Friday, 28 June 2013

Refugee trafficking: policeman charged

Published: 28 Jun 2013 at 15.08
Online news: Local News

A policeman has been charged with trafficking after a Rohingya woman was allegedly lured from a shelter in southern Thailand and subsequently raped by a man from the refugee Muslim minority, police told AFP on Friday.

This file photo shows Rohingya protesters gathering in front of a UN regional office building to call for an end to the ongoing unrest and violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, in Bangkok, on June 11, 2012. Rights groups have repeatedly voiced concerns over the treatment of destitute Rohingya refugees by Thai authorities, saying they are held in poor conditions and are vulnerable to exploitation.

It is believed to be the first time a Thai official has been charged with trafficking of Rohingya boat people, despite probes into alleged people smuggling by authorities including the army.
The officer is accused of driving the 25-year-old victim along with her daughters, aged 12 and nine, and two other women, from the shelter in Phang Nga province in late May.
The woman was told she would be taken to Malaysia to be reunited with her husband, who is also from the minority group, but was instead held at several places in the region in an ordeal lasting several weeks, police said.
The woman was allegedly raped repeatedly by the Rohingya man, believed to have worked as a translator at the shelter, who has been charged for the assault.
The victim and her children were found on a roadside and returned to the shelter last week when she contacted the police.
"The officer has been charged with taking part in human trafficking and abuse of his position", Pol Col Weerasin Kwansaeng, commander of Kuraburi police station told AFP.
"The victim said he drove the car from the shelter," he said, adding it was the first time charges had been brought against police over the trafficking of Rohingya.
Dozens of Rohingya women and children who fled communal violence in Myanmar, are housed at the shelter while hundreds of men from the ethnic group are being held at an immigration detention centre in the same province.
Rights groups have repeatedly voiced concerns over the treatment of destitute Rohingya refugees by Thai authorities, saying they are held in poor conditions and are vulnerable to exploitation.
The rape "demonstrates the vulnerability of Rohingya women to human traffickers - even when they are living in government-run shelters where they should be protected," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
In January, Thai authorities opened an investigation into allegations that army officials were involved in trafficking Rohingya.
Around 2,000 Rohingya refugees remain in detention in Thailand while authorities wait for a third country to offer to accept them.
Described by the United Nations as among the most persecuted minority groups in the world, Rohingya have for years trickled abroad to neighbouring Bangladesh and, increasingly, to Muslim-majority Malaysia.
Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and denies them citizenship.
A explosion of tensions between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine since June 2012 has triggered a huge exodus of Rohingya, mostly heading for Malaysia.
credit-Bangkok Post.

Monday, 24 June 2013

76 Civil Society Organisations NGOs Joint Statement /One Year after the Violence Began:.

One Year after the Violence Began:

Civil Society Organisations Deeply Concerned by the Human Rights and
Humanitarian Situation of Stateless Rohingya

