By Reuters

November 25, 2016

Malaysia will summon Myanmar's ambassador over the crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in northwestern Rakhine state, its foreign ministry said on Friday, as hundreds of protesters across Southeast Asia demonstrated against the escalating violence.

The conflict in Rakhine has sent hundreds of Rohingya Muslims fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh and poses a serious challenge to leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who swept to power last year on promises of national reconciliation. 

At least 86 people are reported to have been killed in escalating violence that has displaced about 30,000 in the region's most serious bloodshed since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in 2012.

The Malaysian foreign ministry called on all parties involved to refrain from actions that could aggravate the situation. 

"Malaysia also calls on the government of Myanmar to take all the necessary actions to address the alleged ethnic cleansing in the northern Rakhine State," it said in a statement.

"The ministry will summon the ambassador of Myanmar to convey the government of Malaysia’s concern over this issue," it added, without giving a timeframe.

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims marched in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, condemning the bloody crackdown on the persecuted minority and slamming Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi for her inaction.

Protesters demanded humanitarian aid for Rakhine, and urged that the military seize all attackers.

"The Myanmar government says the claims are all fabricated but they are not fabricated," Rohingya community leader Muhammed Noor told reporters, referring to reports of incidents of killing, rapes of wives and daughters and home burnings.

"This movement has to continue, to pressure the government to stop the killing."

This week, Muslim-majority Malaysia it was considering pulling out from a regional soccer tournament co-hosted by Myanmar in protest against the crackdown. But it later decided to continue.

Protests were also held simultaneously in Bangkok, the capital of neighboring Thailand, and in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.

Protesters in Jakarta called for the Nobel panel to cancel its award to Suu Kyi.

Indonesia is "ready and willing" to help Myanmar initiate dialogue, its foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, said this week. 

Many among the Buddhist majority in Myanmar view its 1.1 million Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Persecution and poverty led thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar following the violence between Buddhists and Muslims there four years ago. Many of them were smuggled or trafficked to Thailand, Malaysia and beyond.

(Reporting by Joseph Sipalan in KUALA LUMPUR, Johan Purnama in JAKARTA and Cod Satrusayang in BANGKOK; Writing by Praveen Menon; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

By Amnesty International

November 24, 2016

• Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers being detained and forcibly returned
• Lack of water, food and medical care 
• Both governments preventing thousands from accessing aid 
• Harrowing details of Myanmar military attacks on villages

As the Myanmar authorities are subjecting the Rohingya Muslim minority to collective punishment, thousands of refugees who have made it across the border to Bangladesh in desperate need of humanitarian assistance are being forcibly pushed back in flagrant violation of international law, Amnesty International said today.

“The Rohingya are being squeezed by the callous actions of both the Myanmar and Bangladesh authorities. Fleeing collective punishment in Myanmar, they are being pushed back by the Bangladeshi authorities. Trapped between these cruel fates, their desperate need for food, water and medical care is not being addressed,” said Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director.

The Rohingya are fleeing a policy of collective punishment in Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine state, where security forces are mounting indiscriminate reprisal attacks in response to a 9 October assault on three border posts that killed nine members of the border police.

Speaking to members of the Rohingya community on the ground in Bangladesh and in interviews with those still in Myanmar, Amnesty International has heard accounts of Myanmar’s security forces, led by the military, firing at villagers from helicopter gunships, torching hundreds of homes, carrying out arbitrary arrests, and raping women and girls.

Across the Naf river that divides Bangladesh and Myanmar, Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers are forced into hiding and are suffering a severe lack of food and medical care, Amnesty International found in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district.

Forcible returns

The Bangladeshi authorities have cracked down on the flow of Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar. Over the past week, the Bangladesh Border Guards have detained and forcibly returned hundreds.

The move is a violation of the principle of non-refoulement – an absolute prohibition under international law on forcibly returning people to a country or place where they would be at real risk of serious human rights violations.

The Bangladeshi authorities have also sealed their border with Myanmar and fortified it with the deployment of the Bangladesh Border Guards and coast guard forces. Since 1992, the Bangladesh government has a policy of denying Rohingya refugee status.

On 22 November, Amnesty International witnessed groups of Rohingya crossing the border close to Whaikyang, a village by the Naf river in Bangladesh. They looked weary and emaciated, the signs of a gruelling journey evident on their faces.

They told Amnesty International that they had arrived in Bangladesh the night before, waiting until sunrise on a nearby island to evade Bangladeshi officials.

Several thousand Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers are believed to have recently crossed into Bangladesh. They are spread out across villages, refugee camps and slums, making the true number impossible to determine. At least 2,000 people have made the journey across the Naf river since 21 November, with more set to arrive over successive days.

Some of them told Amnesty International they had paid smugglers to take them across. Others confessed to bribing Bangladesh Border Guards or other Bangladeshis to help them elude interception at the border.

“The Bangladeshi government must not add to the suffering of Rohingya. They should be recognized and protected as refugees fleeing persecution, not punished for who they are,” said Champa Patel.

Inhuman and degrading conditions

The bulk of the Rohingya who successfully reached Bangladesh have sought shelter in makeshift camps across the Cox’s Bazar where earlier waves of refugees and asylum-seekers settled. 

Water and food are scarce. Aid workers in the area told Amnesty International that even before the most recent arrivals, the camp dwellers were already suffering severe malnutrition. 

