Rohingya Muslims: Act before it’s too late

AYLIN KOCAMAN

Published — Saturday 30 November 2013

WHAT happens when you change a country’s name? Can you erase an unwanted past? Is changing the name a new beginning? Do the people in that country and their memories assume a new form? Perhaps that was what the junta in Burma was trying to do by erasing its colonial past by changing the country’s name to Myanmar. And maybe even by erasing some of the country’s minorities. 

Government agrees not to remove Rohingya family

The federal government says it will not return a Rohingya asylum-seeker family and their Australian-born baby to Nauru until their case is properly dealt with.

29 NOV 2013 - 11:14PM

An asylum seeker family from Myanmar with a sick newborn baby will be allowed to stay in Australia for the time being.

Lawyers for the family have struck a deal with the Department of Immigration to allow them to argue their case with procedural fairness.

Monastery or Arsenal: Weapons in Rakhine Buddhist Monasteries in Arakan

By MYARF | November 29, 2013

Maungdaw, Arakan

Myanmar Military Regime has achieved untold political gains by scapegoating Muslims especially Rohingyas under the smokescreens of Buddhism and national sovereignty. Likewise, Rakhine politicians and extremists, either, have not fallen behind the regime in targeting Rohingyas to achieve their political mileage. The reason why Rakhines have become so hostile and brutal towards Rohingyas is not but political.

Aung San Suu Kyi wants mercy for Rohingya seeking asylum in Australia

Burma's Nobel peace prize winner gets hero's welcome in Sydney, despite discomfort on Rohingya questions

Aung San Suu Kyi with the governor-general of NSW, Marie Bashir, before Wednesday night's speech. Photograph: Greg Wood/AFP

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Australia's rule of law "must be tempered by mercy" when dealing with asylum seekers such as the Rohingya child born in a Brisbane hospital to parents fighting to prevent their transfer to Nauru, Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said in Sydney on Wednesday evening.

A Suu Kyi Presidency Would Bring ‘Chaos,’ Says Firebrand Monk

Aung San Suu Kyi at a World Economic Forum BBC debate in Naypyidaw in June 2013. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy)

By SANAY LIN & SIMON ROUGHNEEN / THE IRRAWADDY|
 Thursday, November 28, 2013 |

RANGOON — U Wirathu, the Mandalay-based monk who heads the “969” anti-Muslim movement, believes that democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi would not be a good president for Burma.

“I wish [President] Thein Sein to be re-elected. If he refuses to go for the post, my vote will go to Shwe Mann,” said the controversial monk—whose speeches and sermons are said to have fueled anti-Muslim violence across Burma since June 2012.

OIC’s Myanmar visit reveals plight of Rohingya Muslims

JEDDAH: MAHA AKEEL

Published — Thursday 28 November 2013

ONE FAITH: Speaking passionately through an interpreter, OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told the emotional crowd of Rohingya Muslims: “We are here to tell you that you are not alone, you are not abandoned.” (AN photos by Maha Akeel)

A high-level delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), headed by Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, visited Myanmar (previously Burma) last week in what was described as a landmark visit. 

Shooting of Faux-Burning Scene of Bangladesh Monastery in Maungdaw

MYARF Report | Written by M.S. Anwar

November 27, 2013

Maungdaw, Arakan- Around 2:45PM on 26th November 2013, in Maungdaw, monks at the Bangladesh monastery created a faux burning scene at the monastery. Firebrigade arrived and extinguished the fire. And Police subsequently made video of the artifiacial burning.

Aung San Suu Kyi is turning a blind eye to human rights in the name of politics

The Burmese politician's visit to Australia will spark praise from politicians – an unhelpful distraction from the extremely serious abuses taking place against Muslims in her homeland

Aung San Suu Kyi. Photograph: Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty Images

Tuesday 26 November 2013
Emanuel Stoakes

Burmese politician and international celebrity Aung San Suu Kyi flew into Sydney yesterday to begin a brief tour of Australia, during which time she will meet the prime minister and other members of the government.

Suu Kyi visits Australia, fends off critics over Rohingya crisis

NOV 27, 2013

Making history: Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (left) strolls with New South Wales Gov. Marie Bashir on Wednesday in the gardens of Government House in Sydney. | AFP-JIJI

ASIA PACIFIC

SYDNEY – Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi defended herself Wednesday against criticism that she should be doing more on behalf of a Muslim minority group that has been targeted by sectarian violence in parts of her predominantly Buddhist nation.

