for my matric exam in Maungdaw High School. “I’m not your class teacher. Why do you provide me your student ID?” he shouted me when I gave him mine. He asked for my White Card but he forgot my age and that was not eligible to hold it. However, I fortunately got on again though I saw myself through some extortions at the check point.

Almost 3 hours later, the car reached downtown. Getting out of the car, I went directly to the Township Immigration Office with my file to apply before having my lunch. By the time I entered the office, a staff said to me that the Immigration Officer had gone to Sittway and that I had to go back. Indeed, it’s my common fate as a Rohingya in Northern Rakhine State!

A couple of weeks later, I went to there again. I received a White Card to apply for my higher education costing 19500 kyats. On the same day, thinking myself that everything was ready enough, I was submitting my file to go study in Sittway University. Then my file was rejected as my name had different spellings between my family list and what was listed in school. No wonder! It’s a common discrepancy that Immigration personals misspelled whilst writing our name in family lists. That is most likely the bane of our student life when we go to the Immigration Office with our files. When I asked what I had to do, the recipient advised me to have another recommendation from the Village Administrator regarding the issue. So, I had to go back again to take it.

I explained everything to Village Administrator and he gave me a recommendation and certified that the holder is the same person even though he has two different names in the different lists. Then, I was confident that there were no more flaws in my file. Finally I submitted my application. Even though it had to cost more money as a student to submit a file, it seemed like things were going easily. I came to realize that I was going to see Sittway University very soon. Then, I felt I would become like a prince who would enjoy studying in Sittway University. Just a dream! What a joy it was!

For me, everything seemed quite simple and possible. All University students were preparing to leave. My elder sister invited me for a special dinner because I was leaving soon and she gave me some pocket money too. Then all students from our village fixed the 26th of December, 2008 to leave together. Everything was readily packed up and prepared.

It was the 24th of December, 2008. A man came to my home in the early morning and told us that there was a call for my father from Saudi Arabia. Hearing the man, I felt myself that I was in a paradise thinking my eldest brother was going to inform my father about my money to go to Sittway. “Mom, I’m really proud of my eldest”, I surprised my mom hugging suddenly. Then, my father and I went together with a great pleasure. It was the first time that I have ever walked in front of my father with a blooming smile. However, when my father held the call, it was a friend of my eldest brother in Saudi Arabia. He said that my brother was arrested and detained last night by Police. My father was shocked. Then, I was broken. He hugged and encouraged me that I might go anyway to study. It was my tear in the middle of the joy! However, my hope had the same acceleration. 

In the evening of the same day, one of my friends came to inform me that my file was launched and the clerk of Immigration Office was asking about me. My mother shared with him what had happened. When the fixed day came, everyone left to University. I however, remained in my home and my file was in the Immigration Office. I understood that my brother was still detained. My siblings whose hearts were more broken than me as I couldn’t go to study. My first year was gone. My first hope was lost.

So, my parents started to convince me that I was going to join in next academic year. I therefore, came to realize that the release of my brother was more important than my dream. I was praying for his release. My family was trying to find the resources to educate me. We sharpened the blade of our hope again for next academic year.

However, my fate is that the time passed by so fast. 2010, a new academic year was quickly coming up. My brother had not yet been released. I could not find another source to go to study. The second year was also over. My second hope for the same thing was lost too.

Two academic years were already passed. Then, I had to turn my hope back to the release of my eldest brother. On the other hand, for two years I had taught a private English class for Grade-10 students in my village and I could save some money that was quite enough to live for one month in Sittway City. Then, my mind was finally made up to join University of Distance Education in Sittway University. By the help of a friend, I had a contact with a clerk who makes doing everything for Distance Students in Sittway University if she gets money. I was transferred and enrolled in it, costing more than 50000 kyats. Then, she sent all text books and assignment papers to me. So, I started my self-study reading my texts and assignment at home.

It was 12th of October, 2011. Everything was again packed up and I was leaving. Although it was the procedure for us to go to Sittway University were the same as before. Aziz (one of my friends, also going to attend Distance University) and I went to Immigration Office in downtown and received our files that included the following documents;

(1) A Form-4 certified that the holder is a resident of the relevant village, going to cross over township. (It costs 3000 kyats including the costs of photos.)

(2) The approval of Township Immigration Office. (Immigration Office clerk charges 1500 kyats per a student.)

(3) The approval of District Immigration Office (No charge for it)

(4) The approval of State Immigration Office (No charge for it)

(5) The approval of Township Administration Office (No charge for it)

(6) Ten copies of Form-4, to give in every check points on the way. (It costs total 1000 kyats as 100 kyats per page.)