The latest arrivals have put an enormous strain on Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers already based in Bangladesh who have opened their small and cramped homes to them.

One man living in the Kutupalong makeshift refugee camp told Amnesty International:

“I am the only breadwinner in my family. We are seven people, but some family members arrived from Myanmar last week so now we are 15 people living in the same small hut. We did not have any food this morning. I only own two longyis [traditional garment] – I gave one to my cousin, I am wearing the only clothes I own.”

A 40-year-old woman, who said she had fled to Bangladesh after the Myanmar army killed her husband and one of her sons, was not able to find shelter in the camp for herself and her two young children.

“We are sleeping outside in the mud,” she said. “My son is two years old and is crying all the time, he is very cold in the mornings. Still, compared to Myanmar, Bangladesh seems like heaven to me.”

Many of those arriving are in extremely poor health and in need of medical attention. Reliable sources confirmed to Amnesty International that several people have crossed the border bearing untreated bullet wounds. But the Rohingya said that they did not seek medical attention from the few clinics in the area, out of fear of being detained and deported. 

While many Bangladeshi people have welcomed and offered assistance to the new arrivals, the Rohingya are preyed upon by local thieves. 

“When we crossed the border, some local people attacked and looted us. They took everything we had,” said one 16-year-old girl, who paid people smugglers to take her into Bangladesh on 21 November. 

“Relying on the generosity of Bangladeshis already in poverty and long-term refugees is not sustainable. The thousands who have crossed the border desperately need help. Bangladeshi authorities must immediately allow aid groups unfettered access to those fleeing the escalating persecution in Myanmar,” said Champa Patel.

Collective punishment in Rakhine state

Since the 9 October attack on border police posts, Amnesty International and other rights organizations have received reports of a litany of human rights violations carried out by the Myanmar army in North Rakhine State during security operations. The UN estimates that 30,000 people have been displaced from their homes.

“The response of the army to attacks on security forces six weeks ago went far beyond what was necessary and proportional. Instead of investigating and arresting specific suspects, the army carried out operations amounting to collective punishment,” said Champa Patel.

“By targeting individuals clearly not involved in such attacks, whole families and whole villages, these operations appear to target Rohingya collectively on the basis of their ethnicity and religion.”

The Myanmar government has denied all allegations of human rights violations by its military, but at the same time has blocked access to humanitarian aid and effectively barred independent journalists and human rights monitors from entering the area.

“The Myanmar government’s accounts lack credibility. If it has nothing to hide, it should open access to independent observers, including human rights monitors, aid workers and journalists,” said Champa Patel.

Members of the Rohingya community, both in Bangladesh and Myanmar described in harrowing detail the actions of the Myanmar army, including arbitrary arrests, unlawful killings, and the torching of villages.

“These and other accounts of human rights violations must immediately be investigated in a genuinely independent impartial and efficient way. The only real solution, both in the short and long terms, lies in respect for the human rights of Rohingyas in Myanmar. Long-term, entrenched and systemic discrimination against Rohingya must end.”

Testimonies

A Rohingya villager in Myanmar told Amnesty International how security forces approached his village, firing guns in the air, creating a panic:

“Then they shot at people who were fleeing. They surrounded the village and started going from house to house. They were verbally abusing the people. They were threatening to rape the women saying ‘We are going to rape your kalar women’.”

“Kalar” or “foreigner” is a racial epithet used against the Rohingya community.

A woman who spoke to Amnesty International from Myanmar described how her two sons were arbitrarily arrested by security forces:

“It was early in the morning, the military surrounded our house, while some came in and forced me and my children to go outside. They tied my two sons up. They tied their hands behind their backs, and they were beaten badly. The military kicked them in the chest. I saw it myself. I was crying so loudly. When I cried, they [the military] pointed a gun at me. My children were begging the military not to hit them. They were beaten for around 30 minutes before being taken away.”

She hasn’t seen or heard from them since.

A 38-year-old man, who spoke to Amnesty International in Bangladesh after arriving on 22 November, said:

“My sister and brother were both kidnapped by the army. I saw with my own eyes how the military burned down our village, and how soldiers raped women and girls.” 

A 44-year-old woman said she witnessed how the army arrested and handcuffed young men in her village, shot them dead and pushed them into mass graves. She also said the army used hand-held rocket launchers, echoing reports from several other eyewitnesses about the use of such weapons and actions.

Another man, 58, told Amnesty International in Bangladesh he fled across the border after helicopter gunships opened fire on his and surrounding villages:

“We saw helicopters firing on the village. We ran into the forest to save our lives.”

Background: Rohingya in Bangladesh

Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers have arrived into Bangladesh from Myanmar in waves since at least the 1970s. There are some 33,000 registered Rohingya refugees living in Cox’s Bazar’s two camps, Kutupalong and Nayapara.

The Bangladesh government has since 1992 refused to grant refugee status to Rohingya arriving from Myanmar. An estimated 300,000-500,000 undocumented Rohingya are living in Bangladesh, spread out in the two makeshift camps close to Kutupalong and Leda, as well as villages and towns across the southeast of the country.

With no legal protections, the undocumented Rohingya are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Limited employment opportunities means that many are forced into the drug trade or human trafficking to earn an income. Incidents of rape and other sexual violence against undocumented Rohingya women are frequent, since they are considered “easy targets” who cannot report crimes to police for fear of being arrested themselves.

