Feedback to RNS's reply on Shah's reponse to AC

Hi RNS,

I am not surprised of your reply to Br. Shah’s response because of your intolerance and eyesore of "Rohingyas’ right of ethnicity". I just wonder whether you never heard of Rohangya or ever hide of Rohangya.What was the name of old Arakan…dude?????? (ROHANG). Her people are then called Rohangya........got it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You xenophobic Rakhines regardless of learned or laymen have been utmosttrying to distort or wipe out Rohingyas’ ancestral history and heritagethrough various mechanisms including lethal program for decades but yourcruel plans and designs have not yet achieved and will never attain in thefuture as well because we young generation are becoming more and more conscious and aware of your (Ultra racists Rakhine and Burmese Chauvinists) joint propaganda against our existence. We are not Bengali. If we are Bengali by our descendents and races, there should not have a problem for us to accept because they are cultured and humane people unlike Moghs the civilized term Rakhines who are wild and hostile by nature.

Mr. RNS, Moghs have so far tested Rohangyas’ patience, humanity and friendliness but not the reverse sides of them. When we become like you, I think you will not have problem to pronounce the word “ROHANGYA” and to deemtheir motherly rights in Arakan of Burma forever.Take note that we will never and ever give up our legitimate and territorial rights in Arakan under any circumstances and time frame because Rohangyas are bonafide sons of ROHANG, the old Arakan.Good luck!!!!!

A R Arakani

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Rakhine brother Mr. Rannin Soe,

Many thanks for your unhealthy and dis-respectful respond to my learnedfriend Mr. Shah Arakani. Your responding is very rude and unprecedented inthe net group. You always try to write negative sources against positivefacts and accurate data. Please maintain equal balance and dignity when youtry to refute someones statement or article. In fact, my learned friend ShahArakani described a notable and considerable reply to honorable Sara U Aye Chan on his Rohingya issue with giving many creditable references from historical background.

Dear Ranin Soe,Please come to realize the true factors and try to be a real politician orsocial activist with competitive political knowledge in the multi-racial and mainstream of democratic society in this global village. You have nothing todeny the following facts and data written by honorable Mr. Shah Arakani whohas a vast experience and resourceful knowledge in Arakanese historical surface even though he is neither a historian nor Ph.D. holder like yourrespected big brother Dr. Aye Chan who always seems a sole historian fromArakan.

Respectfully,

Shau Khat Isla alias MSK Jilani

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Rannin Soe <wrote">ranninsoe@...>wrote:

Dear Shah Arakani,

I would like to mantion to you about so called Rohingya.I never hardname as Rohingya in my life.Otherwise who are called us name as Mogh they are Bangali. So I can saidyou are Bangali. I really felling your citizen ship right but you are tried to lie.You can said you are came from Bnagladesh from 200 ys ago.Than you can demand ur citizenright so we will support that human being.

With Best Wishes

Ran Nin Soe

Reply to Dr. Aye Chan's response to Rohangya issue (Part-3)

Yes, of course. Again, as I've mentioned earlier, unlike Rohangyas in Arakan and Burma, we live in a "Free World"--you are in Japan and I'm in North America. In this free world no one is being pushed against his/her will. You don't need to provide any comment if you don't want to. But I HONESTLY believe that you cannot come up with an honest response regarding the issue that I brought earlier--eg: State sponsored infiltration of Bengali Moghs into Arakan and recognition of existence and full citizenship right of Rohangyas under the U Nu's (democratically elected) government.

-Shah
A survivor

===============================

AYE CHAN

wrote:
My first letter is enough. No more comment.
Aye Chan
A Truthful Historian

Reply to Dr. Aye Chan's response to Rohangya issue (Part-2)

Dear Dr. Aye Chan,

Unlike Arakan State and Burma for Rohangyas, this is a free world, and of course, you don’t need to write if you cannot provide logical explanation about your prejudice statements. It’s natural to show intimidation where there is no convincing argument to present. I’d like to mention that I’m NOT after branding you with names. With due respect, it is natural for those terms to follow based on your context and logic.

As a saying goes “ everything looks yellow to a jaundice eye. ” As I’ve said earlier, there is no room for the WHOLE TRUTH in your writing unless you take off your prejudice eye-ware at least for a moment. I know for a fact that you will be after the history because that is your biggest strength, or I’d say most powerful tool, to wipe us out from our ancestral land. But you should also note that it is not necessary to have a doctoral degree in history to dig out the truth and have a logical argument.

I was not after the history books that you are pointing to; I was after the WHOLE truth, the real phenomenon. Although you’ve been pointing out those books, you are not after how many Rohangyas got killed or left the country, but you’re ONLY after how many Bengalis (specifically Muslims and Hindus but NOT Mogh) came into Burmese soil in the British colonial era. So you just weed out the clauses and phrases that favour your partial truth. You dare NOT mention anywhere in your writing about the infiltration of Bengali Moghs into Arakan which is a continuation from the British colonial era to this very day. This type of bizarre obscenity is nothing different from expansions of Zionism—the god given right for every Mogh to migrate to Arakan. Every one knows that infiltration of Bengali Moghs into Arakan State is not in any history book because Burma is the darkest place on earth for liberal journalists and the infiltration of Mogh is state sponsored.

Although nearly the entire population of Burma and the rest of the world considered Burmese government after U Nu is illegal, and whatever it has done is unacceptable, you still accept that illegal government’s racial propaganda and hatred towards Rohangya is legal to support your point. However, you flatly deny the status of Rohangya that was accepted under U Nu’s government, the only democratically elected government since the independence of Burma. The irony is that no matter how illegitimate, immoral and unacceptable an action appeared to be, you legitimize it if the action taken is against the Rohangya.

The bottom line is you are whole-heartedly for the enjoyment of Bengali Moghs in Arakan and Burma at the expense of Rohangyas, while I’m merely for my survival in a lawless world.

Sincerely,
Shah Arkani
-----------------------------
AYE CHAN wrote:

Dear Friends:

It may be my last letter to you all. This is the first time for me to hear the bizarre term "Academic Power." Even if there is academic power in the world it would be only the driving force to push the truth into the public panorama. I have written many times that I just revealed a historical truth. Anybody can challenge me in the academic field if there is any prejudice or fabricated information in it. There are a lot of citations in my paper. Please check them with the original source materials. The Burma Gazetteers can be bought in Rangoon, and are available in many libraries especially of Cornell, Michigan, Yale and London Universities. You can make copies of India Office Records that I quoted at British Library in London and most of them are published in two volumes by Hugh Tinker and Andrew Graffin.

One thing you have to know about me is that I am a historian. History is concerned with the contexts of a society remote in the time. It is obligatory on me to reconstruct the past. Nobody urged me to write that paper. I have written many articles, especially on the inter-ethnic relations in the peripheral areas of Burma. If you want to read I can mail some of them to you. In the beginning of next year a paper on cross-cultural relations in the Northeastern Burma is coming out. It has already been on press now. However, I can tolerate in whatever words you have branded me. I am a historian. I always believe the truth can never be hidden long.