The Rohingya, a stateless minority of Myanmar, have endured decades of abuse, persecution and
discrimination. One year ago, on 3 June 2012, the massacre of ten Muslims travelling in Rakhine State,
following the killing and reported rape of a Buddhist woman, marked the beginning of a series of violent
attacks against the Rohingya and other Muslim communities. The violence of June and October 2012 resulted
in countless deaths, destruction to property, large scale internal displacement and segregation within Rakhine
state of Myanmar. Consequently, thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and
beyond.
One year after the violence began, the root causes and on-going humanitarian and human rights concerns remain
largely unaddressed. Although both the Rakhine and Rohingya communities committed violence in June, the Rohingya
were disproportionately victimised, including by security forces. Furthermore, discriminatory laws and practices
against the Rohingya by the Burmese authorities, underpinned by their lack of citizenship, and their mistreatment in
third countries remain matters of concern.
Despite heavy restrictions and difficulties in accessing the affected and displaced communities, and threats against, and
intimidation and arbitrary arrests of humanitarian aid workers and human rights defenders, civil society actors have
monitored and documented the situation, provided humanitarian aid to victims of violence, published statements and
reports, briefed the international community and repeatedly raised growing concern over the deteriorating situation in
Rakhine State and for Muslim communities throughout Myanmar. Some of the key concerns raised by civil society
actors over the past year relate to:
• Incitement to violence and government hate speech – The violence against the Rohingya was instigated and
has been sustained by relentless anti-Rohingya speech and campaigning by government officials and local leaders
that often amounted to incitement. Government officials and local leaders have repeatedly characterised the
Rohingya as illegal immigrants, branded non-Muslims who trade with or assist Rohingya as “traitors”, and
encouraged campaigns against aid workers assisting displaced Rohingya, which has created an environment in
which acute violence against this vulnerable group is seen as acceptable and even desirable.
• Violence and impunity – Satellite images of entire townships destroyed, photographs of houses on fire, video
footage of attacks and dead bodies and testimonies of security personnel opening fire on villages and committing
sexual assaults against Rohingya women collectively stand as growing evidence of the scale of the violence. In
contrast, the lack of any convictions of state officials or ethnic Rakhine perpetrators and the disproportionate
arrest and prosecution of Rohingya is reflective of the impunity with which acts of violence have been committed
and bias within the criminal justice system. Itis also evident that this impunity has contributed to an escalation in
anti-Muslim violence throughout the country.
• The involvement of government officials and security forces– The involvement of state actors in incitement,
carrying out attacks, extortion, arbitrarily arresting, detaining and torturing Rohingya, restricting their movement
and hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid with impunity has been well documented. In this context, the
publication of an inquiry report which primarily recommends the strengthening of state security presence in
affected areas is a matter of real concern.
• Displacement and humanitarian needs – The displaced population in Rakhine State is estimated at over
140,000, the overwhelming majority of whom are Rohingya. The lack of adequate shelter, food and clean water,
medicine, education, latrines and sanitation, and livelihoods for the affected populations, the acute difficulties
faced by aid organisations in reaching those most in need - particularly unregistered persons in makeshift sites -
alleged corrupt practices of siphoning off humanitarian supplies, and the lack of adequate shelter arrangements
for the monsoon season are all issues of grave concern which have a direct impact on the well-being and chances
of survival of those displaced.
• Statelessness and identity – The arbitrary deprivation of nationality of the Rohingya under the 1982 Citizenship
Act is considered to be a major contributing factor of the present human rights and humanitarian crisis.
Additionally, the denial of their ethnic identity and reports of Rohingya being forced to register themselves as
‘Bengali’ have immediate and long-term consequences for Rohingya communities.
• Segregation and property rights – The authorities have imposed a policy of segregation, with Rohingya being
restricted in separate areas, largely away from economic and commercial centres. Aung Mingalar, the last
remaining Muslim neighbourhood in Sittwe, is under threat and effectively cut off from the city around it. The
likelihood of this segregation arrangement becoming a long-term reality is high, particularly if the authorities do
not meet their obligations to ensure the safety of at-risk populations and to work towards peaceful co-existence,
reintegration and safe voluntary return in the short-term. In addition to the obvious human rights concerns over such restrictions, questions remain unanswered over the property rights of the displaced Rohingya who may not
be allowed to access the lands they fled.
• Discriminatory restrictions on family life – The discrimination endured by Rohingya over many decades is well
documented. Restrictions on marriage, punishment of unauthorised marriages and the non-registration of
children born of such marriages are among the most distressing practices which continue to-date. In this context,
the recent reaffirmation by the Rakhine state government of the two-child policy for Rohingya families and the
statement in support of the policy by Minister of Immigration and Population, Khin Yi, is a particularly serious
concern.
• Freedom of movement - Rohingya movement has been severely restricted for decades in northernRakhine State.
Since the violence, freedom of movement has been further restricted and Rohingya in central Rakhine State have
been trapped in settlements and camps and forced into dependency on humanitarian aid.
• Crimes against humanity – Under international law, crimes against humanity are crimes committed as part of a
widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population, as a matter of state or organisational policy. The crimes
against humanity of forced deportation, forced population transfer and persecution have been well documented in
Rakhine State since June 2012, and many such abuses have been committed for decades prior, against the
Rohingya population.
In addition to the situation in Rakhine State, over the past year, the Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar, have
continued to face a lack of protection, as well as hardship and exclusion upon new shores. In June 2012, Bangladesh in
contravention of the principle of non-refoulement pushed Rohingya asylum seekers back into the sea. Immigration
authorities in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other countries have responded to subsequent
refugee exoduses by detaining those who require protection.
The international legal obligations of all countries concerned require them to protect all persons subject to their
jurisdictions, regardless of whether they are citizens, stateless persons, asylum seekers or refugees. In its treatment of
the Rohingya, Myanmar has violated the right to life, the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, the right to liberty and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, the right to nationality,
the right to food and shelter including the fundamental right to be free from hunger and the right to the highest
attainable standard of health. Myanmar must also answer allegations of crimes against humanity being perpetrated by
state actors against the Rohingya. Refugee recipient countries including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and
Sri Lanka have also acted in violation of the right to seek and to enjoy asylum and the right to liberty and freedom from
arbitrary arrest and detention, and in certain instances, the right not to be subjected to refoulement.
The undersigned civil society organisations express deep concern with regard to the human rights and humanitarian
abuses that continue to disproportionately affect the Rohingya, jointly speak out on behalf of all victims of violence and
abuse, displacement and denial of humanitarian aid in Rakhine State – be they Rohingya, Rakhine or of other ethnic or
religious identity; and one year after the violence began, emphatically state that all violence, discrimination and abuse
must end now.
To the government of Myanmar, we urge that immediate steps are taken to:
- Facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access to all those affected by conflict regardless of registration status, and
take effective action against those who intimidate humanitarian agencies.
- Produce a plan for reconciliation, end movement restrictions, and ensure safe voluntary returns.
- Provide protection to all people living in Rakhine State, end impunity, prosecute all perpetrators of violence and
other abuses through a fair judicial system, arrange for immediate release of those who have been arbitrarily
detained and provide adequate redress to all victims of violence and injustice.
- Invite the UNOffice of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish an office.
- Review the 1982 Citizenship Act and other discriminatory laws and practices to ensure that all persons have equal
rights and equal access to citizenship and are not discriminated against on grounds of ethnicity.
To the governments of refugee recipient countries, we urge that immediate steps are taken to:
- Protect all refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar – and take into account the acute and specific protection
needs of stateless Rohingya.
- Desist from arbitrarily detaining Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers and attempting to return them to
Myanmar in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.
To international community,we urge that immediate steps are taken to:
- Insist on protection of minority rights, including the right to nationality, as a pre-requisite to full relations.
- Press the government of Myanmar to present its plans for promoting reconciliation, ending the movement
restrictions, and enabling safe voluntary returns in Rakhine State.
- Press the government of Myanmar to act on the recommendations above, including ending impunity and achieving
greater accountability and justice.List of Endorsing Organisations

1. Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance (Egypt)
2. ALTSEAN -Burma
3. Arab Council Supporting Fair Trials and Human Rights
4. Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network
5. Association INFO BIRMANIE
6. Association pour la Lutte contre la Pauvreté et le sous Développement (Mauritania)
7. Association Suisse-Birmanie (Switzerland)
8. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Human Rights and Genocide Clinic (USA)
9. Black Pink Triangle Izmir (Turkey)
10. Burma Campaign Australia
11. Burma Campaign UK
12. Burma Partnership
13. Burmese Rohingya Association of Japan
14. Burmese Rohingya Association of North America
15. Burmese Rohingya Association of Thailand
16. Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia
17. Burmese Rohingya Community in Denmark
18. Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
19. Center for Informative and Legal Aid – Zvornik (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
20. Christian Solidarity Worldwide
21. Civic Bangladesh
22. Detention Action (UK)
23. Fahamu Refugee Programme
24. Federation of Women Lawyers( Kenya)
25. Fortify Rights International
26. Forum for Women, Law and Development (Nepal)
27. Foundation for Rural Development (Pakistan)
28. Free Burma Campaign (South Africa)
29. Freedom House
30. Frontiers Ruwad Association (Lebanon)
31. Gonggam Human Rights LawFoundation (Republic of Korea)
32. Health Equity Initiatives (Malaysia)
33. Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (Thailand)
34. Human Rights Organisation of Nepal
35. Human Rights Watch
36. Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust
37. Initiative for Development and Empowerment Axis (Pakistan)
38. Institute for Asian Democracy
39. International Detention Coalition
40. International Observatory on Statelessness
41. Japan Association for Refugees
42. Jesuit Refugee Service43. Journalists for Human Rights (Sudan)
44. Lawyers for Human Rights (South Africa)
45. Lawyers for Liberty (Malaysia)
46. Lawyers Group for Burmese Asylum Seekers in Japan
47. Loyola College Chennai, Department of Social Work (India)
48. Minority Rights Group International
49. Odhikar (Bangladesh)
50. Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (Islamic Republic of Iran)
51. Partners Relief & Development (Norway)
52. Physicians for Human Rights (USA)
53. Praxis (Serbia)
54. Project Maje (USA)
55. Protect The Rohingya (South Africa)
56. Refugee Council of Australia
57. Refugees International
58. Restless Beings (UK)
59. Rohingya Association in Canada
60. Rohingya Community in Norway
61. Rohingya Society of Malaysia
62. Society for Threatened Peoples (Germany)
63. Society for Threatened Peoples (Switzerland)
64. Solidarity for Asian Peoples' Advocacy Working Group on ASEAN
65. South East Asian Committee for Advocacy
66. StatelessNetwork (Japan)
67. Swedish Burma Committee
68. Taiwan Association for Human Rights
69. Tenaganita (Malaysia)
70. Thai Committee for Refugees Foundation (Thailand)
71. The Arakan Project
72. The Cordoba Foundation
73. The Equal Rights Trust
74. The European Rohingya Council
75. U.S. Campaign for Burma
76. Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum(Indonesia)