The Bangladesh government has recently completed a census of the undocumented Rohingya people but has not made the results public yet. The government says the census will lead to better access to services and to granting basic legal status to the undocumented Rohingya.

By The Daily Star

November 24, 2016

Bangladesh’s border troopers have pushed back 107 more Rohingyas in land and seven boats on the Naf river in Cox’s Bazar since last night until this morning.

Seven boats filled to the brim with Rohingyas trying to flee persecution in Rakhine state of Myanmar and enter Bangladesh were turned back at dawn at Teknaf upazila, our local correspondent reports.

Teknaf Border Guard Battalion-2 Captain Abuzar Al Jahid said his company troopers pushed back the boats along the Hoaikong-Jadimbura bank. He could not give a head count of the Rohingyas.

Meanwhile, the troopers sent back 107 Rohingyas, who were already inside Bangladesh, through Tongru border point in Naikhhangchhari upazila last night.

Cox’s Bazar BGB Captain Lt Col Imranullah Sarkar said among them were 62 who were held by Teknaf police during a combing operation on the Teknaf-Chittagong highway yesterday.

Meanwhile, Teknaf police and Ukhia police held four people over allegedly helping the Rohingyas to enter Bangladesh, according to Ukhia Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Abdul Majid.

Bangladesh yesterday summoned Myanmar envoy in Dhaka and expressed grave concern over the Rohingya issue. Also, Dhaka urged immediate steps to take back the Rohingyas.

By Antoni Slodkowski and Michelle Nichols 

Reuters

November 24, 2016

YANGON/UNITED NATIONS -- Western nations are increasingly concerned at how Aung San Suu Kyi's government is dealing with violence in Myanmar's divided northwest, with the U.S. envoy to the United Nations privately warning fellow diplomats the country could not handle the crisis on its own.

Violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State has sent hundreds of Rohingya Muslims fleeing across the border to Bangladesh amid allegations of abuses by security forces, posing the biggest test yet for Suu Kyi's eight-month-old administration.

Samantha Power, Washington's ambassador to the UN, outlined the level of concern at a closed meeting of the United Nations Security Council, held at the United States' request at the body's headquarters in New York last Thursday, diplomats said.

"Initial enthusiasm of (the) international community to let Myanmar continue on this path of reform on its own seems to be dangerous at this stage," Power told the meeting, according to two diplomats briefed on the discussions.

Suu Kyi responded the next day by telling a gathering of diplomats in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, that her country was being treated unfairly, sources said. They added, however, that Myanmar had also committed to restore aid access and launch a probe into allegations of rights abuses, the key points they had been pressing for.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has for years been feted in the West for her role as a champion of democracy during years of military rule and house arrest, and her landslide election win last year on a platform of reform was widely hailed.

But the current crisis, the most serious bloodshed in Rakhine since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in 2012, has renewed international criticism that she has done too little to alleviate the plight of the Rohingya minority, who are denied citizenship and access to basic services.

Reuters spoke to about a dozen diplomats and aid workers, who described the previously unreported discussions in Myanmar and New York on condition of anonymity.

ABUSE ALLEGATIONS

Soldiers have poured into the area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh, responding to coordinated attacks on three border posts on Oct. 9 that killed nine police officers.

Myanmar's military and the government have rejected allegations by residents and rights groups that soldiers have raped Rohingya women, burnt houses and killed civilians during the military operation in Rakhine.

Presidential spokesman Zaw Htay said Myanmar was "releasing correct news immediately" to prevent the spread of misinformation.

"The international community misunderstood us because of Rohingya lobbyists who distributed fabricated news," he said. "No one in the world would accept attacks on security forces, killings and looting of weapons."

At the New York meeting last week, Power renewed Washington's call for the opening of an office of the OHCHR, the UN's human rights body, in Myanmar.

She also warned that years of disenfranchisement might have triggered radicalisation of some elements of the Rohingya community, describing the Security Council meeting as a "classic prevention moment".

State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson declined to comment on what was said at the closed-door Nov. 17 meeting.

"We remain concerned by reports of ongoing violence and displacement in northern Rakhine State," Thompson said.

"We continue to urge the government to conduct a credible, independent investigation into the events in Rakhine State, and renew our request for open media access."

Britain also expressed its concerns at the meeting, diplomats said, as did Malaysia, which voiced worries the violence could prompt a renewed regional migration crisis.

Underscoring the diplomatic tensions, Muslim-majority Malaysia said on Wednesday it was considering pulling out of a regional soccer tournament co-hosted by Myanmar in protest over its handling of the crisis.

Egypt's representative said it too was concerned by reports of radicalisation among the Rohingya.

SUU KYI "UPSET"

Suu Kyi was "upset" at a gathering with top diplomats from the UN, United States, Britain, EU and Denmark in Naypyitaw on Friday, sources said, accusing the international community of an overt focus on one side of the conflict, without "having the real information".

Diplomats and aid workers said the meeting focused on the resumption of aid in northern Rakhine, where provision of food and medicines to 150,000 people has been suspended for more than 40 days as the military has locked down the area.

The UN has said aid is urgently needed for more than 3,000 severely malnourished children who may die without help.

Suu Kyi expressed "positive indications" towards helping people obtain food aid, the diplomats said, but as of Wednesday the aid had not been restored.