Sincerely, Aye Chan

Reply to Dr. Aye Chan's response to Rohangya issue (Part-1)

Dear Dr. Aye Chan,

After reading your somewhat hasty response to the questionnaires of Ko Aung Tin (Toronto) regarding Rohangya minority of Arakan State, I’ve come to know that how Rakhaing elites are hell-bent on misusing their academic power to repress some unfortunate people. To legitimize racist ideology, your self-designed biased history forced you to see only sinister motives behind our every move which left no room for others.

Referring to the name Rohangya, you said, “There has never been such an ethnic group in Burma's history.” Is there a time frames about this Burmese history that you are talking about, such as pre Burmese colonial era, pre British colonial era, after Burma’s independent, post 1962 Newin’s dictatorship era, etc.? Despite the open discriminatory policies of Burmese government toward ethnic groups across the country, especially Rohangyas, could you provide a convincing reason why Burmese government still recognized us as “Rohangyas” as one of its (Burma’s) ethnic minorities and were given the full (due) right of a citizen including a broadcasting service in Burmese Radio station until BSPP came to power?

Pointing to our existence, you said, “These people are Chittagonian Bengali in origin.” Of course we were not germinated as mushrooms from Arakan soil unlike Moghs (who think they were). We are a great mixture of Arabs, Pesians, Mugols, Indians (Chittagonians) and Moghs. Since it is undeniable fact that we are a great mixture of many races including Moghs, why we are being branded only as “Chittgonian Bengalis” and why not as “Moghs” too?

To support your fight for human rights, you said, “I have proved it with many primary historical source materials. I am not against their citizenship, human rights, and true ethnic identity.” It is truly good news to know that you are not against our “citizenship, human rights, and true ethnic identity”. But I’m almost sure that you are against our existence—in your world we do not exist, and that means you do not need to honour any of your above mentioned words for our due right. And that’s why you openly can say that you accept everything else except our existence which is the denial of everything altogether.

To refute our historical name, you went on saying, “They began to use the name "Rohingya" to call them only in the 1950s.” Let’s assume that this statement of yours is true just for the heck of it, then, what’s wrong with that? Up until 1942 massacre there was no big issue to bring about or fight the identity of Rohangya in the (British) colonial period because Moghs were not upper-class people as they are today and were not harassing Rohangyas days in and days out. Both Rohangyas and Moghs were colonial subjects on equal footing. Even at the time of Burmese colony (pre British colonial era) we were on the same footing living side by side as two sisterly community without any jealousy or hatred. Then it won’t be wrong to presume why we started distinguishing us from you by calling ourselves as “Rohangyas” after the massacre where hundreds of thousands Rohangyas systematically being killed by Mogh fanatic.

With great agony, you cried, “I have proved how they migrated to Arakan in colonial period. They do not have right any part of Arakan State to claim as their national territory. This is the ancestral land of the Arakanese people.” I am sure the term “Arakanese” does not represent Moghs or Rakhaing only; it means people (all the people) live in Arakan. Yes, I do agree that you have proven it partially but not completely. That means you have proven only how Bengali (Muslims and Hindus) migrated to Arakan (specifically to Burma) but I presume that you intentionally left out the part that they (Bengali Muslims and Hindus) left Arakan in 1942 (Black) massacre and afterwards, and a few Chitties left over were driven out forcefully after 1962. Additionally, you also did not want to mention the fact that about hundreds of thousand Bengalis still remain in our ancestral land, Arakan, and of course they are happened to be your own-kind, the Moghs. Starting from long before Burma’s independent—from British colonial time until today—thousands of Bengalis (Moghs) migrated to our land and it is estimated that nearly 40% of current Rakhaing population is Bengali Moghs. It is the government’s policy that new arrival Bengali Moghs can settle on any Rohangyas’ land and grab their properties. But unfortunately, you do not dare to mention the truth anywhere in your so called “history”. Proving expertise in language, you concluded, “I lived in that area for more than ten years. I can speak their language that is Chittagonian dialect of Bengali.

I have many Bengali friends. They tend to say "Amara Bengali" that means I am a Bengali. A few decades ago some intellectuals of them began to call themselves Bengali.” You may flatly reject my statement if I write about history because you have earned a Doctoral degree in that field; however, you should think twice if you want to have a debate with me in languages. I may not have a title Dr. in language study but I speak more than 12 different languages and more than half of them I can read and write very well, and that includes 2 distinct types of Thai, Laotian, and two different types of Malay. Now the fact of the matter is “Amara Bengali” is neither our Rohangya dialect nor is it of Chittagonian, in fact it is much closed to “Shuddaw Bhasha”, the pure Bengali that is used in Culcutta and Dhaka. But the truth is that the dialect you heard is a distinct dialect that is used between Rakhaing and Rohangya. Since you are a historian, you should know this better, but unfortunately, you hide it if you knew, with some malice intension or you have very little knowledge about languages in Arakan. There are two different dialects being used between Rakhaing and Rohangya to communicate in Arakan as to be Lingua Franca; one is pure Rakhaing dialect (Mogh khotha) that is used in conversation if and only if the Rohangya speaker speaks Rakhaing (dialect), else a corrupted version of Rohangya dialect is used by the Rakhaing speaker to communicate with the Rohangya counterpart. It says “Khan-boii, baat-khayenii, kho-re-tun-zayede, kimika-goriyede” means “Friend, have you eaten? Where are you going? What are you doing?” Since Rakhaing people cannot speak our dialect clearly, they created a bended one and we should not be accused for that.

If your point is that we cannot be among the people of Arakan just because we don’t speak your Rakhaing dialect, can you issue the same statement to Mro, Ding-nak, Sak, etc. as alien? Can you call Rakhaing who lives in Sandway (Thandway) and Gwa as Bama just because they speak Burmese? Can you call Chin from Chin State as Indians because people in Mizzuram of India speak exactly the same language and have same belief system? I hope you dare not say a thing about them because it is natural to have similarities in dialect or same dialect to be used by people of two different countries who are neighbours. Even thousands of your own Moghs speak pure Burmese although they were born and have lived in Arakan Sates for their entire lives.


Denying our legitimacy, you wrote, “They changed their name from Bengal to Rohingya. I didn't and will never do it.” This is a 100% false statement. A Bengali is a Bengali and a Rohangya is a Rohangya. We never call ourselves as Bengalis. There is no evidence anywhere whatsoever that we call ourselves Bengalis. That is you and all of your followers who branded us with that name.

“They were immigrants or descendents of the immigrants” you continued. Yes, of course, this is NOT 16th or 17th century any longer. This is 21st century. No sensible human in the world with few exceptions to some ultra racists will consider a people as (illegal) “immigrants” for FIVE hundred to a THOUSAND years.

To legitimize ethnic cleansing, you affirmed, “I am not Anti-Muslim, Anti-Bengali but I stand against to any kind of the racial expansion and inroads into other peoples' territory.” This is an excellent statement and I will solute you for that if your action is inconsistent with your words. I do believe that a man of integrity should stand with his statement. All those Bengali Moghs should be driven out immediately from Arakan State. There MUST not be any Mogh racial expansion in our ancestral land.

