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Re-elected for the second term, US President Barack Obama has within this month scored a double mark with the Muslim world. Although he openly spoke condoning Israeli blitzkrieg over defenceless Gaza population in the name of Israel's "right of defence" against Hamas rockets, in quiet diplomacy he sought to dissuade Israel from "disproportionate military response." He stood by the Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi's potent mediation to obtain a truce between Hamas and the Israeli government, and to prevent Israeli ground offensive to invade Gaza. In the end, Israel relented.
The terms of truce also open the way for relaxation of Israeli land, sea and air blockade restricting traffic in and out of Gaza, technically still under Israel's sovereign oversight. It is yet to be seen whether a way out from Israeli-Palestinian deadlock over the so-called "two-state solution" of the Palestinian issue may be found by further diplomatic engagements in the wake of the truce. That hope has certainly been aroused in the Arab world. Arab opinion has not been miserly in according credit to President Obama for supporting Mursi in his efforts.
Minority Rohingya Muslims
Much closer to Bangladesh, President Obama's state visit to Myanmar, en-route to ASEAN and East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, also had a salutary impact. As a matter of fact, as a result of quiet diplomatic engagements preparatory to Obama's Myanmar visit, the first ever by a US president, Myanmar's quasi-military elected President Thein Sein pledged to address violence between Muslims and Buddhists. Vowing to examine more fundamentally the causes behind ethnic riots and massacre of Rohingya Muslim minority in the Rakhaine State adjoining Bangladesh, he spoke to members of the Sangha as reported by Myanmar state organ New Light of Myanmar two days before Obama arrived. He explained: "The country will lose face among the international community if we fail to pursue the norms of human rights and humanitarian efforts being practised in many countries."
President Thein blamed "nationalist and religious extremists" in Rakhine State for the deadly clashes between the Muslim Rohingya minority and the Buddhist majority, which resulted in almost 200 people being killed and over 110,000 mostly Rohingya people being displaced since fighting erupted in June.
In a letter sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, President Thein hinted at reforms to Burma's restrictive nationality laws, under which the Rohingya are excluded from citizenship and so rendered stateless. The letter stated that the government was prepared to "address contentious political dimensions, ranging from re-settlement of displaced populations to the granting of citizenship".
Myanmar govt. and Suu Kyi failed
That appears to be the biggest concession yet to overseas criticism that both the government and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi had failed to address the root causes of the sectarian violence in Rakhine State. President Thein in his appraisal, however, continued to give a mistaken account of Rohingya advent in Myanmar.
In his November 16 meeting with members of the Sangha led by members of the State Central Working Committee of the Sangha Mingalayama Monastery Sayadaw Agga Maha Pandita Bhaddanta Ratthasara of Botahtaung Township and heads of Islam, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar U Thein Sein put forward the details of the "undertakings of the government over incidents in Rakhine State under the law" as follows:
"In 2012, there occurred two cases of violence, killings and arsons. In the incident, the violence killed 167 people and injured 223. A total of 10,100 houses and buildings were razed in the incident. It displaced 111,000 people from 16980 households. The government is taking care of these victims with the assistance of well-wishers, UN agencies, some foreign countries and organisations. The root cause of the outbreak of the incident is that two groups committed the killings with anger over a criminal case instead of solving it in the legal bound. It has grown into a massive violence, causing killings, damages and woes. All of these losses are the State's losses. Some with strong racial and sectarian views are manipulating the incidents in order that it may grow into a massive violence. In addition, some foreign organizations and countries were releasing fabrications.
"Anyway, the bloodsheds that occurred in Rakhine State have caused a halt to Myanmar's development and (we) lost face on the international stage. There were allegations over Myanmar. And the new government has to settle the problems with some countries including the UN.