After lunch, we were heading by car to Buthidaung Township. While we were in the car, we both poor, were brain-storming about the extortion of the NASAKA at the 3-Mile check point. Aziz is a relative of U Aung Myo Myint, a Parliament Member of Rakhine State in 2010. “U Aung Myo Myint told me that he has already been made aware of every check points and not to ask for money from students.”, he encouraged me and I was a bit relieved.

When we were in there, we had to get out to be checked. Before signing the the original of our Form-4, the in-charge Nasaka of check point asked for 1000 kyats per one. We handed two copies. So, we looked at one another. “This is check point, not Parliament”, the in-charge NASAKA fired us when Aziz tried to explain him. Then we had to pay 2000 kyats.

It was 5:35 pm when we reached Buthidaung's downtown. We decided to stay the night in Ko Kyaw Gyi Guesthouse. After showering, we had our dinner in a restaurant. We then telephoned Mostafa Kamaal (a friend from our village in Sittway City) to pick up us from the Sittway jetty where we would reach the next evening. When we tried to go to bed, we found that the beds were set up from East to West that is forbidden for us in Islam to sleep. We both thought then to turn the beds to the right way ourselves. “Aziz, how about NASAKA in jetty”, I asked him. He was silent for a while. So, I had to make him shaking his body when his mood was melt down. We justly prepared and planned something. It was an exciting moment. The night was so long. Suddenly, we both sank into sleep.

When the day broke, we woke up and quickly prepared ourselves after performing our prayers. Then, we had our breakfast. We took a packet of fried sticky-rice (Shwe Tamin) and purchased two tickets for the slow boat as the price of 3500 kyats per one. We were in limited expenditure then as we were heading towards the boat. Soon, we were in line. We saw that some were under checking up and some were not. We both were only those whom were asking for 1000 kyats per one among the group of around a hundred. It was my talk against extortion in jetty of Buthidaung!

I (A Rohingya) : “Why do I need to pay money?”

A Nasaka : “You don’t know. We are Nasaka!”

I (A Rohingya) : “Why do we only two need to pay when all the others don’t?”

A Nasaka: “Because they are Taiyinthar (indigenous) and you both are Kalars (illegal immigrants), understand?”

No sooner than Nasaka’s finger touched my face than the bell of boat suddenly rang up for passengers to get on then we had to pay 1000 kyats per each for the Buthidaung jetty too. It was the boat, Danyawaddy-7 that we were on. By the time the boat started, all people on the jetty were waving their hands to the boat. We both were those poor two in the boat whose parents were not able to wave their hands to us. It was a time of double-wounds for our young innocent hearts, indeed.

Our seats were in the middle and we put down our bodies. I had the Philosophy that however we have tried and whatever we have planned for, it was nothing better than useless in front of those merciless Nasakas. It is like asking for pity from chicken to a hungry fox. Suddenly, a mixed laughter of passengers made me wake up. It was a joking dialogue of a Myanmar film that made them laugh on the boat. Then, I looked at the face of my friend and joined in the end of their laughter. And soon, we had our lunch on boat.

It was 4:45 pm when we reached to the jetty in Sittway. We were looking for Mostafa Kamaal whom we had requested to pick up us from jetty. We saw that he was waiting for us in gateway where there is another Nasaka check point and we waved our hands at him. “We are going to get off first because we both are new and we’ll have more things to do”, Aziz, my clever friend reminded me. We both got off first and handed some copies and the original of our travel authorization of form-4 to in-charge of Nasaka in check point. He took it and kept it in his hand without signing the original. “I’m responsible for this check point”, the Nasaka replied Mostafa Kamaal when he tried to introduce us to the Nasaka saying that we both were students. We had to wait in there for more than 15 minutes until all were others were gone. We saw ourselves that all people were passing over check point even without even being checked. We both were made to wait for a signature in form-4 despite checking everything of us from A-to-Z. Finally, we had it without extortion as it is the jetty of Sittway.

Then, we got on a taxi heading to Mow Lai Quarter in Sittway. At 5:15 pm, we reached the lodging of Payami then we got off. We had rooms on the ground floor as the upstairs was full. It was later than 5:30 pm that we were readily set up with our materials in our room. So, we have planned to go to the Immigration Office the next day in order to have our arrival approval in Sittway. Then, we took our shower and had our dinner in a nearby restaurant, Old Lady’s Restaurant by the local name. It was a very exciting day for us. As we got tired and weary, we went early to our bad. For sure, it was the first night for us in Sittway City.

