Update News of Arakan

Source- Unreported news of Rohingya,

Kyauktaw town

10 Feb (BRAT- Mg Kyaw Nu): Lahsaungkok and Zaila fara (fishing village) are surrounded by Rakhine people and aggressive attacks have been carried-out from 2 Feb 2012. By afternoon 2pm of 10 Feb, a Rohingya, Norjun's house Lahsaungkok (baró fara), was set fire by a gang of Rakhine. But, local authorities arrest Rohingya villagers and extort money from them.

Recently two battalions have been shifted to Kyauktaw from Maungdaw. The Rohingya villagers understood that it is only additional preparation for own military purposes since Rakhine rebel forces have continuously entering into the town.

8 Feb (ERCA- Rofiq): A boat load with about 200 arms, was apprehanded by government military in a Rakhine village of Taungpauk village. Earlier this, about 20 items of hidden bombs in a Mro village call Athak Gauk Rwa, were discovered after a Mro-villager reported to military. Surprisingly, no Rakhine has been arrested so far..

Maungdaw town

10 Feb (Kaladanpress): Four Rohingya minor children from Deen Mohamed's family namely- Nuruzawma, Rozena Begum,Yasmin Ara and Mozena, aged 10, 8, 6 and 4 (three females and one male) from Khaza Bill (Sapaikone) village under Nasaka area No.(5), were slaughtered and a Rakhine was killed and three wounded by unknown miscreants in Maungdaw north yesterday night.
"On that night, a group of unknown miscreants went to Deen Mohamed's house of Khaza Bill (Sapaikone) village,under Nasaka area No.5 of Maungdaw north while he was not present in the house. He has been working with GE military at Burma- Bangladesh border. After entering the house, the miscreants slaughtered all four minor children and abducted the mother –Roza- of the children and she is yet to be found."
In the early morning, a group of Nasaka personnel from Nasaka area No.(5) went to the spot, and arrested villagers arbitrarily from the road, and from fishing project while on the way to village, said another villager on condition of anonymity.

Besides, last night, at around 1:00 pm, Rohingya villagers heard firing sound from Nga Khura (Rakhine -Myothet) village. So, from nearby Rohingya villagers tried to go to the spot, to see the matter, but Nasaka stopped them from going, said a local business man from the locality.
But, in the morning, the Rohingya villagers came to know that one Rakhine villager was dead and another three Rakhine villagers including U Ba Chit, were wounded, among them two are serious, the businessman added.

At present, the Nasaka (Burma border security force) are surrounding the Loung Don village (Rohingya village) to arrest villagers as the Nasaka and local Rakhine villagers believed that the unknown miscreants are neighboring villagers. At around 6:00 pm, 107 villagers (including 26 women and 32 children) were arrested and were brought to the Nasaka camp, according to a local elder.

6 Feb (Kaladanpress):

11 Rohingya villagers who were arrested by the security force after 8 June bigoted violence between Rakhine and Rohingya, were sentenced to 10 years jail by the Judge of speedy Trial Tribunal No.(2) without any proper inquiry and asking any questions.

The victims were identified as---

Jaker Hussain-25 s/o Abdul Hakim, Eliyas-30 s/o Habi Ullah, and Sayed Amin-44 s/o Bosho, hailed from Hati Para (village),

Enam-35 s/o Hairul Boshor, Keramat Ali-25 s/o Moktol Hussain, Monshi Alam-25 s/o Abul Khasim, Abdu Karim-25 and his younger brother Taher-18 s/o Nabi Hussain, Jor Moluk-45, Hairul Boshor-27 s/o Shokot Ali, and Salim-35 s/o Boshor,hailed from Zedi Pyin village.

The three other villagers released after paying money are - Ali Zuhar-18 s/o Ali Ahmed hailed from Meazan Para, Wadul Haque-35 s/o Gura Meah of Gret Chaung village were released yesterday and another villager was freed earlier by paying huge money.

Update News of Kyauktaw township

Source unreported news of Rohingya, 7 Feb

 

Rakhine rebel forces are continuously occupying all over Kyauktaw town and the government forces are unable to control them from continuously occupying the territory and waging attacks against Rohingya people.

The military forces who are guarding Rohingya villages in the town areas say that they don't have enough forces to deploy more than four forces per house therefore the villagers must find own save place. Some villagers have digged-up holes and channels in preparation of hiding.

It has been more than 7 months now one million of Rohingya, Kaman and Rakhine muslim population in ten different towns across all over Arakan State of Western Burma have been confined without food supply and facing additional abuses. Beside, there are another 200,000 are ending up in concentration camps monitored by government forces.

All of them are dying slowly from starvation and the death tool increases from 7 to 20 persons in every week.

Thousands of displaced Rohingya still receive ‘no aid’

Source DVB, 5 Feb

 

5 February 2013

Aid workers say thousands of displaced Rohingya still receive no humanitarian aid (Partners Relief and Development)

 

 

Thousands of Muslim Rohingyas, who were uprooted after sectarian clashes in western Burma last year, are still not registered as internally displaced persons (IDPs) by the government and continue to be denied humanitarian assistance, local sources have warned.
An international aid worker, who recently returned from the conflict-torn Arakan state, told DVB that she visited remote areas around the state capital Sittwe, where people were forced to beg for food from locals and registered IDPs in order to survive.