Diplomats in Myanmar say they have been quietly trying to persuade Suu Kyi to allow aid access for some time, with some voicing frustration that she has pressed ahead with a busy schedule of long overseas trips during the crisis.

But while she dominates the civilian government, Suu Kyi remains severely constrained by the still-powerful military, which controls the defence, home and border affairs ministries, and some diplomats acknowledged the limits of what she could do.

At the New York meeting, the UN Secretary General's Special Advisor on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, "painted a picture of a government in conflict between the civilian and the military", said a security council diplomat.

"A number of security council diplomats bought this line and felt the government needed more space," the diplomat said.

Diplomats were also assured that Myanmar was working to establish a commission to probe both the original attacks and allegations of abuses. A report in state media on Saturday referred only to the formation of a body to investigate "violent attacks" and did not specify whether it would include allegations against security forces.

Presidential spokesman Zaw Htay said the country was taking action in Rakhine, pointing to a citizen verification programme aimed at the mostly stateless Rohingya and a special government-level taskforce on Rakhine appointed by Suu Kyi after assuming power.

"Our government is working on solving the problem in Rakhine State," said Zaw Htay.

(Additional reporting by Yimou Lee in Yangon and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Media Release from Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)

For Immediate Release Thursday 24th November 2016

Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis Requires Action Now – Lives Are Being Lost

Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK is calling for urgent action from the international community to press the Myanmar government to lift all restrictions on humanitarian in Rakhine State. We are receiving alarming reports from the ground that people are slowly starving to death.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should immediately fly to Burma to meet with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the Commander-in-Chief of the military Min Aung Hlaing and demand the immediate lifting of all restrictions on aid. 

At least 160,000 Rohingya are in desperate need of food, life-saving medical assistance and other forms of aid. 

Since October 9th the limited aid access that did reach Rohingya in Rakhine State has been almost entirely cut off, with humanitarian workers prevented from accessing vulnerable communities in need. On 6th November, the World Food Programme (WFP) was allowed to provide aid to people in four affected villages, however many more villages in the area have yet to receive any support.

At least 35,000 Rohingya have been displaced by attacks since the Burmese Army and security forces started security operation on 9th October. Humanitarian organizations have not been able to access these communities and undertake a full assessment of their needs. Many remain without food, clean water, healthcare and other essential services. We have reports from the ground that the Burmese Army has been destroying food supplies in Rohingya villages, and severe restrictions on movement mean that food is not widely available in markets.

Hundreds of Rohingya people have been injured in attacks by the Burmese Army and are not receiving medical aid. People are dying from injuries as they cannot receive medical aid – again because their movement is restricted.

Hunger is one of the factors forcing Rohingya people to attempt to flee to Bangladesh, but they are being turned back at the border.

The restrictions on aid to Rohingya people in Rakhine State were unacceptable even before the new crackdown began. Diplomatic efforts to open up humanitarian access must not simply be focused on returning to the previous unacceptable situation, which was already putting people at risk. There must be unrestricted access which is based on need.

“Unless urgent action is taken more Rohingya people will be dying from starvation than from bullets and bombs fired by the Burmese Army,” said Tun Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK. “The Burmese government and military will be responsible for a slow motion massacre using hunger and disease as their weapons. Our children, pregnant women and elderly are the most vulnerable to starvation. What kind of government deliberately targets children with starvation like this and how can the international community stand by and let this happen?”

For more information please contact Tun Khin +44 7888714866.

For more details please click on the below link and read the Detailed Briefing on BROUK Website “2016-Crackdown on Rohingya” 

http://brouk.org.uk/Crackdown-on-Rohingya-2016

The Washington Post

November 23, 2016

By Kim Tatam

The Diplomat

November 23, 2016

The world should stop pretending that Myanmar’s military is no longer committing rights abuses.

The brutal crackdown on Myanmar’s Rohingya population in Rakhine state that began last month shows that the world can no longer regard Myanmar through the prism of wishful thinking. Aung San Suu Kyi is not Myanmar’s Nelson Mandela and, thanks to the military-drafted constitution, never can be. As much as the world would like it to be so, Myanmar is not a democracy and shouldn’t be treated as such.

When Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won the much anticipated election a year ago, the military retained control over national security, including the police and justice system. Simply put, the NLD government does not have control over the military and is powerless to prevent it from committing human rights violations. Constitutional reform is impossible without the military’s agreement owing to the 25 percent of parliamentary seats reserved for them — just enough to block the passage of such legislation.

It seems clear that the election was held in order to negotiate the removal of economic sanctions, not with the intention to hand over control of the country to civilian rule. Suu Kyi’s role is more akin to that of trade ambassador than her country’s de facto leader. It seems to have gone unremarked that it was on October 8 that U.S. President Barack Obama lifted sanctions on Myanmar by executive order and just hours later, on October 9, the military crackdown in Maungdaw township began, safe in the shadow of international media coverage preoccupied with the U.S. election.

International representations to Suu Kyi’s government, which have been lackluster at best, urging a cessation to the genocide of Myanmar’s Rohingya population, are a waste of diplomatic energy. Nobel Peace Prize winner though she may be, Suu Kyi refuses to use the word “Rohingya.” She can’t risk it. She knows that her hold on power is tenuous. Myanmar is but one coup away from returning to military rule. The challenge for international diplomats, foreign governments, and Kofi Annan’s Rakhine Advisory Commission is to find a way of engaging with the military leadership of Myanmar without undermining Suu Kyi domestically if there is to be an end to the genocide of the Rohingya people.

