Burma, Bangladesh and the Rohingya: a Failure to Protect?

Source from e-international relations, September 6, 2011

 

Forced migration and refugee flows in Burma are becoming increasingly difficult for the international community and the region to deal with.[1] The minority group of Rohingyas that have fled north of the Burmese border into Bangladesh have remained stateless for over 50 years and have been continuously persecuted in their homeland Burma whilst denied protection in Bangladesh from violence, corruption, abuse and poverty. [2]

The Rohingyas are accused of being fundamentalists in Bangladesh and are often labelled as illegal or economic immigrants rather then being recognized as refugees. To date the international community has done little to help protect over 100,000-250,000 people who have no homeland and are routinely discriminated against.[3] Whilst much has been written about refugees and forced migration on the Thai-Burmese border little academic work has focused on the plight of the Rohingyas and the inability of the region and the international community to deal with this issue.[4]

The challenge for Burma and Bangladesh to deal with refugee flows and forced migration reflects a wider issue in the region when it comes to displacement and human security. This reflects the failure of states and the region to provide adequate protection for the Rohingya and is an abuse of sovereignty and international law.[5]
Failure at state, regional and international level to deal with the problems facing the Rohingya reflects a wider need to re-evaluate international protection regimes when it comes to dealing with forced migration and minority groups in Southeast Asia. In order to understand this, the plight of the Rohingyas will be highlighted and international and regional protection norms will be explored.

The Rohingya in Burma and forced migration: A History of persecution
The Rohingya population has its origins in the Arakan or Rakhine state in the north of Burma and linguistically are derived from the Bengali language. In 1784 the mostly Muslim population of Arakan was incorporated into the larger Buddhist kingdom of Burma and a majority of Rohingyas fled to Cox’s Bazaar, in the then British controlled colony of East Bengal.[6] Following British colonization of Burma in the 1800’s, the British moved populations such as the Rohingya between East Bengal and Burma to fit their labour needs.[7]

At this time many Rohingyas took the opportunity to flee back to Burma and return to their homes. These movements were considered internal, however the current government in Burma views this as illegal and has refused citizenship to the majority of the Rohingyas who have remained in Burma.[8]  After becoming independent in 1948, tensions between the government and the Rohingyas grew with the government attempting to move all Muslins living in Burma and integrate them into East Bengal which was now known as East Pakistan and continued to treat those who remained in Burma as illegal immigrants.

The Rohungya population in Burma faced daily persecution with properties and land seized, and people forcibly relocated as part of ‘brutal discrimination policies’ so that new villages could be built for those migrating from central and northern Burma.[9] In 1977-1978 over 200,000 Muslims fled across the border to Bangladesh to escape persecution from Burmese army harassment and intimidation. [10]The Burmese junta under operation ‘Nagamin’ aimed to ‘scrutinize every individual living in the state, designating citizens and foreigners in accordance with the law and taking actions against foreigners who have filtered into the country illegally.’[11] This in fact meant the targeting of civilians such as the Rohingya resulting in widespread killing, rape, destruction of mosques and religious persecution.

Following international pressure the majority of those who had fled where allowed to return to Burma, yet in 1988 following the military coup those who opposed these actions fled in fear of persecution and were stripped of their citizenship.[12]  In 1992-93, 250,000 refugees again fled to Cox’s Bazaar following widespread forced labour, executions, torture and rape. Often the Rohingya would work without pay on government based infrastructure and economic projects and human rights violations continued to occur.[13]

Abuse and prejudice against the Rohingya and Muslim population in Burma has continued since this time with lack of citizenship maintaining exclusion from employment opportunities.  Under Burmese citizenship laws, the Rohingya are not considered to be a national ethnic group and are therefore ineligible for full citizenship whilst the laws make no provision in relation to stateless persons.[14]

Furthermore a permit is required for the Rohingya to get married and this has led to delays and backlogs in applications whilst movements of the Rohingya population have been greatly restricted in the Arakan with a pass now required for any movement between villages, even for day trips to health clinics. [15]

These widespread abuses and discriminations reflect Burma’s failure as a sovereign state to protect its citizens and its responsibility to provide adequate  ‘life-supporting’ assistance. Failure to protect its citizens reflects the need for regional and international involvement and whilst the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights has been heavily involved in repatriation of Rohingya refugees more must be done to protect their rights. Perhaps one of the reasons why international protection regimes are not implemented effectively is the fact that both Burma and Bangladesh are not signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention.[16]

It is under these conditions that many Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in search of protection and a new life, but have instead met with discrimination, suspicion and violence.  As one refugee has stated: ‘In Burma the military regime tells us we have no rights and no place. In Bangladesh the government tells us we have no rights and no place.’[17]

The borders of Burma have been for sometime unsecure and movement between Burma and Bangladesh has created regional issues of great importance to stability in the region and internationally.[18] Burma views this as an internal issue for its government alone, however this issue is becoming of great concern to Bangladesh whose ability to deal with the influx of refugees is becoming more problematic each day.

Stateless in Bangladesh: a State, Regional and International Problem
Rohingya refugees that have fled to Cox’s Bengal in just north of Bangladesh are faced with a grim reality. Over 26,000 Rohingyas are recognized as refugees by the UNHCR in two camps controlled by the Bangladeshi government at Nyapara and Kuntapolong, whilst 7,000 live in a makeshift camp in Teknaf. Added to this number are over 200,000 unregistered refugees who live in the area outside the camps.
These Rohingya are not recognized as refugees and are often labeled economic or illegal migrants. The camps are rife with corruption, violence, sexual abuse, abductions, trafficking and death from malnutrition and untreated medical conditions happens far to often.
Eileen Pittaway described the situation in the camps as the worse she has seen stating that:

‘I’ve never before been in an established camp where the fear was so palpable and pervasive….a systemized regime of terror has left a population of refugees in a state of trauma with little or no hope for the future.’[19]

Sexual abuse and gender violence is endemic and this has had a major impact on women and girls in the camp as well as their families, whilst corruption which is rife on all levels of governance in the camps including government officials, police and military personnel prevent the refugees from living any sort of life in peace and security. Conditions are horrific in the camps and the Bangladeshi governments view is that the Rohingya are a heavy burden on Bangladesh economically, socially, environmentally and also in terms of law and order.
The government is of the view that the Rohingya should be repatriated to Burma, but under current circumstances the refugees are at risk of being persecuted, beaten and raped on return to Burma.[20] Continuing violence and persecution in the Arakan has seen nearly 2,000 more refugees arrive in Cox’s Bazaar monthly since the beginning of 2010.[21]

Added to this is the fact that many in Bangladesh at a government and community level fear that Islamic fundamentalists will use the camps as breeding grounds for new recruits. Utpala Rahman in his article  ‘The Rohingya Refugee: A Security Dilemma for Bangladesh’ has argued that the alienation that Rohingya refugees feel leaves the stateless refugees vulnerable and desperate which could lead to them becoming more militant in an order to protect their interests.[22]

Whilst groups such as the Rohingya Solidarity Organization and the Arakan Rohingya Islamic Front are extreme in their attempts to foster an independent homeland for the Rohingya and there have been reports that militants from Al-Qaeda are hiding out in the camps, the majority of refugees living there are being discriminated against on the basis that they are of the Muslim faith. [23] Bangladesh security concerns about militancy in the camps highlight the need for the regional and international community to deal with the plight of the Rohingyas to prevent conflict and ensure that citizen’s rights are equally protected. The issue of forced migration must be resolved if stability in the region is to be achieved. As Hazel Lang has pointed out:

‘Attention to the human security dimensions of internal conflict and displacement is vital for present and future efforts in resolving conflicts, building durable peace and achieving a sustainable repatriation of refugees and IDP’s’[24]

The failure of Burma and Bangladesh to protect the rights of the Rohingya minority is an indictment of Southeast Asia’s inability to deal effectively with forced migration and the international protection regimes failure to properly enforce international law and norms to protect refugee’s rights. In order to understand this we must now turn to the regions application of international law and attempts of the international community to enforce such laws.