To me your actively engaging in racial hatred is a form of insanity. Openly accepting what is happening to Rohangyas in Arakan now is a denial of your own humanity—your inability to have a human response to such inhumanity is brutality.

Sincerely,
Shah Arkani

A letter for Saya U Aye Chan by (Aung Tin, Toronto) - Part (2)

Dear Saya U Aye Chan

I knew that saya is not going to ignore me. I was right. Thank you so much for your care.

This issue is so hot and so intense that many pro-democracy leaders tried not to touch this issue whenever possible. That may be a wrong signal to not only Rakhaine and Rohingya but to all of us too. This issue is not going to run away or disappear. We all have to deal with sooner or later.
My first personal experience of this issue was in RASU (Rangoon Arts and Science University).

I had friends Rakhaines and Rohingyas and they were talking, joking, dining, and playing sports together in the university.

I remembered a conversation of racial tension in Arakan with a Rohingya friend. I told him
“it is very good sign to see you both become friends, so that you both can reduce the tension back home, create the peaceful environment”. He looked at me and said quietly that “even though we are friends here, in back home, we don’t even talk to each other; we pretend not to know each other”. I didn’t know how much truth was in what he said, but, it raised my eye brows and dropped my jaw.

This century old conflict, at least surely must have been attempted to solve by both sides peacefully. I know myself that an unknown little guy like me, is not even worthy to touch this issue. I remember a Burmese saying “Sint gaung kwe ma chi naing (a dog can’t carry the elephant’s head). The problem with me is I’m a thinking animal.

As far as I know, a big part of man’s history was killing and stealing, fighting and looting. English stole Bama’s land, Bama stole Mon, Rakhine Thai etc. China, Mon stole Bama, Shan. Loot or conquer or steal or victory depends on what side from you see. As a history professor, saya knows the price of remaking the history.

The reality is hundred thousands of people different from you, are your immediate neighbours. Another reality is, sorry to say that, the Rohingyas are inhabitances of Arakan accepted by SPDC recognized by internationally except only by some Rakhines.

My fresh memories sometimes haunt me by the media image of Kosovo, Rawanda, Dafur, Uganda etc. Racial extreme and religious extreme blinded the friends and neighbours, turned the kind hearts to stone, and became killers overnight.

Because of some fanatics, innocent lives of fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, boys, girls, babies were lose; schools and hospitals were destroied. What do you think saya?

From your vast knowledge, please tell us how to avoid racial conflict in our land, particularly in Arakan.


Respectfully,


Aung Tin, Toronto.


Rakhapura News wrote:

----- Original Message -----
From: "khine sitetway" <khinesitetway@yahoo.com>
To: <rakhapuranet@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2005 7:42 PM
Subject: Re: [rakhapuranet] Fw: [NLDmembrsnSupportersofCRPPnNLDnDASSK] A letter for Saya U Aye Chan

Dear U Tin Aung:

After reading your message, I came to realize that Ihave been bady misunderstood. Yes I do not have right to change the name Eskimo. Because They havehistorical background and ethnic identity forthousands of years. That is historical truth. But thecase of "Rohingys" is different. There has never beensuch an ethnic group in Burma's history.

These peopleare Chittagonian Bengali in origin. I have proved itwith many primary historical source materials. I amnot against their citizenship, human rights, and trueethnic identity. They began to use the name "Rohingya"to call them only in the 1950s. I have proved how they migrated to Arakan in colonial period.

They do nothave right any part of Arakan State to claim as theirnational territory. This is the ancestral land of theArakanese people. I lived in that area for more than ten years. I canspeak their language that is Chittagonian dialect ofBengali.

I have many Bengali friends. They tend to say"Amara Bengali" that means I am a Bengali. A fewdecades ago some intellectuals of them began to callthemselves Bengali. They changed their name fromBengal to Rohingya. I didn't and will never do it.Even if they have right to change their name, they donot have right to claim Arakanese national territory.

I am in favor of equal rights for these Muslims inArakan. Since 1946 they are asking for the partitionof Arakan into to states one for them and one for theArakanese. That is unfair. They were immigrants ordescendents of the immigrants. You live in Canada. Canyou share me half of your house just for the winter?The case of Palestinians is of such kind. I have fullsympathy for these people. The Arakanese never attemptto retrieve their lost land to these Bengalis. Youshould trace the history who have always been tryingto overwhelm demographically the the state.
I am notAnti-Muslim, Anti-Bengali but I stand against to anykind of the racial expansion and inroads into otherpeoples' territory.

Sincerely, Aye Chan

A letter for Saya U Aye Chan by (Aung Tin, Toronto) - Part (1)

Dear Saya U Aye Chan,

With due respect, allow me to ask some questions regarding Rohingya.

I'm in no way going to question you when Rohingyas or chittagonians settled in the land since I don’t have the capacity to judge, obviously. I hope the argument and counter argument will be done by knowledgeable people with mutual respect.

For me, as far as my vision can so, I really don’t see big different between the Ethnic Rights and basic Human Rights. Let me explain quickly before I get shot from everywhere for saying that.

I do respect the ethnic rights including self determination and I do believe they are inalienable.

When rights are ignored, when identities are threatened, people have no choice but to fight back to protect their rights and identities. Once their rights and identities are secured, once they feel they are not threatened by their fellow country men, once they witness equality applies for everyone; I don't think people will content to stay in their own limited cocoons. They will come out and they will communicate, share, absorb, adapt, may assimilate, who knows. The notion that all people came from one single father and mother is widely accepted. If it is true, we all are from the same parents after all.

Anyway, right now, we have to fight for the rights and identity. After that we are going to set up the wall to protect. It is going to take a very long way to put down the wall. It entirely depends on how much progress we can achieve in terms of trust.

Here are some of my questions for you, if I may. Let’s say they are Chittagonians . These people wanted to be called as Rohingya.
1. Do they have a right to change their name or not?

My argument is that the name Eskimo has historical context. When they didn't like to be called, the name changed. I think Siam changed to Thai too.
The second question is regarding claiming the ethnicity.
2. By looking at the demography in border areas, are there some kinds of widely acceptable guidelines to recognize as ethnic belonged to one country? If yes, please educate us and if no, what should be in the case of our country.
My argument is Rakhaine, Rohingya, Naga, Chin, Kachin, Shan, Wa, Padaung, Karen, Mon, Pashu and Salone etc. have been settling both sides of border areas such as Bangladesh, India, China and Thailand. Except for Rohingya and Pashu almost all others do not have the problem for claiming the ethnic rights in both countries, as far as I know.

Rakhaines who lived in Bangladesh for centuries do not have any problem to reclaim the ethnicity belonged to our land. I do suspect that Rohingya and Pashu are having the trouble to claim ethnicity in Burma because they are Muslims.

My third question is for you and the leaders of Rakhine in exile. As we all know, disagreements are everywhere in politics. People start the work where they agree upon and at the same time, people sort out the common ground from the disagreements. While they are working where they can; they learn, know, and share each other. In this way, they accommodate each other's concern, address properly and build the trust. So my question is;
3. Even though you both (Rakhaine and Rohingya) have the disagreement for the terminology of Rohingya, why can’t you start work where you both agree such as confronting the SPDC, sharing the knowledge, spreading the Democracy and Human Rights etc?