Thursday, 20 June 2013

Myanmar must tackle discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities - Pillay

Myanmar must tackle discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities
- Pillay

GENEVA (19 June 2013) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay
on Wednesday urged the government of Myanmar to devote urgent attention to
tackling the continuing discrimination against ethnic and religious
minorities in the country, warning that failure to act could undermine the
reform process.

“Myanmar today can act as a source of inspiration by showing how
governments can be transformed by a renewed commitment to human rights,”
the High Commissioner said.

“However, the ongoing human rights violations against the Rohingya
community in Rakhine State, and the spread of anti-Muslim sentiment across
the State and beyond, is threatening the reform process and requires
focused attention from the Government,” she added.

Some 140,000 people, mostly Rohingya, remain displaced in Rakhine State
following violence between Buddhist and Muslim communities last year, and
tens of thousands of others have fled by boat.

In March, anti-Muslim violence spread to Meiktila in Mandalay region,
leaving 43 people dead and more than 1,500 buildings destroyed, according
to government figures. Last month in Lashio Township, Shan State,
anti-Muslim violence displaced some 1,400 people and destroyed property,
including a mosque and an Islamic boarding school.

“The President of Myanmar has made some important statements on the need to
end discrimination and violence and foster mutual respect and tolerance
between people of different faiths and ethnicities,” the High Commissioner
said. “I believe that the political will is there, but encourage the
Government to translate this will into concrete actions.”

The High Commissioner expressed her hope that discussions on Myanmar during
the recent session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva would further
encourage the government to combat discrimination.

Expressing its deep concern at the gross violations of human rights against
Muslims in Myanmar, including against the Rohingya, the Council urged the
government to allow humanitarian assistance and aid to reach the people and
communities affected. It also called on the Government to end impunity for
all violations of human rights.

Investigating and ensuring accountability for human rights violations was a
basic obligation that the Government must fulfil, Pillay said. “My Office
continues to receive credible and consistent reports of widespread and
systematic human rights violations being committed against the Rohingya and
other Muslims in Rakhine State, including by the security forces,” she
said.

The High Commissioner said her staff had received credible allegations of
arbitrary arrest and detention, the practice of torture in places of
detention and denial of due process rights, as well as extrajudicial
killings and sexual violence, including rape.

“Furthermore, I am concerned that those involved in mob violence against
Muslim communities in Meiktila, Lashio and elsewhere are not being held to
account, which sends out a message that violence directed against Muslim
communities in Myanmar is somehow acceptable or justified,” she said.

“The Government must urgently pursue legal and institutional reforms,
including reforming local orders and national laws that discriminate along
lines of ethnicity and religion,” the High Commissioner said.

In May, it was announced that a local order would be revived that limits
Rohingya Muslims in the townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw in Rakhine
State to having a maximum of two children.

“This is blatantly discriminatory,” Pillay said. “This order should be
rescinded immediately.”

Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Law has also been widely criticized for
discriminating against unlisted minority groups, including the Rohingya.
Some 800,000 Rohingya have been left stateless and increasingly vulnerable
to a range of human rights violations.

“Institutional reforms also involve providing human rights training for
military, security and police personnel, including with regard to
appropriate use of force in dealing with peaceful protests,” the High
Commissioner said, urging a full investigation into the shooting dead of
three Rohingya women earlier this month. The women were killed as they took
part in a peaceful demonstration in Rakhine State, when police allegedly
fired into a crowd of demonstrators in Pa Rein village, Mrauk-U Township.