Burma, Bangladesh Southeast Asia and International Refugee Law: An uneasy relationship
International law referring to refugees was established under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. The majority of Asian states rejected the Convention and Protocol as Eurocentric and irrelevant to Asian refugee experiences.[25] Furthermore there has been no attempt at a regional level for states to respond uniformly to refugee crises.  Claims that the international refugee laws are Eurocentric are thinly veiled excuses by corrupt and oppressive countries such as Burma to continue their systematic discrimination and persecution of populations such as the Rohingya. That said the application of the 1951 convention during the time its was developed was solely related to the legal protection and assistance of refugees in Europe and Asian understandings of Refugee problems were not included in the drafting of either statute.  However the 1961 convention extended this protection to refugees outside Europe.[26]

Whilst Asian countries have rejected the international conventions on refugee laws a majority of Asian states including Burma and Bangladesh are party to the Bangkok Principles on the Status and Treatment of Refugees adopted in 1966 by the Asia African Legal Consultative Organization.[27]

The Bangkok Principles acknowledge the existence of refugees and insist that member states provide asylum, however these principles limit the exercise of the rights of refugees to cases where the security of the state is not threatened and the responsibility remains upon each state to decide whether or not the principles are applied.[28] Furthermore the Bangkok principles are neither enforced nor monitored, so there is no way to tell whether states are adhering to the provisions.

Bangladesh and Burma whilst signatories to the Bangkok Principles are not signatories to the 1951 convention and there are many explanations for why states such as Burma and Bangladesh refuse to grant refugees citizenship and rights. One explanation is that there is a fear that migrants endanger the already fragile social cohesion of developing countries, but yet again this feels like a weak attempt at pushing the issue aside.[29] The consequences of the failure of states on a regional or international level to deal with the issue of refugee law means that the majority of asylum seekers and internally displaced do not and cannot seek permanent legal status or assistance as refugees.

Whilst the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has attempted to repatriate a number of Rohingyas from the camps in Bangladesh, often other Asian states are unwilling to take them, as they fear that they will fuel fundamentalism. Whilst the Thai government has agreed to resettle Rohingya and various other minority groups such as the Karen that have streamed across their borders, the Bangladeshi government is fearful that a resettlement program would lead to more refugees flooding in.[30] Furthermore many states in the region do not won’t to become involved in the debate on the Rohingya’s situation and attempts by refugees to flee to Malaysia have been met with the same restrictions faced in Bangladesh.[31]
The plight of the Rohingya’s is not new or uncommon for the Burmese state as it has major refugee and forced migration issues on its border with Thailand.[32] The eastern border of Burma and Thailand is estimated to have about 500,00 internally displaced people in camps and in January 2009, 400 Rohingya refugees were prevented from entering Thai waters and forced to return to Burma by the Thai Navy. [33]
This highlights the wider issue of the Burmese government’s failure to protect its citizens and the larger problem of how to deal with internal displacement and forced migration in the region.[34] Whilst resettlement to a third country is an option, many Rohingya wish to stay in Bangladesh due to the close linguistic and cultural links between the two.  The fact remains that the Bangladeshi government must accept these refugees into their population and adhere to international human rights and refugee law by granting them the rights of citizens. To allow the Rohingya to remain stateless and in squalor in the camps is to risk larger regional fights between Burma and Bangladesh and could fuel further unrest and violence.

Burma has failed in its obligation to protect its citizens and as such it is up to the international community to attempt to deal with situation. Whilst Burma claims absolutely sovereignty its inability to protect its citizens negates this sovereignty, as it has not met it responsibilities under the international norm of the responsibility to protect.

The Responsibility to Protect, IDP’s and human security
The international norm of the responsibility to protect was first developed by Roberta Cohen and Francis Deng.[35] In 1993 Deng was the United Nations Special Representative on Internally Displaced People and was faced with the problem that the fate of internally displaced people was determined by the policies of domestic government’s, as there were no international laws providing protection for those displaced. Deng and Cohen focused on the principle of ‘sovereignty as responsibility’, meaning that it was the state’s primary role in offering protection and that if it failed to do so the sate was accountable to the United Nations.[36]
Whilst this norm has now been adapted to apply to humanitarian intervention, it is still relevant to the debate over internal displacement and challenges the notion that sovereignty is sacrosanct. State centric conceptions of security have over taken the importance that human security plays in stabilizing a region such as Asia, if we place the plight of the Rohingya and the internally displaced within the concept of the responsibility to protect norm we challenge assumptions about security issues and place the onus back on the state, region and international community to come up with a viable solution.

While states are responsible for the protection of their own citizens ‘the people may not be secure from the
state.’[37] The international norm of the responsibility to protect can be placed within the context of the Rohingya’s plight and reflects the need for greater international involvement in the issue.

Conclusion
The Rohingya minorities of Burma and Bangladesh have suffered persecution and discrimination at the hands of governments that do not recognize their rights as refugees and human beings. They remain stateless and without hope, yet attempts by the UNHCR and the Bangladeshi government to repatriate some of the refugees suggests that some progress is occurring. That said more can be done on a state, regional and international level. The Bangladeshi government must integrate and allow the Rohingya refugees that are living in camps to gain citizenship and protection as they risk being sent back to Burma to face further trauma. The international community under the responsibility to protect norm must place pressure on the Bangladesh to accept these refugees as legitimate and place pressure on Burma to lift its restrictions and discriminations against its citizens. The plight of the Rohingyas highlights a major problem in Southeast Asia when dealing with forced migration and internal displacement, it is only when we start to discuss these issues outside the parameters of state sovereignty and national interest will we be able to deal effectively with refugee flows and provide adequate protection for minorities.

Bibliography

1. Adelman, H ed., Protracted Displacement in Asia: No Place to call home, Ashgate Publishing Limited, Hampshire, 2008
2. Afolyan, A, ‘Issues and Challenges of Emigration Dynamics in Developing Countries’, International Migrations, Vol.39, No.4, 2001, pp 5-38
3. Ananta, A and Nurvidya Arifin, A ed., International Migration in Southeast Asia, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2004
4. Banki, S, ‘Contested Regimes, Aid Flows, and Refugee Flows: The Case of Burma’, Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, Vol.28, No.2, 2009, pp 47-73
5. Brees, I, ‘Refugees and transnationalism on the Thai-Burmese border’, Global Networks, Vol.10, No.2, 2010, pp
6. Bunte, M, ‘The Politics of Refugees in and outside Burma/Myanmar’, Journal of Southeast Asian Affairs, Vol.28, No.2, 2009, pp 3-5
7. Burke, A and McDonald, M ed., Critical Security in the Asia-Pacific, Manchester University Press, New York
8. Cohen, R and Deng, F, Masses in Flight: The Global Crisis of Internal Displacement, Brookings Institution Press, Washington D.C, 1998
9. Davies, S, ‘The Asian Rejection?: International Refugee Law in Asia’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, Vol.52, No.4, 2006, pp 562-575
10. Ekeh, C, ‘Minorities in Burma’, Briefing Paper, UNHCR, accessed at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/47298f632.pdf
11. Grundy-Warr, C and Wong Siew Yin, E, ‘Geographies of Displacement: the Karenni and the Shan across the Myanmar-Thailand Border, Singapore Journal of Tropical of Geography, Vol.23, No.1, 2002, pp93-122
12. Lanjouw, S, ‘Internal Displacement in Burma’, Disasters, Vol.24, No.3, 2000, pp 228-239
13. Mydans, S, ‘Burmese Refugees Persecuted in Bangladesh’, The New York Times, 21/2/2010, pg 6
14. Rahman, U, ‘The Rohingya Refugee: A Security Dilemma for Bangladesh’, Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, Vol.8, No.2, 2010, pp 233-239
15. Skidmore, M and Wilson, T ed., Myanmar: the state, community and the environment, Asia Pacific Press, Canberra, 2007
16. Steinberg, D, Burma: The State of Myanmar, Georgetown University Press, Washington D.C, 2001
17. Thakur, R and Weiss, T, Global Governance and the UN: An Unfinished Journey, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2010
18. The Bangkok Principles, accessed at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/3de5f2d52.pdf
19. UNHCR raises Rohingya issue in Dhaka for discussion with Burma and the USA’, Burma news international, 29/9/2009 accessed at http://www.bnionline.net/news/kaladan/7123-unhcr-raises-rohingya-issue-in-dhaka-for-discussion-between-burma-and-usa.html
20. Myanmar: The Rohingya Minority: Fundamental Rights Denied, Amnesty International, May 2004 accessed at http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA16/005/2004