TO BE CONTINUED…


By Cheena Kapoor
September 12, 2016

The Rohingya are often described as one of the most persecuted communities in the world. A significant number of them are also living in India as refugees and asylum seekers. Cheena Kapoor reports about their plight.



Most commuters who pass the Kalindi Kunj bridge in Delhi tend to generally notice only the metro construction. From a distance, the makeshift settlement near the construction area appears to be a normal sight in the city: tents built with recycled material found on the streets comprising of plastic, rubber, plywood, tires and old clothes.

A closer look, however, reveals the plight of the Rohingya community, a Muslim ethnic group from Myanmar, and their relentless struggle in search for a home where they will not be beaten, raped or killed.

In Kalindi Kunj, a total of 307 members of the Rohingya community live together. The Zakat Foundation, a US-based NGO, has made this possible by providing 11,000 square feet of land to pitch tents on. This arrangement, however, was only valid for a year and now the Rohingyas, after having overstayed, have been asked to move again ten days after Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday. This case of displacement is not the first one and yet another occasion for them to not know where to go next.

The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim community hailing from Myanmar's western Rakhine state. But the Myanmar government views the roughly one million-strong ethnic group as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. As a result, most of them are denied citizenship and outbreaks of sectarian violence have prompted many to flee.

Over several decades, the Rohingya have suffered a lack of self-identity, persecution and forced relocation within and outside the borders of Myanmar.

Many of them now live in miserable conditions in makeshift camps within and outside Myanmar and are exposed to the risks of exploitation, human trafficking, and rape.

Since 2012, over 100,000 Rohingya Muslims have embarked on boat journeys in search of better lives outside of the Southeast Asian nation, and they have taken refuge in countries like Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand and India.

More welcoming?

India has so far been receptive to Rohingyas, and the South Asian country is generally considered to be a safe place for the refugees.

Mohammad Usman, a 33-year-old man from Myanmar, spent three days without food and water in the dark forest near the India-Bangladesh border before reaching Delhi. Almost three years after that fateful night, Usman recollects his experiences: "Back in Myanmar, officials would blindfold young men and women in the night and take them away. These people would never return."

India may not offer the Rohingya the same basic facilities it gives to Afghan or Iraqi refugees, but the country still does more than Myanmar ever did, says Usman.

The makeshift settlement near Kalindi Kunj bridge is currently home to some 70 Rohingya families. And over 35,000 Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers are estimated to reside across the country.

Out of the 137 children in the Kalindi Kunj settlement, 60 are under the age of five and do not go to school, while only 47 children are offered education for which fees are paid by the Zakat Foundation.

A Rohingya woman prepares dinner for her family outside her makeshift tent at the Kalindi Kunj refugee camp in Delhi
Living in Delhi has made a significant difference to the lives of many of these Rohingya Muslims. Mohammad Ismail, 27, arrived in India almost two and a half years ago. His family of six members, two brothers, a sister-in-law and two sisters had to leave their parents behind in Myanmar.

Now, Ismail has found a home in Delhi. He says, "At last we're accepted here. We can practice our religion without the fear of getting killed for it. India has accepted us. Despite the stench and filth, I feel safe living here and never want to return."

Facing eviction, again

But poor health conditions and the looming eviction notice might accelerate the possibility of displacement. With the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses Dengue and Chikungunya during the monsoon season, over 40 people at the camp in Kalindi Kunj have fallen sick and are unable to pay for their own medicines.

Due to a lack of access to healthcare facilities, the health conditions continue to worsen every day. Although the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has pledged support, there has been little improvement so far. 

Furthermore, the employment situation for Rohingyas living in Delhi remains uncertain.

Usman works as a daily laborer and irregularly finds work for 10-15 days a month earning less than 300 rupees

Usman, for instance, works as a daily laborer and irregularly finds work for 10-15 days a month earning less than 300 rupees ($4.4, 4.0 euros) a day.

Abdul Wasim, another refugee, lives with his daughter and cannot work because of his poor health condition. He had to leave his wife and five children behind in Myanmar, and he has no hope of seeing them again in light of the border lockdown with Myanmar. Now, he and his daughter get by with the income earned by her as a domestic help in Kalindi Kunj residential areas.

A hopeless future? 

The plight of the Rohingya has received a lot of media and public attention, but the question still lingers: where do they go from here? The Rohingya are still finding out how many they are in number, spread across borders in Asia.

With most of them being impoverished and lacking valid identity cards, it's common for Rohingya Muslims to live in small groups in makeshift camps. And within these small groups, they try to stick together but it's unclear for how long they can continue to survive amidst conditions of poverty, unemployment, lack of education and violence.



