Massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar

Source Saudi Gazette, 30 April

Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi

Sittwe Zazi Market

The Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar are victims of a war of genocide at the hands of Buddhist extremists, and this is being done with both the blessing and the inaction of the Myanmar government. Yangon has not taken any action to stop the massacre and the burning of houses with people inside. Indeed, it is evident that the government has been encouraging extremists to perpetrate these crimes. The leader of these extremists is the Buddhist monk U Wirathu, founder of Myanmar's 969 Movement. Wirathu's movement receives support from the police and army while the government remains silent on the issue.

Yangon has not recognized Rohingya Muslims as a legitimate ethnic minority since the military government took the unjust decision to repeal the nationality of Rohingyas with the introduction of the Citizenship Law of 1982 that deprived them of their citizenship. Unfortunately, there is no one in the country who can stop the atrocities perpetrated against Muslims and hold those who commit systematic genocide accountable for their crimes. The international community remains shamefully silent about these crimes apparently because of Yangon's claims that it is pursuing political reforms.

Western countries, which pay lip service to human rights, maintain their silence on what is happening in Myanmar from the flagrant violation of human rights that includes the burning of villages, homes and even the demolition of mosques. Tens of thousands of Muslims have been driven out of their homes and have been forced to flee to neighboring countries, which refuse to receive them. A large number of Rohingya "boat people" have died of hunger at sea while sailing to safety. All of this is happening in full view of the international community, which only seems to be concerned with opening up Myanmar for business. These countries seem ready to sacrifice their values and ethics to achieve this goal. If this is the case of Western countries, what excuse can there be for Islamic countries which receive reports about crimes committed against Rohingya Muslims from the Western media?

The correspondent of "Religion and Ethics" magazine published an interview with Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, in which he said that Muslim regions of Myanmar have been burned and that this is evident from satellite images of the regions taken before and after the arson. He also drew attention to the shooting and killing of local residents as well as the unearthing of mass graves. Several villages were burned along with the villagers while police and army personnel stood by watching without doing anything. Robertson said that what happened in Myanmar was a massacre in every sense of the word.

Matthew Smith, executive director of another human rights body, Fortify Rights, said that most of the crimes documented against Rohingya Muslims are crimes against humanity that are punishable under international law. He also noted that UN officials have emphasized that no minorities in any part of the world have been subjected to such atrocities as those suffered by Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine State of Myanmar. He cited the testimony of a local resident that Rohingya Muslims have been denied fundamental human rights by limiting their freedom of movement, access to education and medical services, marriage and childbirth adding that they are not considered to be citizens of the country. Smith also pointed out that the government of Myanmar considered Rohingyas to be illegal migrants despite the presence of a sizable section of the community in the state for several centuries. He drew attention to the continued silence of the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi about the crimes committed against Rohingyas.

Smith noted that even some Buddhists are unhappy about the way in which Rohingyas are treated. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Buddhists in Tibet, has denounced the violence in Myanmar. However, there has been no cessation of hostilities against Rohingya Muslims even though the Myanmar government is capable of doing so it wanted to.

Smith also said that some Buddhists fear that Rohingya Muslims could take over the country at some point in the future. But he says that these fears are unfounded and illogical because nine out of 10 people in Myanmar are Buddhists. Apart from this, the 969 Movement and its members consider Muslims to be inferior to dogs. According to Smith, all of this demonstrates that what is going on in Myanmar is ethnic cleansing with the government's tacit approval and blessing.

Muslim leaders, who gathered at the Extraordinary Islamic Summit, convened by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in August 2012 in Makkah, strongly criticized the Myanmar government for the atrocities committed against Rohingyas. They demanded that the Myanmar government stop the persecution of Muslims and protect them by giving them their legitimate rights. The summit authorized the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to do the follow-up work. But, unfortunately, the pan-Islamic body failed to carry out the duties assigned to it by the summit.

The OIC restricted its role to dispatching a low-profile delegation to Myanmar together with some relief supplies. But it did not receive permission to take these supplies to the violence-hit regions. It was expected that the OIC delegation would be led by its secretary general especially in view of the fact that the Myanmar president had extended him an invitation to visit the turbulent areas. Although the invitation was extended as a result of the impact of the Makkah Summit resolution, the secretary general did not respond to it. He only wrote a letter to US President Obama urging him on his visit to the country to ask the Myanmar government to grant the Rohingya Muslims their legitimate rights. However, the former secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu later visited Myanmar, but, unfortunately, it was at a wrong time. During the visit, neither the Myanmar president nor any senior government official turned out to receive him. I think that the delegation was not even allowed to visit the violence-stricken regions of the country. Had he responded positively to the invitation extended by the president earlier, things might have been different.

The atrocities Rohingya Muslims have been subjected to from murder, arson, displacement and deprivation of even basic human rights are considered crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing according to the testimony of international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch. It is the religious, moral and humanitarian duty of the international community in general and of Muslim states in particular to come forward to rescue Rohingya Muslims who are exposed to genocide.

It is the responsibility of the OIC to swing into action in order to expose the crimes being perpetrated against Rohingyas as well as to shed light on the dirty game being played by the Myanmar government in dealing with its citizens. The OIC should hire lawyers to sue the government and hold it accountable for the unjust decision to repeal the citizenship of Rohingyas who have lived in the country for centuries.
 

— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com

LSE Conference on the Decades of State-sponsored Destruction of Myanmar’s Rohingya – live tweets and video (UPDATED)

Source patheos, 28 April

Perhaps the greatest human rights tragedy of our time is unfolding now in Burma (Myanmar). A number of conferences have been convened over the last couple years to discuss various aspects of the violence there and today we are lucky enough to have global access to one of these conferences, held at the London School of Economics.

While academic writers such as myself, Danny Fisher, Paul Fuller and others have consistently written about events in Burma and discussions around them, wide-spread public interest has only come in periodic waves, usually responding to particular atrocities. This is an opportunity to further familiarize yourself with the situation in Burma and commit to some level of sustained support for the Rohingya there and pressure on authorities to end the violence.

For those of you who are Buddhist or sympathetic to Buddhism, I offer the following (paraphrased) from Maung Zarni, speaking earlier at the event:

"The question of the Rohingya is the central most existential challenge to me: both as a Burmese and as a Buddhist. Because, on the question of the persecution of the Rohingya we as Buddhist Burmese people who claim to subscribe to the Buddhist philosophy of Loving-Kindness, are violating the very principle on which our collective identity as Buddhist Burmese people … This is not simply a research work, that I pursue professionally. This is an existential challenge. So therefore, I throw my lot in with the Rohingya, who I consider Myanmar [] and my own kind."

Organiser and speaker, Maung Zarni, pictured here at the event (image via live stream).

Click here for a full programme for the event.

Follow here with live-tweets on the Rohingya LSE conference happening now. Tweets for the day are here and video can be found below.