---

[1] Lanjouw, S, ‘Internal Displacement in Burma’, Disasters, Vol.24, No.3, 2000, pg 228

[2] Mydans,S, ‘Burmese Refugees Persecuted in Bangladesh’, The New York Times, 21/2/2010, pg 6

[3] ‘UNHCR raises Rohingya issue in Dhaka for discussion with Burma and the USA’, Burma news international, 29/9/2009 accessed at http://www.bnionline.net/news/kaladan/7123-unhcr-raises-rohingya-issue-in-dhaka-for-discussion-between-burma-and-usa.html

[4] South, A, ‘Conflict and Displacement in Burma/Myanmar’, in Skidmore, M and Wilson, T ed., Myanmar: the state, community and the environment, Asia Pacific Press, Canberra, 2007, 54

[5] Cohen, R and Deng, F, Masses in Flight: The Global Crisis of Internal Displacement, Brookings Institution Press, Washington D.C, 1998, pg 7

[6] Pittaway, E, ‘The Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: A Failure of the international protection regimes’, in Adelman, H ed, Protracted Displacement in Asia: No Place to call home, Ashgate Publishing Limited, Hampshire, 2008, 86

[7] Ibid., 86

[8] Steinberg, D, Burma: The State of Myanmar, Georgetown University Press, Washington D.C, 2001, pg 245

[9] Ibid. 245

[10] Banki, S, ‘Contested Regimes, Aid Flows, and Refugee Flows: The Case of Burma’, Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, Vol.28, No.2, 2009, pg 51

[11] Myanmar: The Rohingya Minority: Fundamental Rights Denied, Amnesty International, May 2004 accessed at http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA16/005/2004 pg 7

[12] Steinberg, D, Burma: The State of Myanmar, Georgetown University Press, Washington D.C, 2001, pg 245

[13] Myanmar: The Rohingya Minority: Fundamental Rights Denied, Amnesty International, May 2004 accessed at http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA16/005/2004 pg 9

[14] Ekeh, C, ‘Minorities in Burma’, Briefing Paper, UNHCR, accessed at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/47298f632.pdf pg 4

[15] Ibid. pg 4

[16] Davies, S, ‘The Asian Rejection?: International Refugee Law in Asia’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, Vol.52, No.4, 2006, pg 563

[17] Pittway, E, ‘The Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: A Failure of the international protection regimes’, in Adelman, H ed, Protracted Displacement in Asia: No Place to call home, Ashgate Publishing Limited, Hampshire, 2008, pg 95

[18] UNHCR raises Rohingya issue in Dhaka for discussion with Burma and the USA’, Burma news international, 29/9/2009 accessed at http://www.bnionline.net/news/kaladan/7123-unhcr-raises-rohingya-issue-in-dhaka-for-discussion-between-burma-and-usa.html

[19] Pittaway, E, ‘The Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: A Failure of the international protection regimes’, in Adelman, H ed, Protracted Displacement in Asia: No Place to call home, Ashgate Publishing Limited, Hampshire, 2008, pg 83

[20] Ibid. 85

[21] Mydans, S, ‘Burmese Refugees Persecuted in Bangladesh’, The New York Times, 21/2/2010, pg 6

[22] Rahman, U, ‘The Rohingya Refugee: A Security Dilemma for Bangladesh’, Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, Vol.8, No.2, pg235

[23] Pittaway, E, ‘The Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: A Failure of the international protection regimes’, in Adelman, H ed, Protracted Displacement in Asia: No Place to call home, Ashgate Publishing Limited, Hampshire, 2008, pg 95

[24] Lang, H, ‘Freedom from fear’: conflict, displacement and human security in Burma (Myanmar)’, in Burke, A and McDonald, M ed., Critical Security in the Asia-Pacific, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2008, pg 106

[25] Davies, S, ‘The Asian Rejection?: International Refugee Law in Asia’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, Vol.52, No.4, 2006, pg 563

[26] Davies, S, ‘The Asian Rejection?: International Refugee Law in Asia’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, Vol.52, No.4, 2006, pg 570

[27] The Bangkok Principles, accessed at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/3de5f2d52.pdf

[28] Davies, S, ‘The Asian Rejection?: International Refugee Law in Asia’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, Vol.52, No.4, 2006, pg 563

[29] Afolyan, A, ‘Issues and Challenges of Emigration Dynamics in Developing Countries’, International Migrations, Vol.39., No.4, 2001, pg 15

[30] Pittaway, E, ‘The Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: A Failure of the international protection regimes’, in Adelman, H ed, Protracted Displacement in Asia: No Place to call home, Ashgate Publishing Limited, Hampshire, 2008, pg 98

[31] Brees, I, ‘Refugees and transnationalism on the Thai-Burmese border’, Global Networks, Vol.10, No.2, 2010, pg 282

[32] Grundy-Warr, C and Wong Siew Yin, E, ‘Geographies of Displacement: the Karenni and the Shan across the Myanmar-Thailand Border, Singapore Journal of Tropical of Geography, Vol.23, No.1, 2002, pg 94

[33] Bunte, M, ‘The Politics of Refugees in and outside Burma/Myanmar’, Journal of Southeast Asian Affairs, Vol.28, No.2, 2009 pg3,

[34] Grundy-Warr, C, ‘The Silence and Violence of Forced Migration: The Myanmar-Thailand Border, in Ananta, A and Nurvidya Arifin, A ed., International Migration in Southeast Asia, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2004, pg 229

[35] Cohen, R and Deng, F, Masses in Flight: The Global Crisis of Internal Displacement, Brookings Institution Press, Washington D.C, 1998, pg 7

[36] Thakur, R and Weiss, T, Global Governance and the UN: An Unfinished Journey, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2010, pg 314

[37] Lang, H, ‘Freedom from fear’: conflict, displacement and human security in Burma (Myanmar)’, in Burke, A and McDonald, M ed., Critical Security in the Asia-Pacific, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2008, pg 108

Written by: Rebecca Devitt
Written at: University of Melbourne
Written for: Dr. Lewis Mayo
Date written: April/2010

Than Shwe ‘ordered shooting of monks’

Source from DVB, 11 Feb 2011

 

A dead monk is seen floating in a Rangoon river during following the crackdown on the September 2007 uprising (DVB)

Burmese junta chief Than Shwe had ordered troops to shoot protesting monks during the September 2007 mass uprising, leaked US diplomatic cables allege.
The claim is buried in the middle of a November 2007 cable sent from the US embassy in Rangoon to Washington by former US political and economic chief to Burma, Leslie Hayden.
Published in Norwegian daily, Aftenposten, the cable sees Hayden paraphrasing a redacted source who claims his “military contacts” knew of Than Shwe’s intent during the protests.

“According to [TEXT REMOVED BY AFTENPOSTEN]´s military contacts, both Than Shwe and Maung Aye gave the orders to crackdown on the monks, including shooting them if necessary,” it says, referring to the junta chief’s second-in-command.

“Number three General Thura Shwe Man personally opposed the order, but carried it out, quietly advising regional commanders to do so with minimal bloodshed.”
How many monks died in what became known as the Saffron Revolution is unknown, as is the total number of demonstrators killed by Burmese troops. Burmese state media put the official toll at 13, while UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur Paulo, Sérgio Pinheiro, quoted independent sources who claimed that 30 to 40 monks were among the more than 100 killed.

Sparked by a sudden 66 percent rise in fuel prices, the protests became the biggest show of defiance against the ruling junta since the student uprising of 1988.
Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win responded to early criticism of the way the army handled the protests by saying that the hundreds of thousands of men and women on the streets had been encouraged by foreign or exiled forces.
“Recent events make clear that there are elements within and outside the country who wish to derail the ongoing process (toward democracy) so that they can take advantage of the chaos that would follow,” he said, making no reference to the deaths.

He also praised the initial “restraint” shown by troops in the early days of the protests, which gained momentum on 18 September, but said the subsequent crackdown was necessary “to restore the situation”. Up to 6000 people are believed to have been detained.

Despite the reverence with which Burma holds its monastic community, monks currently account for 254 of Burma’s 2,189 political prisoners. One monk, U Nanda Vathu, is serving a 71-year sentence, while nearly two dozen of those detained are serving sentences of 20 years or more.