“My Office is ready to support the Government’s progressive reforms and to
assist in addressing all forms of discrimination and other human rights
challenges. I therefore hope to see quick progress in the establishment of
an OHCHR Country Office in Myanmar with a full mandate,” Pillay said.

Negotiations on a ‘Host Country Agreement’ have been continuing since 18
November 2012 when the Government first invited the High Commissioner to
establish an office in the country.

ENDS

Credit -OHCHR

Wednesday, 5 June 2013

BURMA'S RACISM SPREADS TO MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA.

BURMA'S RACISM SPREAD TO MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA.

This is very unfortunate news for overseas migrant workers and Asylum seekers of Nationals of Burma irrespective of their religions and ethnics. Due to 50 years of military rule , civil war and recent genocide on Rohingyas and Burmese Muslim , many have fled to third countries for political, security and economic reasons. The lack of security of religious minorities and those living a life of poverty drives tens of thousands to other countries. When border country Thailand stopped the UNHCR urban refugee interview and shelter program , many people of Burma found Malaysia a safe heaven. Due to the 2012 genocide fully sponsored by the Thien Sein government and his racist collaborators , the racism now spread to ASEAN and overseas. I personally would like to blame the Thien Sein groups who have been breeding racism in the country and exporting it to neighboring countries. We, the overseas people of Burma must understand the dictator's divide and rule policy among the different ethnics and religious minorities. We must, therefore, peacefully coexistence among ourselves when living in other countries. We all are here due to dictatorial rule and country's wealth robbers. Our main enemy is Thien Sein and his collaborator's racist groups.His ASEAN Chair must be stopped due to his racism. My heart breaks and I send condolences to family members of the deceased.

BURMA MILITARY LEADERS ARE NOT YET TAMED TO BE ASEAN PARTNERS AND TAKE IT LEADERSHIP!

MAUNG KYAW NU , A former political prisoner of conscience and President of Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand BRAT.

Reply · Like · Follow Post · about an hour ago

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

tHE NATION .

ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Myanmar clashes spill into Malaysia

The Straits Times//Asia News Network June 5, 2013 3:12 pm

File photo : Clash in Myanmar//Photo by Eleven Media

Religious clashes in Myanmar, which flared up again last week, have spilled over to Malaysia, which has one of the biggest Rohingya Muslim refugee communities in the region and a large Myanmar migrant worker population.

Kuala Lumpur deputy police chief Amar Singh Ishar Singh said the riots in Myanmar have also caused a spate of violence here, leaving four Myanmar men dead and eight others severely injured.

Myanmar has been gripped by religious violence in recent months where Buddhist mobs have gone on the rampage against minority Muslims, including Rohingyas, in the country. The latest bout of rioting took place in the northern city of Lashio, near the Chinese border, last week.

"The religious sentiments (back home) have caught up with Myanmar workers here, leading to both Muslim and Buddhist groups launching heinous attacks on each other in areas with a large number of Myanmar nationals," Amar was quoted as saying to the Sun, a local English daily.

Police have set up a task force to tackle the violence and about 60 Myanmar workers have been detained, he said. Malaysia has some 400,000 Myanmar workers, many of whom are restaurant and construction workers.

"We have called up the leaders from both factions and had a meeting with them today and urged them to advise their people to end the violent clashes," he said yesterday. "The detention of Myanmar nationals, mainly in Sentul and Brickfields, was done to subdue the situation before it becomes worse."

Since May 30, four Myanmar workers have died in four separate incidents after being attacked by men with sticks and parangs. In the latest incident, which happened on Monday, a Myanmar worker was slashed repeatedly behind a car wash centre in the city.

Similar attacks occurred in early April in Indonesia, leaving at least eight people dead and 21 injured. They were caught in fighting between Buddhist and Muslim asylum seekers in a North Sumatra immigration detention centre.

Utusan Malaysia, a Malay-language daily, quoted sources as saying that the police are investigating a group of Myanmar nationals believed to be members of a radical Buddhist movement known as "969", with a mission to killRohingya Muslims here.

"The Myanmar nationals here are alleged to have received VCDs containing killing scenes of the Rohingyas by the Myanmar military to influence them to do the same," Utusan quoted a source as saying. It reported that some Myanmar nationals have been spotted wearing "969" T-shirts around the Kuala Lumpur suburbs of Puchong and Kepong.

Human rights organisations such as UNHCR Malaysia said they were still assessing the fast- moving situation.

Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani, president of the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia, said he has contacted the Myanmar embassy here for intervention but has yet to receive a response.

