Forcibly collected population data in Maungdaw Township

Source Kaladanpress, 28 Aug

Maungdaw, Arakan sate: Police and army accompanied by immigration forcibly collected so-called population data in Maungdaw Township including south and north, said Hakim from the locality. "On August 25, at Raja Bill village of Aley Than Kyaw village tract of Maungdaw south, the police and army along with immigration— forced the villagers to take part in so-called data collection."

The police officer of Aley Than Kyaw camp sent warrant letters to 38 villagers of Raja Bill village on August 24, for not coming to the camp for giving list in so-called population data collection. So, a group of police went to the village on August 25 to arrest them, showing the warrant letters, said a local elder preferring not to be named.

However, the police arrested five villagers and brought to their camp where they were threatened and forced them to give promise that they will participate in population data collection and also they have to organize other villagers. After that they were released, the elder added.

The police also said, "If the villagers do not take part in the population data collection, they will be jailed six months per each."

As a result, 11 families were participated in population data collection, but other family members fled away from the village to avoid harassment of the police. The police ordered to the rest villagers to come to the police camp within August 30, to take part in so-called population data collection, said a businessman from the locality.

Police forcibly collected population data from the following families:- Sayedur Rahman (70); Mohamed Hassan(55), son of Fazal; Moulvi Mohamed Rashid (40), son of Mogul; Habi Ullah( 40), son of Mahadu; Abdul Alim ( 45), son of Kala Meah; Abdu Salam ( 70), son of Fozu; Ms Zubaira Begum (35), Daughter of Kala Meah; two brothers Ismail (35) and Salamat Ullah (50), son of Fazal Ahmed and Habi Rahman (60), son of Abu Jalil, according to a village leader.

Besides, today ( on August 28), a group of police, army and immigration went to Naya Para ( Wra Thait) village of Powet Chaung village tract of Maungdaw north, and arrest 10 villagers including males and females as refusing to participate in population data collection, said Jasim ( not real name) from the village.

The arrested villagers are identified as— Ms Taslima (17), daughter of Jalal Ahmed; Ms Sanowara (20), daughter of Baila; Ms Monowara (18), daughter of Dila; Ms Yasmin (20), daughter of Serazul Islam; Ms Parmin (18), daughter of Mohamed Shoffi; Ms Yasmin (17), daughter of Mohamed Khasim; Saiful (45); Shomshu Alam (25); Ayub (30), son of Abul Khasim; and Moulvi Mohamed Sayed (70), he more added.

The village Administration officer Kamal Hussain, police agents—Mohamed Shoffi, Mohamed Ali and Islam gave full cooperation to the police to get population data collection. All the arrestees were handcuffed by police and some young girls were beaten up severely for closing doors of their homes, said a local youth preferring not to be named.

The village has 70 families and the police are able to collect census most of the families. They wrote "Bengali" in placed of "Rohingya"in the Form.

The Burmese government will announce that they are successful in collecting census in northern Arakan and the villagers willingly participated in the so-called population data collection, said a politician from Maungdaw who denied to be named.

Saya Zahangeer stated the full speech of Rakhine state Chief minister

Source burmatimes, 20 Aug

 

--- MP U Aung Myo Min

By Theing Hlaing 21 August 2014

Burma Times: Maungdaw, western Myanmar-Saya(teacher) U Zahangeer was invited in Burma Times wechat group on 15^th Augsut. The Chairman of the Burma Times Media Mr. Osman moderated the session of holding talks concerning Rakhine state with well-versed Rohingya (teacher) U Zahangeer. He, Saya U Zahangeer stated completely about the meeting in which the Rakhine state chief minister appointed by President Thein Sein,Mg Mg Ohn, pleaded both Rakhine and Rohingya people to obey the current rules of the Union of the Republic of Myanmar.

An exclusive meeting was held by Rakhine state's new chief minister Mg Mg Ohn, two other concerned administrators, Rakhine elders, Rohingya MPs and Rohimgya Elders in Thiri Mingla Hall which is located in the center of the town of Maungdaw on Thursday, 14th August in the evening at around 4: pm.