I dearly hope some of you are not thinking or planning to subdue the Rohingya if they don’t live by your term.
As far as I can cope, there are three concerned areas. I may be wrong.

The first one is to guarantee the basic Human Rights including culture and religion for Rohingya. The Rakhaines do not seem to have problem for accepting those.

The second one is self-determination stretched to secession or merger with Bangladesh if Rohingyas were given ethnic status.

If so, we have to look these as legitimate and credible concern or imaginative and artificial one in today’s world. Secession or merger was possible during the cold war due to the polarizing interest of the two biggest rival groups in mankind’s history. Now, secession or merger is interest of nobody including India, Bangladesh, China, Thailand, ASEAN, US, EU, NATO etc. you name it. I don’t think it is credible to deny the rights of Rohingya for the concern of secession.

The third one is raised by some that the concern of creating an Islamic state.

Some people might had some dream sometimes ago, but it is non starter.

Aung Tin, Toronto.

Joint emergency mission to Teknaf sees plight of Rohingya Myanmarese

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Marie-Hélène Verney – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 19 July 2005, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR, the European Commission and diplomats from five donor countries have completed an emergency mission to Teknaf in the Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh to see for themselves the plight of more than 6,000 Myanmarese from the Rohingya ethnic group living in extremely risky and deplorably squalid conditions.

The mission, last Friday, saw the Myanmarese literally living on the tidal river flats of the Teknaf River, which forms the border with Myanmar. They are extremely vulnerable to seasonal high tides, flooding and cyclones during the monsoon season. There is no water or sanitation at the site, creating a health hazard. Since late last year, the international community has been asking the government to move the group as a matter of urgency, but so far has not received a response.

The European Commission has said it will provide emergency humanitarian assistance for water and sanitation once the group is moved to safer ground. The government and the local authorities consider the group illegal immigrants and say they should return to Myanmar.The Teknaf group originally formed two and a half years ago after the Bangladesh government moved some 3,600 Rohingyas from villages in the surrounding areas where they had been living for up to 10 years, to a spot along the Teknaf River. Six months later, they were again moved 2 km to the current site.

The group has been growing as more Rohingyas facing problems with local communities have moved to the area. A small number of new arrivals from Myanmar, and some 'double-backers' – the term used for refugees who repatriated to Myanmar, then fled again – are also part of the group. There are no accurate figures for the composition of the group, and numbers range from 6,000 to 10,000 as the population fluctuates.The group are unregistered people of concern to UNHCR.

The only difference from Rohingya refugees in the two government-run camps is that they were either not in the camps during the 1991-92 influx, or they had arrived after the 1994 cut-off date for prima facie refugee status. Even though Rohingyas in the group have been living unregistered outside the camps, their reasons for coming to Bangladesh are the same as the refugees in the camps.In the early 1990s, over 250,000 Rohingyas fled across the border to Bangladesh and were sheltered in 20 camps. Some 236,000 Rohingyas have since repatriated to Myanmar. Currently, about 20,500 registered refugees are living in the remaining two government-run camps in the Cox's Bazar district in difficult circumstances with poor shelter, sanitation and security conditions.

The Bangladesh government has not agreed to any self-reliance or self-sustaining activities in or outside the camps, insisting that the only solution for these refugees is repatriation to Myanmar. But so far this year, only 90 refugees have chosen to return home in spite of an increased repatriation package given by UNHCR.

Story date: 19 July 2005UNHCR Briefing Notes

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=42dcdd6ad

Rohingyas from Myanmar living in risky conditions in Bangladesh

19 Jul 2005 12:57:12 GMT

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

TEKNAF, Bangladesh, July 19 (UNHCR) – Perched precariously on the edge of the muddy tidal river flat, with the hills of Myanmar in clear sight across the broad expanse of the Naf river, a group of more than 6,000 Rohingyas from Myanmar are living in extremely risky conditions in Teknaf, Cox's Bazar district in the south-eastern tip of Bangladesh.

"We are really suffering here," said one of the group's Mahjees, or leaders. "When it rains, the rain comes down from the hills behind, and during the high tides, the water comes from that side," he added, gesturing towards the salty Naf river that flows into the Bay of Bengal some kilometres away. He said the water often reached knee height, saturating their shelters.

Constructed from wood from the forest and bits of plastic and thatching, the tattered makeshift homes of this ethnic Muslim group are right on the high tide mark, jammed up against the road. There is no water or sanitation at the site, creating a health hazard particularly for the large number of young children in the group.

Another 20,500 Rohingyas from Myanmar are registered in two government-run camps – Kutu Palong and Nayapara – south of Cox's Bazar town.

In a joint initiative last Friday, UNHCR, the European Commission and diplomats from five donor countries visited the Teknaf group to see their plight for themselves, after urging the Bangladesh government for months to move the group to safer ground.

"They are living in very dangerous and risky conditions, in an area prone to flooding and cyclones during the monsoon," European Commission Ambassador Esko Kentrschynskyj said after the joint mission to Teknaf.

The group of Rohingyas from Myanmar now at Teknaf, Bangladesh, are living in appallingly squalid and dangerous conditions on the tidal river flats prone to flooding. © UNHCR/I.Bayzit

Since late last year, the international community has been asking the government to move the Teknaf group as a matter of urgency, but so far has not received a response. The European Commission has said it will provide emergency humanitarian assistance in water and sanitation once the group is moved to safer ground. However, the government and the local authorities consider the group illegal immigrants and say they should return to Myanmar.

"The Teknaf group of Rohingyas are people of concern to UNHCR, as they fled Myanmar for the same reasons of persecution as the refugees in the camps who came here in a big influx in 1991-1992," explained UNHCR's representative in Bangladesh, Christopher Lee. "The only difference is that these Rohingyas were living outside the camps, or arrived after a 1994 cut-off date for prima facie refugee status, so they were not registered."

"We came to Bangladesh because we had some problems in 1992," said one Mahjee. "In 1994 I repatriated. Our lands were confiscated before and when we repatriated we got some land back. Then it was taken again. Even worse, they brought people, Burmese from Yangon, and settled them on our land. The Myanmar government says, 'You have no nationality, you have no citizenship.' We were forced to leave," he added.

During the refugee exodus in the early 1990s, some 250,000 Rohingyas in Myanmar fled by foot or boat into nearby Bangladesh and were sheltered in 20 camps. An undetermined number settled in the surrounding area. More than 235,000 Rohingyas have since repatriated, leaving the 20,500 currently living in poor conditions in the two government-run camps in Cox's Bazar district.

The Teknaf group formed after the Bangladesh government moved some 3,600 Rohingyas in 2003 from villages in the surrounding areas where they had been living for up to 10 years, to a spot along the Naf river. Six months later, they were moved two kilometres to the current site. The group has been growing as more Rohingyas facing problems with local communities have moved to the area.

The Mahjees said they suffered severe ill-treatment at the hands of the villagers and local authorities before being moved to the current site.

A small number of new arrivals from Myanmar, and some "double backers" – a term used for refugees who repatriated to Myanmar, then fled again – are also part of the group. There are no accurate figures for the composition of the Tefnak group and numbers range from 6,000-10,000 as the size of the group fluctuates.