"It is a tricky situation as many Rohingya Muslims were also persecuted in their home country and that is why they flee," he said.

According to the UNHCR, some 23,000 Rohingyas are registered as refugees in Malaysia, but other NGOs believe there are another 50,000 unregistered refugees here.

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3 Rohingya Killed in Clash With Myanmar Police

YANGON, Myanmar June 5, 2013 (AP)

Several women villagers from Myanmar's Rohingya minority were shot dead this week in a confrontation with security officials, police and activists said Wednesday.

A police officer in Mrauk-U township in western Rakhine state said three women died in the clash Tuesday in Parein village. The women and others were defying efforts to relocate them from the housing in which they have been living since their original homes were burned by Buddhists in a wave of sectarian clashes last year.

The officer from the Special Branch political police, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to release information, said six villagers were injured in the clash.
A website covering Rohingya news, Rohingya Blogger, said four women were shot dead and five other villagers wounded in the confrontation, which broke out when workers from another township came to unload wood to build new dwellings. It said that when Parein villagers sought to stop the unloading, they began quarreling with police, who opened fire on them.

The police officer said some in the Rohingya crowd carried knives, sticks and slingshots.
Several hundred people were killed and about 140,000 fled or lost their homes in Rakhine last year in two waves of sectarian violence that targeted mostly members of the Muslim Rohingya community. While the conflict seemed contained at the time, communal violence spread this year to central and northeastern Myanmar, with Muslims again targeted and several dozen people killed.

The violence threatens to undermine the political and economic reforms undertaken by President Thein Sein, who came to power as an elected chief executive in 2011 after almost five decades of military rule.

The government's failure to effectively tackle the problem also risks shaking the confidence of Western countries, which have rewarded Thein Sein's reforms by lifting sanctions that were applied against the previous repressive army regime.

The latest incident took place just ahead of a regional meeting of the World Economic Forum in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw. The meeting will be attended by hundreds of business leaders and opinion-makers from around the world and is meant to showcase the positive changes made under the new government.

Similar, though not fatal, confrontations over relocation of Muslim Rohingya were reported last month, when officials sought to move reluctant residents from camps thought to be vulnerable to damage from an expected cyclone. In the end, Cyclone Mahasen veered away from Myanmar, causing no damage. But aid workers note that many of the camps, almost all of which shelter Rohingya, have inadequate shelter, medical care and other basic services.

source-AP NEWS.

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Provide Asylum Seekers Access to UN Refugee Agency/Thailand: End Inhumane Detention of Rohingya

Provide Asylum Seekers Access to UN Refugee Agency

JUNE 4 2013.

Thailand should respect the basic rights of Rohingya ‘boat people’ and stop detaining them in horrific conditions. The government should immediately allow them to pursue their asylum claims with the UN refugee agency.

Brad Adams, Asia director

The Thai government should immediately end the detention under inhumane conditions of more than 1,700 ethnic Rohingya from Burma, Human Rights Watch said today. Rohingya asylum seekers should be transferred from overcrowded cells in immigration detention centers to get screening and protection from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Shocking video footage of Rohingya locked up in an overcrowded immigration facility in Thailand’s Phang Nga province was shown on ITN Channel 4 News on May 31, 2013. Thailand’s prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra had agreed in January to permit Rohingya arriving by boat in Thailand to stay temporarily, initially for six months, until they could be safely repatriated to their places of origin or resettled to third countries.

“Thailand should respect the basic rights of Rohingya ‘boat people’ and stop detaining them in horrific conditions,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “The government should immediately allow them to pursue their asylum claims with the UN refugee agency.”

The ITN program showed most of the 276 Rohingya men living in extremely cramped conditions in two cells resembling large cages, each designed to hold only 15 men, where they barely had enough room to sit. Some suffered from swollen feet and withered leg muscles due to lack of exercise. The men said they have not been let out of the cells in five months.

Thai immigration authorities have not permitted UNHCR to conduct refugee status determination screenings of these Rohingya, and instead lock them in overcrowded immigration detention facilities across the country. Rohingya families have been split up, with women and children sent to government-run shelters separate from the men placed in immigration detention.

Each year, tens of thousands of ethnic Rohingya from Burma’s Arakan State set sail to flee persecution by the Burmese government, and dire poverty. The situation has significantly worsened followingsectarian violence in Arakan State in June 2012 between Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Arakanese, and later government-backed crimes against humanity committed during a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” in October against Rohingya and other Muslims.