So long as there remains little international appetite for an intervention on Responsibility to Protect grounds, the world now faces a choice. Do we continue to pretend Myanmar is a democracy, increase trade links, encourage even more tourists to flock to Myanmar, and give the NLD government the “space” Suu Kyi insists they need to resolve the country’s many problems? Or do we acknowledge that Myanmar is still in effect a military regime, one that is currently raping, killing, and burning the homes of its Rohingya minority, and conduct our relations as we would with any other country guilty of similar crimes against humanity?

With the U.S. president-elect giving no indication that international human rights is high on his agenda, it seems unlikely he will overturn Obama’s decision to lift sanctions. It may fall upon nearer neighbors to be the standard bearers on what as an international community we are prepared to accept.

Kim Tatam has a BA in Political Science and an MA in Politics & International Studies and currently teaches English to Rohingya refugee children in Malaysia.

By Morshed Ali Khan

Dhaka Tribune

November 23, 2016

While atrocities on Rohingyas continue across the Naf River, the Border Guard Bangladesh has reinforced its troops from elsewhere in the country and pushed back thousands of Rohingyas fleeing the persecution in the Rakhine state of Myanmar.

The Rohingya families, mostly women and children, hungry, tired and some with injuries are desperately trying to flee the ruthless onslaught of the Myanmar Army and other security forces. Even yesterday afternoon, thick black smoke could be seen from Damdomia in Teknaf billowing in the sky across the border.

“Every night we are turning back up to 15 to 18 boats carrying mostly women and children trying to sneak into Bangladesh,” said Lt Col Abuzar Al Zahid, commanding officer of BGB 2 Battalion. The BGB personnel are now mounting 24-hour vigilance at six points of the border.

Suspecting involvement of the Rohingyas, the Myanmar military launched an operation following an attack on three of its Border Guard Police camps on October 9. The attack left nine policemen dead. The attackers also got away with more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition. Since then, horrendous stories of systematic arson, rape, killing and looting by the security forces started to emerge.

Panic among the 1.5 million Rohingya Muslims spread like wild fire. Some took the painstaking trekking through the dense forests to reach Thailand but most chose to cross the Naf River to Bangladesh, which is already officially accommodating 35,000 Rohingyas. An estimated quarter million Rohingyas are living in Bangladesh illegally, officials say.

But the fear of torture and death defies all barriers. Several hundred Rohingya families have already crossed into Bangladesh and melted with their relatives already settled here. At the Kutupalong camp, located some 50km from Teknaf, 35-year-old Mohammad Hashem said that he had crossed the river early yesterday with 11 members of his family.

“We had a home at Mangdu Kearipara, which the military has burned to ashes. For several weeks, we were in the jungle and then we walked for several kilometres and hired a boat to cross into Bangladesh.”

Asked if there were other people to help his family in exchange for cash, Hashem kept mum.

Human traffickers have started to cash in on the situation.

While the BGB has kept vigil at one point, these traffickers are at business elsewhere. “They know exactly where the border is unprotected,” said Shah Sheikh at the Kutupalong camp.

Meanwhile, sources in the BGB said that for the last one year they could not convince Myanmar to sit at a flag meeting to resolve bilateral differences.

According to Lt Col Abuzar, they might sit for a courtesy meeting with a top Myanmar army officer today.

While Bangladesh denies entry, the Rohingyas remain one of the most persecuted communities in the world. Myanmar does not officially recognise them as its citizens, who had been brought to Myanmar by the British to work as farm labourers more than one hundred years ago.

Morshed Ali Khan is a veteran conflict zone reporter who is operating as a freelancer for this series of stories.

By Joseph Sipalan 

Reuters

November 23, 2016

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia is considering pulling out of a soccer tournament co-hosted by Myanmar in protest at its crackdown on ethnic Rohingya Muslims, a senior Malaysian official said on Wednesday, risking a possible global ban by the sport's governing body, FIFA.

A withdrawal by Muslim-majority Malaysia from the ASEAN Football Federation's (AFF) Suzuki Cup, which began on Saturday, would run counter to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations' long-standing policy of non-interference in other members' affairs.

Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said he raised the issue last week, but a decision would only be made at a cabinet meeting on Friday.

"While we've known for a while that Myanmar will be the host, this (decision) is based on recent reports from the Rakhine that showed proof of attacks, that reportedly show evidence of genocide," Khairy told reporters. 

"But whatever they decide, we must continue to speak up," he added.

Malaysia lost 1-0 to Vietnam on Wednesday but can still advance to the semi-finals. It faces Myanmar on Saturday in its last group game. 

The conflict in Myanmar's northwestern state of Rakhine has sent hundreds of Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh and poses a serious challenge to Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who swept to power last year on promises of national reconciliation.

Escalating violence has reportedly killed at least 86 people and displaced some 30,000. Myanmar soldiers have also been accused of sexually assaulting dozens of women from the persecuted minority.

The bloodshed is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in Rakhine in 2012, exposing the lack of oversight of the military by Suu Kyi's seven-month-old administration.

A Malaysian Islamic cleric had earlier called for Malaysia to pull out of the tournament, which is co-hosted by the Philippines.