Myanmar's hospital of death kills another Rohingya

Source worldbulletin, 28 April

 

File Photo

The Sittwe General Hospital in Myanmar's Rakhine State has been killing Rohingya patients who go there for treatment.

World Bulletin / News Desk

Another murder conducted by the doctors in Myanmar's notorious Sittwe General Hospital against a Rohingya patient has been recorded after an 18-year-old pregnant woman was killed on April 24.

Zuhra Khatun, who was one of many internally displaced Rohingyas within Myanmar, was rushed to a local doctor in her refugee camp in the town of Sittwe (Akyab) on April 15 after suffering complications in child birth.

The local doctor was unable to deliver her twin babies, and quickly referred her to the Sittwe General Hospital. Her family originally refused, has doctors at the hospital are known to torture and kill Rohingya patients, but they had no other choice.

On her arrival at the hospital, she was told that her babies had died in her womb and that she required an operation to remove them. She was sedated and remained asleep until the next day, only to wake up covered in scratches and bruises to her face.

According to a report in Rohingya Vision, the doctors would then come to agitate the wounds on her womb using tools while the dead bodies of her unborn children were thrown in front of her. She was also denied food and water.

On Thursday, April 24, after torturing the patient, the doctor gave the young Rohingya woman a lethal injection. She died shortly afterwards.

Earlier in April, 28-year-old Hasina Begum, a Rohingya refugee who had been displaced after her village was razed to the ground by Buddhist extremists, arrived at the Sittwe General Hospital after also suffering complications in pregnancy. She too was killed after three days of torture by nurses on the orders of the doctor.

A week later, a five-month-old baby girl died after suffering an asthma attack because her family was too afraid to send her to the hospital, fearing that the doctors would kill her.

Myanmar has been accused of genocide against the Rohingya, who had their ethnic group dismissed from a recent census as the state claims they are Bangladeshis who have illegally migrated to Myanmar.

Ongoing violence against the community by Buddhist extremists in the Rakhine State have forced many of them to risk their lives fleeing the surrounding countries across dangerous seas and terrain.

Many of those who survive the dangerous trek have fallen victim to traffickers who hold them hostage in remote locations. Many also face deportation a persecution in the countries where they seek refuge.

United Nations expert says there are “elements of genocide” against Myanmar’s Rohingya

by Admin, 28 April

 

The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Tomás Ojéa Quintana has said "There are elements of genocide in Rakhine with respect to Rohingya."

Speaking at the London Conference on Decades of State-Sponsored Destruction of Myanmar's Rohingya, Ojéa added "It is crimes against humanity. The possibility of a genocide needs to be discussed. This conference is very important as it does just that."

The conference marked the first time top legal experts, academics and activists have met at the London School Of Economics And Political Science (LSE) and initiated the public debate on whether the persecution of the Rohingya by Myanmar should be considered genocide under international law.

Other speakers included Professor Daniel Feierstein, President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars; and Professor Gianni Tognoni, General Secretary, Permanent People's Tribunal, Rome.

International legal experts presented definitions of genocide, mechanisms and models for justice. Leading human rights researchers and academics as well as Rohingya refugees offered evidence of decades of systematic persecution of Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar. Dr Zarni, chair of the conference and visiting fellow at the LSE, made a case for what he called "the slow burning genocide" of Myanmar's Rohingya since 1978 based on three years of extensive archival research

and interviews with military officers and Rohingya victims.

The conference concluded with a call for the immediate end to Myanmar's persecution of Rohingya, which it says amounts to genocide. The message is supported by dozens of concerned individuals and organisations including: Prudentienne Seward, a survivor of the Rwanda genocide against Tutsis and Founder of PAX

(Peace for the African Great Lakes), Professor Noam Chomsky of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University Professor Gayatria Chakravoty Spivak, Oxford University Professor Emeritus and founder of Refugee Studies Barbara Harrell-Bond, London School of Economics Professor Mary Kaldor and

Executive Director Youk Chhang of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.

The call notes, "Every aspect of their (Rohingya) lives, including marriage, childbirth and ability to work, is severely restricted. Their right to identity and citizenship is officially denied; in other words, they are not recognized as humans before the law… Rohingya are profoundly vulnerable to all forms of oppression and

atrocities." It points out that alone of all the country's more than 130 ethnic groups, only Rohingya are subjected to a policy of forced population control. By denying the Rohingya legal existence, designing extensive structures of discrimination and depriving a large segment of Rohingya population even basic humanitarian services such as provision of water, food and medicine the Myanmar government and people are destroying an entire people.

"Our people have been subject to a national policy of discrimination, persecution and eventual destruction at the hands of security forces and local extremists for the past nearly 40 years. I appeal to the world not to let another Rwanda repeat for Rohingya," said Tun Khin, President of BROUK, which sponsors legislation at the US Congress calling for the end to persecution of Rohingya.

"The United Nations has taken 20 years to apologise for its failure to recognise and prevent the Rwandan genocide; the international community should not repeat the same mistake in Myanmar," said Prudentienne Seward.

 

Contacts:

Dr Zarni : fanon2005@gmail.com; mobile: +44 (0)777 515 9334!

Tun Khin: rohingya@brouk.org.uk: mobile: +44 (0)788 871 4866

Pregnant Woman Abused and Died after Injection in Sittwe Hospital

Source RB, 26 April

On April 15th a pregnant woman was taken to Sittwe Hospital to remove miscarried twins from her womb. She was treated roughly by staff at the hospital, denied food, neglected, and then finally died after an injection was administered by the doctor there four days after her arrival. 

On April 15th 18 year old Zura Khatu of Ohn Taw Gyi IDP camp, Sittwe, daughter of Abul Amin, went to Dar Paing clinic, Sittwe, Arakan State. At the time she was nine months pregnant, and was having pain and difficulty delivering child. The clinic informed her that her twins had died in her womb, and that her condition required greater care than they could provide and that she had to go to Sittwe Hospital in order to be treated and recover. Caretakers at Dar Paing Clinic reported that Zura was in a healthy condition, but that they did not have the means to remove the bodies of her twins, or perform surgery. 

Initially Zura's parents were very reluctant to send her to Sittwe hospital because of the abundance of reports of Rohingya dying or even being killed while in the hospital's care. As it became clear that Zura had no other option for treatment but to go to Sittwe Hospital, and Zura's family was witnessing her pain with no adequate treatment available to her, they agreed to send her in hopes she would be safe and would recover. Zura's family was reassured by security forces that they did not need to worry, and she would likely recover within two days. 