The Tefnak group struggles to survive in their precarious surroundings. The men try to find work fishing, cutting wood in the forest, or pulling a rickshaw, the main mode of transport in this lush, overpopulated, rural area of Bangladesh.

"We are facing a lot of trouble, especially medical," said another Mahjee. "If we eat one time, we have to starve another and the children are not getting any education. We are Muslims. We came to another Muslim country, but we don't find peace."

The group is also suffering from medical complaints, particularly diarrhoea, but they lack health care and money to buy medicine.

"We are suffering very much," said one woman, dressed in blue instead of the customary black burqa and veil of the Rohingyas. "We don't have rations, food, medicine. We get sick with diarrhoea, we use bark from the tree as medicine. We are dying because of (the lack of) food and water. A lot of people died here. We collect leaves from the forest and cook them for our children. We collect water from the forest and rainwater but it is not enough," the mother of five added.

Members of the joint mission to Teknaf said they would continue to pursue the humanitarian relocation of this group with the government.

By Jennifer PagonisIn Teknaf, Bangladesh

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=42dcf74a4

EU looking for durable solution to Rohingya refugee problem

Sunday July 17 2005 11:48:51 AM BDT
From Govinda Shil

COX'S BAZAR, July 16:

The European Union is looking for a durable solution to the Rohingya refugee problem and will support any government move to allow the refugees to form their own community in Bangladesh for a longer period.

The EU thinks more than 10,000 of the Rohingya refugees may face a human disaster anytime as they are living in makeshift camps, without potable water, food and proper sanitation system. Those refugees entered Bangladesh nine months ago, many of them for the second and third time, to escape ethnic persecution in Myanmar."If those refugees decline voluntary repatriation, they have rights to stay here," said Esko Kentrschynskyj, EU Ambassador and the head of EU delegation.A total of 20,500 refugees have been sheltered in two of the United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) camps. But those who came last year are residing in makeshift camps. The government is yet to hand over to the UNHCR.A total of 1,740 families are living in those temporary camps, made of polyethylene sheets, hard boards and bamboos.

The situation of women and children are quite vulnerable as they starve most of the time and do not have access to safe drinking water. Many of the families have three to five and in some cases more than seven children. Their miseries are getting multiplied because of rains that cause inundation in the camps.Senior diplomats and officials of the High Commissions and envoys of Canada, EU, USA, Italy, Norway and Australia visited the makeshift camps at Kerontoli village under Teknaf thana Friday.The EU Ambassador said these 10,000 refugees must be taken to a better place immediately to ensure better living condition for them.

Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh David Sproule was appalled to see the inhuman conditions refugees were living in. The entire camp area was badly stinking, there was no water, the paths were muddy and floors of the camps were damp."The first priority is to shift these people to a place where we can give them safe drinking water and sanitation facilities," said Sproule adding, anybody would get sick in this situation.

The UNHCR is looking for government approval to take them to their own facilities for which many donors are ready to pay for the expenses.The Country Representative of UNHCR, Christopher Lee, said he is looking for government decision to give these people "refugee status" and provide them some humanitarian assistance.
The Financial Express

plz check it out: http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/view.php?hidDate=2005-07-17&hidType=BAE&hidRecord=0000000000000000052809

Myanmar refugees clash in Bangladesh, 40 hurt

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) -

At least 40 Myanmarese Muslims were wounded on Sunday when rival groups clashed over refugee registration at an unauthorised camp in southeastern Bangladesh, officials said.
Police brought the violence under control at Damdamia where thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have lived illegally for a decade as unregistered refugees.

The refugees, who fled west Myanmar's Muslim-majority Arakan state to escape alleged military persecution and find work, are living outside two official government refugee camps in the Cox's Bazar district, 400 km southeast of Dhaka.

More than 20,000 Rohingyas now live in the two government camps at Kutupalong and Nayapara near Cox's Bazar.

"The clash occurred this morning as a group was demanding inclusion of more refugees in the list handed over to the government," said administrative officer Mohammad Mohsin Chowdhury.Sticks and bricks were used during the hour-long clash, he said.Earlier refugee leaders handed over a list of more than 6,000 refugees to the government, but one group complained thousands of Rohingyas had been omitted.

The list was prepared as part of a plan to give the Rohingyas refugee status after a recent visit to their camp by a team of the European Commission and the U.N. High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), another official said.Some 250,000 Rohingyas crossed into Bangladesh in early 1992. Most had been repatriated by 2002 under UNHCR supervision.Since then there has been little homeward movement while more Rohingyas have trickled in across the porous 320-km Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

Bangladeshi officials say most of the Rohingyas are economic migrants whom Myanmar authorities are not keen to take back.

Despite requests from some international agencies, impoverished and overpopulated Bangladesh has said it will never offer the Rohingyas a permanent home.

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-07-17T173052Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-209569-1.xml

Arakan Kyaw Min and family still detained inside Rangoon Insein Jail

June 28, 2005 (DVB) -

Kyaw Min, the elected representative (MP) of Buthidaung Township, Arakan State and a member of Committee for Representing People’s Parliament (CRPP) who has been detained for more than three months in Rangoon Insein Jail, is still being tried secretly and not allowed to see his family members.

The Burmese authorities arrested Kyaw Min on 17 March and his wife Tiza and daughters Wai Wai Nu and Khin Khin Nu on 5 May, but they are all being detained separately in the same jail.
According to latest reports, local authorities raided and searched Kyaw Min’s home in Buthidaung and asked detailed questions about him in early June.

One of the National League for Democracy (NLD) legal advocates Nyan Win who has been assigned to represent Kyaw Min, attempted to see him at the prison in early June but he was turned away on both occasions.

According to Nyan Win, it is assumed that Kyaw Min and family members are being charged with Act-18 relating to nationality laws.

Plz check it out: http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=5057

Repatriation of Rohingyas remains incomplete

By BDNEWS, DhakaJun 19, 2005, 12:35

The repatriation of Rohingya refugees remains incomplete although 12 years have been elapsed since the government took steps in 1993 to send them back to their homes in Myanmar. More than 2.5 lakh Muslim ethnic minorities, popularly known as Rohingya refugees, fled their country, Myanmar, to escape the persecution by the Myanmar military junta in 1991.

The Bangladesh government struck a deal with Myanmar to repatriate the refugees under the mediation of UNHCR in 1993. Since then, a total of 236,594 Rohingya refugees of 47,313 families have been sent back to their homes till March 17 this year, a monthly report of the Refugee Release and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. Now, some 20,544 refugees have still been languishing in the two makeshift camps of Kutupalong and Nayapara in Cox's Bazar for repatriation till Sunday, according to the report jointly made by the RRRC and UNHCR. Besides this, there are an estimated two lakhs 'unofficial' Rohingya refugees living in Cox's Bazar district.