Time for Soft Talk with Myanmar is Over

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Dr. Habib Siddiqui'

Rvnews: An (OIC) the Organization of Islamic Countries delegation, which included foreign ministers and senior officials from its member states of Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Djibouti, and Bangladesh recently visited Myanmar. It was led by the OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. The OIC delegation pressed for unhindered access of humanitarian aid to all affected people and communities, including Rakhine , without any discrimination. They also stressed the need for clarifying misconceptions and misunderstandings on both sides and for building mutual trust and interfaith community harmony.

Authority Use Threats to Forcibly Bengalize Rohingyas in Northern Maungdaw

MYARF Report | By M.S. Anwar

November 25, 2013

rvisiontv.com

Kamauk Seik, Maungdaw- On 23rd November 2013 morning, authority of Maungdaw township visited the village of Foira-Bazaar (Kamauk-Seik), northern Maungdaw. During a meeting with Rohingyas in the region, authority threatened them with up to 7-year-imprisonment if they refuse to be registered as Bengalis during the forthcoming population census.

Bangladesh’s “Rohingya strategy” stokes concern

DHAKA, 26 November 2013 

                                                  Rohingya fishermen in Bangladesh rely on informal -- often exploitative -- work                                        

The Bangladeshi government’s recent announcement of a “Rohingya strategy” has some observers concerned that this could spell a continued crisis for up to 500,000 Rohingya in the country, while local media reported that a survey will be conducted to identify all Rohingya living illegally in Bangladesh.

In Burma, There is No ‘Communal Violence

by Rachel Wagley

November 25, 2013

Displacement and discrimination continue to affect Rohingya (Evangelos Petratos EU/ECHO January 2013)

On November 12, the United Nations General Assembly released its draft annual resolution against Burma, calling on the Burmese government to address 2013 “communal violence.” The terms “communal violence,”“sectarian violence,” and “inter-communal violence” have become go-to descriptors of attacks against Muslims in Burma. Insofar as they are used to describe specific incidents during the June and October 2012 attacks in Arakan State, the terms are to some degree accurate. But the blanket use of these terms to describe ongoing anti-Muslim attacks throughout Burma is inaccurate and even incendiary.

Ambition silences Myanmar’s freedom icon

November 24, 2013 10:05 pm

by ROGER MITTON
REPUBLIC SERVICE

It’s nothing new. Throughout history, prominent political and even religious leaders and institutions have kept silent about enormities which they had vehemently opposed in the past.

Should we call it Buddhist terrorism?

MAYUNG ZARNI

Published — Saturday 23 November 2013

Myanmar’s radical “969 movement” has been central in the recent brutal pogroms against minority Muslims that have left hundreds dead and 12,000 displaced. The Buddhist monk-led group, however, cannot be understood outside of the interface between President Thein Sein’s government and the country’s racist society at large.

An Elderly Rohingya Arrested in Relation to Fire Incident at Maungdaw Municipal Market

MYARF Report | Written by M.S.Anwar

November 24, 2013

Maungdaw Municipal Market Before It Had Been Burnt Down or Destroyed. It is surrounded by Rakhine Quarters. 95% of Shops at the Market Belong Rohingyas.

Maungdaw, Arakan:Around 7PM yesterday (i.e. on 23rd Novemeber 2013), Rakhine extremists set Rohingya shops at the Maungdaw Municipal market on fire. (Click to read the report:

Rohingya humanitarian aid stopped by Gov’t: S. Reynolds

Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:15PM

Press TV has conducted an interview with Sarnata Reynolds, Statelessness Refugees International, Maryland about the issue of the dramatic depravation of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar camps; them being violently persecuted by the majority Buddhist community assisted by the government, which has rejected a UN resolution.

Breaking News: Rakhine Terrorists Burn Down Two-Century-Old Mosque in Maungdaw

M.S. Anwar | November 23, 2013
rvisiontv.com

Maungdaw, Arakan: At 9:30PM on 23rd November 2013, Rakhines terrorists burnt down a two-century-old mosque called Hakim Ali Masjid located at the village tract of Myo Thu Gyi (Hain-Da Fara) andnearby the monastery of “Three-Mile Quarter,” Maungdaw. The terrorists torched the mosque on their way back home after torching Maungdaw Municipal Market. (Earlier Report: HERE).

Breaking News: Rohingyas’ Shops at Maungdaw Municipal Market on Fire

M.S. Anwar | November 23, 2013

Maungdaw Municipal Market, which is burning now.