At the very beginning of the meeting, he said that Majority is ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Minority is ethnic Rohingya Muslims.

At the beginning of the meeting he introduced himself that I am not a public minister but I am the one who was appointed by the Myanmar president Thein Sein to dutifully carry out the national task in this Rakhine State so I became chief minister in this Rakhine State.

And he said that "I want to express a word that I am doing what was the Myanmar president ordered as well as I hoped that you will try to understand my speeches that what I said and think carefully what I urged and don't forget my speeches that it is not president ordered or announcement".

"We are making our country like international Democratic country. The democracy country can't stay alone and we have communication with all countries of this world, compromise with the international system and we must respect all the criteria of International. In the previous time, our country was in the poorest country declaration because we had done by one nation policy with our people without communicating other countries. So we remain in the lower part of this world. Now we are trying to be pure Democratic country with international system," said Mg Mg Ohn.

In our country, US President Obama had arrived last year to make strong relation with the United Nations. And our president Thein Sein had gone to the United State of America to in improve the bilateral relationship between USA and Burma. So our country is concerned to the world countries and we involved in the law of international Democratic countries. And we must respect international law but the Rakhine Buddhists thought that we don't want to compromise with international community.

Now we are obtaining international pressure from the world country. Pressure is two types—first is fearful and second is fearless. The international pressure is fearful for both Myanmar Government and its citizens. So the Rakhine citizens should understand about the Rakhine state's violence which is really interesting in the international media. This Rakhine state awful event became on this first step in the international eyes.

In the previous days, the international organizations had been driven out by the Rakhine Buddhists. So this kind of awful events occurred in Rakhine state got concerned in international affairs. I think these kinds of self-desires which trigger awful events should be stopped. And it is emphasized that the entire inhabitants of Rakhine state should refrain from involvement of creating tense situation as it is very important for the state. Peace is very important for the real Democratic country.

Another thoughtful fact is about UN organizations whether you like or not these organizations but you have to obey international law and you have no power to ignore the international system. The UN organizations are the most powerful and they are helping everywhere to every victims affected by war,psunami,Strom,natural disasters and so on. They can do everything what they want to bring peace in the ground. This is unacceptable performance of Buddhists Rakhine majority that you triggered violence against between INGOs. The Myanmar Government is facing many kinds of problems on a count of this unwanted immoral behavior of some Buddhists people.

When Rakhine Buddhists raised voices that we love our generations but it is not possible to love entire people of Rakhine State, he, Mg Mg Ohn told he thinks the above Speech of Rakhine Buddhists may bring disadvantages than advantages.

He urged Rakhine people that "avoid what you want to do and think carefully that what we should do".

In current situation, whatever the president or state minister does about these communities, should give precedence to public desire with international law through rules of law.

Nowadays I am hearing hate speeches about me in this Rakhine State. Whatever anyone say about me but I am making our country like full democratic country and I have no enemy in this Rakhine State. The Majority think that it's only concern of Myanmar Government and I think it concerns to all nationalities of Myanmar. If something occurs in the Rakhine State, it will be concerned for all of the people of Myanmar.

The old minister was very good but he didn't control his state so he resigned by his own decision from his seat.

Another interesting matter is there is many map in our particular state. I saw this Rakhine State's map in the wall of the president's Royal Room except all maps. Because president really interests the State of Rakhine!

Particularly, if it is said with example, when you want to develop your Rakhine State, you have to bring back your peace and If you want to improve your Maungdaw you must perform peaceful way. Peace can bring development and development can carry the peace of life. So both Muslims and Buddhists communities are very important to bring peace like before!

Many people had played with the flames and knives last two years but now I will handle it. And if a person tries to do anything to bring violence again I will not accept it at all.

Last Month, when I got an opportunity in the Pyay Thu Lutt Daw( Parliamentary house),my desire has been described that the education of Rakhine State where Many Rohingya have been banned to get normal Education since 2012.