The cable, dated 28 November 2007 and titled “BURMA: THE DIALOGUE IS DEAD”, is one of thousands released by whistleblowing website, Wikileaks. They also reveal French concerns about business operations in Burma, as well as heightened US concerns about Burma’s cosying relationship with North Korea.

 

Thais must give UN access to boat people: HRW

Source from rnw, 2 Feb 2011,

Thailand should urgently allow the UN refugee agency access to more than 200 detained boat people who are at risk of "atrocious" persecution in Myanmar, according to a rights group.

A group of 158 asylum seekers from the Rohingya ethnic group arrived in Thailand from Myanmar in January after "a perilous sea voyage in rickety, overcrowded boats", Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday.
Another 68 from the ethnic group -- described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minorities -- were arrested after landing in the southern Thai island of Phuket on Tuesday and were being prepared for repatriation, police told AFP.

Thailand has repeatedly refused to give the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) access to the detainees, the New-York based HRW said.
"The persecution of Rohingyas in Burma (Myanmar) is atrocious, but the Thai government continues to pretend that they are no different from any other undocumented migrant," said Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director.

Adams called on Thailand to allow the UNHCR to interview the detained Rohingya immediately to identify those seeking refugee status.
In the past human rights activists have condemned the Thai navy for sending Rohingya asylum-seekers back to sea.

The rights group said that in Myanmar, authorities have for more than three decades "systematically persecuted" the Rohingya, a Muslim minority living primarily in western Rakhine state, with little protest from other nations.

As many as 300,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they live in "primitive and squalid conditions" in both official and makeshift refugee camps, in fear of arrest or possible repatriation, HRW said.

The Unwelcoming Committee

Source from Irrawaddy news magazine- Vol. 18, No. 9, September 2010 

 

Resentment of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is giving rise to highly organized and increasingly vocal resistance to their presence

 

Sitting on a dusty balcony outside the local district office in Ukhia in southern Bangladesh, a group of smartly dressed men take turns speaking their mind. One man, taller than the average Bangladeshi, stands up. Throwing his fist in the air, he states the group’s objective.

Rohingya children in Bangladesh face a bleak future. (Photo: Yuzo/ The Irrawaddy)

“Those bloody naughty people, they destroy the environment, upset local law and order and sell drugs,” he says. “They must all go back to Burma.”

The rest of the group nod their heads and wave their hands to compete for the next opportunity to speak. Two things have brought this group of men together: grievances against Rohingya refugees who have settled in the area, and their powerful positions in the local community.

Together they have formed the Anti-Rohingya Resistance Committee, which has taken on the role of pressuring the government to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Burma. Despite their dedication to their cause, however, their goal remains highly ambitious and controversial.

Citing religious oppression in Burma, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh over the last three decades to seek asylum. Several times the Burmese government has made major pushes to flush the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority, out of Burma’s Arakan State—the last one being in 1992.
Since then, the Bangladeshi government has allowed the United Nation’s refugee agency, the UNHCR, to register 28,000 Rohingya who fled before 1992 and provide them with shelter in two official camps. Despite growing domestic pressure to force them out of the country, a government official told The Irrawaddy, “The government remains committed to voluntary repatriation.”

A far larger problem is the status of a growing population of unregistered refugees who arrived after 1992. Settling in two camps—Kutupalong and Leda—which have evolved into slums of the official camps, these later arrivals are not permitted to receive humanitarian assistance. But as local communities intensify calls for their repatriation, the unrecognized refugees say it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to leave the camps to find food and work.

Crouched on the floor of her small mud hut, Aatika, a 27-year-old mother of four, described how she was recently beaten and robbed by locals as she was coming back to the camp after working outside for three days.
“They told me I should not be here, that we were taking all the local jobs,” she said as she tried to calm her crying child. “Then they beat me and took my money. It was terrible. We do not receive any rations, so I have to go outside to make money to feed my children.”
According to refugees in the unofficial camps, the attacks are becoming more frequent as resentment of their presence grows in Bangladesh. This has created a climate of fear among the refugees, who risk losing their earnings every time they return to the camp.

Before Aatika had finished speaking, a man began recalling his ordeal. Faced with severe food shortages in the camps, he traveled to work in a rubber plantation. After three weeks, he returned to the camp to give the money he had earned to his large family. Knowing that he might have problems going through local communities on the way back, he hid the money in his shirt collar.

But this did not help him when, as he approached the entrance to the camp, he was ambushed by five local Bangladeshi men armed with knives. They ordered him to hand over his money, ignoring his protestations that he didn’t have any. They searched him until they found it, and then beat him up for “wasting their time.”
His meager earnings taken from him, he had no money to feed his family or buy medicine for his sick second youngest child, who died soon afterward. Death among the weak has become a common occurrence in the unofficial camps, where a local leader said that at least six people die every day from malnutrition.

In February, the relief agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and other groups highlighted the effects of involuntary pushbacks by the Bangladeshi government, resulting in a dramatic reduction of cases of forcible repatriation. Now, however, refugees report that arrests and imprisonment are becoming more common—something many say they fear more than being forced back across the border.

“When we are sent back, we are tortured by the Burmese army, but at least we can come back here when they’re finished with us. But if we’re sent to prison, we could be there forever,” said one refugee.
Despite the conditions reported by the refugees, Hamil Chowdury, the secretary of the Anti-Rohingya Resistance Committee, expressed little sympathy. He said the Rohingya receive too much assistance, while locals receive nothing.

The unofficial Kutupalong camp is home to thousands of Rohingya refugees. (Photo: Yuzo/ The Irrawaddy)

Cox’s Bazar, the district where the refugee camps are located, is one of Bangladesh’s poorest areas. Resources are scarce in this extremely overpopulated region, and many locals struggle to find jobs themselves, said Chowdury, who described the refugees as nothing more than a burden.

“Our area is so poor already, we cannot look after more people, especially when they are involved in crime,” said Chowdury who has strong links with the ruling Awami League party.

According to Chris Lewa, the coordinator of the Arakan Project, a group that advocates for Rohingya rights, politics is fueling much of the current anti-refugee sentiment, as local politicians gear up for promised elections postponed since last year because of allegations that some candidates had registered Rohingyas as voters.
“The Rohingya issue is still used for propaganda purposes among candidates and for their electorate,” said Lewa, who added that most of the Rohingya have since been purged from voter lists.

Leaders of the Anti-Rohingya Resistance Committee, which recently submitted a petition to the government calling for the closure of all camps, said the group will take action if its demands are not met. They warned of demonstrations and hunger strikes, and threatened to block roads to prevent refugees leaving the camps.
“If they do take matters into their own hands, we are very concerned because increased restrictions would mean more and more deaths from starvation,” said one refugee leader.

Another issue that could add to the problems of undocumented refugees is a proposed plan to issue national ID cards to Bangladeshi citizens. Anti-Rohingya groups support the move, which they say would make it easier to determine “who should be sent back.”
Lewa said this is now one of the biggest problems facing the unofficial refugees, who often hide in local communities when conditions in the camps become unbearable.

“Undocumented people are easily singled out, targeted and taken advantage of by the police,” Lewa said. “My recommendation would be that the government register them, either as refugees or, at the very least, by giving them temporary stay or work permits.”
Meanwhile, the Anti-Rohingya Resistance Committee said that their efforts are gaining momentum and that local communities would soon rise up to get rid of the unwanted refugees.

It remains unclear, however, if this surge in anti-Rohingya feeling will pass after the elections, or if the UNHCR’s plan to provide US $33 million in aid for the local population will help to ease tensions. But in the meantime, the Rohingya refugees continue to face food shortages and endure the burden of being stateless and unwelcome in both Bangladesh or Burma.

Letter from America: Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

Source from Asiantribune, 4 April 2010

By Dr. Habib Siddiqui

When a widely circulated newspaper like the New York Times picks up the matter of ill-treatment of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, it is no small matter.

It is a matter of grievous concern and shame to tens of thousands of Bangladeshi-Americans who live in and around the Big Apple state.
In its February 20 publication the headline read, “Burmese Refugees Persecuted in Bangladesh.” It said, “Stateless refugees from Myanmar are suffering beatings and deportation in Bangladesh, according to aid workers and rights groups who say thousands are crowding into a squalid camp where they face starvation and disease.” It described the situation as a humanitarian crisis.