The government's latest plan to send back the remaining refugees by June 2003 could not be implemented as the process was very slow. Moreover, the process of repatriation was stalled for few months last year following political unrest in Myanmar. In the last two years, only 3,323 Rohingyas were repatriated but the high birth rate helped quick rise of the number of refugees. According to RRRC estimate, the number of newborns in the refugee camps is 22 in a week while that of deaths is two. According to sources, the main reasons of the slow repatriation are the lack of motivation of the officials, lack of coordination between officials and various departments of the governments, threats of terrorism by Rohingya militants, reluctance of the refugees to return due to relief-dependence and non-cooperation by the NGOs and aid agency officials.

The alleged link of the refugees with Islamic extremist groups and activists in Bangladesh were also blamed for the slow repatriation.The joint report of RRRC and UNHCR said only 210 refugees were repatriated last year while 3,113 in 2003 and 760 in 2002.In Kutupalong camp, there are about 8,000 refugees awaiting repatriation while there are 12,000 refugees in Nayapara camp. Besides, the Rohingya refugees, there are about 158 refugee in the camps who are from Myanmar (non-Rohingya), Iran, Somalia and Sierra Leon. Repatriation is fully a voluntarily process. None can be forced or families be broken to expedite the repatriation," said Mulusew Mamo, Deputy Representative of UNHCR in Bangladesh.

Plz check it out :http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_19316.shtml

Ethnic Myanmar refugee pleads for policy change

By MASAMI ITOStaff writer

A refugee from Myanmar belonging to an ethnic minority urged Japan on Monday to grant asylum to more of his compatriots, saying they face serious persecution back home.

Zaw Min Htut, president of the Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan, is a member of the Rohingya minority group. He was recognized as a refugee by the Japanese government in March 2002.

So far, eight people from the minority group have been granted refugee status here, but there are 30 to 40 others still seeking asylum, Htut told a news conference.

Earlier in the day, Htut talked with Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry officials about the situation confronting his minority group in Myanmar, as part of a series of actions marking World Refugee Day.

At a news conference after the two meetings, Htut spoke of human rights violations by the military regime in Myanmar.

"We are the only people in the world without a country," Htut said of alleged human rights violations carried out by the ruling junta. "We are not recognized as citizens" by the military rulers, he added.

Current law in Myanmar regarding citizenship has three categories: full citizens, associate citizens and naturalized citizens.

Amnesty International reported in 2004 that a vast majority of Rohingyas have been excluded from citizenship by not qualifying for any of the three categories.

The watchdog group recommended to the Myanmar government that it amend the citizenship law to ensure that "all legal provisions and all decisions regarding citizenship are free of any discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, sex, language or religion."

Htut stressed that the Rohingyas' human rights are violated to the extent that they are unable to move freely from one city to another, go to school or a hospital, or even marry without permission from the authorities.

The Japan Times: June 21, 2005(C) All rights reserved

World Refugee Day observed-UNHCR for govt support to solve refugee crisis

Tuesday June 21 2005 09:22:26 AM BDT

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stressed stronger and proactive government initiative for a permanent solution to refugee problem facing Bangladesh for long.Christopher Beng Cha Lee, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh, made the suggestion talking to newsmen here on the eve of the World Refugee Day, observed worldwide yesterday.He emphasized formulating a policy and urged experts, policy makers and lawyers to come forward in this regard. Lee appreciated the role of the Bangladesh Government for extending various supports to around 20,500 Rohingya refugees left over at Kutupalang and Nayapara camps in Cox’s Bazar, waiting for repatriation to their homeland.

He said refugee situation in Bangladesh is quite different from other countries because around one crore people of the country crossed border and took refuge in India during the Liberation War. "With this tolerance, it is supporting the Rohingyas for more than last one decade," said the UNHCR representative.Our Diplomatic Correspondent adds: Former official of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Aziz Ahmed has said that the refugee problem was one of the aspects of the country’s war of independence in 1971 when about one crore people from Bangladesh had to take shelter in India for their safety and security Addressing a seminar on the refugee at the Liberation War Museum in Dhaka yesterday Aziz Ahmed narrated endless suffering of the people of Bangladesh when they were forcibly displaced from their hearth and homes.

The seminar was arranged on the occasion of the World Refugee Day observed in Bangladesh and elsewhere in world in a befitting manner. The theme of the day is "courage". In a message on the occasion yesterday UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called upon all concerned to face the refugee problems with fortitude and courage.Aziz Ahmed also focused on a century old refugee scenario of the world saying that many displaced persons meanwhile had returned their homes but many could not go back.

None can say when they will be able to go back.Speaking on the occasion UNHCR Deputy Representative in Bangladesh Mulusew Mamo narrated various aspects of the Rohiynga refugees who had been living in Bangladesh since 1991.Mamo appreciated the government’s cooperation in tackling the refugee problems since 1991 when the Rohiynga Muslims from Myanmar entered Bangladesh. Museum Trustee Ali Zaker also spoke on the occasion.

The office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangladesh observed the World Refugee Day by holding a discussion on the refugees’ rights, essay competition, cultural programme and prize distribution in the two refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.On the occasion Cox’s Bazar Environment Journalists Forum held a rally in Cox’s Bazar, which was participated by journalists, lawyers, UNHCR staff and common people.
The Independent / UNB, DHAKA
http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/view.php?hidDate=2005-06-21&hidType=NAT&hidRecord=0000000000000000049468

The repatriation of Rohingya refugees remains incomplete although 12 years have elapsed

Monday June 20 2005 11:30:11 AM BDT

The repatriation of Rohingya refugees remains incomplete although 12 years have elapsed since the government took steps in 1993 to send them back to their homes in Myanmar, reports BDNEWS.More than 0.25 million (2.5 lakh) Muslim ethnic minorities, popularly known as Rohingya refugees, fled their country, Myanmar, to escape the persecution by the Myanmar military junta in 1991.

The Bangladesh government struck a deal with Myanmar to repatriate the refugees under the mediation of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1993.Since then, a total of 236,594 Rohingya refugees of 47,313 families were sent back to their homes until March 17 this year, a monthly report of the Refugee Release and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) and the UNHCR said.Now, some 20,544 refugees have still been languishing in the two makeshift camps of Kutupalong and Nayapara in Cox's Bazar for repatriation until Sunday, according to the joint report of RRRC and UNHCR.Besides this, there are an estimated 0.2 million 'unofficial' Rohingya refugees living in Cox's Bazar district.

The government's latest plan to send back the remaining refugees by June 2003 could not be implemented as the process was very slow.Moreover, the process of repatriation was stalled for a few months last year following political unrest in Myanmar.In the last two years, only 3,323 Rohingyas were repatriated but the high birth rate helped increase of the number of refugees quickly.According to the RRRC estimate, the number of newborns in the refugee camps is 22 in a week while that of deaths is two.According to sources, the main reasons for the slow repatriation are the lack of motivation of the officials, lack of coordination between officials and various departments of the governments, threats of terrorism by Rohingya militants, reluctance of the refugees to return due to relief-dependence and non-cooperation by the non-government organisations (NGOs) and aid agency officials.