Zura and her caretaker, Mustafa Begum, daughter of Muhammad, Ohn Taw Gyi IDP camp, were taken by police escort then taken to Sittwe hospital. Zura and Mustafa arrived at Sittwe Hospital at around 5pm on April 15th, and Zura was taken for surgery upon arrival. Zura remained unconscious until 11amthe following morning. At this time Zura was taken to Mustafa, who reported that she saw signs of beating and scratching on Zura's face that were not there when Zura had arrived. During her recovery period a doctor came in regularly to treat Zura's wounds in a way that caused her greater pain and discomfort while he dressed the wounds from her surgery. Mustafa requested the doctor to use greater care, but he ignored her. After her surgery an attendant in the hospital came to take the bodies of the children that had died in Zura's womb, they were packaged in plastic on the floor. 

The attendant gave the bodies to Mustafa and told her to take them to the Mortuary. Mustafa said that she was afraid to go there alone and requested an escort. The attendant became agitated by this request and then kicked Mustafa to the ground. It was reported the attendant then took the bag with the bodies of the children and threw them into the mortuary. 

While Zura was in the hospital it was reported that she was not given any food or water during her recovery, and that staff in the hospital refused to allow Mustafa to provide this for her. After four days Mustafa encountered another Rohingya Patient from Pauktaw, who she was able to get food from, but even then Mustafa said she was not permitted by the hospital to provide that food to Zura. 

On her final day at the hospital the doctor arrived again, and as he treated Zura's wounds Zura began to scream in pain. Mustafa again requested the doctor use greater care, but she was ignored. A Zura's discomfort increased it was reported that the doctor became impatient, and then administered some kind of injection into Zura. It was reported that Zura died very shortly after receiving the shot.

Myanmar Police Arrest, Torture And Rob A Rohingya Refugee In Sittwe

Source RB, 22 April

Mohammed Hashim

 

Sittwe, Arakan – A Rohingya refugee from Thet Kay Pyin in Sittwe city of Arakan state was arrested by Hlun Htaine police. He was tortured and robbed.

On April 20th at 8 pm Mohammed Hashim S/o Mohammed Sayed (Age 33) from Thet Kay Pyin refugee camp was arrested by Hlun Htaine police while he was coming back from work in They Chaung village. The police took him to the outpost located in Manzi junction.

When he arrived at the police outpost he was forced to take off his shirt and wear the shirt of Hlun Htaine police. The police did that intentionally not to draw attention to him by the people who were passing through the outpost.

The police beat him from the time he arrived to the outpost until released on April 21st at 10 am. He was severely tortured and his money (3000 kyat) was robbed by the police.

On April 21st in the morning the camp leader went to the police outpost and appealed to release the innocent refugee and finally he was released.

Rohingyas In Pauktaw Are Facing Many Difficulties To Survive

Source RB, 20 April

Internally displaced Muslim people gather around a basket of fish at Ngat Chaung Refugee Camp in Pauktaw, Rakhine state, Burma. Sept. 13, 2013 (Photo: AP/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

 

Pauktaw, Arakan – A letter sent by the Rohingya community-elders from Ngat Chaung refugee camp in Pauktaw Township of Arakan state said they need many things just to survive.

As the place is under the sea level they are very worried that they will face flooding. It is also close to the sea so they could face cyclones. So in order to protect them from cyclones or windstorms they need to build a cellar which will costs 15 million kyats (USD 15,000).

They are also facing a serious crisis with drinking water as well as water for domestic use. They are in need of at least 15 gallons of petrol a day to get water through pipelines which is going to cost 105,000 kyats (USD 105) but they do not have that budget.

It has been almost 6 months now that 341 Rohingya refugees from Ngat Chaung camp haven't been receiving rations. They can't leave from the camp to work outside as the Rakhine extremists are always attacking them.

Since the MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières) left from Arakan state, they do not receive any medical treatment and many are sick and some are dying just because lack of medication.

The refugees also need to fix the roof of the prayer hall at their camp which will cost 1,150,000 kyat (USD 1,150).

They are seeking help from domestically and internationally to solve their difficulties. Six community-elders have signed the letter.

While the international community is giving attention to the crisis in Sittwe, the plight many Rohingyas in Pauktaw, Myebon, Kyauktaw, Kyauk Phyu, Ponna Kyun and other places are forgotten to be mentioned.

A Rohingya voice on violations and remedies - Wai Wai Nu

Source the Malaysian Insider, 18 April

Women Peace Network Arakan director Wai Wai Nu (left) presenting her speech during the GMM-AMAN-Proham RTD on Human Rights Violations & Remedies: The Rohingyan Case yesterday. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Wai Wai Nu, April 18, 2014

I feel honored to have the chance to speak as a panel in this discussion on Rohingya issue. I myself is a Rohingya, and I hope participants in this group will finally give me some hopeful and practical assurances that I can take a long with me to convey to my persecuted Rohingya people. I am very much thankful to the sponsors of this meeting who invited me.

Here I would like to present a short and precise analysis of the Human right situation in Rakhine state. Since Rohingya's identity is denied by Myanmar Government their citizenship question became on stake.

The 1982 Myanmar citizenship law, which the world regards as an arbitrary and harsh law, short of international norm and standard, section 3 says "Only the eight major indigenous races and sub races associated to them are Myanmar citizen". Since Myanmar's independence in 1948, Rohingya were listed as one of the ethnic races but the 1982 law excluded them. From that time various forms of discriminatory and suppressive rules and mechanism have been in continuation until today. Rohingyas are no longer regarded as human being. Their socio-economic life is so suffocated that almost all Rohingyas are just eking for survival.

What the successive military Governments intentionally did to strip Rohingya of everything vital for their livelihoods are;

Firstly, they are deprived of their history: despite their existence in Arakan for thousand years they are portrayed as Indians who came into Arakan (Rakhine) since British occupation in 1824.

Secondly, their ethnicity is misinterpreted and branded them as Bengali. This is a deliberate attempt took place since 1973 and 1983 censuses to make them stateless. Though they themselves enlisted them as Rohingya then, census reports said this people are Bengali which are about 29% of total Arakan's population of 3.3 million.

Thirdly, the government looted away Rohingya's citizenship under a new and arbitrary citizenship law in 1982. Now Rohingyas are branded as non-citizen or stateless. As there were conventions under UN supervision for the protection and reduction of stateless people, Myanmar government prefers the term non-citizen.

Finally, in the 2014 Myanmar census which started on April 1, there are 135 code numbers for each of so called national (ethnic) peoples but not for Rohingya. The government gave two different stories to international and to local media. To international media they said Rohingya must list themselves under the category 914 which means "other" but can write "Rohingya" to give more detail. This means that Rohingya will not be counted as an ethnic group but people were free to identify themselves. But some local media reported the Immigration and Population Minister  said, "Rohingya must enlist as Bengali.