Maungdaw, Arakan: Maungdaw Municipal Market was set ablaze at around 7PM today (i.e. 23rd November 2013) and is still burning. Most of the shops at the market are owned by Muslims, whereas only three to four are owned by Rakhines. Many shops are said to have been burnt down and the remaining shops are being looted by Rakhine extremists.

Myanmar asylum seeker family wins stay against Nauru deportation

Updated 3 hours 15 minutes ago

A refugee family with a sick newborn baby has won a temporary order blocking their deportation to Nauru, in what is seen as a test case for the Federal Government.

EU aid envoy decries Myanmar camp conditions

November 23, 2013

YANGON: A European Union humanitarian envoy on Saturday voiced concern at the "dramatic deprivation" in Myanmar's camps for tens of thousands of people, mainly Muslims, made homeless by deadly unrest in Rakhine State.

EU commission to provide new humanitarian assistance to Myanmar

Xinhua | 2013-11-23 17:59:33  By Agencies The European Commission will provide further humanitarian funding of 3 million Euro (4.07 million US dollars) to assist victims of violence in Myanmar's western Rakhine State and northernmost Kachin State, according to the press release issued by EU's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO) on Saturday.

The European Rohingya Council ERC has sent a letter to the Father of Christian

Posted on November 22, 2013

Burma-Times- The European Rohingya Council ERC has sent a letter to the Father of Christian his holiness Mr. Pope Francis on 22nd November 2013  concerning the ongoing ethnic cleansing and systematic discrimination and deliberate attack on innocent Rohingya ethnic minority of western Burma. The ERC is relentlessly making efforts to bring swiftly a sustainable resolution for the distressed and stateless Rohingya. Rohingya is a recognized ethnic minority of Burma but the genocidal world worst Junta Ne Win deleted them from national census by discriminatory law 1982 citizenship law.

NSC monitoring security situation in Myanmar, says Zolkple

November 22, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — The National Sports Council (NSC) is monitoring the security situation in Myanmar before the Malaysian contingent leave for the 27th SEA Games next month, said its director-general, Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong.

Rakhine Hooligans Daily Harass Rohingyas in Maungdaw

Report by Sindhi Khan | Written by M.S. Anwar

November 22, 2013

rvisiontv.com

Maungdaw, Arakan- Since the day OIC Delegation paid a visit to Maungdaw (i.e. 15th November 2013), local Rakhines especially Rakhine hooligans have speeded up harassing local Rohingyas and Rohingya passers-by on daily basis with a view to creating one more round of violence against Muslims. Though Rohingyas have complaint to the concerned authority, authority has taken no action against the harassments.

“OIC delegation visited Maungdaw (i.e. on 15.1.13). Since then, many Rakhine hooligans gather every night in front of “Kannah’ Guest-House at the Quarter 1 (Ukhil Fara) of Maungdaw. Then, they shout, insult and abuse innocent Rohingya villagers. They abuse OIC and Rohingyas ( by using abusive terms such as Get Out Mother-Fucking *Kulars) and also the religion of Islam. Though Rohingya elders have complaint to the concerened authority against the daily harrasments, authority has taken no action till date.

Myanmar rejects U.N. resolution on Rohingya Muslims

YANGON Thu Nov 21, 2013 3:49pm GMT

A girl from the Pauktaw township stands in front of her family's shelter in a Rohingya internally displaced persons (IDP) camp outside Sittwe May 15, 2013.

CREDIT: REUTERS/SOE ZEYA TUN

(Reuters) - Myanmar rejected on Thursday a U.N. resolution urging it to grant citizenship to the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority group, and accused the United Nations of impinging on its sovereignty.

Three Innocent Rohingyas Allegedly Arrested for Raping a Minor Rakhine Girl

Report by Maung Thein Zaw, Sallam Oic Group | Written by M.S. Anwar

November 21, 2013

Kyauktaw, Arakan: Three innocent Rohingyas in Kyauktaw township were alleged of raping and killing a minor Rakhine girl andsubsequently arrested on 18th November 2013. However, the actual criminal who had committed the crime was a Rakhine from the village of Kya-Nyo-Pin of the same township.

The detailed account of the case and an interview with a Rohingya in Kyauktaw are mentioned below.

“At around 9PM on 18th November 2013, Shwe San Aung (Age 29) (from the village of Kya-Nyo-Pin of the Kyauktaw township) lured Ma Mimi Nge (Age 6), fourth daughter of U Shwe Aung (father) and Daw Moe Moe San (father), and took her to the farm-landoutside the village. There, he raped and killed her.