The alleged link of the refugees with Islamic extremist groups and activists in Bangladesh were also blamed for the slow repatriation. The joint report of RRRC and UNHCR said only 210 refugees were repatriated last year while 3,113 in 2003 and 760 in 2002. In Kutupalong camp, there are about 8,000 refugees awaiting repatriation while there are 12,000 refugees in Nayapara camp.Besides the Rohingya refugees, there are about 158 refugees in the camps who are from Myanmar (non-Rohingya), Iran, Somalia and Sierra Leon.
http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/view.php?hidDate=2005-06-20&hidType=NAT&hidRecord=0000000000000000049373

U.N. agency asks Malaysia to hire refugees

Mon June 13, 2005 1:57 PM GMT+05:30

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia should allow 50,000 refugees, many from neighbouring Indonesia and Myanmar, to work in the country legally in order to make up for a labour shortage, the U.N. refugee agency urged on Monday.

Volker Turk, representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said Malaysia's recent expulsion of more than 100,000 illegal foreign workers had created a void.
"You have a refugee population here who cannot be deported," Turk told reporters at a meeting organised by the agency. "Why not use this population? Why not allow them to work legally?"
Malaysian Home (Interior) Minister Azmi Khalid could not be immediately reached for comment.

The UNHCR says 40,000 of Malaysia's refugees are registered with it, among them 20,000 from Indonesia's war-torn province of Aceh, and 10,000 members of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority.

Malaysia is not yet a signatory to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, which has been ratified by 145 nations. It views refugees as illegal immigrants.
Late last year Malaysia agreed to let the Rohingyas stay in the country temporarily, which meant they need no longer fear deportation, but Turk said the policy had yet to be implemented.

"We harbour hopes that this decision will be implemented by World Refugee Day on June 20. That would be the best gift for all the refugees here," he said.
Turk said Malaysia had detained about 900 refugees in its illegal labour crackdown in March.
The crackdown followed an immigration amnesty, during which more than 100,000 illegal foreign workers -- mainly Indonesians -- left in return for freedom from prosecution, but the exodus caused some acute shortages of unskilled labour.

Malaysia relies on foreign unskilled labour to do dirty, poorly paid work that locals shun, but the number of illegal immigrants, estimated at 800,000 or more ahead of the amnesty, causes the government a fiscal and administrative headache.

But their sudden departure hit a range of industries such as the construction and plantation sectors, leading to concerns among economists about the potential impact on economic growth and on inflation through higher wages.

http://www.reuters.co.in/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp

Undocumented Rohingya refugees suffer in silence

By Anisur Rahman Khan back from Cox’s BazarMay 26, 2005, 13:37

About 14,000 Rohyingyas, who entered Bangladesh illegally 15 years ago, were staying at an undocumented Rohyingya refugee camp at Dumdumia under Teknaf upazila in Cox’s Bazar district.Most of the people in Rohyingya camp have been suffering from starvation, diarrhoea, malnutrition, unhygienic sanitation, lack of pure drinking water and lack of proper treatment.

Talking to The New Nation, some Rohingyas burst into tears while describing the sufferings of their family members and children from various diseases. They described heinous torture and sexual abuses done on them by the Myanmar army before they had entered Bangladesh.For example, Myanmar police had violated Syeda Khatun, when she was 14. Later she married one Zafar Alam.Syeda, hailing from Mamra, Akyab in Myanmar was forced along with her parents to push into Bangladesh about 12 years ago by Nasaka.This ethnic Muslim woman has been staying at Dumdumia, Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar district.

The 25-year-old woman, while explaining her harrowing tale to The New Nation, said, “When I was 14 years old, the Mamra sadar police of Myanmar called me to their camp and two police personnel raped me. Subsequently, I was able to flee from their heinous claws after two days in the police camp.”Syeda said those policemen threatened that since she was a Muslim, she would be killed unless she did not carry out their order. ‘At least 10 minor Muslim girls were continuously raped by several police personnel in this camp when I was there,’ Syeda said.Another victim Hasina Begum, 20, wife of Ahmad Ali, hailing from Merulla, Mongdu of Myanmar, said that Nasaka Bahini attempted to rape her, but failed. She said she managed to escape after the local people protested.According to stranded Rohingyas, many people had died from starvation and lack of proper treatment at the camp. Abdul Hakim (25) who married Laila Begum (20) hailing from Youngshons, Buchidong, were living in Bangladesh for the last 15 years illegally.“We want to return to our homeland Arakan. But Nasaka and Myanmar police torture us mercilessly, and even they sexually abuse our wives and daughters.

We want peace and release from their barbaric torture permanently,’ Zalal Uddin (40) said crying. “We are living here without food, medicines, water and also without job. I think my son could not survive long because he is not getting food and medicines,” he said.This substantial community of Rohingyas have been effectively denied Myanmar citizenship, are subjected to severe restrictions of movement, to forced labour, forced evictions, extortion and arbitrary taxation.

Rohingyas, an ethnic Muslim community of Myanmar, had been evicted from their homes to Bangladesh territory by Nasaka.Some human rights organisations like Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Bangladesh Lawyers Association and Human Rights Forum (HRF) were working for securing the rights of these Rohingyas.They are trying to attract international attention to the matter to solve the problem. These human rights organisations alleged that even volunteers could not supply food to these Rohingyas because of the government’s restrictions. These illegal Rohingyas requested the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar, as well as international community to solve the issue immediately, as they want to return to their motherland Myanmar.Plz check it out : http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_18703.shtml

Detained Burmese MP Kyaw Min’s family allowed to hire lawyer

May 12, 2005 (DVB) -

The police of Rangoon Tamwe Township recently notified a relative of detained elected representative (MP) of Arakan State Buthidaung Township U Kyaw Min, that his wife and two children who were arrested on 5 May, are to be allowed to hire a lawyer of their choice.

U Kyaw Min who is also a member of the Committee for Restoration of People’s Parliament (CRPP), was arrested on 17 March and he is currently being detained at the notorious Rangoon Insein Jail.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) has assigned one of its legal advocates U Nyan Win to defend Kyaw Min’s family at the court.

“All we heard is the case is to be put forward at the court on 20 May and we are still trying to get in touch with them,” said U Nyan Win. “We will only know on that day what they are going to be charged with if we meet them. We are preparing matters relating to immigration acts.”
Please check it out http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=4731

Stateless Clan Finally Gets Right to Work

INT'L LABOUR DAY-MALAYSIA:

Stateless Clan Finally Gets Right to Work Baradan Kuppusamy KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 29 (IPS) - Finally after a long and hard struggle for recognition, Jaafar Hussein, a Rohingya refugee from Burma, can afford to smile this International Labour Day, which falls on May 1. ''I have worked illegally, been hunted and lived in fear for over nine years,'' Jaafar, 34, told IPS in his room in a ramshackle hut in Kapar town, a mecca for small scale industries that hires foreign workers about 30 kilometers southwest of the capital. ''A work permit would give us some status...we don't have to run and hide like thieves,'' said Jaafar who makes electronic components in a small backyard factory for a firm in China. ''I might even get married and raise a family,'' he said with a smile. His colleagues, about a dozen of them who crowd the hut, laugh uproariously. The Malaysian government has decided to address a long-festering refugee problem involving the Rohingya to help solve the nation's desperate labor shortage. It announced in Kuala Lumpur recently that it will issue work permits to the 10,000 Rohingya within its borders.