Burma Human Rights Network alarmed by reductions in food rations to IDP camps in Rakhine State, Myanmar

7th September 2016, London, United Kingdom


“The Burma Human Rights Network has documented a reduction in food rations that can only lead to starvation and death. We are appalled by the current state of affairs and call upon the international community and UN agencies to review cuts to food” stated Kyaw Win of BHRN

The Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) is concerned about cuts to IDP food aid by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in parts of Rakhine state, Myanmar.

BHRN sources report that food aid has ceased for a significant number of people in the towns of Kyauktaw, Mrauk U, Min Bya and surrounding areas, referred to as “Zone 1” by the humanitarian community. Specifically, one camp near Kyauk Phyu, one in Ramree, six around Min Bya, one in Myay Bon, 13 in Sittwe, 10 in Kyauk Taw, two in Mrauk U, four in Pauk Taw, and three in the Rathedaung area. In total, 41 camps have experienced cuts or have been informed they may face cuts in the near future.

BHRN has learnt that new rules have been (or will soon be) imposed on food aid recipients so that the most vulnerable, widows and widowers, and the disabled will have their rations ring-fenced as everyone else is set to lose their provisions altogether. Those fortunate enough to retain their entitlements will receive a monthly food ration consisting of 54 tins of rice (estimated 5kg), one packet of salt, seven tins of beans (estimated 2kg) and half a litre of cooking oil.

A resident of San Hto Tan village (which has a population of 750) told BHRN:

“We were told that only widows and widowers, and disabled IDPs will get food rations, but another condition is only those who are living alone, so none of IDPs from this village qualified under these conditions.”

A resident of Peik Thae village (near Min Bya) told BHRN:

“Even though some people are poor they are not getting food rations as their age is between 20 and 30; they were give[n] [the] reason that they are able to work for living ... but work opportunities are so scarce here and we are not allow to go anywhere.”

In Da Tha village, local residents told BHRN that one man in his 50s had died recently due to malnutrition. Two villages in Rathedaung Township - Nyaung Bin Gyi and Ah Nauk Pyin - have reported to BHRN that they stopped receiving food rations in January 2016.

A resident of Kadi village in Ponnagyun Township told BHRN that many had resorted to begging:

“Some villagers here are surviving without food rations since the beginning [of the humanitarian crisis in 2012]. They go out to other villages where [better off] people live, to ask for food donations and then they distribute among the people in this village.”

BHRN is deeply concerned about the impact that these arbitrary cuts have had, and will have, on communities in which many families rely on food rations to survive. Restrictions on freedom of movement and access to employment opportunities mean that most of those affected are not self-sufficient and thus are likely to face a deterioration in their conditions of life once support ends. In addition to a lack of access to employment, many Rohingya villages are surrounded by Rakhine settlements; there have been many cases in the past in which Rohingya individuals have been attacked in Rakhine areas.

The distress and concern felt by the people BHRN have spoken to, as well their lack of means to independently support themselves, underlines the need for the responsible decision-makers within the UN and WFP to reassess the appropriateness of these moves.

Notes for Editors

The Rohingya

The Rohingya people are Muslim Indo-Aryan peoples from Rakhine State, Myanmar. Since violence broke out between communities in Rakhine State in 2012, around 140,000 Muslims have been detained in IDP camps, while the remaining 1.2m Rohingya have restricted movement and cannot leave their villages.

Background on the Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN)

Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) works for human rights, minority rights and religious freedom in Burma. BHRN has played a crucial role advocating for human rights and religious freedom with politicians and world leaders.
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Please contact:

Kyaw Win
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T: +44(0) 740 345 2378

A World Food Programme decision to cut food aid to some IDP camps in Rakhine has been condemned by other UN agencies, NGOs and rights advocates.​

By Emanuel Stoakes
September 12, 2016 

THE WORLD Food Programme has cut food aid to internally displaced persons in Rakhine State, the United Nations agency has confirmed to Frontier, while multiple NGO sources say it is considering further reductions in support to some communities.

The cuts have been criticised by members of the state’s Muslim community, while UN agencies and International NGOs have privately expressed concerns about the moves in documents seen by Frontier.

About 120,000 people, most of whom identify as Rohingya, remain in IDP camps since long-simmering communal tensions erupted into violence in 2012. They are dependent on aid for their survival.

The cuts, which were reported by sources in the Muslim community and subsequently confirmed by WFP in an email to Frontier, will affect 22,000 people in what is known as “zone one” – an area that covers Kyauktaw, Minbya and Mrauk-U Townships – who are no longer regarded as IDPs.