A Myanmar presidential spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

The AFF Suzuki Cup features some of the world's lowest-ranking sides and would mean little in terms of boosting global rankings among the participating sides, but fierce local rivalries and football's popularity make the event king in the region.

Worse than facing the wrath of angry fans, however, is the real possibility of sanctions by FIFA should Malaysia decide to pull out of the tournament.

DEBATE IN SOCIAL MEDIA

FIFA statutes dictate that members must remain neutral in politics and religion, avoid all forms of discrimination and be independent and avoid any form of political interference.

A breach of FIFA statutes could lead to a complete soccer ban for a country, or even an expulsion from the global organization in the event of a serious violation.

A spokesman for FIFA in Zurich told Reuters it was observing the Malaysia situation and that it couldn't comment further.

Indonesia was previously handed a FIFA ban for government interference in the running of its football association. The almost one-year ban was lifted in May.

Wednesday's developments sparked debate in social media with more Malaysian leaders calling for the team to return.

"In 1980, we withdrew from the Olympic Games that is more prestigious to protest the invasion of Soviet troops on Afghanistan," opposition leader Nurul Izzah Anwar said in a statement.

Myanmar soldiers have poured into the Maungdaw area of Rakhine since Oct. 9, after an insurgent group of Rohingya that the government believes has links to Islamists overseas launched attacks on several border guard posts.

Suu Kyi's problems have since been exacerbated by a resurgence of fighting among four armed ethnic groups in northeastern Shan state, which has sent thousands fleeing into China.

At a closed-door UN Security Council meeting in New York last week, representatives from Malaysia raised concerns that the situation in Rakhine state could "trigger new movement of population across borders to neighboring countries".

They said Malaysia “was already hosting within its borders more than 100,000 people from the Rohingya community", according to two diplomats familiar with the discussions.

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 as a result of starvation, dehydration and abuse by boat crews.

(This version of the story was refiled to delete reference to Malaysia due to play Vietnam. Result is in.) 

(Additional reporting by Antoni Slodkowski in YANGON, Ebrahim Harris in Kuala Lumpur, Patrick Johnston and John O'Brien in Singapore and Brian Homewood in Zurich; Editing by Praveen Menon and Nick Macfie)

By Mohammad Nurul Islam

Reuters

November 23, 2016

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh -- More Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar poured into neighbouring Bangladesh this week, with some feared drowned after a boat sank in a river during a bid to flee escalating violence that has killed at least 86 and displaced about 30,000 people. 

Some Rohingya refugees have been missing since Tuesday after a group crossed the river Naaf that separates Myanmar and Bangladesh. Those who managed to enter Bangladesh sought shelter in refugee camps or people's homes.

"There was a group of people from our village who crossed the river by boat to come here, but suddenly the boat sank," said Humayun Kabir, the father of three children untraceable since the mishap.

Although many of those on board could swim, and were able to reach the river bank, seven people are still missing, he added, his children among them. 

The Mynamar violence is the most serious since hundreds were killed in communal clashes in the western state of Rakhine in 2012, and poses the biggest test yet for the eight-month-old administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Soldiers have poured into the area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh in response to coordinated attacks on three border posts on Oct. 9 that killed nine police officers.

Myanmar's military and the government have rejected allegations by residents and rights groups that soldiers have raped Rohingya women, burnt houses and killed civilians during the military operation in Rakhine.

Sirajul Islam, who arrived on Monday at an unregistered camp in Bangladesh's southern coastal town of Teknaf, said he did not know what happened to his eight-member family after soldiers set fire to their home in Rakhine. 

"I don't know where my wife and children are," Islam said. "I somehow was able to cross the border to save my life." 

Up to 30,000 people are now estimated to have been displaced and thousands more have been affected by the recent fighting, the United Nations has said.

U.N. agencies have not given specific numbers of fleeing Rohingyas, but aid workers told Reuters hundreds crossed the border to Bangladesh over the weekend and on Monday. [nL4N1DM3R8]

Under military lockdown, a humanitarian effort to provide food and medicines to more than 150,000 people has been suspended for more than 40 days in the area, home mostly to Rohingyas. 

"Difficult as it is for the Bangladesh government to absorb large numbers, it seems to me there is no other choice, because the only other choice is death and suffering," said John McKissick, head of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees office in the southern resort town of Cox's Bazar.

"For now, the only thing that can be done is to assist and protect them." 

Many people in mainly Buddhist Myanmar see the country's 1.1 million Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Shawkat Ara, a girl in a refugee camp in Teknaf, who had arrived from Myanmar by boat on Tuesday, said she hoped to return one day and locate missing relatives. 

"When there is peace in our country, I will go back and I will try to find out about my father and uncles," she said.

(Additional reporting by Rafiqur Rahman; Writing by Yimou Lee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

A recent photo of Rohingyas who are entering Bangladesh to flee from the persecution in Myanmar. Photo: Star

By The Daily Star

November 23, 2016

The government today summoned Myanmar’s envoy to Dhaka and expressed deep concerns over the persecution of Rohingyas in the Rakhine state.

Additional Foreign Secretary Kamrul Ahsan handed a note verbale to Myanmar envoy Myo Myint Than in a meeting that took place from 3:15pm-4:00pm.

Myanmar has also been urged to take immediate steps to take back the Rohingyas who have entered Bangladesh in recent times, sources inside the ministry said.

