International Rohingya Council (IRC) Statement on Ongoing Genocide in Arakan state of western Burma

released by IRC, 19 Sept 2017

We, International Rohingya Council (IRC), would like to call earnestly and express strongly to the world mechanism body UN, its member countries and international communities for ongoing genocide against Rohingya and Kaman communities in Arakan state of western Burma. 

As the world witnessed, we Rohingya people are existed as the most persecuted on earth that been more than six decades from the independence of Burma. After Rwanda, Cambodia, Sri-lanka, now under the watch guard of UN, Kofi Annan commission and international communities, there is another genocide going on in Arakan state of western Burma. The late NLD government led by noble Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi openly defending the heinous crimes of her government's authorities and military actions, as well as, dismissing the crisis by laying action plans crisis after crisis, and forming commission one after another that actually worsen the situation of Rohingya and Kaman.

 

We have seen the NLD government did not materialize the Kofi Annan's interim report recommendations made in March 2017. The government is also consistently rejecting the entry of United Nations Inquiry Commission and covering up the horror crimes and keeping the humanitarian crisis alive across Arakan, Shan and Kachin states. Kofi Annan knew that the government is impossible to materialize his commission's recommendations. Since then, Kofi Annan must not let another genocide after Rwanda when his commission has no power.

Before the release of Annan Commission's report, the government did find way to provoke the situation by heavily beefing up of armed forces, deploying Rakhine armed forces- Arakan Liberation Party-ALP, establishing joint forces by arming Rakhine civilians and introduced various forms of horror actions involving arbitrary arrests, tortures, rapes, looting, extortion, actively blocking of food transports in Rohingya populated regions of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathidaung townships from 11 Aug 2017. In this response, the small self-reliance Arakan Rohingya salvation armed group had to interfere to save the Rohingya civilians  from the blockages and horror reign by driving out of the military and joint forces from some of their village posts. It done same as other armed ethnic groups do.

 

However, the government military and joint forces did not confront with Rohingya armed group who have been there for more than two years. But took the opportunity instantly by resuming of unprecedented killings against innocent unarmed Rohingya civilians and retaliated with attacks very indiscriminately, heavily by using fight helicopters, tanks, rocket launchers, machine guns, and torching houses, shooting women, children, over aged people and slaughtering, and burning alive. From 25 Aug 2017, government military and joint forces attacked in 176 villages under the banner of the so call ''Clarence Operation'' where more than 30,000 houses from over 65 villages (over 25 villages from Maungdaw, 20 villages from Buthidaung, and 20 villages from Rathidaung townships) were completely burnt down, more than 3,000 innocent unarmed Rohingya civilians mostly women, children and elderly people were killed, displacing over 400,000 people and pushed out along Bangladesh border where landmines were laid out beforehand and left tens of thousands of people trapped in the mountains.

 

The government authorities who never had given a hand for general public as you witnessed in many crises across Burma, but now this kind of government tactically showing sympathy by providing full security, accommodation, foods and supports towards Natala villagers and Rakhine people who were relocated in Maungdaw after 1991 and pushing them to blame onto Rohingya. Mrs Suu Kyi only silent on Rohingya, Shan, Kachin, Karen matters but she spoke out in defence of military actions, she also misinforming about the crisis, and constructed many false stories are published widely across her government website and Burmese media.

 

The Rohingya and Kaman situation in Arakan state has been deteriorated and fallen into the worst part of human catastrophe since the violence started from June 2012. For over five years on, we frustrated with world mechanism body UN and international communities taken no action, and have not even achieved a very basic task of aid and food delivery freely on the ground. This latest government sponsored genocide started from June 2012 caused total destruction across (13) different townships reached at (97) religious buildings, about (23,000) houses from (95) villages, killing thousands of Rohingyans and Kamans and nearly 200,000 people displaced of whom about 120,000 people still in 13 to 15 camps of Sittwe city and other about 30,000 people in 26 camps in 8 regions where aid workers unreachable are permanently trapped that included the Kaman ethnic people who are one of 135 recognized ethnic groups also ended up similarly and labelled as ''illegal immigrants''. It has been over five years now on, our Rohingyans and Kamans in Arakan state have been totally blocked out, excluded, segregated and the rest of population have been also confined systematically, blocking aid and food supplies, permanently barred from education, Medicare and livelihood. Massive attacks in Oct 2016, drove out about 90,000 into Bangladesh, killed over hundred people and arrested hundreds of Rohingya including children as young as aged 12.

 

The outgoing Thein Sein government itself asked UNHCR chief to find a third country for entire Rohingya community in July 2012. Later, the government opened the vigilant attacks spreading across central Burma in Yangon, Mandalay, Pegu, Sagaing, Magwe regions where killing hundreds, and displacing tens of thousands and burnt down thousands of houses. These are very clear signs of the attacks target entire Muslim population of Burma regardless of recognized or not. These ongoing attacks are very vigilant, well organized, cool planned, fully supported by central government and its authorities. By doing so, the country Burma achieving Buddhization of the nation and Rakhine people marching into re-installation of Rakhine independent state in the other hand.

 

Many organizations including Red Cross Society, Healthcare clinics are puppet bodies of the government and not delivering services for Rohingya and Kaman. The Rohingya youths teaching in IDP camps, distributing rations, language supporting workers, elders those providing medical assistance in the camps, bearing phones, having radio, having foreign contacts are instantly taken away by security forces.