The reduction in aid appears to be part of a “phase-out“ plan outlined by the agency in a document circulated among humanitarian aid groups earlier this year.

The proposed plan, seen by Frontier, envisages a move to “scale down WFP relief assistance and to support the transition to recovery in [parts of] Rakhine State … from March to December 2016”.

A makeshift food stall at an IDP camp in Sittwe. (Maro Verli / Frontier)
The document says the downsizing effort involves cuts in assistance to large numbers of recipients in zone one. WFP confirmed by email that parts of the plan had been implemented, saying that 22,000 IDPs in zone one had been “returned to their original villages or nearby areas” because of a state government rehousing program and as a result would no longer receive food rations.

However, the agency said half of the group had been identified as being vulnerable and in need of continued assistance and would receive rations until the harvest season at the end of the year. “All pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under five continue to receive nutritional support,” WFP told Frontier.

Humanitarian principles

The phase-out strategy and the cuts it proposes have generated controversy within the humanitarian community in Myanmar. When the WFP document was circulated among NGOs in June, many criticised the move and questioned if the UN agency was acting according to humanitarian principles which stipulate that need alone, and not factors such as IDP status, should determine access to food aid.

The cuts in zone one were also criticised by a NGO source with knowledge of the situation in an email to Frontier.

“I have not seen a comprehensive analysis or research that would support the idea that the beneficiaries in zone one have the coping mechanisms, livelihoods [or] market access in place to manage a transition away from food assistance/reductions of rations,” the source, who is close to events, wrote.

The concerns were echoed in a paper, seen by Frontier, which was endorsed by the United Nations Children’s Fund and three NGOs operating in Rakhine: Action Contre La Faim, Save the Children and Myanmar Health Assistance Association.

A family at a makeshift home at a Muslim IDP camp in Sittwe (Maro Veril/Frontier)

The paper recommended changes to the WFP’s phase-out strategy and warned that ending food rations could have serious long-term consequences for the communities in zone one, most of which have little immediate means of achieving self-sufficiency.

It noted that there “seem to be few alternative coping mechanisms available to the affected populations as restrictions of movement still apply … therefore reduction/end of food-distributions for previous IDPs … could have a significantly negative impact on the overall nutritional status of the population”. 

Echoing the concerns of colleagues, another NGO source asked: “How does shelter affect your food insecurity?”

In an email to Frontier, WFP said that as a humanitarian organisation it provided assistance based on need, but did not elaborate. WFP did not respond to questions from Frontier about the critical feedback it received from NGOs.

NGO criticisms

Further criticisms were detailed in a report co-authored by the Danish Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee with input from other humanitarian groups that was reportedly discussed by a working group of NGOs active in Rakhine.

The report, also seen by Frontier, requests that WFP delay its planned cuts by six months until it can produce research to justify its decision, including a food security and vulnerability assessment.

Sources in Rakhine said WFP had conducted some consultations with affected communities as well as other assessments, but they fell short of the measures requested in the report.

Asked if it had carried out food and security assessments, WFP said it had conducted focus group discussions in the affected communities, adding that “at village assembly meetings, village members selected the most vulnerable households based on the outlined and agreed selection criteria”.

NGO sources told Frontier that such moves were welcome but did not go far enough. They raised particular concern about the focus group meetings, describing them as inadequate.

They added that their understanding from Muslims who attended these meetings and other consultations was that IDPs had identified vulnerable households which they believed should be protected from ration cuts, but the WFP had pushed for a lower number of households, for reasons that were not clear.

“In some cases, there were [IDP] requests for a number of households to be protected [from food ration cuts] which were effectively denied, with WFP saying that they had to choose a lower number; I have no idea what was the thinking behind this and it is concerning, frankly,” an NGO source told Frontier.

Maro Verli / Frontier
Other concerns were raised in an email dated June 22 and authored by a senior UN official that was sent to Ms Janet Jackson, the acting resident coordinator of the UN Development Program at the time.

The email, seen by Frontier, outlined concerns held by three key UN agencies – UNICEF, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the United High Commissioner for Refugees – at the WFP’s proposal to end food support in zone one, and asked for the cuts to be postponed while further vulnerability assessments were conducted.

The email said the author’s UN colleagues were “worried about the decision by WFP to end food aid in parts of zone one on June 30 and an apparent lack of consultation with affected beneficiaries”. It added that the decision, “as understood here in Sittwe, could potentially have negative impacts on some of the most vulnerable groups in Rakhine State should the proposed strategy go ahead”.

NGO sources with knowledge of the situation say the postponement lasted one month.