The NY Times report should come as no surprise to many of us who have been following the inhuman condition of the Rohingyas around the world for a number of years. In its Special Report, dated February 18, “Bangladesh: Violent Crackdown Fuels Humanitarian Crisis for Unrecognized Rohingya Refugees,” the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) criticized the Bangladesh government for violent crackdown against the stateless Rohingyas in Bangladesh.

It was a chastising report in which the MSF called for an immediate end to the violence, along with urgent measures by the Government of Bangladesh and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to increase protection to Rohingya refugees seeking asylum in the country.
Last month the Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) issued an emergency report, “Stateless and Starving: Persecuted Rohingya Flee Burma and Starve in Bangladesh”. This report reveals a PHR emergency assessment of 18.3% acute malnutrition in children. This level of child malnutrition is “considered “critical” by the World Health Organization (WHO), which recommends in such crises that adequate food aid be delivered to the entire population to avoid high numbers of preventable deaths.”

The extreme food insecurity causing this critical level of malnutrition is the direct consequence of Bangladesh government authorities’ restricting movement and, therefore, income generation of the Rohingya, and actively obstructing the amount of international humanitarian aid to this population.

Last week, the American Muslim Taskforce (AMT), an umbrella organization that includes the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), amongst other Muslim organizations in the USA, hosted a press conference in the National Press Club, Washington D.C. to discuss human rights abuses in Bangladesh. In his inaugural statement, Mr. Wright Mahdi Bray of the AMT brought up the squalid living conditions of the Rohingya refugees inside Bangladesh. In the last few years we have raised the Rohingya issue a few times with Bangladesh government, but have failed to improve the deplorable condition.

Denied citizenship rights and subjected to repeated abuse and forced slave labor in their ancestral homes in the Arakan/Rakhine state of Burma by a xenophobic Buddhist government, where they cannot travel, marry or practice their religion freely, and betrayed and battered by their Magh Rakhine co-residents, many Rohingya Muslims have hardly any option left for them to survive with dignity other than seeking refuge outside. The neighboring Bangladesh to the north-west with her huge Muslim population and historical ties with Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar, dating back centuries earlier during the Arakanese rule of those districts (1538-1666), provides a natural setting for seeking shelter. Thus, when the Burmese genocidal campaigns – Naga Min (1978-79) and Pyi Thaya (1991-92) – forced eviction of some 300,000 and 268,000 Rohingya refugees, respectively, to seek shelter outside it was Bangladesh where they ended up.

With the assistance of the UNHCR, Bangladesh repatriated most of those refugees back to Arakan. Still, however, tens of thousands of Rohingyas never returned, especially from the second batch of major exodus in 1991-92. The on-going Nasaka operation and targeted violence by the Rakhine Maghs inside the Rakhine state have also forced many Rohingyas to leave their ancestral land and return again to Bangladesh. Many of those refugees have often used Bangladesh as a transit point to seek better shelters elsewhere. Many of the Rohingyas have ended up in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and also in Pakistan.
As noted recently by Syed Neaz Ahmad in a New Age article, the late King Faisal’s kind gesture to offer the fleeing Rohingyas a permanent abode in Saudi Arabia is no longer respected by the new rulers who have restricted their employment and movement within the Kingdom.

According to him some three thousand Rohingya families are in Makkah and Jeddah prisons awaiting their deportation. It is good to hear that the Pakistan government has agreed to take these unwanted refugees. (Islamabad can also do a noble job, albeit a delayed one for the past four decades, in taking some 300,000 stranded Pakistanis – living a miserable life in camps in Bangladesh.)
There are some 13,600 Rohingyas registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia, an estimated 3,000 in Thailand, and unknown numbers in India.

Small number of Rohingya refugees also lives in Japan, Australia and the USA. The total number of Rohingya refugees living inside Bangladesh today is not known. The UNHCR stopped documenting the Rohingyas after 1991 as they shifted their focus to Africa and Eastern Europe. From my contacts within the Rohingya leadership, the estimate is around 400,000. Of these refugees, only 28,000 are recognized as prima facie refugees by the Government of Bangladesh and live in official camps under the supervision of the UNHCR. The official camp has everything: primary schools, a computer learning centre funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, health care centers, adult literacy centers, supplementary food centers for children and pregnant women.

Except a handful of wealthy Rohingyas who have been able to settle comfortably within the big cities, the rest of the refugees struggle to survive unrecognized and largely unassisted and unprotected, living in dire humanitarian condition with food insecurity, poor water and appalling sanitation. They live mostly in and around Cox’s Bazar and the Hilly districts of Chittagong.

Some of the unfortunate refugees have also ended up living in slums of big cities like Dhaka and Chittagong. As reported by the MSF and the Amnesty International, these Rohingya refugees are treated as unwanted folks and have faced repeated beatings and harassment, including forcible repatriation to Myanmar. Many refugees, who had been repatriated to their country in the past, had entered Bangladesh again as they did not find any development and change in the attitude of the Myanmar authorities.

Some Rohingya refugees live at a makeshift camp in Kutupalong, south of Cox’s Bazar. Last June and July the local authorities destroyed 259 homes in that makeshift camp to clear space around the perimeter of the official UNHCR camp at Kutupalong. There was a crackdown in October in Bandarban District, east of Cox’s Bazar, forcing many Rohigyas to take shelter in the makeshift camp in Kutupalong. In January 2010, another crackdown followed the refugees living in Cox’s Bazar District. To add to the brutality of the authorities, the Rohingyas also suffer at the hands of the local population, whose anti-Rohingya sentiment is fuelled by local leaders and the media.

This was not the first time that this kind of problem emerged for the fleeing Rohingyas. In 2002 during the police action “Operation Clean Heart” many Rohingyas were violently forced from their homes, which led to the establishment of the original Tal makeshift camp on a swamp-like patch of ground. This camp relocated, and in the spring of 2006 MSF started a medical program at the new site, where at the time around 5,700 unregistered Rohingya lived in awful, unsanitary conditions on a small strip of flood land in Teknaf in the Cox’s Bazar District. After two years of providing humanitarian assistance, and following strong advocacy by MSF, which ultimately gained the support of UNHCR and the international community, the Government of Bangladesh allocated new land in Leda Bazar for around 10,000 people in mid-2008. Less than one year later, nearly 13,000 people were living in Leda Bazar Camp, their fundamental living conditions having changed little. According to the MSF, these people continue to struggle to survive without recognition and opportunities to provide for themselves inside an increasingly hostile environment.

With a total population of over 28,400, the unregistered Rohingya at Kutupalong makeshift camp now outnumber the total registered refugee population supported by the UNHCR in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has repeatedly stopped registration of those unfortunate refugees living outside the official camps. Without official recognition these people are forced to live in overcrowded squalor, unprotected and largely unassisted. Prevented from supporting themselves, they also do not qualify for the UNHCR-supported food relief. And sadly, the UNHCR, which is mandated to protect refugees worldwide, makes little or no visible protest at the injustice of this situation.

According to the MSF, the UNHCR is guilty of not taking the return of the Rohingyas as a priority issue. The Office of the UNHCR must take greater steps to protect the unregistered Rohingya seeking asylum in Bangladesh. The UNHCR must not allow the terms of its agreement with the government to undermine its role as international protector of the Rohingyas who have lost the protection of their own state - Myanmar, and have no state to turn to. Any failure to protect the Rohingyas inside and outside Myanmar is simply not acceptable. We are told that as a poor country, Bangladesh faces a dilemma about the Rohingya refugees.
If she shows too much flexibility a huge influx may occur, while being harsh creates concern among international community. Nevertheless, Bangladesh government’s forced repatriation of the refugees against their wishes is simply inhuman and violates international humanitarian laws. It must be immediately stopped, failing which its international image may suffer terribly.

It must also stop all harassment against the Rohingyas. Temporary residency permits should be provided to the refugees so that they can earn their livelihood like any other Bangladeshi. There is nothing worse than a forced poverty which leads to crime and other serious problems.

Should the refugees choose to leave Bangladesh for a third country the government should not hinder that process either. It must also make all diplomatic efforts to find shelters for these stranded refugees in sparsely populated and prosperous countries of Europe and North America, and the Gulf states.