"Bengali people who take faith in Islam have been living in Rakhine State since the time of the British colonial rule. According to the census taken by the British in 1872, there were 58,255 Mahamadem there. Those people were doing farming. They went back to a neighbouring country just when finishing their works. Later, they settled down there without going back to their places. The successive governments laid down plans to prevent this as a national duty as there were people born from original residents and ill-legal migrants. During June and October incidents, there occurred conflicts in 11 of 17 townships in Rakhine State. It is found that the percentage of people who have suffered the consequences of it is 53.8 percent (women), 46.2 percent (men) and 42.9 percent (children under 12), mostly women and children.
"The disruptions of some Rakhine national youths with strong racism and some Bengali have caused a halt to distribution of rations by UN's staff and volunteers to the affected regions. It leads to the more hardship of victims' livelihoods.
"Rakhine State has seen nearly seven times of communal strife since 1942 in its northern part and 2012 incidents are of the severest ones with perceived instigations designed for conversion from usual social phenomenon to political process.
"The conflicts were attributable to attempts for widening the social gap based on long-existed differences of race, religion, language, culture and custom between the two societies. It is concluded that preemptive measures to further reinforce the differences between the two societies and gain upper hand over each other have led to conflicts. In reality, it needs to learn from the examples of different global countries in modern world in which diverse races, languages, religions and customs are converted and utilized as national rich resources.
"In reviewing the root causes of communal strife, ground situation and socioeconomic status apart from historical background and racist sentiment are found as root causes. Socio-economic conditions—isolation of the state due to poor transportation, low education standard coupled with poverty, and fewer business and job opportunities are seen as the root causes of the issue.
In reality, Rakhine State is the back gate of Myanmar with commercial opportunities with Western countries, the Middle East nations, ASEAN countries as well as India and Bangladesh.
Not only Myanmar, but also China and landlocked states near north-east India are interested in using ports in Rakhine State and we should turn the Rakhine State to the trade center of the region. Sittway and Kyaukpyu deep seaports in Rakhine State would become the international seaports in 2013. Similarly, plans have been made to upgrade the Thandwe, Kyaukpyu and Sittway airports to international airports. Gas pipelines and oil pipelines have been laid from Kyaukpyu to Kunming of the People's Republic of China and when roads and railroads are completed in parallel with the pipelines, Rakhine would become the corridor not only to link with the mainland but also to link the east and west nations and would become the trade center. "Myanmar is a member of the United Nations and it has relations with other countries in the world and has responsibility to settle the humanitarian issues in comply with the international standard. If it fails to comply with the human rights standard and humanitarian standard that is being practiced by other countries, the image of the country will be tarnished."
Dhaka cut a sorry figure
In dealing with the latest Rohingya tragedy, Bangladesh government leaders as the immediate neighbours and kin to Rohingyas have cut a sorry figure and displayed brute insensitivity. Despite repeated calls by the UNHCR and international human rights organisations, Bangladesh refused to allow any more Rohingya refugees to enter Bangladesh soil by land and turned boat-loads of distressed Rohingyas daring sea-waves to seek shelter back to the high seas to possible watery graves, albeit with some kind words of sympathy and some food.
For all the justifications for Bangladesh to block another refugee influx, internal and external publicity of tough measures of border surveillance and ham-fisted treatment of those who sneaked in did not go well in any quarter. In August, OIC executive board held a meeting on Rohingya Muslims and Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu claimed success in bringing together under the name "United Coordination Council" 24 separate Rohingya organisations.
He called upon the world community to put pressure on the regime in Myanmar so that the law adopted in 1982 that took away the citizenship rights of Rohingya Muslims gets repealed. In September, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu took along medical supplies and donations collected by Turkey's Red Crescent to deliver to "probably more than 50,000 Muslims and 20,000 Buddhists" who have been displaced from their homes by the conflict," as he himself visited Myanmar to "observe the situation on the ground".
The Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan also went to see distressed Rohingyas in their camps and villages. The visit left her in tears. Early November Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) chairman Jusuf Kalla to discuss the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar. Kalla informed the media after the meeting: "During their humanitarian work in Myanmar, the PMI and the Turkish Red Cross faced a few difficulties in getting certain permits from the Myanmarese government but we will overcome it together." No one from Bangladesh went anywhere near the Rohingya's in distress.
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