In Maungdaw, Myanamr-Bangladesh border, thousands of Rohingya secondary students couldn't get opportunity to go the capital of Rakhine State for their education, said the State administrator.

Then, since2012-2013, many Rohingya University students and primary school students have been lost their education on account of the violence. In 2014,all Rohingya students have been facing educational crisis like 2012,2013 as well, explained by MP from Maungdaw constituency.

I intended I will show my desire to change this students' life in meeting of second Parliamentary House. In this 2014, many Rohingya students have obtained 3,4,5,6 distinctions in their favorite subjects so I would request on be half of them to get their suitable majors, the state minister said.

After concluded this meeting, at once, participated in another meeting with Rohigya elders including a former Rohingya MP U Kyaw Myint .

In this meeting, U Kyaw Myint asked about the historical evidence of Myanmar Government's citizenship card. He has his grandfather's card where it was prescribed as Rohingya and currently why I have to be accepted that name as Bengali.

"In this Maungdaw, ten percentage of population have checked by the MaKaPa(The branch of Immigration department). Why other 90 percentage ignore this inquiry and reject to the government's order? So I just want to say that all of you to obey and corporate with government. We need to check the population of Rakhine State i.e. how many people are in Rakhine State and what they want to survive in this current situation? So we need to update in the international media" Said the State minister.

Now one of Rohinbya MPs, U Myo Min raised his voice with public's questions saying that you are the father of Rakhine state, our honorable state chief minister, so I would like to express our public voices. Few days ago, I have visited d to the rural area about this populations list known as Alley Than Kyaw and I have met More than 200 Rohingya people in that village.

Why the whole Rohingya ignore to engage in population inquiry and I want to explain some public desire, said MPU Myo Min. '

At first Rohingya people think that Government makes us Bengali because Government is writing in the headlines of those population inquiry sheets like "IMMIGRATED BENGALI" so they dread official making Bengali instead Rohingya ethnicity.

Secondly,iIf we accept the name Bengali we know we will get temporarily white card according to the constitutional law of 1982.And we also know that we will never get the green card of Nationalities.

Thirdly, our religious school, Madrasah, Masjids( Muslim worshipping house) have been closed on a count of violence by the government since 2012 till now. Religious building is great place to make a perfect people. So our people concerned seriously as children are going to be uncivil due to lack of basic education day by day because Religious school or Masjids are closed, according to the statement of our religious elders from rural area.

The state minister replied that education question is pleasant for me because thousands Rohingya University student were banned to attend the state university. So I will go to the capital Naypyidaw in the next date of 18/19 then I will urge President Thein Sein about the education, by the way, you have to obey the rule of Myanmar government.

 

After displacing 200,000 and driven-out hundred thousands of Rohingyans and Kamans into foreign, what the government trying to set?

Remember this population list is neither Bengali nor Rohingya but we need the population list and you must compromise to succeed every role of government. If you all do this I hope everything will become normal such as religious building, school, Madrasa and we will try to open it all.

We are trying to withdraw the citizen cards in Maypon(a town from Rakhine State).fifty eight persons have been checked by the government among them All peoples can show the Burma evidence but some people can't show the Burma evidence.They will become a citizen who can show the evidence of Myanmar government according to constitutional law of 1982. If you believe me, believe my speeches and if you don't believe me then you ignore my speeches. I hope you all understand me to compromise with the government.

Pressed by Myanmar, foreign officials veer away from using name of Muslim minority group

Source hosted,18 Aug

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON
Associated Press

FILE - In this June 25, 2014, file photo, a Rohingya refugee holds her daughter who suffers from a skin disease in their makeshift tent at Dar Paing camp, north of Sittwe, Rakhine state, Myanmar. Myanmar's downtrodden Rohingya Muslims have been denied citizenship, targeted in deadly sectarian violence and corralled into dirty camps without aid. To heap on the indignity, Myanmar's government is pressuring foreign officials not to speak the group's name, and the pressure appears to be working. U.N. officials say they avoid the term in public to avoid stirring tensions between Buddhists and Muslims. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced serious concern about the situation when he met with Myanmar leaders last weekend. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Myanmar's downtrodden Rohingya Muslims have been denied citizenship, targeted in deadly sectarian violence and corralled into dirty camps without aid. To heap on the indignity, Myanmar's government is pressuring foreign officials not to speak the group's name, and the tactic appears to be working.