The Rohingya refugees remain trapped in a desperate situation with no future in Bangladesh. These unfortunate people are caught between a crocodile and a snake: neither the xenophobic SPDC regime wants them back in Myanmar, nor does the Bangladesh government want them to stay because they are largely perceived as a burden on already scant resources. Outside China, none of the neighboring countries of Burma has ratified the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. This must change by ratifying those conventions.

As the Thai boat crisis of 2009 made clear, regional comprehensive solutions are needed to the situation of the stateless Rohingya. The international community must support the Government of Bangladesh and UNHCR to adopt measures to guarantee the unregistered Rohingya’s lasting dignity and well-being in Bangladesh.

[This article is co-authored with Dr. Nora Rowley, a medical doctor, who as part of MSF worked with the Rohingya people inside Arakan. She is currently affiliated with the US Campaign for Burma.]
- Asian Tribune

UN examines mistreatment of Muslims in Myanmar

Source from The National 23 Feb 2010

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/asia-pacific/un-examines-mistreatment-of-muslims-in-myanmar

 

BANGKOK // A United Nations envoy has expressed deep concern about the persecution of Myanmar's Muslims by the authorities. "There is no doubt that there is severe discrimination of Muslims," the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, said after visiting the west of the country where Muslims are concentrated.

Tomas Quintana, UN special rapporteur for human

During his five-day mission, Mr Quintana, an Argentine former labour rights lawyer, visited Sittwe, capital of northern Rakhine state, and Buthidaung, one of the state's main towns and site of the most serious allegations of persecution and repression of the Muslims, often known as Rohingya. This is the first time a senior UN envoy has been allowed to visit this region although the UN and international aid organisations do have projects and people in the area.

"There have been many allegations levelled at the authorities, so it was important for me to be able to see the situation firsthand," he said. While he was there he also visited a prison, which was a real revelation, he said during an interview on the weekend. "The prison was full of women, some still nursing their young children," he said. Most had been charged with immigration offences and received sentences of up to five years. But human-rights groups believe they are victims of the government's ban on Muslims marrying.

"Men are often jailed for illegal marriages, but many, especially women, are arrested after travelling illegally [across the border] to Bangladesh to get married," said Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, which monitors the situation of Rohingyas in the region. The UN envoy raised the issue of the alledged ban on marriage with the authorities, both locally and in the Myanmar capital, Naypidaw, and received the same answer. Muslims, like everyone, have the right to marry, but they have to have the correct birth certificates and citizenship papers.

This is the crux of the matter, according to human-rights groups and aid workers who know the area and monitor the situation there. "Myanmar's Muslim minority are subject to systematic persecution: they are effectively denied citizenship, they have their land confiscated, and many are regularly forced to work on government projects," said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar researcher based in Bangkok.
"The regime creates conditions and circumstances that make it clear to the Rohingyas that they are not wanted or welcome in the country," he said. More than 300,000 Rohingyas are in camps or hiding in neighbouring Bangladesh to escape the persecution across the river in Rakhine, according to the UN. More than 700,000 Rohingyas still live in Myanmar. Mr Quintana singled out Rakhine for his visit after persistent stories of persecution that included forced labour, extortion, land confiscation, travel restrictions, banned marriages and unregistered children. On his last visit to Myanmar, in 2009, his request to visit the area was denied.
Because the authorities refuse most Rohingyas permission to marry, many live together after a traditional Muslim ceremony. The children born from these couples are denied registration and citizenship - making them non-persons. Mr Quintana took up the issue of citizenless children in his last report to the UN in November and pressed representatives of the regime on it again during this visit, but with little result.
"The issue of unregistered children is serious as their numbers keep growing," Ms Lewa said. "What is the future of these children? Without being registered, they won't be able to apply for a travel permit, marriage, and so on. They are all potential refugees." Mr Quintana's visit to Rakhine was a significant concession by the regime. "I received a lot of independent information from various sources before I went there, and I find them very credible."

The envoy said he did not have time to verify all the claims in the reports, but from what he saw he believed they were relatively accurate. "And I hope by visiting there I can help highlight the plight of Myanmar's Muslims," he said. Overall, the UN envoy was downbeat about his trip. "Political prisoners, of which there are more than 2,100, will not be released anytime soon," he said. "The government continues to deny that there are any prisoners of conscience in their jails."

Mr Quintana wanted to impress upon the authorities that the release of all political prisoners before this years planned elections was essential if the electoral process was to be convincing. "These are well-educated and capable people who could participate in the election and help make the whole process credible, I told the authorities," he said. Mr Quintana did not hold out much hope of change in Myanmar in the near future.

Myanmarese officials would not discuss the elections in detail even though it was evident that preparations for the polls were already in full swing. All that the men in charge of the elections would say was that the legal framework was being prepared and the electoral law would be finished in time. foreign.desk@thenational.ae

Nowhere to Turn

Source from Irrawaddy news magazine Vol.18 No.1, Jan 2010

A woman in leda refugee camp, one of the offcial camps in Cox’s Bazar. (Photo: ALEX ELLGEE)

Many homeless Rohingya prefer hunger in a hostile land to life in Burma

I’ve lost everything in my life and now I can only pray that I don’t get sent back to Burma,” said Haziqah, a 27-year-old Rohingya resident of the unofficial Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Before joining the camp, Haziqah lived in the Bandarban Hill Tract, about 150 km [93 miles] to the north, where many Rohingya refugees from Burma have settled. She and her husband managed to survive on the meager wages he earned from odd jobs in the area and were starting to hope they could lead a normal existence.

Rohingya men gather round to listen to Haziqah tell her story. (Photo: ALEX ELLGEE)

But then, one morning seven days after giving birth to her first child, soldiers from the Bangladeshi border force, the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), stormed their village. Rounding up all the Rohingyas living there, they marched them toward the Bangladesh-Burma border.

During the march, she said, the soldiers beat her husband severely and pushed her along, ignoring the week-old baby in her arms. When they reached the top of a hill bordering Burma, the soldiers simply gave them a shove to send them back to the country from which they had fled.

In the chaos, she was separated from her husband; she later received reports that he had been captured by the Nasaka, the Burmese border force operating in Arakan State. She and some other women hired a boat to take them back to Bangladesh. By the time she arrived there her baby had died.

People in Kutupalong camp collect water from wells provided by Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger). (Photo: ALEX ELLGEE)

Similar stories of BDR brutality are told by new arrivals at the makeshift Kutupalong camp. Like Haziqah, many of the women have been separated from their husbands and must struggle to find food and look after their children.

Since tensions peaked in August between Bangladesh and Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council over the Burmese regime’s construction of a border fence, arrests and forced repatriation of Rohingya refugees dramatically increased. More than 5,000 Rohingyas were sent back to Burma in October and November.

Since the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid ul Adha in Bangladesh at the end of November, a temporary halt appears to have been called to repatriations, according to nongovernmental organization (NGO) workers employed in the camps.

It’s believed that a visit by a Dutch diplomat and three European humanitarian ambassadors may also have put pressure on the Bangladeshi authorities to stop sending Rohingyas back to Burma.
However, despite fears that the repatriations will start again, families continue to flee to the unofficial camp, even though it receives no food aid, unlike the official camp next door. Three hundred families reportedly arrived at the Kutupalong camp in November.

The Bangladeshi government refuses to accept Rohingyas who arrived in the country after 1991 as refugees and instead labels them illegal migrants, leaving them to fend for themselves. If they find work in the surrounding area, they risk arrest.

Zawpe, a Rohingya leader in Kutupalong camp, said fear of arrest prevented many migrants leaving the camp in search of work.

“Because of the travel restrictions, conditions in the camp are very bad,” he said. “People are too afraid to go outside to find food. The food crisis is alarming.

“The government doesn’t let NGOs give us food, we are not allowed to work for food and the local communities don’t want us to, so we are starving. It’s 1 p.m. and most of the camp hasn’t eaten yet. If the situation continues like this, then people will die.”

Zawpe said migrants also risk being hunted down by Bangladeshis, who then hand them over to the authorities.

Living in a No-man's Land

Source from Irrawaddy news magazine Vol 18, No.1, Jan 2010

The Rohingya of northwestern Burma are fleeing to Bangladesh, where unofficial, makeshift refugee camps are rapidly expanding. The plight of the Rohingya in Burma and Bangladesh has grown worse during the past year.