Additional Foreign Secretary Kamrul Ahsan briefed reporters after the meeting and told the same. “We told him that Bangladesh expects a peaceful solution to the matter.”

Bangladesh is not accepting refugees from Myanmar at the moment as border guards are on alert in the coastal areas pushing back the arriving fleet of Rohingyas daily.

Media Statement for Immediate Release

ROHINGYA: MALAYSIA'S DUTY TO HELP END THE GENOCIDE

22 November 2016 | 22 Safar 1438

The Centre for Human Rights Research and Advocacy (CENTHRA) is extremely concerned of the massacre of the Rohingyas that continues unabated on a daily basis and even now, as this press statement is drafted. The Burmese regime in Naypyidaw’s transformation from being a military junta to a so-called civilian government headed by a supposed Nobel Peace prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi apparently has done nothing to roll back the regime’s cruelty and wanton disregard for the consequences of its actions in the face of judgment by the international community.

No less than seven other Nobel Peace prize laureates have stepped forward to condemn the massacre and have urged that it be described and designated as no less a genocide. These Nobel Peace prize laureates range are in no particular order, Mairead Maguire from Northern Ireland, Jody Williams from the USA, Tawakkol Karman from Yeman, Shirin Ebadi from Iran, Leymah Gbowee from Liberia, Adolfo Perez Esquivel from Argentina and Desmond Tutu, leader of South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s, who has called for the end to the slow genocide of the Rohingya.

According to these laureates, the Rohingyas face a textbook case of genocide where an entire indigenous community is being systematically wiped out by the Burmese government. CENTHRA agrees, nothing that this is precisely how the term genocide is defined in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) of 1951.

The notion that the systematic execution and extermination of Rohingya amounts to no less then the crime of genocide is also supported by a report published by the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI), Countdown to Annihilation: Genocide in Myanmar, stating that compelling evidence of state-led policies, laws and strategies dating back to 30 years exist which together, amount to state-sponsored genocide, and persecution entered a new and more devastating phase in 2012, after the new civilian regime was installed in Myanmar. 

The ISCI concluded that systematic, planned and targeted weakening of the Rohingya through mass violence and discriminatory and persecutory policies have culminated into the final two stages of genocide, mass annihilation and the erasure of the group from Myanmar’s history, and failure to act against the regime now would result in serious and present danger of the annihilation of the Rohingya population.

Further, a 2016 briefing by the Burmese Rohingya Organisation in the UK notes specific incidents of continued persecution of and crackdown on Rohingya over the border incident in Rakhine state from October 9, 2016 till present day and has recommended the international community immediately step in to stop end the continued human rights violations, provide for unrestricted aid access, investigate abuses against Rohingya and end the restrictions, intimidation and censorship of local and international media reporting on this issue.

CENTHRA notes that the UN envoy on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee is unaware of any efforts on the part of the Burmese regime to look into the systematic human rights violations that have become a daily occurrence in Rakhine state, despite State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s claim to be responding based on the principle of rule of law. This has amounted to blanket denial on the part of the regime, and is a farce of the highest order.

CENTHRA urges immediate action by governments, NGOs and civil societies across the region and around the world to end the systematic ongoing genocide presently taking place within Myanmar’s borders. To this end, Malaysia, as a prominent member of ASEAN and the OIC and moderate voice of the international community, must lead efforts to suspend the Burmese regime’s membership of ASEAN.

CENTHRA would also like to avail itself of the opportunity to urge the Malaysian public to attend two protests this week, to take place on Friday (November 25, 2016) before the Myanmar Embassy and Saturday (November 26, 2016) at Masjid Negara, respectively organised by Malaysian civil society groups.

CENTHRA calls upon all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or creed, to join the said two protests so that a strong message may be sent to the regime, namely, that the world is watching and will never let their crimes against the Rohingya people go unpunished. 

Together, let us assist in bringing justice to the Rohingya by pressing our governments to collectively pressure the regime to end its genocide and human rights abuses against a section of its own population, no less.

Press Statement by Azril Mohd Amin, lawyer and Chief Executive of Centre for Human Rights Research and Advocacy (CENTHRA).

Aung San Suu Kyi is legitimising genocide in Myanmar and has entrenched the persecution of Rohingya Muslisms, warn state crime academics

• State crime experts from Queen Mary University of London warn that current crisis echoes brutal period of 1977-8 and 1991-2
• Rohingya minority are facing the genocidal stage of systematic weakening
• Anng Suu Kyi has "entrenched the persecution of the Rohingya"

London 23 November 2016: Aung San Suu Kyi is legitimising genocide in Myanmar and has entrenched the persecution of the Rohingya minority, according to state crime specialists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

Researchers from the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) at QMUL’s School of Law last year published the results of months of fieldwork in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Their investigation concluded that the Myanmar state’s policies are genocidal. Their research exposed evidence of mass killings, forced labour, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, institutional discrimination, and the destruction of communities. They were among the first to describe the plight of the Rohingya as genocide.

Penny Green, Professor of International Law at QMUL and Director of ISCI said: “The election of Anng Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in 2015 has brought no respite for the Rohingya. In October this year a new reign of terror by the Myanmar state emerged and continues to escalate. We continue to see widespread killings, arbitrary detention, mass rape, collective punishment, arson, and village clearances.”