U.N. officials say they avoid the term in public to avoid stirring tensions between the country's Buddhists and Muslims. And after Secretary of State John Kerry recently met with Myanmar leaders, a senior State Department official told reporters the U.S. thinks the name issue should be "set aside."

That disappoints Tun Khin, president of the activist group Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK. He said by not using it, governments are co-operating with a policy of repression.

"How will the rights of the Rohingya be protected by people who won't even use the word `Rohingya'?" he said.

Myanmar authorities view the Rohingya (pronounced ROH'-hin-gah) as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, not one of the 135 officially recognized ethnic groups. Longstanding discrimination against this stateless minority, estimated to number 1.3 million, has intensified as Myanmar has opened up after decades of military rule. More than 140,000 Rohingya have been trapped in crowded camps since extremist mobs from the Buddhist majority began chasing them from their homes two years ago, killing up to 280 people.

Racism against the Rohingya is widespread, and some see in the communal violence the warning signs of genocide.

The United States has called on the government to protect them. When President Barack Obama visited Myanmar less than two years ago, he told students at Yangon University: "There is no excuse for violence against innocent people. And the Rohingya hold themselves - hold within themselves the same dignity as you do, and I do."

Yet neither Kerry this month, nor top human rights envoy Tom Malinowski during a June visit, uttered the term at their news conferences when they talked with concern about the situation in Rakhine state, where sectarian violence is perhaps worst. Buddhist mob attacks against Rohingya and other Muslims have spread from the western state to other parts of the country, sparking fears that nascent democratic reforms in the nation could be undermined by growing religious intolerance.

The State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly, said the U.S. position is that to force either community to accept a name that they consider offensive - including the term "Bengali" that the government uses to describe Rohingya - is to "invite conflict." The department says its policy on using "Rohingya," however, hasn't changed.

Foreign aid workers have been caught up in the tensions. Buddhist hardliners have attacked homes and offices of aid workers it accuses of helping Muslims and not the smaller number of Buddhists also displaced by the violence. Doctors Without Borders was expelled by the government in February and is still waiting to be allowed back.

The humanitarian situation has worsened. The U.N. said the number of severe malnutrition cases more than doubled between March and June, and the world body's top human rights envoy for Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, last month called the situation "deplorable."

She said she'd been repeatedly told by the government not to use the name "Rohingya," although she noted under international law that minorities have to the right to self-identify on the basis of their national, ethnic, religious and linguistic characteristics.

Myanmar Information Minister Ye Htut said in an email to The Associated Press that the name had never been accepted by Myanmar citizens. He said it was created by a separatist movement in the 1950s and then used by exile activists to pressure Myanmar's former military government at the United Nations in the 1990s.

While there is a reference to "Rohingya" by a British writer published in 1799, use of the term by the Muslim community in Rakhine to identify themselves is fairly recent, according to Jacques Leider, an expert on the region's history.

Rohingya leaders claim their people are descendants of Muslims who settled in Rakhine before British colonial rule, which began after a war in 1823. The British occupation opened the doors to much more migration of Muslims from Bengal. Current Myanmar law denies full citizenship to those whose descendants arrived after 1823.

The name debate is reminiscent of whether to call the country by its old name, Burma, or Myanmar - the title adopted by the then-ruling military junta in 1989. Washington still officially uses "Burma," although U.S. officials also refer to "Myanmar" - a sign of the improved ties with the former pariah state.

But in this contest over semantics, the stakes are higher.

Rohingya were excluded from a U.N.-supported national census this spring if they identified themselves as Rohingya. They face stiff restrictions on travel, jobs, education and how many children they can have. They are also unwelcome in Bangladesh, where they have fled during crackdowns inside Myanmar since the 1970s.