Burmese authorities enforce a policy that promotes a form of ethnic cleansing, based on repressive regulations aimed at the Rohingya, who must apply for permission to move from one village to another, to repair local mosques, even to get married—rights that are routinely denied. They are excluded from jobs and other opportunities because of discrimination based on their Muslim religion. Thousands continue to flee to Bangladesh to find a better life, only to be isolated in crude, unofficial camps, such as the makeshift Kutupalong camp which has sprung up during the past year near Cox’s Bazar.

Slide Show (View)

Conditions are dire inside the camps. Refugees live with little humanitarian assistance. Rohingya seeking work are discriminated against by Bangladeshis, who often refuse to hire them or otherwise exploit them as a source of low-paid labor. In the unofficial camps, there are no medical services and drinking water is unsafe. Many Rohingya choose to flee the country by boat, risking a perilous sea voyage in a small boat at the mercy of pirates and smugglers.

To make matters worse, Burmese authorities have begun constructing a 200-kilometer [125-mile] fence along the border designed to prevent cross-border access. Meanwhile, the Rohingya say they are trapped in a no-man’s land and neither country offers them a way of life that provides freedom and opportunity. 

ASEAN NGO SUMMIT "PEOPLE'S CALL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE"

Source from thaingo, 19 Oct 2009

In the Name of Allah The Most Beneficient and Most Merciful .
On the specific plight of the Rohingyas as well as the people of Myanmar as whole, the governments of Myanmar and ASEAN are called upon to ensure
On the specific plight of the Muslims of South Thailand and all Thais as a whole, the governments of Thailand and ASEAN are called upon to ensure:
On the specific plight of the Bangsamoro of Mindanao, the governments of the Philippines and ASEAN are called upon to ensure:
On our part as NGOs, we undertake to:
Endorsed by :
Bangkok Declaration
ASEAN NGO SUMMIT "PEOPLE'S CALL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE"
Islamic Center, Bangkok, Thailand
October 16th 2009

1. Nusantara Initiatives for Justice and Peace
2. Citizens International, Malaysia
3. TERAS, Malaysia
4. Secretariat for the Ulama Assembly of ASIA ( SHURA)
5. Muslim Care Malaysia
6. International Islamic Strategic Studies
7. Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia
8. Ulama Association Of Malaysia
9. Muhammadiyyah International
10. Ikatan Ilmuan Nasional, Malaysia
11. Muslimah Action Council Of Malaysia
12. Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT)
13. United Islamic Rohingya Organization for Development
14. International Students Network
15. Young Muslims Association of Thailand
16. Persatuan Ulama Kedah, Malaysia
17. Pusat Advokasi Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia (Paham), Indonesia
18. Centre for Indonesian Reform (CIR)
19. Yayasan Generasi Baru Nusantara
20. World Assembly of Muslim Youth (Thailand Office)
21. Thai Muslim Students' Association, TMSA.
22. Deep South Women's Network for Peace
23. Council of Muslim Organizations of Thailand
24. Students' Federation of Southern Thailand
25. Rohingya Human Rights Association in Thailand
26. Muslim Students' Federation of Thailand
27. Islamic Culture Foundation of Southern Thailand
28. As-Salam Institute, Yala Islamic University
29. Muslim Group for Peace (Thailand)
30. Yala Muslim Community Radio Network
31. Muslim Attorneys Centre, Thailand (MAC)
32. Thai Islamic Medical Association (TIMA)
33. Students Federation of Thailand
34. Students' Network for Protecting People
35. Pencerdasan Ummat, Malaysia (Wadah)
36. Muslim Patani Association
37. Aman News Network, Thailand
38. Muslims Association of Krabi, Thailand
39. Association of Research and Development for Consumer Protection (Thailand)
40. Halal Consumer Protection Association of Thailand (HACPA)
41. Muslimah Sisterhood of Indonesia (SALIMAH)
42. Cross Cultural Foundation
43. Islamic Centre of Thailand
44. Muslim Relations Association of Krabi
45. Peoples' Empowerment (Thailand)take the lead in bringing about a greater understanding among our people and governments, and international organisations about the conflicts and the threat they pose for peace, security and development in the region;
to address the gross violation of human rights, seek remedies for all victims and press for the provision of adequate legal and administrative protection against human rights violations;
deliberate and adopt ways to empower the people through the improvement of their socio-economic conditions;
engage ASEAN and convince the member states to be wary of any military alliance with hegemons and to seriously pursue the goal of making Southeast Asia a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality, free from foreign interference;
to establish a strong network of NGOs in the ASEAN region linked to NGOs in other parts of the world, particularly in the U.S and the European Union, that share the same strategic vision and goals and that will closely cooperate towards the above aims;
to formulate and put in place a plan of action through the set up of a regional secretariat to oversee, coordinate all the above activities and evaluate the progress. the resolution of the Mindanao conflict by addressing the root causes of injustice, colonization, poverty, underdevelopment, displacement and the illegal encroachment of Bangsamoro territory
that the Moro peoples? right to self-determination be undertaken as a distinct and independent/autonomous entity as provided for by many international treaties, such as the UN Covenant on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of 1994;
the support of peaceful avenues towards attaining and achieving that right, including through the support for the full implementation of the MNLF-GRP 1996 agreement and the ongoing peace process between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
that past injustices in the form of land seizures and colonial settlements be redressed through the formulation of a comprehensive, balanced and just agreement - that does justice to the past as well as current situation - on ancestral lands through consultation and consensus with all stakeholders
that the Bangsamoro exercise control over their territories, including on the form and nature of the utilization, preservation and protection of natural resources to benefit the present and future generations;
that the Bangsamoro are supported in the development and establishment of an effective and constructive system of education and training that is accessible to all, young and old, and that preserves and promotes the positive aspects of their cultural heritage, traditions and history of the Bangsamoro people shall be maintained;
the guarantee of freedom of movement and speech that is just and true to the traditions and aspirations of the Bangsamoro;
the rights of all vulnerable groups, such as women, children and the disabled and elderly are, in all aspects, protected, defended and promoted and that the violation of these rights are punished to the full extent of the law;
the establishment of an economic system of economic and financial resources administration and management that is inspired by the Bangsamoro heritage and aspirations the end of the Emergency Decree, Martial Law and any other laws which can lead to the abuse and unfair persecution of the Muslims of South Thailand and that the people of South Thailand enjoy the basic human rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Thailand.
the end to all enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrest, torture, extortion and harassment, including sexual harassment
punishment of those responsible for the commission of any of the above crimes
the end of the persecution, injustices and the culture and system of impunity put in place as part of the suppression in South Thailand;
all paramilitary or volunteer civilian 'defense' groups are disarmed in Yala, Narthiwat, Patani, Satun and some districts of Songkla as these have worsened the violence and created distrust between and among the local communities; the full recognition to all Rohingyas and other peoples of Myanmar the right to citizenship as nationals of their country
freedom of worship and the building/rebuilding and maintenance of all mosques, temples, churches and other religious institutions;
equal access to education and vocational training;
the end to all enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrest, torture, rape, arbitrary taxation, extortion, forced slave labour and harassment
punishment, in the case of the commission of any of the above
freedom of movement;
freedom of matrimony and lift restrictions against marriages;
the end to illegal evictions, destruction of houses and confiscation of properties;
that all of Myanmar's peoples who are either internally displaced or living abroad as refugees who seek to return to their homelands are accepted and guaranteed their safety and dignity;
the opening of humanitarian space in Myanmar and the support of the humanitarian efforts by United Nations and non-governmental organisations there; and
the free and fair conduct of elections in 2010.