 

The number of arbitrary arrests reached over 800 people involving children as young as aged 12 that added to previous 12,00 Rohingyans and Kamans detained in 2012, mainly from Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Sittwe townships. The NLD government has been trying to credit the military generals and washing out their past brutal crimes throughout brainwashing of the general public, instigating widely, dividing and bridging racial hatred between Rohingya and Rakhine communities by radicalizing of Rakhine people and releasing of reverse information across its website. The NLD government has been following the same footpaths of the past dictator regimes that keep minority issues under military orders throughout routinely attacking and waging war against minorities. That is the reason of why today about 43 other armed ethnic groups were founded from repression in order to exist, protect their own people, lands and rights from aggressive military operations, tyrant atrocities.

 

Various forms of population check operations are conducted ever for Rohingya only after driving out Rohingya people and forcing to accept foreigner identity, seizing and destroying their residential documents and not allowing to recourse to become new citizenship even under 1982 citizenship act. Practically, Rohingyans are even qualified to be a citizen and ethnic group under 1982 citizenship laws. However, it is the authorities who are intentionally reluctant to accept the Rohingya people' historical existences and ancestral evidence that earlier than 1824 British occupation.

For decades, the government has been terrorizing against minorities including Rohingya and Kaman, destabilizing of the country's peace and harmony and violating the domestic and international norms. For decades, Rohingya's have been subjected, oppressed, victimized, terrorized, drove out and paralyzed by the both government authorities and extremist Rakhine people that been well informed to the world during 1942, 1949, 1967, 1978, 1991, 1994/95, and latest in June 2002. Each of these occasions killed thousands of Rohingyas, uprooted hundreds of thousands of refugees and still languished in neighbouring countries. India, China and Russia therefore should not block in taking action against ongoing genocide in Burma.

 

Developed nations including Australia, international communities and United Nations must not forgive the heinous crimes of the tyrant Burmese rulers, military dictators, continuous attacks and waging war against minorities. We therefore would like to seriously urge the UN and its member countries, countries those have business ties with Burma, other countries those have heavily bearing of Rohingya refugees and resettlement countries those resettling Rohingya refugees, and funding countries, must join strongly and take effective action together onto Burmese government to end the humanitarian crisis, to halt all forms of brutalities and crimes, to reload the rights of Rohingya, to persuade to uphold its aforesaid rules of laws to equally guarantee safety, security and respect the dignity and rights of the entire population regardless of race, religion and colour and to ensure a free, fair and equal justice system available to all. Buddhism people of Burma including Rakhine people who are majority must unite to remove the terror actions from the Buddhist religion-state and all other ethnic minorities and ethnic armed groups who have been systematically and arbitrarily oppressed must jointly drive out such terror ruler government and armed forces.

 

The cases of Rohingya is not a clashes, not a sectarian attack, not a communal violence but it is a total destruction of entire community with a full swing of genocide, ethnic cleansing, arbitrary killings, corporal and collective punishment, slaughtering, burning alive, beheading, rapes, systematic confinement, pushing into concentration camps, destroying identities, barring permanently from a right to have rights, divide and segregation, eradication from homeland, destruction of historical and ancestral existences, blocking aid and foods, education, medicare and livelihood and cutting off of electricity and waters. Under the watch guard of the world mechanism alive body UN and international communities, now about half of the total Rohingya population have been driven out. We, IRC therefore would like to demands:

 

1) United States, United Kingdom, France, China and  Russia that it's time to wake up to save Rohingya human beings facing genocide on the earth of Burma.

 

2) Urgent UN Intervention to save the Rohingya and Kaman people from ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing against Rohingya and Kaman people in Arakan state, western Burma.

 

3) UN to immediately deploy international peacekeeping forces on the ground and rescue the rest of Rohingya and Kaman people who are trapped since June 2012.

 

 4) UN to use veto power to allow UN Inquiry Commission for investigation and to take effective and solid action against government authorities, military generals and other Rakhine politicians who are the main perpetrators and directly involved in the crimes.

 

5) UN to take effective action onto the NLD government to immediately lift all kinds restrictions, and halt corporal and collective punishments, arbitrary killings, arrests. And to immediately suspend the blockages of food and aid supplies and to grant special power to aid agencies to enable to supply food and aid on the ground freely without handing over to Rakhine authorities.

 

6) UN to achieve for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners from central Burma and thousands of Rohingya prisoners involving as young as aged 12 mostly detained in Sittwe Central Jail, Buthidaung Jail and many others who are detained in police lock-up and military camps.

 

7) UN to monitor in granting citizenship of Rohingya and Kaman people, ensure reload of the rights of Rohingya and stop forcing and pressuring to accept foreigner identity.

 

8) UN to eventually establish a safe territory or a special region or a safe zone for Rohingya and Kaman people within Arakan state when central government, local authorities and the general public are jointly denying the existence of Rohingya and wiping out of entire Rohingya and Kaman people from Arakan state of Myanmar.

 

9) UNHCR in Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and India to register Rohingya refugees with Rohingya identity, provide adequate protection, accommodation, aids and support for all recent and previous arrival Rohingya refugees. 

 

Sincerely,+(88) 01 729 872581

M.ILYAS -UK (chairman)

h/p: +(44) 7780 359718

Contact in other countries

V-chairman: MD.Yunus (GE), +(966) 53 274 0805

General secretary : Habiburahman (Aus), +(61) 406 310077

Joint-secretary: Hf.Hashim Mamood (BD),