Thailand’s so-called “help on” policy towards small boats carrying Rohingya has failed to provide Rohingya asylum seekers with the protections required under international law, and in some cases significantly increased their risk.

Under this policy, the Thai navy intercepts Rohingya boats that come close to the Thai coast and supposedly provides them with fuel, food, water, and other supplies on the condition that the boats sail onward to Malaysia or Indonesia. Enforcement actions to prevent Rohingya from these vessels from coming ashore intensified after the Thai government responded to international pressure, and agreed to provide temporary shelter for more than 1,700 Rohingya who had arrived in Thailand since January 2013.

Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek asylum from persecution. While Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, under customary international law, the Thai government has an obligation of “non-refoulement” – not to return anyone to places where their life or freedom would be at risk. UNHCR’s Guidelines on Applicable Criteria and Standards Relating to the Detention of Asylum Seekers reaffirms the basic human right to seek asylum and state that “[a]s a general rule, asylum seekers should not be detained.” The UNHCR Guidelines also note that detention should not be used as a punitive or disciplinary measure, and that detention should not be used as a means of discouraging refugees from applying for asylum.

The Thai government should work closely with UNHCR, which has the technical expertise to screen for refugee status and the mandate to protect refugees and stateless people. Effective UNHCR screening of all Rohingya boat arrivals would help the Thai government determine who is entitled to refugee status.

“Thai authorities should provide temporary protection to Rohingya and scrap the ‘help on’ policy that places these asylum seekers in harm’s way,” Adams said. “The government should help Rohingya who escape from oppression and hardship in Burma – not worsen their plight.”

Credid-HRW.

Monday, 3 June 2013

Burma's Callous Ethnic Cleansing Continues

TWO CHILD POLICY IS A GENOCIDE!

Two child policy adopted against one small particular ethnic is a genocide. Voices must be cried out internationally. The Thien Sein regime is involving many crimes against the humanity. This jungle law must be withdrawn.

Posted by Maung Kyaw Nu,President,Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand ,BRAT on June 3, 2013 06:58

The future of the Rohingya grows bleaker day by day

Photo by phuketwan.com

Burma's Callous Ethnic Cleansing Continues

By Human Rights Watch Media Release

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

PHUKET: Burma's government should publicly revoke a discriminatory population control regulation that restricts Rohingya Muslims to having two children, Human Rights Watch said today.

Implementation of this policy is consistent with the wider persecution of the largely stateless Rohingya, violating international human rights protections, and endangering women???s physical and mental health.

The Arakan State spokesperson, Win Myaing, told the media on May 26 that local authorities had reaffirmed a 2005 regulation for Rohingya Muslims in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships in northwestern Arakan [Rakhine] State along the Bangladesh border.

The discriminatory two-child rule has been enforced alongside regulations that require Rohingya couples seeking to marry to obtain permission from the authorities by paying hefty bribes.

Couples often have to wait for extended periods, sometimes as long as two years, before receiving permission. Officials have also forced many women to undergo pregnancy tests as part of the marriage application process.

''Implementation of this callous and cruel two-child policy against the Rohingya is another example of the systematic and wide ranging persecution of this group, who have recently been the target of an ethnic cleansing campaign,'' said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

''President Thein Sein says he is against discrimination. If so, he should quickly declare an end to these coercive family restrictions and other discriminatory policies against the Rohingya.''

Rakhine State Spokesperson Win Myaing claimed local officials sought to implement a recommendation by the government Inquiry Commission on the Sectarian Violence in Rakhine State, a 27-member body appointed to examine the causes of last year's deadly violence between ethnic Arakanese (Rakhine) Buddhists and Rohingya and Kaman Muslims.

The commission's summary report, released on April 29, 2013, called for ''implementation of family planning programs amongst Bengali [Rohingya] communities'' to address its ''rapid population growth.''

However, the report said that ''government and other civil society organizations should refrain from implementing mandatory measures which could seem unfair and abusive.''

The commission included political leaders of Arakanese Buddhists but did not include any Rohingya members.

The two-child regulation is a further example of state persecution of the Rohingya, Human Rights Watch said. Government security forces, local Arakanese political party officials, and Buddhist monks participated in crimes against humanity during a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya and other Muslims in June and October 2012.

To date, no one has been held accountable for these crimes. Should further widespread or systematic attacks be carried out against the Rohingya population, enforcement of the two-child policy could amount to crimes against humanity.