"What most of the world is not aware of are the refugees that are not living in [registered] camps," said Oddny Gumaer from Partners Relief and Development. "And those people are living in conditions that are so bad that I'm sure if the international community doesn't do something very soon they are going to die."

She told DVB that she was "overwhelmed" by the conditions in some of the areas she visited, which she described as akin to "concentration camps".
"If they are lucky they have a tarp to cover them, many of them have stitched together old rice sacks. There are no toilets, no sanitation, doctors, and no access to hospitals. I saw babies that were so malnourished and children with bloated stomachs and mothers that couldn't feed their babies because they didn't have any milk."

Arakan state was rocked by two bouts of sectarian violence in June and October last year, when the majority Buddhist population clashed with the Muslim Rohingya — a stateless minority group viewed as illegal Bengali immigrants by the government. While most of the displaced have been registered as IDPs and receive some form of humanitarian aid, many of the Rohingya have not.
A recent report by the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN agency formally tasked with humanitarian distribution in Arakan state, recognised the problem of unregistered Rohingya camps on the outskirts of Sittwe.

"Unregistered IDPs do not receive assistance from the international community, leaving them largely reliant on donations from host villagers and external religious organisations," said the report released in late January. "As a consequence, living conditions for "unregistered" IDP populations are not good, with most living in small huts made of straws and pieces of tarpaulins."

According to the report, many "unregistered" families fled after the October conflict, because of ongoing tensions or fears of renewed clashes in their local area, "sometimes at the behest of authorities". But a WFP spokesperson insisted that the "majority" of those displaced in last year's violence are receiving assistance.
"There is still a relative fluidity to the situation and people are still moving, but the government, WFP and other humanitarian actors are doing everything we can to make sure that all those who should be registered are," Marcus Prior told DVB.

The UN agency says it registered an additional 15,000 people between December and January, bringing the total number of IDPs to 125,000. But it is likely that thousands more, as well as host communities who have lost their livelihoods as a result of travel restrictions, are in need of aid.
"Without a proper assessment led by government it is very difficult to say how many additional people need assistance," Kirsten Mildren from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told DVB via email.

"We know anecdotally that there are people that have arrived from Sittwe town and rural areas to the camps outside Sittwe. Some estimates say as many as 10,000."
A spokesperson for the local state government blamed the Rohingya for refusing to stay in one place.
"I would like to say that [IDPs] in Pauktaw should stay in Pauktaw; why come to Sittwe or Tharyar?," said Win Myaing in an interview with DVB. "Now, when we are making a list in the camp over here, then people from [another camp] will come. Frankly, [the Rohingya] are just attempting to make the list bigger so that they can get more aid."

He also accused the UN of "failing" to provide for unregistered IDPs and host communities affected by the violence. "WFP doesn't provide aid at all for the unregistered refugees. But our government; the state government, is distributing aid for all those who are on the list or not on the list."
WFP insists they have managed to secure access to most of the areas in Arakan state, except for the very remotest. But other aid groups say access continues to be severely hampered by local hostility and government indifference.

Since violence first erupted last year, local nationalists have led a vociferous campaign against international aid groups, who they perceive as treating the Rohingya favourably, even though they account for the vast majority of those displaced.
Peter Aung contributed reporting.

Total Annihilation of Rohingyas from Arakan- Unmasking the Culprits and their long drawn Intention

Source Bangaltimes, 5 Feb

 

---

By---Shuja
The Violence against Rohingyas and the Stand of Bangladesh
The pogroms of Muslim Rohingyas and Kamans in Arakan, Burma started on 8^th June 2012. The continual heinous crimes against them, since then, makes their situation worse than the situation of Jews in Nazi Extermination Camps during WWII, Muslims in Bosnia in the late 90s and Hindus in Sri Lanka in the recent years. Deservingly, their plights are having enough media coverage across the globe. Many concerned Human Rights Groups are openly calling Burma to end the genocides of Rohingyas and Kamans. Being a bordering country, Bangladesh is unable to avoid the aftermaths of the violence against Rohingyas and Kamans in Arakan. Inhumanely pushing the boats loaded with the Rohingya victims fleeing the violence back to the sea by Bangladesh authority has been drawing severe international criticism and condemnation against the country.

Bangladesh has its own reason behind the pushing back of those boats to the sea. Perhaps Bangladesh doesn't want to exaggerate their problems by adding more people to their already booming population. According to the Bangladesh government, they are already hosting thousands of Rohingya refugees in the country, whom they are unable to repatriate to the country of their origin. Yet, so as to avoid some solvable problems, pushing human beings back to the sea to die is unacceptable to many people today. Instead, as a neighboring nation and just as what India did to Bangladesh during its independence struggle, Bangladesh has the moral responsibilities to find out the root-causes of Rohingya problems and a win-win solution for both parties. Or else, if a problem in Arakan arises, naturally Bangladesh will be unable to avoid its aftermaths.