Otherwise, one who enumerate as Rohingya is liable to legal punishment." The worst is the demonstrations, led by extremist Monk Werathu, to totally ban the word "Rohingya" from the census. Rakhine politicians are threatening for more intensive violence unless Government bans the inclusion of Rohingya.  So, now, if we want write "Rohingya" as our ethnic identity in the census, we will be stopped from joining the census. We are forced to write we are "Bengali" or we will not be counted at all. This census is funded by the UN Population Fund, European Union and other western countries, so it is extremely disappointing that the census is so racist.

The lead monk of hate the speech monk  "Wirathu" whom Time magazine remark as "the face of Buddhist terror" visited Maung Daw Town (northern Arakan) in first week of January. Here on January 13, a big terrorized incidence occurred where dozens of people were injured and killed, the whole villagers had to flee away from the village and their belongings were looted away by Rakhine mobs and security personnel. The government "investigated" this violence two times and said there was no evidence of violence against Rohingya. They just said one police was killed but they couldn't find his body, and recommended that police should be given better weapons. The international NGO Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) said they treated 25 Rohingya people who were injured in that violence, so the government banned MSF from Rakhine state. Now more and more international NGOs giving humanitarian aid are being banned or attacked. The Burma Bulletin for March is distributed here, so you can read about the attacks last month.

Abuses and discriminations against Rohingya are intentional, well prepared well organized. Rohingyas have been dehumanized, demonized, pushed into camps  and persecuted in so many other ways. This includes restriction on movement, on marriage, on child birth and access to education and medical treatment. The restrictions on marriage and birth means about 60,000 Rohingya children could not get birth certificates. Rohingya children and youth have found it difficult to get education, especially girls. After the violence started in 2012, the situation got much worse. Now, there are more than 20,000 children unable to go to school and  1,000 students unable to continue their university education. Most Rohingya in Rakhine state cannot not get any health services at all. The government hospitals treat us as an enemy and we keep getting reports that hospital staff have beaten or mistreated Rohingya who seek medical treatment.

Economic life is stagnated. All most one third of Rohingyas' farming lands were seized for distribution among non Rohingya newly settled model villages and military installations. Forced eviction and removing of Rohingya villages are routine. Due to one-sided attack and assault 150,000 Rohingya became IDPs, living in squalid camps without necessary facilities. Other Rohingya whose villages were not burned are virtually in confinement. No freedom of movement and freedom of access to any means of livelihood. There is no visible plan to resettle the IDPs. Even after kicking out all the INGOs from Sittwe last month, it's  become the question of serious humanitarian problem. Women and children are dying every day due to lack of food, water and heath care.

The systematic and widespread human rights violations of Rohingya is not an internal matter. It has caused tens of thousands of Rohingya to flee as refugees to neighbouring countries including Malaysia and other ASEAN countries.

Our request to justice loving people, specially to ASEAN countries is as follows:

1.     Insist for protection of Rohingya from violence and access to basic needs such as safe shelter, food, water, health and education. Rohingya are being segregated in camps in cyclone-sensitive areas. They could easily die from bad weather and deprivation of food, so they need to move to a safer location. For this, the government must also ensure protection and assistance to NGOs providing services to Rohingya and any other displaced people in Rakhine state.

2.     Pressure Myanmar government to restore to Rohingya their right to get listed as Rohingya in the present census process which will last for next two months. Forcing rohingya to register as "Bengali" under the census may lead to all of us being forcibly deported from our own country as illegals.

3.     Work with the rest of the international community to ensure that Rohingya are restored their full citizenship and equal rights. Now the government is hinting that only some of us will get naturalized citizenship. However naturalized citizenship means we cannot run in elections, we cannot own certain kinds of property or pursue professional education, and this citizenship can be revoked anytime.

4.     Health and education is extremely important for our survival as Rohingya. Please allow Rohingya children living in Malaysia to get education so they can grow up as capable and moderate Muslims. Please allow our people to have access to basic health services.

5.     Next year, Malaysia will be the Chair of ASEAN. This year, Myanmar is the Chair and it has censored even ASEAN leaders and ASEAN civil society from talking about Rohingya. Please make a space for this to be discussed openly next year. We need governments and civil society to have the freedom to openly and honestly discuss and work for long term peaceful solutions for our people.

I sincerely hope Malaysia, as a leading member of ASEAN and of the OIC, will wholeheartedly work with other states, civil society and international mechanisms to solve this issue. ASEAN has been aware of the situation for more than 20 years but have not taken decisive action to address it, so this situation is getting critical. We have a justified fear that the mass killings will continue, with the aim of totally wiping out Rohingya from Myanmar.

We know Malaysia and other ASEAN countries are concerned about Rohingya boatpeople, refugees and asylum-seekers but if they do not help stop violence against Rohingya,  Rohingya will be forced to leave their homes and seek survival somewhere else. It is definitely in ASEAN's interest to have a coordinated strategy to ensure Rohingya's human rights are protected.

We Rohingya people hope Malaysia will take a prompt and concrete initiative to solve this Rohingya crisis. Please work with us and other moderate Burmese in our country to get a peaceful and fair solution.

Thank you. – April 18, 2014

* Speech was presented at the GMM-AMAN-Proham RTD on Human Rights Violations & Remedies: The Rohingyan CASE yesterday

* Wai Wai Nu is the Director of Women Peace Network Arakan

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Save Rohingya ethnic minority from genocide, protect their rights

Source The Brunei Times, 15 April

ROHINGYA Arakanese Refugee Committee and Rohingya Ulama Council (RUC) Malaysia and other Rohingya organisations in Australia, Canada and the US, are deeply concerned over the genocidal actions against innocent Rohingya people through their exclusion from Myanmar's ongoing census 2014.

They accused ruling Myanmar officials of being "grossly involved in conducting ethnic cleansing of Rohingya for decades".

Acciording to a press statement from the Rohingya News Agency on Sunday, the Rohingya organisations have appealed to the international community to push the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to arrange an emergency session to send United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Arakan State as soon as possible, to protect ‎massive killings and mass grave. They also appealed foran urgent suspension of the census and to re-conduct a fresh one ‎in line with international standards and human rights principles, suggesting the government commits to allowing ethnic Rohingya to fill up their original name "Rohingya".

Meanwhile, a UN human rights envoy says severe shortages of food, water and medical care for Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar are part of a long history of persecution against the religious minority that could amount to "crimes against humanity".

Tomás Ojea Quintana's statement follows the evacuation of hundreds of humanitarian workers from Rakhine state, home to almost all the country's 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims, thousands of whom are living in crowded displacement camps.

The aid workers left after Buddhist mobs attacked their offices and residences two weeks ago. Some have tried to return, but have been barred by government.

Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on Human Rights, said the developments in Rakhine were the latest in a "long history of discrimination and persecution against the Rohingya Muslim community which could amount to crimes against humanity".

More than 170 aid workers were pulled out of the state as a result of last month's unrest, the first time they have been forced to leave en masse, and there are fears that the entire relief infrastructure has been severely damaged.