The researchers say that on-the-ground reports reveal a consistent picture of a trapped, terrified, and desperate community. They warn that reports are consistent with historical practices of state repression and violence in the region, echoing the brutal and indiscriminate crackdowns of 1977-8 and 1991-2 when hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh.

Alicia de la Cour Venning, lawyer and ISCI researcher said: “These events mark a disturbing but entirely predictable pattern in the genocidal process. Genocide begins by reducing the target group’s strength and undermining moral empathy for the victims. This stage is followed by more violent forms of persecution and eventually, particularly if perpetrators of violence are not held to account, mass killings.”

The researchers say that entire communities are now experiencing the genocidal stage of systematic weakening: state-sponsored denial of access to health care, livelihood, food, and civic life. They warn that the government’s objective is to render the population so physically and psychologically diminished that they are unable to engage in a purposeful life.

The group is strongly critical of Anng Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD). Earlier this year Suu Kyi demanded foreign governments refrain from using the term ‘Rohingya’, and the Myanmar government’s public statements continue to demonise and deny the group’s existence.

Meanwhile the researchers say that the state run Global New Light of Myanmar implicitly referred to the Rohingya as a ‘terrorist’ ‘foreign’ threat in Northern Rakhine state and a ‘thorn which must be removed’. Myanmar’s own Human Rights Commission has refused to acknowledge the existence of the Rohingya and the domestic criminal justice system is being used as an instrument of persecution, according to the researchers.

Professor Green says: "Despite the fact that this is the most significant test of Suu Kyi’s leadership, the country’s de-facto leader has remained remarkably indifferent. Neither Suu Kyi nor her President Htin Kyaw have visited Rakhine state during the current crisis. Suu Kyi says very little, other than to repeat the line that investigations will be conducted fairly and according to the rule of law. Her claim that ‘we have not tried to hide anything on Rakhine’ is utterly disingenuous. Her statements run counter to reports that we, and our colleagues in the human rights community, are receiving from the Rakhine state and can only be interpreted as denial – a familiar and integral strategy deployed by criminal states to deflect blame.”

Thomas MacManus, lawyer and ISCI researcher says that Suu Kyi’s government has adopted “the military dictatorship-era tactics of blanket denial, an absolute ban on international observation, severe limitations on humanitarian access within the region, the muzzling of the press, and the ‘blacklisting’ and deportation of human rights activists”.

He added: “Aung San Suu Kyi must be held to account. The Rohingya need strong advocates and they need the world to understand that the persecution they face is genocidal. Only enormous pressure on the Myanmar government will succeed in halting the devastation. The Rohingya are staring death in the face.”

Media enquiries

Researchers are available for comment and interview. Please contact:

Mark Byrne

Public Relations Manager (Humanities and Social Sciences)

Queen Mary University of London

E: m.byrne@qmul.ac.uk

T: 0044 (0) 20 7882 5378

M: 0044 (0) 78 1590 2560

ISCI’s research

Stigmatisation

Emerging from decades of oppression and poverty, Rakhine state is ripe for economic exploitation, particularly in relation to natural resources. Demonising the Rohingya as ‘illegal Bengali immigrants’, the Myanmar state has manipulated genuine Rakhine grievances and Buddhist monks’ insecurities to foster conditions for ongoing persecution and violence for social, political and economic gain. The Myanmar government has been central in stigmatising the Rohingya, allowing hate speech, Islamophobia, the publication of inflammatory newspaper reports, and nationalism to flourish. The entire Rohingya population has recently been further disenfranchised, ahead of elections scheduled for November this year. However, the granting of citizenship cards with voting rights will not be enough to end the genocidal process. Citizenship has, for example, afforded little protection for the Kaman Muslim ethnic minority in Rakhine state.

Harassment

Physical violence resulted in some 200 deaths in Sittwe in 2012, and the threat of violence remains ever present for the Rohingya. Those responsible have enjoyed complete impunity for the violence. Our research reveals that the violence was planned and organised by local authorities supported by local civil society organisations, and political and Buddhist leaders. Continued harassment has contributed to the flight of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya.

Isolation

More than 100,000 Muslims, formerly living in mixed Rakhine and Rohingya communities, have been forced into squalid camps in an overcrowded and isolated detention complex on the outskirts of Sittwe. A further 4,250 Rohingyalive a precarious existence in downtown Sittwe’s militarised ghetto, Aung Mingalar. Dehumanised and destitute, Sittwe’s Rohingya live what can only be described as a ‘bare life’. The parallels with 1930s Germany are undeniable.

Systematic weakening

Systematic weakening is the genocidal stage prior to mass annihilation. Physically and mentally weakened, and living in broken communities devoid of social cohesion, the Rohingya have been stripped of agency and human dignity. The expulsion of Médecins Sans Frontières and the regulation of humanitarian aid are state actions designed to systematically weaken the Rohingya community. As the Rakhine National Party spokesperson declared in his interview with us (January 2015), “When the international community give them [Rohingya] a lot of food and a lot of donations, they will grow fat and become stronger, and they will become more violent.”

Background and biographies

More information about the International State Crime Initiative

Biography, Professor Penny Green

Biography, Dr Thomas MacManus

Biography, Alicia de la Cour Venning

By Anadolu Agency

November 22, 2016

Signatories call for measures to tackle hate speech and lift humanitarian aid restrictions