2) The Culprits and Criminals behind the Violence
Though it is widely believed that Burmese government for its political gains is behind the instigation of the violence against Rohingyas and Kamans, there are certainly some interest groups that have been playing behind to create violence and fuelling the fire. To these interest groups, the more the violence, the more the Arakan destabilizes. The more the Arakan destabilizes, the easier their task becomes. After all, what is the interest of these groups? Shockingly, it is something that neither General Bangladeshi nor General Burmese could have imagined. The interest of these groups is to separate Arakan from Burma and Chittagong area from Bangladesh and to unite it to make it into an independent country. In 1900, Indians' dream of an independent India out of British colony might sound funny to British but it is a truth today. Likewise, separating Chittagong from Bangladesh might sound funny to many Bangladeshis today and but it can be a reality of tomorrow!!!

To make things worse and more worrisome, these interest groups have the strong bases and supporters both in Bangladesh and in Burma. They have been working towards achieving this goal for a long time. These interest groups are from none other than people called Rakhine in Burma and Marma, Barua and Chakma etc (in short, Jamma Hill Tribes) in Bangladesh. They have persuaded and recruited more people from other Buddhist minorities of Bangladesh on the ground of the religion. But I don't want to squarely blame all the Buddhists in general in Bangladesh. Indeed, there are Buddhist people who have been giving their lives for the interest of Bangladesh. However, no destructive force should be neglected no matter from which community it is.

Burmese government might be well aware of the separatist tendency of these people. That's why they not only don't fulfill their every demand but also put many restrictions for such movement of theirs. Yet, when it comes to these Rakhines and Rohingyas, the government always favors Rakhines on account of their racial and religious affiliations. But being a democratic country with full of human rights, Bangladesh is giving them those special rights which they can never dream of in Burma. By manipulating the rights given to them, they have been working against the state policy of Bangladesh.

3) Majority of Rakhines are Terrorists and Separatists
To many extremist leaders of Rakhines and their historians with the selective amnesia, Chittagong of Bangladesh and Arakan of Burma were one belonged to the Buddhist people of the race they themselves call Rakhine. Therefore, in the future, too, it must be one country that should belong exclusively to them. It is necessary for Rakhines to wipe out Rohingyas in particular and Muslims in general for they think that as long as there are Muslims in Arakan, they can't have independent Arakan state.
Therefore, with the exception of few, all Burmese Rakhine political parties or armed groups, media groups, woman organizations, youth groups, academics and individuals living outside Burma or on the border are actively working against Rohingyas and Kamans as well as against the interest of Bangladesh in cooperation with the terrorist outfit of United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) in Bangladesh. Some of them are:
Arakan League for Democracy (ALD),
Arakan Liberation Party (ALP),
Democratic Party of Arakan (DPA),
Rakhine Women Union (RWU), based in Dhaka at present,
All Arakan Student and Youth Council (AASYC), and
Dhaka based Narinjara News Agency are hostile to Rohingyas and Muslims.

As it appeared in the numerous news reports, ALP and DPA are well-known to have been involved in robbery, murder, kidnapping, tax collection, poppy cultivation, deforestation and gun running and other crimes in Bandarban area of Chittagong Hill Tracts. Besides, the separatist militants, UPDF, in the hill-tracts work in cooperation with Arakan Liberation Party (ALP). ALP is also a Rakhine Militant Group that has committing mass-killings of Rohingyas in Arakan with the help of local Rakhine extremists.
2. Likewise, Arakan National Council (ANC), an umbrella organization of the Rakhines, in its policy declaration, rejects the Rohingya ethnicity and labels them as illegal Bengali immigrants from Bangladesh.
3. Saw Mra Raza Linn lives in Dhaka and is the President of the Dhaka based Rakhine Woman Union (RWU) and also a central executive member of ALP using the nickname Zeya Myo Line and Mra Aye Thein. She married to a Bangladeshi Buddhist living in Dhaka. Her husband's name is U Chit Maung and one of his sisters is a selected member of parliament in Bangladesh. Despite living in Bangladesh, she works against the interest of Bangladesh and against Rohingyas. Here is her one of the baseless accusations: on 4th April 2007, in an interview with BBC Burmese Service, she said, "still Bangladeshi or Bengalis people are stealthily entering Arakan. They (Bengalis) committed rapes of many Rakhine women." At a time when Arakan has become a hell for its own people, Rohingyas, why will Bangalis go to a land which is ruled by the world's most oppressive government, relatively less economic opportunity, less income (GDP per Capita in Bangladesh and Myanmar in 2011 are US$1700 and US$1300 respectively) and poorer infrastructures?

On 27^th August 2012, she together with other six people from the terrorist groups like ALP and UPDF illegally crossed the Naff River, the Teknaf-Maung Daw border and entered Burma. They were given a warm welcome by the Rakhine extremists and separatists in Arakan. In Akyab (Sittwe), they held several secrets meetings with the Rakhine Buddhist Extremists such as Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) responsible for the ongoing mass killings of Rohingyas and Burmese government officials. They have reached to an agreement with Burmese government to open an ALP liaison office in Arakan. From Arakan, she went to Rangoon (the second capital of Burma) to meet with higher government officials and other members of RNDP. The question is: how could a woman living in Dhaka and known for working against Burmese government for a long time illegally cross Bangladesh-Burma border, enter Burma and go to Rangoon to meet the higher officials of Burmese government unless she went there with an attractive proposal for them (Burmese government)? If so, what kind of proposal could that be? And after staying for two weeks in Burma, she returned to Bangladesh by crossing the same border again and is living in Dhaka now. With whose permission has she been doing that? Is she living in Bangladesh legally?