Either because of government prodding or a desire to avoid confrontation, staff of foreign embassies and aid agencies in Myanmar rarely say "Rohingya" in public these days, and may simply say "Muslims." In June, the U.N. children's agency even apologized for using the term "Rohingya" at a presentation in Rakhine, an incident which drew criticism from rights activists.

"Any humanitarian agency or donor who refuses to use the term is not just betraying fundamental tenants of human rights law, but displaying cowardice that has no place in any modern humanitarian project," said David Mathieson, senior researcher on Myanmar for Human Rights Watch.

---

Associated Press writer Robin McDowell in Yangon, Myanmar, contributed to this report.

Standing up for religious liberty in Burma

Source abpnews, 11 Aug

The Burmese government is going where it ought not in matters of faith and conscience.

In December of 2013, something remarkable happened. More than 30,000 people — including many Baptist leaders from around the world — gathered in Burma to celebrate the life and legacy of a man and woman they'd never met.

Two hundred years earlier, Ann and Adoniram Judson arrived in Burma to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and to make disciples. Equally, if not more, remarkable than this celebration is the fact that beginning in 2006, as refugees from Burma¹ began arriving in the United States, many sought Baptist churches in which to continue the practice of their faith. The mission that began with the efforts of the Judsons had returned full circle to the land of its origins.

As we celebrate this legacy and the deep bond between American Baptists and the people of Burma, we also lament the current state of affairs in that country including abuses targeting ethnic minority Christians and Muslims and a proposed "Religious Conversion Law" currently being considered by Burma's parliament.

In its 2014 report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom noted that "political reforms in Burma have not improved legal protections for religious freedom and have done little to curtail anti-Muslim violence, incitement and discrimination, particularly targeting the Rohingya Muslim minority." The report went on to indicate that "state-sponsored discrimination and state-condoned violence against Rohingya and Kaman ethnic Muslim minorities also continued, and ethnic minority Christians faced serious abuses during recent military incursions in Kachin state."

When an American Baptist delegation traveled to Burma in December 2013 for the 200th anniversary Judson celebration, the delegation heard firsthand testimony from the Kachin about the ongoing atrocities against them by the military. Based on these violations of basic human rights and freedoms, USCIRF continues in 2014 to recommend that Burma be designated as a "country of particular concern," a designation the State Department has maintained with respect to Burma since 1999.²

Meanwhile, Burma's parliament is considering legislation that would create a governmental registration board to approve all religious conversions. While stating that "everyone has the freedom to convert from one religion to another," the law would require that an individual seeking to do so supply a registration board with an extensive list of personal information and answers to intrusive questions. The legislation includes penalties of up to two years in jail for those applying to convert "with intent to insult, disrespect, destroy or to abuse a religion," though it remains unclear how such intent would be proved.³

Responding to these developments, the Board of General Ministries of the American Baptist Churches, USA, at its June 2014 meeting took action to support legislation currently being considered in Congress (S. 1885 and H.R. 4377) that would require advances in human rights and religious liberty by the government of Burma as a condition of security assistance. In addition, the board has expressed its strong concern to the governments of Burma and the United States over restrictions of religious liberty in the proposed religious conversion law.

As Baptists, we stand in a long line of those who have sought to defend and extend religious liberty. As early as 1611, we held, "The magistrate is not by virtue of his office to meddle with religion, or matters of conscience, to force or compel anyone to this or that form of religion or doctrine, but to leave the Christian religion free to everyone's conscience, and handle only civil transgressions, for Christ only is the King and lawgiver of the church and conscience."⁴

The government of Burma is clearly meddling with religion, not only with respect to ethnic minority Christians, but also with respect to other ethnic minorities, including Rohingya and Kaman ethnic Muslims. The government is going where it ought not in matters of faith and conscience.

As the mission of the Judsons has returned full circle to the land of its origins, let our concern for religious liberty return to the people of Burma. With thanksgiving for the freedom we enjoy, let us exercise it on behalf of all those in Burma who now suffer and struggle to practice their faith freely.