Future cuts likely

The food aid cuts in zone one are likely to be followed by further reductions as a result of a “beneficiary review exercise” also outlined in the WFP’s phase-out strategy. The plan states that the review would be undertaken by WFP partner organisations via a "house-to-house survey", in which households would "be asked to provide the household name, number of family members by age group, shelter number and village of origin" of residents.

The document further says that those “whose names are not included in the new list but continue to stay in the camp, will be provided with a gradual phase-out package up to end-December 2016".

WFP did not directly answer questions about the exercise when asked by Frontier, but NGOs said it was likely to go ahead.

“They are planning to reconstitute the list; this doesn’t necessarily mean cuts, but it’s likely they will push for it,” an NGO source said, adding that the NGO community regarded any prospective cuts as being unjustified for humanitarian reasons.

“In Sittwe, they are planning to do a list reconstitution; they’re presenting the idea next month,” another NGO source said.

“WFP are under the impression that lots of people have left the Sittwe camps. The methodology for reconstitution has not yet been shared,” another source told Frontier.

The phase-out document indicates that the list review is part of a process intended to halt aid to IDPs regarded as manipulating the system. "The original beneficiary list was based on the names of households initially provided by the government [General] Administration Department,” the WFP strategy document said, adding that “[d]epartures from the camps were not reported and in some cases, were substituted with non-IDP names as a ploy of getting into the food list”.

These sentiments echo statements made by WFP’s partnerships officer Mr Arsen Sahakyan to Frontier in July. At that time he described unregistered persons as “economic IDPs” who had lost their jobs and “sold all their possessions and moved to camps in pursuit of humanitarian assistance”.

Maro Verli / Frontier
Rights advocates have criticised the plans to reduce beneficiary lists.

“Ration cuts would be justified if alternative sources of food were fully accessible, but that’s not the case,” said Mr Matthew Smith, the executive director of NGO Fortify Rights.

“On the issue of status, ie IDP or not, this has been a problem for years. We've seen entire displaced communities denied food aid because the authorities determined they weren't genuinely displaced, which was nonsense,” Smith said, adding, “The UN response should be based on need, not on an arbitrary status.”

Mr Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, was more outspoken, describing the food aid cuts as “unconscionable”.

“Adequate food aid is one of the few things keeping these Rohingya alive, since they still cannot move out of the camps to earn a livelihood, so it's unconscionable that WFP is making these drastic cuts,” he said.

Chris Lewa of The Arakan Project, an NGO that monitors events in Rakhine state, expressed concerns about the effect the cuts would have on women in particular. Lewa told Frontier that while conducting research for a report on the difficulties faced by Muslim women in Rakhine State. “[I] heard again and again that the single biggest issue was access to food; [the women I spoke to] felt that even the rations they had then were not enough,” she said. “These cuts are only going to make this worse.”

The beneficiary list review outlined in the “phase-out” strategy also came in for strong criticism in the joint response document authored by the Danish Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee. It raised concern that assumptions about lists being inflated by the inclusion of non-IDPs may hide a more complicated situation.

Responding to the comment in the strategy about unreported camp departures, the document said this perception failed to “address the fact that IDPs have moved to other camps for different reasons (security, discrimination, lack of assistance, etc) and they are not on food lists and they should [be] included.” The document added that the strategy “cannot solely address something that the organisation considers as a ‘plot to get into the food list’ and not consider, for example, the inclusion of children born during displacement”.

But funding could also be a factor. In its operational report for August, WFP revealed that it was facing a significant shortfall. “WFP urgently requires US$11 million to avoid the food pipeline break in the coming months and to meet immediate food assistance needs through 2016,” the report said.

Sources in the Muslim community in Rakhine State told Frontier that they were worried about the impact of cuts in zone one and prospective aid list reductions in Sittwe.

“They are trying to cut in Sittwe indirectly ... they are providing food checking each one in the list. If someone is missed in the list, they already cut him from the list,” said a Muslim leader named Muhammad, who identifies as Rohingya, a term the previous government refused to recognise. (The current government now prefers “Muslim community in Rakhine State”, describing the terms Rohingya and Bengali as “emotive” and politically charged.)

Muhammad said it had been rumoured that the beneficiary list review may involve the use of new methods of identification to avoid fraudulent claims. “I heard that each family on the list will be [identified by] pictures,” he said.

Asked how he thought the possible cuts would impact his community, Muhammad's assessment was bleak. "I don't think they will … survive without aid. Lots of children may [suffer from] malnutrition," he said.