WE, the activists and members of the NGOs of the ASEAN region from member organizations of the Nusantara Initiative for Justice and Peace (NADI), on the occasion of the ASEAN NGO Summit in Bangkok,Thailand on the October, 16th 2009,

Remembering the tragic histories of the peoples of Myanmar, Southernmost Thailand and Mindanao and the lessons they offer to the present generations;

Reaffirming ASEAN as a regional initiative for multilateral co-orperation and mutual development;

Cognisant of the need for the encouragement of a people-to-people initiative for justice and peace within the Southeast Asian region;

Reminding all Heads of State/Government on the commitments declared in the 41st AMM 17 - 24 July 2008 in Singapore, on their obligations to the people in undertaking concrete and practical cooperation to address issues of common interests and with the view to build capacity, develop expertise and enhance coordination in areas that can contribute to the region's collective security objectives;

Reiterating the need to build an ASEAN Community that is socially just, economically sustainable, culturally rooted and vibrant, environmentally sensitive and politically stable;

Confirming that regional progress for peace and justice must be framed within the socio-economic needs and traditional and cultural roots of the people;

Affirming that all conflicts must be addressed through peaceful means on the basis of truth, justice and the rights of the people;

Condemning the high-handed military escalations and operations undertaken by many of our governments under the pretext of combating terrorism, separatism and radicalism, that have, thereby, acerbated the conflict, deepened the injustices and victimised the people by way, particularly, of arbitrary arrests, extortions, abductions, extrajudicial killings, torture, illegal confiscations of property, draconian laws and other violations of universal human rights;

Rejecting all economic, cultural, political and military intrusions and hegemony by powers outside the region through either covert or overt means; and

Noting with concern the ongoing conflicts in Myanmar, South Thailand and Mindanao and the adverse impact their perpetuation and escalation will have on the region as a whole in the absence of good will and sincere efforts towards reaching their just resolution,

HEREBY CALL ON ALL ASEAN GOVERNMENTS TO:honour the trust that the people have placed on them to guarantee the people's legitimate rights to justice and peace, to live in dignity, to the fulfillment of basic needs and to the equitable distribution of national resources;
eschew military options for the resolution of conflict but rather address and tackle all conflicts and disputes within the region peacefully and holistically in the spirit of healthy, harmonious, and cooperative regional co-existence and relations between States and peoples
promote engagement and consultation between States and their peoples and the need to live up to our collective responsibilities for the resolution of conflicts and disputes;
intensify regional and international cooperation for the promotion, sharing and implementation of policies and best practices to ensure fairness and justice and for the safeguarding of the interests, livelihood, and general wellbeing of the people;
resolve immediately the plight of the Rohingyas, the South Thailand conflict and the Bangsamoro struggle through mutual consultation and collective effort between all ASEAN governments based on the justice and legitimate rights of the people
engage with the governments of Myanmar, Thailand and Philippines in asserting the principle that the security and situation witin their juridications respectively impacts upon the security and situation of the region as a whole
work with the UN, the international community and civil society groups in protecting, assisting and according the rights of all peoples displaced from their homes by conflict or persecution to justice and fair treatment as expected by the States' own citizens and on principles of universal humanitarian grounds until such times as these same States can guarantee such displaced persons safe return to their homelands and dignified lives therein. This includes respecting the principle of non-refoulement, recognising them as persons seeking asylum and refraining from detaining them as mere undocumented migrants, and allowing UNHCR access to all asylum-seekers who have been detained in order to determine their status;
ratify the 1951 Convention Related to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the 1990 International Convention for the Protection of the Right of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families;
give more attention to women and children in being integral part of the solution
practice and promote values and practices of good governance that give high priority to the building of a culture of integrity, transparency and accountability and that rejects oppressive and corrupted regimes;
put in place measures to enhance regional cooperation to fostering the free flow of peoples across borders and encourage cultural and commercial exchanges within the ambit of sustainable regional growth and development;
ensure that all non-State parties that are crucial to the achievement of all the above - such as the media, corporations and civil society - play positive roles in enhancing understanding and cooperation, rather than animosity and conflicts;
undertake to consult among the member states of ASEAN and to adopt a common position on matters relating to defence that affect or constitute a potential threat to the collective security of our continent;
form nation-wide truth and reconciliation commission in the countries of Myanmar, Thailand and Philippines to rebuild justice and trust among all communities and institutions by addressing and tackling past human rights violation, reviewing all national security cases;
undertake efforts towards Islamic law, especially in Muslim personal/family matters
emphase dialogue, peace talks and negotiations at all levels; and
undertake a paradigm shift in the social, economic and political and administration of South Thailand towards demilitarization.

BRAT open letter to NDF

Source from burmadigest, 29 Aug 2009

To : The President
National Democratic Front of Union of Burma
P.O. Box – (101) , Maesod, Tak. 63110,

Dear Mr. President and Secretary General,

Subject: Burma democratic activities with deliberate exclusion of Rohingyas.

I kindly like to draw your attention with reference to the above subject. My name is Enayet Ullah, a Rohingya activist for restoration of genuine democracy in Burma and I presently reside in Thailand. I service under the name of Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT) since its inception in 2000.

It is really regretting to experience that most of the exiled Burma democratic movements have architected a policy of “Total Exclusion of Rohingya” from any democratic activities which is very identical with the military regime. It is really surprising that those organizations namely NCGUB, NCUB, ENC, etc who have been working to remove a regime of barbarity and brutality are seemed close allies of SPDC while deal with Rohingya.

Those activities amply reflect that you are striving not for genuine democracy in Burma rather military democracy with the slogan of human rights and dignity to gain support from democratic nations. Your ultra-attitude against minority Rohingya of Arakan is very doubtful and unacceptable that covertly supports the continuous operations of military junta to exterminate the generation of Rohingya from their home and hearth.
The history has revealed that Rohingya has actively participated in every election as a nation in Burma since its independence from British in 1948. They have had elective representatives, assembly representatives, legislative representatives, cabinet members and holding ministry post in every democratic government of Burma before military coup led by late general New Win. As such the elimination policy by exiled democratic parties is racially oriented and further disputable.

I therefore earnestly request to discontinue marginalization and reconsider invitation and participation of Rohingya in activities that aimed for democracy like other minorities and ethnicities whereby Rohingya are greatly contributing forces in restoration of democracy in Burma.

With highest regard,

Sincerely yours,
Enayat Ullah (General Secretary, Mobile No. 084-0263144 )
Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT)

Thailand’s Rohingya ‘deterrence’ breaks refugee obligations

Source from burmanewscasts, 27 May 2009

Thailand’s denial of entry to Burmese Rohingya refugees violates international legal obligations towards asylum seekers, claims the first full report into the mistreatment of Rohingya refugees in Thailand.

International outrage was sparked in January this year when photographs emerged of Thailand’s treatment of the Rohingya ‘boat people’, the majority of whom had fled Burma’s western Arakan state and sailed to Thailand.

The Rohingya, a Muslim minority, don’t have a citizenship of any country, and thousands are believed to have left Burma, many in the direction of Thailand’s southern coast.

According to the report released yesterday by Human Rights Watch, Rohingyas arriving on the Thai coast have been held on isolated islands with limited access from staff at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

“Steadily increasing numbers of Rohingya arriving in southern Thailand have sparked a deterrence policy that violates Thailand’s international legal obligations towards asylum seekers,” said the report, entitled Perilous Plight.

Thai authorities were found to have towed Rohingya boats back to sea with little supplies, a move which is in violation of international laws on refugees.

“Any refugees or migrant workers actually entering the country can’t be immediately dragged back to the sea; they have to be processed by the law and dealt with accordingly,” said David Mathieson, Burma consultant at Human Rights Watch.

Earlier this year, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva acknowledged the towing of Rohingya refugees out to open sea, following denial from a navy chief that the allegations “were even possible”.

He added that it wasn’t in line with the authorities’ policy and that those responsible would be brought to account if enough evidence was found.

“Most Rohingyas see Thailand as a transit point, they don’t want to stay in Thailand; they want to go to Malaysia,” said Mathieson.

Thailand has reportedly claimed the Rohingyas are economic refugees, and a threat to national security.

Proposals to set up temporary holding centres have been dismissed, and they remain unrecognised as refugees, asylum seekers or undocumented migrants.

“There are actually very low numbers of Rohingya in Thailand as far as we know compared to other nationalities from Burma,” said Mathieson.

“Some people say that there’s 20,000 Rohingya in Thailand but I would say it is significantly less than that, just a few thousand.”

Burma has repeatedly claimed the Rohingya are originally from Bangladesh, not Burma, and have denied them citizenship or status as an ethnic minority. (JEG's: correct, in the old days in the 1500s, 1700s but the ones we are dealing with right now were born in Burma therefore they are Burmese with all the human rights entitlements)

Most of the Rohingyas in Arakan state rely on international aid organisations for survival.

Reporting by Rosalie Smith