4) The Malevolent Conspiracy
In late September 2012, there were series of attacks against the Buddhists' houses and monasteries in Cox's Bazaar District. According to an internal source, these attacks against their own monasteries conspired by these interest group in an attempt to destabilize the region. A member from these groups was called Uttam Barua. He, with the advice of his colleagues, has intentionally posted an insulting picture of holy Quran on Social Networking site, Facebook, knowing that Muslims would retaliate. And so happened! There are some benefits for them in doing so.
1) If they could have destabilized the region, their mission would have been achieved.
2) They could not destabilize the region. They are having sympathy of the country's people as well as of government. And they can have more rights that will make their future steps easier.
Fortunately, Bangladesh government was rather quick to take action to normalize the situation which delayed their plans.
3) Besides, by doing so, they have diverted attention of Bangladeshis from the atrocities against Rohingyas in Arakan. To many Bangladeshis' curiosities, the instigator of the attack, Uttam Barua, mysteriously disappeared from the scene after the attacks. Many Bangladeshis wonder where he can be now! According to a source in Burma, he is nowhere but in Burma given shelter by the state.
Why was he given shelter by Burma? What is the benefit for Burma in giving him shelter?

5) It is the Time for Both Bangladesh and Burma to realize their Intention!
It is very unfortunate that neither Burma nor Bangladesh understands the separatist tendency and long term ambition of these Rakhine war criminals. To stop the Rakhine province to secede from Burma, Rakhine leadership is right that it is only Rohingyas that can help Burma stay together. It is important to know that Rakhines are only 5% of total Burmese population but they are 30% in the Burmese army. If they go to jungle, it will be a major challenge for Burma. In addition, there are Rakhine militant groups such as ALP and Arakan Army (AA) working for the same purpose.

Similarly for Bangladesh, research shows, the rebellions in Chittagong Hill Tracts such as UPDF has been instigated largely by the Rakhine separatists from Burma. Some innocent looking Rakhine monks were found to carry weapons in Bangladesh. For its internal security, it would be good for Bangladesh to monitor these war criminals and their movements within Bangladesh. For the Rohingyas, if the international community ignores the killings of Rohingyas by the Rakhine extremist leaders, they and the international community must have the right to arrest them and send them to the ICC and stop their criminal bugging in that part of the world. Surely, if timely actions are not taken, there is a price to pay by both Burma and Bangladesh for silence!

Having said that, being a leading nation in solving Rohingyas' problems through negotiating with Burmese government in cooperation with other nations, raising the matter in the international meetings by using its historians and historical evidences and its news media, Bangladesh can solve Rohingya problems and it will be the win-win situation for both Bangladesh and Rohingyas. Therefore, Bangladesh news media play a vital role in improving the vulnerable situations, solving the chronic problems and easing the oppressions that Rohingyas have been facing for decades. We, therefore, request Bangladesh News Media to possibly highlight the critical situation that Rohingyas and Kamans have been facing in Arakan for months. Highlighting their plights especially by the Bangladesh media will be the most effective in improving their vulnerable situation and hence will be beyond value for them.

145 Rohingya found off Trang

Source Bangkpost, 3 Feb

 

About 145 Rohingya boat people were found crammed inside a vessel without food or water for 48 hours off Mook island in Trang's Sikao district on Sunday.

 

The refugees told authorities that they were headed to Malaysia but their food and water had run out before they reached shore. Feeling exhausted and fatigued from hunger, they then decided to float their vessel off Mook island in the hope of being able to ask for food and water from the locals before they would go on, Pol Col Arthit Damsanit, chief of Marine Police Division 9, said.
Of the 145 Rohingya, there were two women and two children, he said.

Tourist boat operators spotted the vessel in the sea off Park Meng beach in tambon Mai Fard and informed the authorities.
A combined team of marine police and Red Cross officials descended on the boat and provided basic humanitarian aid by giving them food supplies. Officials did not arrest them or bring them ashore because of lack of sheltering facilities. They only pressured them to stay out of Thai territorial waters, Pol Col Arthist said.
About 1,700 Rohingya illegal migrants have been rounded up since early January. Thailand has provided them with food and water on humanitarian grounds.
The Muslim Rohingya are a minority group in Myanmar's Rakhine state and claim they are fleeing violent persecution.

3 Burmese men lost at sea

Source Mizzima, 31 Jan

 

Three Burmese men have been lost at sea after they jumped ship when their makeshift boat broke down between Australia and Indonesia, AFP reported on Thursday.

An Indonesian crewman who was also aboard the people-smuggling ship washed up on a remote Australian island after days clinging to a piece of driftwood.

"The four men reportedly left a disabled vessel on 24 January 2013 on a raft made of inner tubes and bamboo bound with rope," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said to AFP on Thursday.

According to the crewman, their raft broke up in poor weather on their first night at sea and he became separated from the three asylum-seekers, only managing to survive by clinging to a piece of driftwood.

Authorities were first alerted to the men's plight last Friday, when the navy found their original vessel adrift about 20 nautical miles from Christmas Island. The 16 Burmese asylum-seekers on board revealed the raft tale, reported AFP.