WFP told Frontier it is continuing to monitor the situation and plans to provide some additional support for former IDPs. “In addition to the targeted assistance to the most vulnerable and the nutrition support, WFP is planning projects to create community assets that contribute to food security while providing short-term employment opportunities,” it said in an email.

“In collaboration with partners, WFP will continue to monitor the food security situation of those who have returned or relocated to ensure that the needs of vulnerable households are met,” the UN agency added.

Emanuel Stoakes is an investigative journalist and producer who divides his time between Southeast Asia and New Zealand. He has produced two major documentary features on the plight of Myanmar's Rohingya minority and written on a variety of subjects for several outlets, including The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera English and Frontier Myanmar.

By Shoon Naing
The Myanmar Times
September 12, 2016

Tired of an outpouring of nationalist sentiment in their backyard, Bahan township residents shot back at protesters demonstrating against the Rakhine State Advisory Commission yesterday. Parkgoers at the Bo Sein Hman sports grounds heckled the gathered crowd, and in at least one instance observed by The Myanmar Times, a woman yelled obscenities at the demonstrators. A separate alleged incident led to a scuffle and the punching of a photographer covering the event.

Angry locals interrupted protesters’ speeches against the Rakhine State Advisory Commission yesterday. Photo: Naing Wynn Htoon / The Myanmar Times
Several hundred nationalists had assembled on the field yesterday to protest a perceived foreign intrusion into national affairs with the appointment of former UN chief Kofi Annan to head a commission for Rakhine State.

The monks and laypersons gathered around a makeshift stage where readings took place. Protesters held up signboards saying, “Kofi Annan’s decision, no need” and “No permission to make our internal conflict external”.

As one of the presenters spoke out against Mr Annan, a woman in the park began yelling, and cursing, back. Protest organisers and around 20 police quickly intervened. However, police refused to kick the woman out of the park as the protesters requested.

In another incident witnessed by The Myanmar Times, photojournalist Ko Myat Kyaw Thu from the Myanmar Pressphoto Agency was trying to take a picture of another woman speaking out against the demonstrators when he was hit in the face. In the chaos it was unclear who the assailant was.

“They asked, ‘Why did you take that photo?’ and then they hit me,” Ko Myat Kyaw Thu said. “I don’t know who hit me because it was a mess of people. I only know that someone hit me.”

Following the scuffle, demonstrators told the assembled media to leave the field.

Before the demonstration turned hostile, U Zaw Win, a protest organiser, told The Myanmar Times that the event had been called mainly to protest Mr Annan chairing the new commission. He said the head of such a sensitive team should be someone from Myanmar who understands the complexity of the issue, as well as the history.

“We are totally against former UN secretary general Kofi Annan leading the commission. It is a big concern because what he says will have huge influence over the international community,” said U Zaw Win. “Since he is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and also the former head of the UN if he says that the ‘Rohingya are really Myanmar people existing here as refugees’ the international community will accept that.”

However, U Zaw Win added that he would not have concerns about the commission if Mr Annan pledged not to push the recognition of Muslim Rohingya as an official ethnic group.

“If he stands on the side of Myanmar nationality, and doesn’t break up the unity of Myanmar as a country that is majority Buddhist and also doesn’t create a new ethnicity with the name ‘Rohingya’, we will support him,” he said.

The government-backed commission, which consists of six Myanmar nationals and three foreign citizens, last week conducted a two-day field visit to Rakhine State, touring both Muslim and Buddhist IDP camps.

Over 120,000 people, mainly Muslims, remain displaced in Rakhine after communal violence broke out in 2012 between Rakhine Buddhists and the Muslim minority who self-identify as Rohingya but who are referred to as illegal “Bengali” immigrants by the majority in Myanmar. The camps remain a subject of major concern to rights groups due to the dire humanitarian conditions faced by residents.

However, Mr Annan emphasised during his visit that the advisory body is taking on a consultative – not decision-making – role, and will be engaging the concerns of all sides, including Rakhine Buddhist nationalists.

At yesterday’s protest, lawyer U Aye Paing, who self-identified as a “national activist”, told The Myanmar Times that event was held with the permission of township authorities, and was meant to foster ideas for a petition to be sent to parliament.

Last week, parliament shot down a proposal to remove international figures from the commission, which was created at the behest of State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.



By Kyaw Ye Lynn
September 10, 2016

New bill designed to clamp down on production, spread of hate speech could see anti-Islam nationalist groups banned

YANGON, Myanmar -- A new bill designed to clamp down on the production and spread of hate speech is to be submitted to Myanmar's parliament in coming months, officials said Saturday.