Displaced Muslim kids flock to Myanmar madrassa

 

By ESTHER HTUSAN

1 hour ago

SITTWE, Myanmar (AP) — A year after Buddhist mobs forced almost all members of the minority Rohingya Muslim community from this northwestern Myanmar city, creating a state-sanctioned sectarian divide, thousands of children while away their long, empty days in dusty displacement camps.

FCO Minister Hugo Swire notes UN resolution and expresses concerns about human rights in Burma

The UN General Assembly 3rd Committee yesterday adopted a resolution on human rights in Burma. Welcoming the resolution, Foreign & Commonwealth Office Minister, Hugo Swire, said:

UN urges Myanmar to grant rights to Rohingya

General Assembly's rights committee urges Myanmar to quell attacks on Rohingya minority and to free political prisoners. Last updated: 20 Nov 2013 00:33 The committee reiterated its serious concern about communal  violence and other abuses of the Rohingya [Getty Images] A United Nations committee has passed a resolution urging Myanmar to give the stateless Rohingya minority equal access to citizenship and to crack down on Buddist violence against them and other Muslims in the southeast Asian nation. The General Assembly's human rights committee passed an annual resolution on Myanmar on Tuesday by consensus, welcoming the release of scores of political prisoners and Thein Sein's promise that all "prisoners of conscience" would be freed by the end of the year. It urged the government "to continue the process and to fulfil its commitment to release them by the end of 2013, without conditions, and to ensure the full restoration of their rights and freedoms."

Democratization in Myanmar hampered by anti-Muslim discrimination

20 November 2013 JTW Interview, Prof. Dr. Selçuk Çolakoğlu Dr. Selçuk Çolakoğlu, Director of USAK Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, sat down for an interview about the grave conditions surrounding the Muslim population in Myanmar, particularly the Rohingya. Another of the interview’s focal points is the international dimension of the issue regarding the official status of and policies towards Arakanese and other Muslim groups spread throughout Myanmar (mainly within the borders of present-day Rakhine state) was also a focal point of the interview. In light of Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu's recent visit to Myanmar between November 14th and 15th, Dr. Çolakoğlu elaborates on Turkey's official stance regarding the worrisome situation in Myanmar and the strategic, political, and socio-economic context behind it.

WHEN MOB WAS ROHINGYA, MYANMAR'S RESPONSE RUTHLESS

ROBIN McDOWELL Associated Press Published: November 20, 2013 12:51PM

BA GONE NAR, Myanmar (AP) -- Noor Jaan lifted her black Islamic veil and recalled the last time she saw her husband. He was among more than 600 Rohingya Muslim men thrown in jail in this remote corner of Myanmar during a ruthless security crackdown that followed sectarian violence, and among one in 10 who didn't make it out alive.

Three Arrested for Attempt to Bomb Rangoon’s Religious Buildings

By LAWI WENG & HTET NAING ZAW / THE IRRAWADDY| Wednesday, November 20, 2013 |

RANGOON — Police said they arrested three men last week who were preparing to bomb 

religious buildings in Rangoon. Reportedly, the targets in Burma’s biggest city were 

mosques.

Min Aung, a police colonel at the Home

 Affairs Ministry, told The Irrawaddy on 

Wednesday that the suspects were Burmese 

nationals, adding that two suspects were 

ethnic Arakanese from western Burma.

The accused include Khine Ne Lin, 34, from 

Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township, Bo Bo, 

28, from the Arakan capital Sittwe, and 

Thein Nyunt, 31, according to Min Aung, who did not elaborate on the origins of the last 

suspect.

Resolving Myanmar's sectarian violence issue

By Nehginpao Kipgen ,Special to the China Post

November 20, 2013, 12:11 am TWN

      The Buddhist protesters accused the OIC of meddling in Myanmar's internal affairs and attempting to influence the amendment of the 1982 Citizenship Law which would pave the way for citizenship to Rohingya Muslims.
In October 2012, the Myanmar government refused permission for the OIC to establish a permanent office in the country after the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding for the Islamic organization to provide humanitarian aid to victims of the sectarian violence.

Rakhine Terrorists Destroy Islamic Religious Buildings in Kyaukphyu

M.S. Anwar | Novemeber 19, 2013

rvisiontv.com

Kyaukphyu, Arakan: Around 8PM on 18th November 2013, Rakhine terrorists led by some extremist faction of Buddist monks started destroying a Jameh Mosque, Religious School (Madraasa) and its Minaret at the quarter of Than-Ban-Chaung in Kyaukphyu Township. Till date, the minaret of the mosque was totally destroyed and parts of the mosque and the religious were also destroyed.