"Following confirmation by the survivor that the men were no longer on the raft, AMSA suspended the air and sea search, noting medical advice that the persons could not have survived at sea without support from the raft," it said to AFP.

205 Rohingya boatpeople handed out food and water before “allowing” their journey toward Malaysia

Racha Rohingya 'helped on' by Thai Navy

Phuket Gazette - 29 Jan

PHUKET: The group of Rohingya refugees discovered off Koh Racha Noi today – numbering 205 in total – were given food and water before being "helped on" in their southbound journey.

On hearing the news of the refugees' arrival, Rawai Municipality quickly dispatched a speedboat with basic provisions. The boat departed Chalong Pier about midday, and on arriving at Koh Racha Noi officers on board discovered that a Royal Thai Navy vessel was already there.

About 10 Thai Navy officers checked the refugees and handed out food and water before "allowing" the refugees to continue their journey toward Malaysia, the Phuket Gazette was told.

Throughout the day the Gazette received conflicting reports about the refugees: some stating that there were only men and boys on the boat; others claiming women and children were also on board, as has been the trend with recent Rohingya arrivals in Thailand.

One of the reports received by the Gazette identified Sarit Chandee, a villager on Koh Racha Yai, saying that the Rohingya were first spotted at sea by local fisherman last night.

Mr Sarit described the boat as having two levels, being only several meters wide and 30m long.

The Gazette has yet to learn whether the hundreds of Rohingya reported earlier today at Koh Phra Thong, on the Phang Nga coast north of Phuket, were also "helped on" – or if they were taken into custody by Thai officials, like the hundreds of Rohingya who have arrived by boat over the past few weeks.

The number of Rohingya coming ashore in Phang Nga has forced officials to relocate hundreds of them to immigration centers in other provinces across Southern Thailand (story here).

State news agency MCOT reported yesterday that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought clarification from a variety of agencies on the plight and options of well over 1,000 Rohingya migrants currently in Thai custody (story here).

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

 

350 Rohingya found in Ranong, Phuket

 

Bangkokpost, 30 Jan

 

Nearly 350 illegal Rohingya migrants were found crammed inside two vessels entering Thai waters in southern Ranong and Phuket provinces on Tuesday.

In Ranong, a boat carrying about 140 Rohingya migrants was spotted floating about 5.5 kilometres off Phayam island in Muang district about 8.30am by a naval patrol boat.

Naval officers provided the illegal migrants with food and water, a source said. Humanitarian assistance was also provided to help them on the way to their destination.

The Rohingya had to be sent back out to sea as authorities were already struggling with an influx of illegal Muslim Rohingya migrants, the source said.

Several boats carrying Rohingya have illegally entered Thailand via this southern province on a daily basis. In some cases, the Rohingya sunk their own boats to prevent authorities from sending them back out to sea, the source said.

In Phuket, about 200 illegal Rohingya migrants were found crammed inside a vessel searched by marine police and naval officers off Racha Noi island in Muang district Tuesday.

The boat was initially spotted floating between Racha Yai and Racha Noi islands by fishermen on Monday. They provided the migrants with food and water and told the authorities.

They suggested the boat people land on Racha Noi, Phuket's southernmost island, because it was uninhabited. Some of the migrants camped on the island overnight, but most remained on the boat.

A combined marine police and navy team descended on the boat late Tuesday. It was not known where they were planning to take the refugees.

The 200 Rohingya are the latest to reach southern Thailand, following a series of arrests in Songkhla and at sea in Phangnga province this month.

This lifts the total number of illegal Rohingya migrants now in custody to about 1,700.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul will lead a delegation of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members to meet Islamic leaders and security agencies in the three southernmost border provinces tomorrow. He said the delegation would get first-hand information about the southern violence.

He will also use this opportunity to seek a solution to the Rohingya migrant problem from the OIC and ask the delegation which countries wanted to take in the migrants who had fled from Myanmar's Rakhine state to Thailand.

As those migrants had entered Thailand, the kingdom had to provide them with temporary assistance on a humanitarian basis, he said. Authorities had to work with several international agencies such as Unicef and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to find a solution.

Campaigners criticise ‘premature’ Burma debt cancellation

Source BCUK, 28 Jan

Media Release from Jubilee Debt Campaign UK

Campaigners criticise 'premature' Burma debt cancellation

$5.9 billion to be written-off and new loans to military dictatorship to begin.

Western countries, in a body called the Paris Club, have agreed to cancel 50 per cent of the debt owed to them by Burma. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have also agreed to start lending to the Burmese government again. The move comes after the Burmese government signed-up to a set of IMF economic conditions earlier this month.

Burma's external debt is $15.3 billion, much of it from lending in the 1980s and 1990s. The government began defaulting on the debt in 1997, since when few payments to western countries have been made.

Tim Jones, policy officer at Jubilee Debt Campaign, said:
"These agreements allow large amounts of new lending, before any investigation has been made into how past loans did and did not benefit the people of Burma. None of these deals save Burma any money now, but they commit future governments to making payments on debt they inherit. This support for a military dictatorship could bind the hands of a hoped-for future democratic government."

Anna Roberts, Executive Director at Burma Campaign UK, said:
"It is incredible that Burma gets billions of dollars of debt relief when its biggest spending is on the military, an army that is committing crimes against humanity in its war against ethnic minorities. Burma's leaders should be on trial in The Hague not getting special deals on debt relief."