The law -- which could see anti-Muslim nationalist groups such as the Buddhist monk-led Committee to Protect Race and Religion (Ma Ba Tha) banned -- has been drafted by the ministry of religious affairs and culture in an effort to curb ethnic and religious tensions.

On Saturday, Aung San Win, the director general at the ministry's information department, told Anadolu Agency by phone that six different religious groups had helped out with the draft, and it had already been reviewed by the attorney general’s office.

He said that the bill -- which would see anyone producing or spreading hate speech spend three years in jail -- would be submitted soon, "but the exact date is yet to be decided”.

“I am sure that it will be [submitted] this year,” he added.

Ko Ni, the legal advisor for Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), said that the law was urgently needed.

Religious intolerance has been on the rise in the country since communal violence broke out between Muslims and Buddhists in western Rakhine State in 2012, in which 100 people died and more than 140,000 were displaced, most of them Muslims.

“We need a law to take straightforward action on hate speech and discrimination,” Ko Ni told Anadolu Agency on Saturday, underlining that authorities were presently having to use articles in the penal code that forbid religious defamation as the country had no specific law.

“Such ways are not effective, and also complicated,” he stated.

Anti-Muslim tirades by the nationalist Ma Ba Tha have been blamed for a surge in sectarian hatred across the country, which occasionally has turned into religious violence.

In July, Religious Affairs and Culture Minister Thura Aung Ko warned Ma Ba Tha’s firebrand monk Wirathu – renowned for anti-Muslim hate speech -- that the party may have no future after he referred to State Counselor Suu Kyi as a "dictator".

“Ma Ba Tha's future may be uncertain if they continue spreading hate speech to create conflicts between religions, and among races," he said.

Displaced individuals staying in Thae Chaung IDP camp are pictured during the Arakan State Advisory Commission’s visit to the area. (Photo: Maung Kyaw Hein MPA / The Irrawaddy)

By Lawi Weng
September 10, 2016

As the chairman of the new nine-member Arakan State Advisory Commission, Kofi Annan might have had a powerful message after visiting displaced people’s camps in Sittwe, where he met many individuals who, after five years, have yet to return to their homes in the region.

But, upon his return to Rangoon, he did not speak about what he saw there, reminding members of the press and the public that the commission would not be investigating human rights abuses, and instead promised to write an “impartial report” on the situation.

Since riots broke out in 2012 between the majority Buddhist Arakanese and the minority Muslim Rohingya, the two groups have lived separated in the region’s cities, with the Arakanese laying claim to the more developed urban areas, and the Rohingya relegated to the outskirts.

Reportedly, during his two-day trip, Annan could not meet with local Arakanese community leaders, who are upset by his reaching out to figures from within the self-identifying Rohingya community—a group which most Arakanese Buddhists, and the Burmese public, recognize as “Bengali,” implying that they are migrants from Bangladesh.

Annan visted Thae Chaung IDP camp on Wednesday—which houses some of the estimated 140,000 people displaced by the violence of 2012—and also visited the Rohingya community of Aung Mingalar ward in the state capital.

He may at some point speak about the conditions he witnessed at the camps. But, if and when Annan reveals what he has seen on the ground, he risks the condemnation of Buddhist Arakanese, who will accuse him of taking the side of the Rohingya. They will likely say that he does not understand the history of the region’s conflict and communities.

Hundreds of locals protested the former UN chief’s arrival and departure from Sittwe, stating that they resented international interference in what they consider to be an internal problem.

The fact that the same local Buddhist Arakanese have never agreed to return displaced Muslims to their homes is one reason why the conflict remains unsolved. The international community criticized the current government for an insufficient response to the conflict and for allowing the displaced to continue languishing in camps. On this issue, they are being designated the same negative image earned by the previous military-backed government for their handling of the situation.

In response to the criticism, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi formed the new commission in search of a solution. It was a smart move—her government could potentially receive practical advice about what needs to be done to address the problems in Arakan State.

But she is not immune to backlash in the region: the Arakanese public largely turned against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), during the 2015 election—choosing the Arakan National Party (ANP) for the majority of seats in their state legislature instead of the NLD, which otherwise won nationally by a landslide.

Even if the widely popular State Counselor herself were in Kofi Annan’s position and visited the region—speaking openly about what she saw—it is likely that she would receive the same criticism he is facing.

Some ANP lawmakers have accused the State Counselor of violating Burma’s sovereignty by inviting international players to examine what they maintain is an internal issue. But in fact, by inviting Kofi Annan to take part in the Arakan State Advisory Commission, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is not compromising the country’s integrity—she is demonstrating how she believes that now is the time is to act in solving this conflict.


    • Rohingya Exodus