Agencies

Myanmar Police Torch An Office Building Of MRCS And UNHCR In Taung Pyo Lat Wal

Source RB, 14 April

Taung Pyo Lat Wal – An office building of MRCS and UNHCR situated in the compound of Taung Pyo Lat Wal sub-township police station of Maungdaw district in Arakan state was torched by police.

Today at 12:30 pm an office building of MRCS (Myanmar Red Cross Society) and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in Taung Pyo Lat Wal sub-township which is situated in the compound of Taung Pyo Lat Wal sub-township police station was torched by police. The fire stopped it at 2:00 pm.

The office building of MRCS and UNHCR was built in 1996 and the building is about length 60 feet and width 30 feet. Taung Pyo Lat Wal sub-township was created in 2004 and the families of police were living in that building since the time the police station was built in that compound until last month. As the office of MRCS and UNHCR has less function, they could stay. However the police families were removed from the building in last month.

The police's families are displeased with being removed from the building and now they are under pressure from the authority as they were order not to enjoy the water festival for being armed security forces. So according to locals, they just created a misunderstanding between the Rohingya villagers and authorities by torching above mentioned office.

Pregnant Woman Killed by Sittwe Hospital Staff

Source RB, 9 April

Hasina Begum

Sittwe, Arakan -- On April 9th 2014 at 12:00 PM police returned the body of Hasina Begum to Sittwe IDP camps. She had left to go to Sittwe Hospital on April 7th for treatment of diarrhea and problems with urination. She was two months pregnant at the time, and was accompanied by her sister, Jamila Begum. A statement from her Husband, Shomsul Alam, son of Muhammad Ameen reads as follows: 

"My name is Shomsul Alam, S/o Muhammad Ameen, 25 years old, living in Thet Kay Pyin IDP camp, Sittwe, Arakan. My wife Hasina Begum, D/o Bodi Alam, 20 years old was suffering from diarrhea and can't urinate last week. So we took her to Dar Paing clinic, Sittwe on 7 April 2014.Doctors told that her condition was severe and they needed to refer her to Sittwe General Hospital. [They said] No need to worry and doctors guaranteed that she would recover if she is given treatment in hospital. So she was sent to Sittwe hospital by doctors of Dar Paing clinic. We spoke to charge-doctor and asked about my wife's condition on telephone 04322786.He told us that wife is improving and she would return tomorrow and we were to wait for her in Dar Paing clinic. Then, charge-doctor called early this morning and said my wife had died. My wife was brought from hospital to my home at 12:00 PM today. After she had been brought to us we saw many signs of beating in wife's body. It seems she was beaten by Rakhinese nurses and doctors after she had been killed." 

On the final night of her stay in the hospital it was reported that a nurse entered her room while they were sleeping and had an injection prepared to administer to Hasina. Jamila Bagun noticed this and argued that her sister was well and had no need for any injection. It was reported that Jamila was then restrained and the injection was given to Hasina in front of Jamila. Hasina died shortly after. Jamila and the body of Hasina were removed from the hospital the following day by Police. Jamila Begum reported the incident as follows:

"My name is Jamila Begum, daughter of Bodi Alam, 30 years old, living in Thay Chaung IDP camp, Sittwe. I went to Sittwe hospital with my sister as her caretaker. Doctors and nurses treated us ruthlessly in hospital. Doctors and nurses kept beating and scolding. They insulted us as Rohingya. Whenever they came to my sister to give treatment, they used to tell us that this is not your Rohingyas' hospital. You should have gone to Rohingyas' hospital. In earlier morning 3:00 AM today, a Rakhinese nurse came and gave a green colored injection with a small syringe to my sister. When I saw it I struggled my damnedest to prevent her not to give that injection to my 

sister, but I couldn't stop her because a crowd of nurses came and caught me tightly. No sooner did the nurse give this injection my sister started to struggle and died." 

There were two Hindu workers at the hospital who care for the dead bodies. Hasina's body was removed from the bed by them. As Jamila worried that the body may be just thrown on the floor, she gave the workers money to properly treat her sister's body. But still she heard a sound when they threw her on the floor. 

"I even gave the money, Kyat 10,500, to a Hindu worker there to keep the dead body in good place, but they did not, as I noticed my sister's body was inhumanely beaten. When I complained about that to the police a crowd of doctors and nurses came towards me. They were like ready to kill me but fortunately I was saved by police." 

Jamila then complained about the treatment of her sister's body to the police as she was with them at that time. While complaining a crowd of doctors and nurses came towards her as though they were ready to kill her. However, the police said to her, "don't worry they can't kill you in front of me."

There has been a drastic increase in reports of pregnant Rohingya women losing child at Sittwe Hospital since the removal of MSF from Rakhine State. Likewise, the reports of abuse, neglect, and death under extremely suspicious circumstances have increased dramatically. When Rohingya become sick or injured now they are faced to choose for themselves or their loved ones whether they will wait and hope their health improves without medical care, or risk being treated by doctors they fear may give them extremely poor care or may even attempt to kill them.

Urgent: 78 Rohingyas Missing as Armed Rakhine Terrorists Launch Attack

Source Rvision TV, 10 April

Kyauktaw, Arakan- As many as 78 Rohingyas from Kyauktaw township are missing as armed Rakhine (Maghs) terrorists attacked them in a forest on their way to Buthidaung and Maungdaw yesterday.

"Around 10PM on 7th April , around 90 extremely poor Rohingyas from the township of Kyauktaw were leaving their homes for Buthidaung and Maungdaw through Rathedaung as they were rendered jobless and all their access to livelihoods were cut off by the government and Rakhine extremists. Besides, they receive no aids from any NGOs or INGOs.

There were 15 females and other were males including children and adults. And there were three agents with them as well. Amidst a forest called 'Aaga Taung" on their way to Rathedaung at the last territory of Kyauktaw township, a group of armed Magh (Rakhine) Terrorists launched gun attacks on them. As a result, they got dispersed and lost contact with one another as they ran for their lives to their sights.

Twelve of them managed to come back to Kyauktaw and others are still missing. No woman has returned yet. No one knows their whereabouts yet. They might have been killed or are still alive. Therefore, we request anyone who finds any of them out to give them refugee as they are in grave trouble" anxiously said a local of Kyauktaw.

"Armed Rakhine terrorists have escalted terror activities in Arakan recently. We find no way to go. We are worried of another violence against us by Rakhine terrorists" he added.

Accuracy, Fairness and Balance Can Lead to Jail for Journalists

Source Phuketwan, 4 April

PHUKET: Journalism Education Association Australia president Matthew Ricketson has made a statement in support of jailed journalist Peter Greste and Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian, who are facing jail on Phuket:

Chutima Sidasathian at the bridge that links Phuket to the mainland

Photo by phuketwan.