The debt cancellation by the Paris Club will be counted as aid, and be able to contribute to meeting government's aid targets. The $5.9 billion of debt cancellation amounts to 4 per cent of current aid budgets of western countries.

Under the debt cancellation deal, 50 per cent of the debt owed to western countries will be cancelled in two stages. The remaining 50 per cent will be paid between 2020 and 2028. In addition, Norway has agreed to cancel 100 per cent of the debt owed to it, whilst Japan has agreed cancellation of over 60 per cent. In total $5.9 billion of debt will be cancelled, $3.7 billion of which is owed to Japan.

The UK is owed £85 million, so will cancel over £40 million. The debt comes from loans for Burmese companies to buy British exports in the 1970s and 1980s, primarily gas turbine generators and textile equipment.

In addition to the cancellation, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank have agreed a process called arrears clearance, which makes the Burmese government eligible to borrow from them again. This process does not involve debt cancellation, but restructures the debt owed to the institutions to be paid over coming decades.

Related news

• Campaigners criticise 'premature' Burma debt cancellation
• Joint Statement on Humanitarian Assistance in Rakhine State, Burma
• International donors spurn 60,000 displaced in Kachin control area on China border
• UK Must Act on Arakan and Rohingya Crisis
• UK Must Double Refugee Funding In Response To Suu Kyi Call
• British MPs call for Aid to Victims of Conflict in Burma
• Budget, Not By-Elections, Next Big Test for Thein Sein
• Burma Government Blocks British Aid To Ethnic Refugees
• Over 30,000 displaced by Burma Army attacks face humanitarian crisis in Shan State
• Burma Campaign UK Welcomes Increase in UK Aid to Burma

Arakan segregation takes toll on local communities

Source DVB, 25 January

A Rohingya child peers into a tent at Ohn Daw Gyee displacement camp outside Sittwe, December 2012. (Hanna Hindstrom)

 

 

An angry policeman gestures and shouts in Arakanese. The road is blocked with wooden fences and cords of barbed wire. A local man wrapped in a puffy coat and woollen hat jabs a defiant finger back at the officer.

"They say I can't go through because I am Muslim," mutters Aung Win, a local Rohingya interpreter from Sittwe. "But I am not afraid – I am a Burmese citizen," he says, pulling out a pink identity card.

Sittwe's Muslim quarter, Aung Mingalar, has been cordoned off from the rest of the town since June last year, when the region was swept by its first wave of vicious sectarian clashes that destroyed thousands of homes. Since then, over 7,000 Muslims – mostly from the stateless Rohingya minority – have been trapped inside.

"I've lost everything," says Mohammed Rafi, whose house was torched to the ground on the same day that his father-in-law was hacked to death with machetes. A few days later the police evicted him from his pharmacy in downtown Sittwe market.

"They just told me to leave. I didn't even have the time to gather all my things," explains the 49-year-old. "Now I have no earnings."

Isolated from the economic hub of downtown Sittwe, Aung Mingalar is facing a growing humanitarian crisis. Food supplies are short and prices soaring; the only healthcare facility in the area is barred shut because there are no supplies. Despite fresh pledges of government and international aid, locals insist that the ongoing policy of segregation is a much bigger problem.

"If they gave us the security and allowed us to go the market, then I think that could easily solve the problem," says Rafi. "The Rakhine [Arakanese] can go to the market and they can go to the hospital, but we cannot."

The government claims that segregation aims to protect both communities, yet Buddhists and Hindus are able to travel freely. Even Kaman Muslims, who are Burmese citizens, but share cultural commonalities with the Rohingya community, face restrictions. One Kaman woman told DVB that her brother was arrested and beaten by policemen for trying to leave Aung Mingalar.

The Rohingya have been described as one of the world's most persecuted minorities. They have lived in limbo along the border with neighbouring Bangladesh since 1982, when former military dictator Ne Win stripped them of their Burmese citizenship. Although they have been denied basic rights for decades, locals say they have become increasingly ostracised since last year's violence.

Many nationalists, who consider them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, have urged Buddhists not to associate with the group and called on the government to enforce permanent segregation. The Rakhine Nationalities Development Party has declared it "impossible" for the two communities to coexist again. Many Arakanese locals, who lost houses or family in the clashes, are equally sceptical, with some suggesting Rohingyas should be relocated to a third country.

But Buddhist communities have suffered under segregation, too. Ma Thein Nu, a local Arakanese woman who trades with Muslims, told DVB that she lives in constant fear of radical nationalists, who don't want the two groups to trade. It follows news that extremists have targeted so-called "Rohingya sympathiser" by publicly shunning or abusing them.

"Twice [a group of monks] stopped me and took over 200 dollars worth of food," she explains. "I am afraid, but I have no other choice. I have to feed my family."

"I have no job to get money for food"

She now trades at Tè Chaung market on the outskirts of the city, where 75,000 uprooted Rohingyas are crammed into makeshift camps – many without toilets or clean water supplies – and survive on small portions of plain rice. They are not allowed to enter downtown Sittwe and very little aid trickles through. Without trade they would struggle to survive.