Notes:
(1) According to a fact sheet from the Department of State, the military government in Burma changed the country's name to "Myanmar" in 1989, but "[i]t remains U.S. policy to refer to the country as Burma in most contexts."
(2) USCIRF Annual Report, 2014 (p. 43)
(3) USCIRF Deeply Concerned by Draft "Religious Conversion Law," June 11, 2014.
(4) The Amsterdam Confession of 1611 as cited in the American Baptist Policy Statement on Church and State.

OPINION: Views expressed in ABPnews/Herald columns and commentaries are solely those of the authors.

Tagged under: Curtis Ramsey Lucas

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Curtis Ramsey-Lucas

Curtis Ramsey-Lucas is managing director of resource development for the American Baptist Home Mission Societies. He currently is chair of the board of directors of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.

Fortify Rights: Charges Against Rohingya Activist “Unfounded”

Source Karen news, 9 July

A Human rights organization has called for the release of a Rohingya activist and politician, Kyaw Hla Aung, 74, who has been detained by authorities for 13 months.

Fortify Rights, based in South East Asia, urged Burma's government to "immediately and unconditionally" release Kyaw Hla Aung and criticized the detention because the prosecution had "repeatedly failed to produce witnesses' in the case.

Kyaw Hla Aung was arrested in July for allegedly organizing illegal protests and instigating violence against the police. Fortify Rights said the charges were "unfounded." The protests, mostly made up of Rohingya Muslims, were sparked by government attempt to registerthe Rohingya population as 'Bengali' in a citizenshipsurvey.

If found guilty, the charges put against Kyaw Hla Aung could lead to a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.

The Fortify Rights statement came as Sittwe's District Court, in Rakhine State, again extended Kyaw Hla Aung's detention, denying him bail and setting the next court hearing to August 18.

Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, claimed the case was a sham. "Rakhine State authorities have kept Kyaw Hla Aung locked up for over a year, demonstrating the urgent need for the central government to intervene to free him. The case against him is completely without merit. His ongoing detention violates his basic human rights and is an affront to the rule of law."

The Rohingya, an ethnic minority of around one million people, have faced mounting persecution in Burma from Buddhist extremists following deadly unrest in Rakhine State in June 2012 and are not recognized as citizens under the country's 1982 citizenship law, leaving 800,000 stateless. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that as many as 140,000 Rohingya are now internally displaced, with many forced to live in run-down camps that lack basic services. In February this year, Buddhist mobs attacked international aid group's offices, including the UN office, forcing them out of Rakhine State until July when the government, under international pressure, guaranteed the safety of aid workers if they returned.

Matthew Smith said that Kyaw Hla Aung was targeted because he was an outspoken campaigner for Rohingya rights. "The arrest and detention of Kyaw Hla Aung is part of a broader campaign of persecution being perpetrated against the Rohingya ethnic minority in Myanmar. The international community must address the flagrant disregard for the rights of the Rohingya population."

A report by Fortify Rights released in February found the government at fault for serious human rights violations against Rohingya, including arbitrary arrests and torture. A 2013 report by Human Rights Watch said that Burma authorities and 'Arakanese groups' had committed "crimes against humanity" and were pursuing "ethnic cleansing" against Rohingya.

"The case against Kyaw Hla Aung is only one example of the multitude of abuses against the Rohingya population," Mr Smith added, "The human rights situation in Rakhine State is appalling and it's the direct result of policies implemented by the state and central governments."

BROUK's press statement: One Rohingya killed and two injured ahead of John Kerry’s visit to Burma

Just days before US Secretary of State John Kerry is due to visit Burma, more than 100 security forces came to the Rohingya IDPs camp in Thandawlee village in Sittwe, capital of Arakan State, and killed one Rohingya and seriously injured two others. More than 15 Rohingyas were arrested by security forces. At the same time, Rohingyas in Buthidaung and Maungdaw, in northern Arakan, have been arrested, threatened and harassed while the government attempts to collect population data.