 
TWO AUSTRALIAN journalists working overseas are being held in detention or face imprisonment simply for doing their job of reporting on the activities of those in positions of power and authority. They are Peter Greste of al Jazeera English and Alan Morison, editor of a small website in Thailand, phuketwan.com.

Freedom of the news media is almost universally understood to be a core value in democratic societies or in those that aspire to be democratic. In some countries, such as Egypt and Thailand, we are seeing threats to media freedom that are urgent and visceral. In other countries such as Australia we all too often take for granted the ability of journalists to report critically on those in positions of power and authority; threats to media freedom here rarely involve arbitrary detention.

Peter Greste is a graduate of the Queensland University of Technology's journalism program, in 1986, and has enjoyed a lengthy career as a journalist working for reputable news organisations such as the BBC and CNN. Alan Morison began in journalism two decades earlier, in 1966, when most did a cadetship after school (as he did, at the Herald and Weekly Times Ltd). He went on to hold senior editorial positions at The Age and in recent years at phuketwan.com, which provides news, views and reviews about life and tourism on the island of Phuket.

Greste, along with an Egyptian and a Canadian-Egyptian colleague, was arrested on 29 December and is being held in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison in Cairo. He has been charged with spreading false news to aid the Muslim Brotherhood which has been recently outlawed in Egypt by the military-backed government.

In a letter sent from his prison cell, and broadcast on ABC television's Media Watch on 3 February, Greste steadfastly maintains his innocence: ''We had been doing as any responsible, professional journalist would - recording and trying to make sense of the unfolding events with all the accuracy, fairness and balance that our imperfect trade demands''.

The political situation in Egypt is complicated and highly contested, as is the current government's relationship with the al Jazeera network, as Fairfax Media's Middle East correspondent, Ruth Pollard, outlined in two pieces published on 1 February in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age: ''The media have always had a difficult relationship with the powerful in Egypt. Repression was rife during [former] president Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule and the Muslim Brotherhood-backed government of [President] Mohamed Mursi sought to quash criticism of his short-lived, dysfunctional administration. But the targeting of journalists from al-Jazeera English over the network's alleged pro-Brotherhood stance - a charge denied by al-Jazeera executives - has spilt over to encompass all foreign media''.

The constantly threatening environment in Egypt makes even straightforward reporting tasks so dangerous, according to Pollard, that she and other colleagues are reluctant to go out into the streets at all. Already, many have been beaten or detained. Risk-taking is in the DNA of most foreign correspondents; when they decide they cannot do their work, how will citizens around the world, let alone in Egypt, learn what is happening? The undeniable benefits to the free flow of information afforded by digital technologies and social media still need what Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel term the discipline of verification in their book The Elements of Journalism; that is, there remains a need to strip away misinformation from information which is all the more important - and more difficult - when the stakes are at their highest, as they are in Egypt.

Where the threat to Greste and his colleagues is immediate, with no sign of bail being granted pending trial, Alan Morison and his main associate, Thai journalist, Chutima Sidasathian, have been issued with lawsuits that allege criminal defamation, and, strangely, breach of Thailand's Computer Crimes Act, that if successful could see them jailed for up to seven years.

For several years, Morison and his colleague have been reporting about a largely unknown scandal concerning the Rohingya Muslim people who have been fleeing persecution in Myanmar. As boat people they have been abused while trying to escape to Malaysia. Often they have become prey to traffickers and slave-dealers according to Kevin Childs, a former Age colleague of Morison, who has begun a petition via Change.org protesting against the lawsuit. Where the Royal Thai Navy comes in to the picture is that it has sometimes helped the boat people with food, water and fuel - as long as they don't come to Thailand.

Childs writes that Morison and Sidasathian were the first to call global public attention to the Rohingya boat people's problems. On 16 December a Royal Thai Navy officer, acting on behalf of the Navy, issued the lawsuits against them. The ostensible reason is that one article published on their website quoted a paragraph from a Reuters report about the Navy's role in the Rohingya boat people issue. Reuters stands by its report, but it has not been sued even while Morison and Sidasathian have. Morison told me by email that all they have done is: ''Merely republished word for word a contentious paragraph among excerpts from the Reuters news agency. That deed has left us facing charges under criminal defamation and the Computer Crimes Act amounting to a maximum penalty of seven years in jail, which seems extreme and unreasonable''.

Nevertheless, the two journalists are prepared to go to jail rather than surrender the principle of freedom of the media.

Many individual citizens as well as several organisations committed to freedom of speech or representing journalists have already expressed their concern and outrage about the treatment of these two Australian journalists. The Journalism Education Association of Australia, which represents those preparing the next generation of young people entering the news media and related fields, has as one of its core beliefs promoting ''freedom of expression and communication,'' and adds its voice to this issue. The association's executive is alarmed by these recent, serious threats to freedom of expression, and is committed to speaking out in support of journalists whose sole crime appears to be doing the job of journalism.

Matthew Ricketson is JEAA president and Professor of Journalism at the University of Canberra

RAKHINE TERRORIST RELEASED WITHOUT ANY ACTION

Source Burmatimesnet, 7 April

Burma Times – On 06/04/2014, about 11:30 am local Rohingya peoples from Nganchaung village informed about Rakhine terrorist to Myanmar Regiment no. 537, is gathering in Maungdaw north along Maungnama village to Londoon village. A group of army, lead by a captain followed behind the terrorist and arrest six Rakhine terrorist and two run away.

The army got from arrestees, 2 pistols, 2 lances (2 meter of each) and 2 swords and powders to burn the houses (powders used before in arson attack). Among six of them, one from Pawat chaung NATALA Rakhine village, two from Raimyat taung NATALA Rakhine village and three from Bangladesh hill area.

In Maungdaw north, there is 2 Myanmar regiment gathering in Rohingya villages and near by mountains in east. The Regiment 537 is leading by colonel Zaw Min Latt sitting in Pawatt Chaung NATALA Rakhine village, the second is Regiment 564 leading by colonel Myo Nyunt Oo sitting in Pyawnpike village looking for Muslim extremist according Rakhines state government information got from their loyal Buddhist from Bangladesh hill area.

Most of villagers said, "Rakhine extremist trying to fabricate a new conflict along these Rohingya villages as were in other parts of southern Maungdaw and in other towns".

Now a days, Rakhine state government informed to Myanmar Army to save land from Muslim extremist which includes all Muslim countries of the world, indeed the situation is opposite of their information, the poor Rohingyas are only human, half died hungry as usual under slavery.

A memorandum of Appeal to Save Rohingya ethnic minority from Genocide and protect their rights

Press release by Rohingya Organizations in Malaysia, Date: April 8, 2014

 

We express our serious concern over the planned exclusion of Rohingya population from the ongoing UN sponsored census that began on 30 March 2014.