"Segregation affects both communities economically, but its impact on the Muslim communities is absolutely disastrous," says Chris Lewa, head of the Arakan Project. "It curtails their livelihoods, confines them to squalid camps or ghettos making them dependent on humanitarian aid whose delivery is hampered by security threats on aid workers. [Seven] months on – this is outrageous, unsustainable and inhumane."

A local doctor explains that they have only recently been able to refer ill patients from the camps to Sittwe hospital, after an aggressive lobbying campaign by the Red Cross. "But it is still completely impossible outside the Sittwe area," he says, adding that maternal deaths and stillborn children are commonplace.

According to government figures, an additional 50,000 predominantly Muslim people across Arakan state have lost their livelihoods because they can't travel to work. The fishery sector, which provides jobs for many locals, has been particularly affected. But only those people who lost homes in the violence qualify for aid.

"IDPs [internally displaced persons] are getting some food from the World Food Programme, but the host communities are not getting any assistance from any agencies because they are not registered by the government," explains Abdul, a former electrical engineer, who has been unemployed for nearly seven months.

"I have no job to get money for food," he says. "But I have a brother who is an IDP from downtown Sittwe. He gets enough food for his family, so I have to ask him to provide some for me."

Despite public pledges to improve stability in the conflict-torn state, the government has failed to set a timeline for reintegration. According to Refugees International, they have indicated that it could take up to three years before displaced communities can return. The group warned that separation could become permanent if donors fail to vocalise their objections.

The UN insists that reintegration must form a fundamental part of any rehabilitation strategy in the devastated region. "We need the opportunity for these communities to trade with each other and eventually coexist with each as they have done in the past for many years," says Ashok Nigam, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Burma.

"Clearly security and rule of law is paramount for the government at this point, but it should be implemented in a manner that does not constrain people from moving and earning livelihoods."

The UN Refugee Agency recently warned that over 2,000 Rohingyas have fled Arakan state since the start of 2013 – and more than 13,000 last year. Activists say this number is likely to rise as segregation continues into its seventh month.

"The union government is not interested in reconciling Rohingya and Rakhine people," sighs Aung Win. "They want to divide us for a long time."

96 more Rohingya found at sea, Thailand

Source Bankok Post, 26 Jan

 

PHANGNGA - Security forces on Saturday rounded up another 96 Rohingya migrants in the Andaman Sea, the fourth group to reach southern Thailand in less than a month, Spring News Agency reported.

The 62 men, six women and 28 children were found in a long-tailed boat floating north of Koh Ra in tambon Koh Phra Thong of Takua Pa district.

All of them were in exhausted condition and some were sick.

The migrants were arrested by a team made up of border patrol, marine police and administrative officers after they had been alerted to the suspicious vessel.

The refugees had left Arakan State in western Myanmar on Jan 1, aiming to come ashore in either Thailand or Malaysia. They wanted to look for jobs after their houses and property had been occupied by Myanmar authorities, Spring News reported, quoting local authorities.

The illegal migrants, who are in poor physical condition, had brought only fresh water and uncooked rice with them during the 26-day sea journey.

Officials gave them food and water before sending them to a temporary shelter in Khura Buri district, where they later received health checkups by medical personnel. Doctors gave saline solution to 12 sickened Rohingya.

Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said earlier that a total of 1,390 illegal Rohingya migrants including children were currently in authorities' custody. Saturday's arrest has raised the total to almost 1,500.

Mr Surapong announced on Friday that Thailand would shelter the Royingya for six months and seek talks with Myanmar and other countries to settle the fate of the illegal migrants.

The decision was reached in talks between the Foreign Ministry and other security agencies amid growing calls for Thailand not to turn the migrants away after they have entered the kingdom.

The government will set aside a budget of 12 million baht or 75 baht a day for each of the migrants for a daily allowance.

Bangkok will hold talks with international agencies including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the International Organisation for Migration, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. It would also approach third countries willing to give the migrants a new home, the minister said.

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority in Myanmar. Most of them live in Rakhine state in the west and face brutal treatment from Myanmar authorities, including the reluctance of Nay Pyi Taw to grant them citizenship.

The current crisis came to light after authorities rounded up more than 900 Rohingya in separate operations in Songkhla as they were waiting to be sent to work in Malaysia.

A police investigation found some Thai army soldiers were linked to trafficking them from Myanmar to Malaysia through Thailand. Two of them based in the southernmost region are being probed in connection with the issue.

Burmese army captures key Kachin rebel outpost

Source  ABC, 27 Jan

Kachin rebels say a key outpost has fallen to the Burmese army.

This picture taken on September 22, 2012 shows a soldier from the All Burma Students Democratic Front - Northern Burma (ABSDF-NB), an ally of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) holding his weapon as he looks out from an outpost on the Laja Yang frontline, some 10 kilometres south of Laiza, a town in Myanmar's northern Kachin state home to the ethnic Kachin rebels' headquarters. (Credit: AFP)

The Burmese army has captured a key rebel outpost in the conflict in northern Kachin state.

A spokesman for the Kachin Independence Army rebel group says the post fell to the military after coming under heavy artillery fire earlier on Saturday.

"That was the reason it collapsed. Finally we have to abandon that area, that mountain," James Lum Dau, the Thailand-based spokesman for the KIA's political wing, told AFP.