Renewed Call for Two Child Policy Latest Form of State Persecution

THE 2005 two-child regulation was an addition to long-standing discriminatory marriage restrictions on Rohingyas in Arakan state.

Advance permission to marry came from the Na Sa Ka (in Burmese, Nay Sut Kut Kwey Ye), a corrupt interagency border guard force comprising military, police, immigration, and customs.

Rohingya couples seeking to marry have had to give a written undertaking that they will have no more than two children. Flouting the two-child restriction is punishable with fines and imprisonment.

To avoid paying fines or being arrested, Rohingya women who became pregnant before getting official approval to marry or after having two children have resorted to unsafe and illegal abortions.

Some underwent multiple unsafe and self-induced abortions at home. Article 312 of the Burmese penal code criminalises all instances of abortion except those that are carried out to save a woman's life, already posing a tremendous barrier for women seeking abortion services.

These barriers to safe abortion services are exacerbated for Rohingya women because of the marriage restrictions and two-child policy.

Rohingya also face severe restrictions on their right to freedom of movement, requiring advance travel permission from the Na Sa Ka even to seek emergency medical treatment.

Permission is frequently refused unless bribes are paid. Unsafe abortions are a leading cause of maternal deaths in Burma.

''Fear of punishment under the two-child rule compel far too many Rohingya women to risk their lives and turn to desperate and dangerous measures to self-induce abortions,'' Adams said.

The 800,000 to one million Rohingya in Burma are particularly vulnerable to government abuse because most are denied citizenship under Burma's discriminatory 1982 citizenship law.

Rohingya children born out of wedlock or in a family that already has two children do not receive any status whatsoever from the government, making them ineligible for education and other government services, unable to receive travel permissions, and they are later not permitted to marry or acquire property.

They are subject to arbitrary arrest and detention.

To evade these regulations, Rohingya women pay bribes to register them with other legally married adults, or keep their children hidden and unregistered to avoid being fined or imprisoned.

In instances that the Na Sa Ka learns of families having more than two children, these children are sometimes placed on a government blacklist.

The Inquiry Commission estimated that the number of unregistered Rohingya children was 60,000. Because of these restrictions, ''the majority of the Bengali [Rohingya] population marry in secret without the necessary administrative approval and children born under these circumstances remain unregistered.''

Local government authorities and the Na Sa Ka oversee a web of tight regulations governing Rohingyas, Human Rights Watch said. These include restrictions on travel, birth, death, immigration, migration, marriage, and land ownership.

Na Sa Ka officials enforce these restrictions by frequently detaining, beating, and extorting money from Rohingya. In 2012, Na Sa Ka arbitrarily detained an estimated 2,000-2500 Rohingya for ''offenses'' both serious and trivial, including repairing homes without official permission and owning ''unregistered'' livestock, according to informed sources.

In all instances, contraception should not be used with the objective of ''population control,'' least of all by selectively targeting ethnic minorities, Human Rights Watch said.

Contraceptive services together with other reproductive and sexual health services should be provided in a non-discriminatory and non-coercive manner to all women.

Women and men should have the option of adopting contraception of their choice and deciding on the size of their family.

In March 2012, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors state compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, called upon Burma to ''abolish the local order restricting marriages for Rohingya people and cease practices which restrict the number of children of Rohingya people.''

Parliamentary opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on May 27 said about the two-child policy that, ''it is not good to have such discrimination. And it is not in line with human rights.''

Human Rights Watch called upon the government of Burma to:

..Immediately revoke the regulation establishing a two-child limit for ethnic Rohingya in Buthidaung and Maugdaw townships in North Arakan State, and other coercive or discriminatory policies, rules, regulations or laws regarding population;

..Repeal provisions of the penal code that criminalise abortion, especially those provisions that punish women and girls who have had an abortion;

..Provide unfettered access for international humanitarian agencies to provide medical and other services to all persons in need in Arakan State, with special focus on needs of internally displaced persons and other populations with restricted freedom of movement; and

..Investigate and appropriately prosecute all persons, regardless of position or rank, implicated in serious human rights abuses in Arakan State since 2012.

''Governments who care about reform in Burma need to speak out about the persecution of Rohingya Muslims,'' Adams said.

''If this policy had been announced by a Burmese government official before the reform process began, donors would have denounced it in the strongest terms.

''Now, when the international community's influence is much greater, governments and donors need to find their voices.''