 

For decades the successive Burmese military regimes have subjected the Rohingya people to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, and the ruling military backed  Thein Sein government has surpassed all previous records of 'Rohingya persecution'. The central government and Arakan State authorities with the state patronized extremist Rakhines and Buddhist monks are grossly involved in carrying out series of deadly violence and genocide onslaughts against the ethnic Rohingya, with intent to annihilate them from their ancestral homeland of Arakan. The Buddhist Rakhine ceased-fire groups and other Rakhine extremists and their armed gangs are being invited from Bangladesh, India and China in order to intensify their anti-Rohingya movement through genocide.

 

The Burmese Government has already betrayed the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Department for International Development (DFID), donor countries and agencies as it has backed from earlier promises to implement the census in accordance with international standards. In addition, the 26-27 March Buddhist Rakhine's systematic ransacking and attacks on UN and humanitarian INGO offices and residences in Arakan's capital (Akyab) Sittwe could not be carried out without the backing of the authorities. The intention of the perpetrators is to stop anyone helping the vulnerable Rohingyas, who have no access to government facilities, so as to make them die of hunger and diseases; and to carry out  genocide against them without outside knowledge.  Without humanitarian aids, their situation is very dire now, with people dying every day.  It warrants immediate attention of the international community to save the lives of the innocent people.

 

In this regard, we appeal to the international community to take the following measures:

 

1.          To push United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to arrange an emergency session to send urgent United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Arakan State, Burma, in order protect further killings and destruction in the country.

 

2.          To exert effective pressure on Burma for urgent suspension of the census and to re-conduct a fresh census with international standards allowing ethnic Rohingya to self-identify their original ethnic name "ROHINGYA" and stop dubbing them "BENGALI" unlawfully.

 

3.          To retrieve the funds of UNFPA, DFID and other donors and to reject the ongoing census; and to protect the innocent, defenceless and helpless indigenous Rohingya ethnic minority enabling them to live peacefully and honourably with all human dignity and rights as natural citizens of Burma.

 

Sincerely,

 

Mohammad Sadek                                          Mohammed Rafique                      Ustaz Jaber

Program Coordinator                                     Chairman                                             President

Rohingya Arakanese Refugee                    Ethnic Rohingya Committee        Rohingya Ulama Council

Committee (RARC), Malaysia                      of Arakan (ERCA)                             in Malaysia (MUR)

Tel: 0163094599                                                Tel: 0163635720                                Tel: 0173549311

                                                                    

 

His Excellency Joseph Y. Yun

Honorable Ambassador

Embassy of the United States to Malaysia
376 Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Telephone: 60-3-2302 3988

Fax: 60-3-2148-5801

Email: klconsular@state.gov

 

His Excellency Simon Featherstone CMG

British High Commissioner to Malaysia

Level 27 Menara Binjai
2 Jalan Binjai, Kuala Lumpur 50450, Malaysia

E-mail: Kualalumpur

Email consular.mail@fco.gov.uk

Telephone+6 03 2170 2200

Fax: 0321702390

 

Her Excellency Mme Martine Dorance,

Ambassador of France

Embassy of France

196, Jalan Ampang,

50450, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel : (+603) 20 53 55 00
Fax : (+603) 20 53 55 02

 

Her Excellency Vorobyeva Lyudmila Georgievna

The Embassy Of Russian Federation

205 Lorong Ampang 2,

Taman U Thant, Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia

Tel: 03-42563949

Fax: 03-4252-9139

E-mail: rusembmalaysia@yandex.ru

 

His Excellency Huang Huikang

Ambassador Extraordinary

People's Republic of China

Lot 276, Block 10, Jalan Ong Tiang Swee,

93200 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Tel: 006082-240344006082-240344, 238344

Fax: 006082-232344

 

His Excellency Luc Vandebon
Ambassador & Head of Delegation of the European Union to Malaysia

Menara Tan & Tan, Suite 10.01
207 Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

Tel: +60 3 2723 7373+60 3 2723 7373

Fax: +60 3 2723 7337

E-mail: delegation-malaysia@eeas.europa.eu

 

His Excellency Michelle Gyles-McDonnough

UN Resident Coordinator

UNDP Resident Representative for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam,
United Nations Development Programme,
Wisma UN, Block C, Kompleks Pejabat Damansara
Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights
50490 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA

Tel: 603 2095 9122
Fax: 603 2095 2870
Email: registry.my@undp.org

Dr. Fuller's Ludicrous Theory about ethnocentric Buddhism

Source dr.habib Siddiqi, 6 April

Dr. Fuller's Ludicrous Theory about ethnocentric Buddhism

Buddhist monks protest near Shwedagon Pagoda against the opening of the Organisation

of Islamic Cooperation offices in Burma in October 2012. (PHOTO: Reuters)

My attention has been drawn to Dr. Paul Fuller's articlewhich has appeared in the DVB. Here below I share my observations.

Throughout history there have always been people, even those who appear to be intellectuals, who justified the crimes of despots and ruthless murderers under certain pretexts. There were no shortages of German, Austrian and Italian fascist intellectuals who were not only supporters of the Nazi Fascism of the Hitler era but greatly promoted the evil cause. One would have thought that Nuremberg Trials and the wholesale condemnation of the evil ideology in the subsequent years and decades had put that dark chapter behind us, and no one and surely not the so-called educated intellectuals who teach at the college and university levels would be a devil's advocate. But our expectations have always been unrealistic. There are still evil geniuses around our world who are willing to act as intellectual whores and pimps selling their credentials to the highest bidder. Some deranged folks are even willing to sell their morality for even very little price.

So, while it is sad to read Dr. Paul Fuller's article below, I am not too surprised with such absurd, ludicrous interpretation of what is going wrong in Burma. He has tied his knot with the devil. He calls the current genocidal campaign against the non-Buddhist minorities, esp. the Rohingya and other Muslims in Myanmar as ethno-centric Buddhism. How wonderful! One has to really take pity on such an intellectual pimp!

Where did Paul Fuller get his PhD from, I need not know, and how much did his students got out of his teaching in Australia where he claims to have been teaching religious studies, I don't care to know. But if his latest article is any indicator to judge him and intellectual caliber, surely, he has done a terrible job, and has proven beyond doubt that he is not someone who can be trusted or respected.

 

When a country has sizable minority communities of various religions, ethnicities and races, and then minorities are targeted for extermination simply because of their distinct religion, race and ethnicity, social customs and mores, and when they are denied counting in the census simply because of such distinctions, and the entire population from top to bottom, including monks, are behind the eleminationist policy - what do we call such acts? Is it anything but genocide? Was Hitler's extermination campaign of Jews in Germany ethno-centric Christianity?

Who is Paul Fuller trying to fool?

Shame on him! People like him are a disgrace to humanity and should be shun.

Dr. Paul Fuller's article

Ethnocentric Buddhism: A new theme in Burmese Buddhism

YOU can stop the Slow Burning Genocide of Myanmar's Rohingya and Muslims!