He said it was not clear whether the fighting would now move further towards the town of Laiza, where thousands of civilians are thought to be taking shelter, but vowed that if "Laiza falls, [it] does not mean KIA falls, absolutely".

Some civilians had already started to move, he added, but was unable to give further details.

Rebuke to US

This comes as Burma's Government issued a rebuke to the US over its concerns about the fighting.

Last Thursday, the US embassy issued a statement, saying it "strongly opposes the ongoing fighting" and urged both sides to work towards peace.

But the Burmese Foreign Ministry says the statement implies the army was the sole aggressor and that the comments could cause misunderstanding in the international community.

In a response printed in the state-run English language newspaper New Light of Myanmar, it says the statement suggested "only the Myanmar government and the Tatmadaw (army) launched the offensive" and "did not mention anything about terrorist actions and atrocities committed" by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Kachin state since June 2011, when a 17-year-long ceasefire between the government and the KIA broke down.

The conflict has resulted in civilian casualties, although the exact number killed is unclear.

AFP

BRAFA Delegation met with Congresswomen Gwen Moore’s District Office Director in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

By BRAFA,

A delegation of BRAFA consisting of Shaukhat @ MSK Jilani (Chairman), Hussain Saifula (Vice-Chairman), and Max Zubair Ahamad (General Secretary) met with District Director Lois O’Keefe of the Congresswomen Gwen Moore’s District Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the date of January 23, 2013 and discussed about the plights of Burmese Rohingyas and Arakan Muslim population in Burma.

photo BRAFA

During the discussion on the roundtable, BRAFA Chairman highlighted and draw the attention of Congresswomen Gwen Moore as following:-

Since June 03, 2012 to October 2012, due to the atrocities, persecutions, ethnic cleansing and genocidal actions carried out by the Buddhist Rakhine political and elites group with the full supporting of Burmese military security forces on the indigenous Rohingya people in Arakan State, Burma which affected:-

1- Over 10,000 Rohingya people were killed and burned down by the Buddhist Rakhine groups and Burmese security forces in duty,

2- About 20,000 Rohingyas houses plus 57 mosques have been set fire and destroyed from 70 Muslim villages across 8 Townships of Arakan, Burma,

3- More than 135,000 Muslim Rohingyas have been displaced and became homeless and now living in the concentration camps as internally displaced persons (IDP) and refugees in their own country,

4- The living condition of the concentration camp is very poor, unhygienic, and overcrowded. the people in the concentration camp are not getting enough foods, clean water, and medical supplies and even people cannot move from one place to another, and no safety and protection at all, as well as elderly people, pregnant women and minor children are dying day to day because of shortages of food, poor hygiene, lack of medical facilities and malnutrition.

5- Thousands of Muslim population owned shops, market and commercial store have been confiscated by the Burmese government officials and never return back to the rightful owners,

6- hundreds of Muslims women and girls were raped by the Buddhists Rakhine people and Burmese security forces during the attack and violence in the name of protecting and helping them, and also many Muslim youths, students and religious scholars are being arrested by the Burmese government security forces and charged them with false and illegal allegations and presently, estimated 1,200 Muslim Rohingyas are in the Burmese jails in Arakan,

{Again from 21 Oct 2012, about (6,000) houses plus at least (35) mosques were burnt down and about (1,000) Muslims mixed of Rohingya were also killed in 6 different towns of Minbya, Mrauk U, Kyaukpyu, Myebon, Pauktaw and Rambre towns of Southern Arakan state.}

The BRAFA Chairman also told that Muslim Rohingyas are deprived of Burmese citizenship rights in Burma and currently, living as stateless people in their native land. In addition, the Arakan State Government officials, Immigration Authorities, NASAKA (Burma Border Security Forces) and Dr. Aye Maung led Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) members are now compelling the innocent Rohingya people to confess Bengali ethnicity and taking signatures by force in family data check-up to prove them foreigners. The leaders and members of RNDP and Arakan State Government authorities are also being implemented a program of segregation policy not allowing the Rohingyas and Arakan Muslims to go to Downtown and other places of inside Arakan State.

He further said that because of continuous persecutions, looting, torture and harassment by the Burmese security forces and armed Buddhist Rakhine groups, thousands of Muslim Rohingyas fled the country through the sea and now entering into neighboring ASEAN countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, and moreover currently, many Rohingya people are under immigration detention in Thailand and Malaysia who fled the country to escape persecution and torture at the hands of Burmese security forces and armed Rakhine groups in Arakan,

The BRAFA Chairman also appealed to Congresswomen Gwen Moore through her District Director Lois O’Keefe the following three (3) points:-

1- To put paramount pressure on the Burmese President Thein Sein and his military Government Ministers through US Congress to end atrocities, rapes, torture and controlled genocide against the civilian Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority group in Arakan,

2- To introduce a legislation in favor of suffering Rohingya ethnic minority people of Arakan in the US Congress and also send strong messages to Burmese President Thein Sein to restore Burmese citizenship and basic fundamental human rights for the Rohingya ethnic minority people who were living in Arakan for centuries,

3- Until peace and security prevailing in Arakan State, recommend to dispatch UN Peace Keeping Forces in Arakan to protect the Rohingya ethnic minority and Arakan Muslim population from the ongoing atrocities, gross human rights violation, extermination and genocide committed by the Burmese government, its security forces and Buddhist Rakhine people.