 

"If the US government wants to see clear progress on the Rohingya issue in Burma, John Kerry should be setting timelines and benchmarks for progress, including to restore Rohingya citizenship and for the lifting of restrictions on aid, movement, marriage and education in Arakan," said BROUK's President Tun Khin.

 

Since June 2012, violence against the Rohingya has continued and the situation continues to deteriorate. In March, hundreds of aid workers were evacuated after facing attacks. More than 150 Rohingyas and 20 pregnant women died in the two weeks after Doctors Without Borders (MSF) were expelled from Arakan in March. Many children have died because of malnutrition. Although MSF have now been allowed back into Arakan, there are still serious restrictions on aid and movement for the thousands of Rohingya IDPs.

"The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma has stated that the widespread and systematic human rights violations in Arakan State 'may constitute crimes against humanity'. The US government should be supporting an international investigation into human rights abuses in Arakan State" said Tun Khin, President of BROUK.

 

BROUK urges US Secretary of State John Kerry;

 .

1. To support an independent international investigation into human rights abuses in Arakan.
2. To put pressure on President Thein Sein (i) to stop immediately  the violence and crimes against the Rohingya and to protect the lives of Rohingya (ii)to allow humanitarian NGOs full and free access to the Rohingya in all parts of Arakan; (iii) to repeal or amend the 1982 Citizenship Law in order that it conforms with international standards; (iv) to stop the segregation of communities in Arakan and replace it with a proactive policy of 'peaceful co-existence'.

 

For more information, please contact Tun Khin +44 7888 714 866. 

Human rights group deplores Myanmar court extension of Rohingya activist Kyaw Hla Aung detention

Source abc news, 6 Aug

 

Photo: Muslim Rohingya women walk inside the Bawdupha Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp located on the outskirts of Sittwe, capital of Myanmar's western Rakhine state on October 30, 2012. (AFP)

Map: Burma

A court in Myanmar's Rakhine state has extended the detention of a prominent Rohingya human rights activist.

Kyaw Hla Aung was arrested last year by Myanmar police who accused him of instigating protests against government efforts to register Rohingyas as 'Bengali', and not Myanmar citizens.

Human rights organisation Fortify Rights says the case against Kyaw Hla Aung is totally without merit.

Executive director Matthew Smith has told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific the 74-year-old activist's public profile has made him a police target.

"He's been meeting with ambassadors and other people who had visited Rakhine state who were very concerned about the human rights situation there and this, and some of his other activities, exposed him to the Myanmar authorities in a way that we think led to his arrest and detention," Mr Smith said.

"There are some Rohingya who do have connections to the outside world, to areas outside of Rakhine state and internationally, and there are some who have the ability to communicate the plight of Rohingya.

"Kyaw Hla Aung is one of those people.

"He hasn't done anything wrong, hasn't violated any laws, but he's being persecuted because he's a human rights defender.

"We're trying to urge the central government now to intervene because much of the problems with this particular case stem from the local authorities."

How effective that lobbying will be remains to be seen.

Matthew Smith says the Myanmar government routinely denies the very existence of the Rohingya ethnicity, and severe human rights abuses occur daily against the Muslim population, in spite of international condemnation.

But he says Kyaw Hla Aung has been in detention for more than a year and there are concerns for his health and well-being.

"He has suffered from ill-health in the past," he said.

"Rakhine state is a very difficult place to be if you suffer from health problems, and being in prison in Rakhine state is even more difficult.

"This should be reason alone to do something about his incarceration right now."

Fortify Rights says since violence started in 2012, authorities have arrested more than one thousand Rohingya men and boys, and an unknown number remain behind bars.

Matthew Smith says the international community needs to get serious about the severe human rights violations that are persisting in Rakhine state.

"What we're trying to do now is to press upon various actors in the international community to pressure not only Naypidaw, but also the local authorities in Rakhine state, to respect and protect the human rights of the Rohingya community."

Topics:human, prisons-and-punishment, burma, asia