Source mgzarni,  April 05

 

"We don't have the term Rohingya."

President Thein Sein, Chatham House, London, 15 July 2013

"How can it be ethnic cleansing? They (Rohingya) are not an ethnic group".

Win Myaing, Rakhine State Government Spokesperson, Reuters, 15 May 2013

"The world needs to know that there is no ethnic cleansing in Burma."

Aung San Suu Kyi, BBC Radio 4's Today programme, 23 Oct 2013

"You are screwing up your politics by standing with the Kalar (or Muslim niggers)!"
Ko Ko Gyi, leader of 8888 Open Society Peace and Development Group, London, 2013

A call for solidarity and action: Citizens' Responsibility to Protect

Myanmar's genocided Rohingya and Muslims need you!

When you visit #Myanmar
Say the word #Rohingya.
Offset HATE.

Spread the word.
Stop the Slow Burning Genocide.

Don't just say the words 'Never Again!'

Act in Solidarity NOW!

There is a rising tide of genocidal hatred towards Muslims in general and the Rohingya in particular among the public, both Buddhist and other faith-based groups.

Video

16:49

One of the legacies of the 50-years of military rule and societal isolation (from the world) is multifold: ultra-conservative versions of various faiths, particularly Buddhism, thrive there; the high level of public ignorance is matched only by the extremely low level of critical popular thoughts; un-employment is pervasive leading to pent up frustration, anger and discontent which in turn can be mobilized and redirected by unscrupulous elements.

According to ex-general Khin Nyunt (interviews with ex-Genera Khin Nyunt, Myat Khine, Yangon, 2013) who was a powerful chief of the country's intelligence services for more than 20 years, the military's senior leaders, particularly the now officially retired Senior General Than Shwe, have formed several shadowy groups made up of non-uniform agents and hired thugs.

Thanks to "Saya" Myat Khaing, Burmese language Interviews with ex-General Khin Nyunt contain a wealth of information. For instance, the military's strategic plan includes raising the country's population up to 100 million as the country is sandwiched between China and India while the government has singled out Rohingya Muslims and subjected them to various birth control and population control measures on the basis of their ethnicity. No other ethnic or religious group has been subject to a policy of population, marriage and birth control, hence a genocide.

Further, Khin Nyunt talked about the fleeing of Muslims from Rakhine state to neighboring Bangladesh, not the other way around.

To date, these these groups remain active and carry out dirty operations which manufacture 'communal conflicts' or lead violent charge against Muslim communities across the country and Rohingya in Rakhine State of Western Burma.

Reformist government of President Thein Sein is either powerless to stop these black operations or a willing accomplice. For in virtually all cases of 'communal violence' - usually one-sided, directed against Muslims and Rohingya by "Buddhist" mobs - there seems to be a blanket impunity for any perpetrators of violence despite the fact that every scene of violence is dutifully video-record by intelligence agents from the Military Affairs Security and the Police Special Branch (Information Brigade, so-called).

The Burmese language media - most of which are owned by army-bred cronies or ex-military officers - is categorically anti-Muslim, and is reportedly found to spread unverified news and rumors with a provable intent to stoke popular dislike and hatred of Muslims of all ethnic backgrounds in Burma.

Presidential spokespersons such as ex-Major Zaw Htay and ex-Colonel Ye Htut (deputy minister of information) are also involved in spreading anti-Muslim and anti-Rohingya hatred using social media, as well as various state and crony-owned public media outlets - in Burmese language.

The opposition's iconic leaders who no longer promote human rights. As a matter of fact, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner, has categorically denied on CNN in 2013 that she was ever a 'human rights defender' and justified popular Buddhist fear towards Islam and Muslim - as nothing different from the West's fear of the rise of Muslim power on the BBC's flagship Radio Four interview.

In her own words: "Global Muslim power is very great and certainly, that is a perception in many parts of the world and in our country as well".

During his visit to England last year, Ko Ko Gyi, the nearly 50-year old former jailed student activist who is considered "the brain" of a small band of former student activists from 1988 generation called "Open Society Peace and Development Group", told a close friend of mine, a well-known London-based fellow exile and former political prisoner Ko Aung. Aung recalled that Ko Ko Gyi him angrily, "you (Ko Aung) are screwing up your politics by standing with the Kalar!"

The word Kalar is a Burmese equivalent of the un-mentionable 'nigger', in reference to the Muslims in Burma. (In fact, the famed former student leader just got married in Rangoon today in the presence of other icon Burmese racists and non-racists.)

Very few religious leaders - from Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, etc. - inside Myanmar or Burma have stood up firmly against the rising tide of genocidal racism and hatred towards the Muslims and Rohingya.

For they all know - and fear - to confront the 969 anti-Muslim campaign led ostensibly by Buddhist monks and fully backed by the entire might of the reformist government of President Thein Sein and his behind-the-scene puppet-masters.

Western governments with their diplomatic outposts, as well as the United Nations have so far ignored the elephant in the room, insisting on documentary or direct evidence of the government's involvement, as if these entities did NOT understood, or in the case of governments, have never done anything covert and dirty themselves.

It is against this background that the rising genocidal developments - organized destruction of Muslim neighborhoods, the deliberate strategies of the denial of humanitarian access to Rohingya in ghettos and semi-concentration camps, and other acts of genocide - need to be understood and appreciated.

I posted this note yesterday on my FB which I only use for activism these days:

If I were a Muslim in Myanmar I would be looking for an exit or a place to emigrate with my family. My birthplace is making a frighteningly Nazi turn. If you think this is an hyperbole you don't understand fucking shit about my country, its cultures, and its peoples.

And an informed expatriate friend in residence in Rangoon responded thus. It gives me chills in my spine.

I don't want to "like" this but I agree this is one time when the nazi comparison is not over-exaggerated . The enthusiasm expressed for the murderous hatred of the rohingya by "Buddhists " is downright frightening . I'm afraid for humanity here...

Here is a small message which I would like you to spread.

When you visit #Myanmar
Say the word #Rohingya.
Offset HATE.

Spread the word.
Stop the Slow Burning Genocide.

Don't just say the words 'Never Again!'

Act in Solidarity NOW!

My country Burma or Myanmar is attracting an increasing number of tourists and travelers. Mass tourism can become a force for good, a deterrence towards further waves of genocidal attacks against Muslims and Rohingya.

Absent any international intervention in Myanmar today - virtually all genocides have ended only with military interventions from abroad, for instance, Nazi Germany in 1945, Pakistani genocide of East Bangali in 1971 or Pol Pot's genocide of Cambodia in 1979 - and given the paralyzed Security Council and nearly non-existent, international justice system, the Responsibility to Protect fellow humans fall on the shoulders of concerned citizens.

I hope you take your own humanity seriously.

In solidarity,

Zarni