The Rohingyas are Muslims from Burma and have lived here illegally since the late 1980s. They have been subject to periodic arrests, beatings and deportations. Deprived of citizenship after Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948, Rohingyas were persecuted and gradually pushed out of Arakan state, their homeland in Burma. Since then, they have shunted about from one inhospitable Asian state to another for nearly 50 years.

A sizeable Rohingya community lives as refugees in Bangladesh. But the Rohingyas prefer Malaysia because it is Muslim, wealthy and officials are reasonably lenient and easily bribed to close one eye. Their plight is made worse by the fact that many Asian countries, like Malaysia, have refused to sign the 1951 United Nation Convention on Refugees. Officially there are about 10,000 Rohingyas in the country but the refugees themselves estimate their population at 35,000. The discrepancy is another indication of the long years of neglect the Rohingyas have suffered, both here in their adopted country and in Burma, their birthplace.

Unlike his predecessor Mahathir Mohamad whose eyes were firmly on the leap forward to industrialisation, his successor Abdullah Badawi has a heart for the small man that the great wheel of development has neglected. Abdullah's emphasis on agriculture, fisheries and health and welfare is giving the Malaysian poor and the displaced a status. Even Rohingyas, who were periodically arrested and taken to the Thai border and told to walk across and disappear, have come to benefit from the change in policy. Burma refuses to recognise the Rohingyas as its nationals making it difficult to negotiate with the junta to repatriate them. Because they are stateless people, Malaysia also refuses to recognise them as refugees.

Though many Rohingyas hold letters from the Geneva office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugess (UNHCR), recognizing their status as ''persons of concern'', Malaysian police seldom recognise these documents. In a vicious cycle of exploitation, Rohingyas are paid low wages because they have no proper papers and no legal status. As a consequence many Rohingyas work at night and sleep in wayward places during the day to avoid arrest. ''We mostly work in night markets slaughtering and cleaning animals and fish and as garbage collectors,'' said Rahiman, a Rohingya working at the Pudu fish market in the city.

Unlike the men, many of the Rohingya women are treated as 'non-people' without any education and skills. This forces many of them to be street beggars. While the new policy could mark a reversal of fortunes for the Rohingyas, there is still fear that the Malaysian government could retract their pronouncements. Last year the government raised hopes saying Rohingyas would be given refugee status but that policy has been quietly shelved. ''We hope the new policy to give us work permits does not suffer the same fate as the promise to recognise us as refugees,'' said Rahiman. A temporary quirk in the country's migrant worker situation is helping Rohingyas win some status. A move to deport some one million undocumented Indonesian workers and rehire them as legal workers has backfired for a variety of reasons causing a severe labour shortage forcing the government to canvass as far as Pakistan and Nepal for cheap labour. Recognition for the Rohingyas is now seen as way to fill the shortfall.

After several months of discussions with the UNHCR office here, the government announced it would issue temporary stay permits to the Rohingyas allowing them to work legally. They can also get medical care and send their children to Malaysian schools. ''It is time they are absorbed into the labor force,'' Home Minister Azmi Khalid told IPS. ''There are already here and it would be a waste if we don't recognise them or give them job opportunities.'' Human rights lawyers and activists have welcomed the move. The usually critical Malaysian Bar Council gave kudos to the government and urged it to stick to its promises.

''They are in accord with international principles, as well as the Convention on the Rights of Refugees and the Child,'' said Bar Council President Yeo Yang Poh. S Arulchelvam, coordinator with SUARAM, a leading human rights organisation, too, was in agreement with the Malaysian Bar Council. ''It would give Rohingyas a status they had struggled for many years and also better their living conditions,'' he told IPS. ''The government must also ensure the Rohingyas are not exploited by unscrupulous employers. They are entitled to all the legal protection enjoyed by Malaysian workers under the law,'' added the rights activist.

''They also have a right to better housing, schooling and medical care.'' The UNHCR also sees the latest Malaysian government's move as a way to alleviate the vicious cycle of abject poverty that tends to strangulate the Rohingyas. ''It recognises the reality that third country resettlement for Rohingyas are almost zero and that most of them have lived here and settled albeit in terrible circumstances,'' a senior UNHCR official said. ''This is one path to better themselves...we are working with the government to help them.'' (END/2005)
orginal message link : http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=28495

U Kyaw Min being interrogated in Insein Jail

Apr 12, 2005 (DVB) -

The elected representative (MP) of Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, U Kyaw Min who has been detained since 17 March, is being interrogated behind closed doors at Rangoon Insein Jail and not allowed to see his family members.

It is still not known why Kyaw Min was arrested and what he is being interrogated on, according to a source close to his family. Despite repeated trips to the prison, his family members are still not allowed to see him.

As he is not allowed to see his family and receive basic things including medicines, his family members are serious concerned for the health condition of Kyaw Min who has been suffering from high blood pressures.

plz check it out here : http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=4486

Systematic religious persecution in Myanmar

18 October, 2004
MYANMAR

Systematic religious persecution in Myanmar

Yangon (AsiaNews) – Religious freedom is systematically violated in Myanmar. Violence strikes without distinctions Christians and Muslims and sometimes Buddhists as well.
A report by Forum 18, an organisation dedicated to religious freedom, accuses the military regime of gross violations of human rights. The issue was one of the topics discussed at the recent Europe-Asia (ASEM) meeting held in Hanoi (Vietnam) on October 7-9. However, the international community remains reluctant to act as some voices have made clear. Nobel laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu said that “the words of protest [. . .] from world leaders ring hollow when they do not translate into action”.

Here is a short outline of the situation of the country’s main religious groups.

Christians

The largest Christian community lives in Chin State in the north-west part of the country near the Indian border. They constitute about 90 per cent of the local population.

Human rights activists allege Chin Christians are subject “to systematic persecution”. The military junta, they charge, have sent hundreds of Buddhist missioners into the state to convert Christians. Converts are promised special privileges such extra supplies of rice, the opportunity to attend prestigious schools and exemption from forced labour.

Chin children have been taken from their families on the pretext of providing them with a good education but were instead sent to Buddhist monasteries where they are trained to be Buddhist monks. Some of the mostly 11-year-old boys have not been able to see their parents.
Printing Bibles in the Chin language is also considered illegal. In 2000 alone, about 16,000 copies were seized and burnt.

The government has also closed down more than 80 churches around the capital Yangon in 2001 and has denied Christians the right to meet in places built in the last hundred years. Since 1994 all applications for new churches have been turned down. Gatherings that exceed five people other than for Sunday mass require a permit.

The International Labour Organisation has documented cases where forced labour was used to prevent people from celebrating religious holidays. Last year an entire village was ordered to work through the Christmas season preventing the Christian residents from celebrating Christmas and the New Year. They had to carry by hand food supplies and ammunitions for the soldiers.

Muslims

The Muslim community is also victim of religious persecution. The worst case involves the Rohingya, a minority that lives in Rakhine State in western Myanmar. Not only have they been denied Myanmar citizenship but the government has arbitrarily confiscated their properties, destroyed their homes and burnt their crops. Thousands had to move to neighbouring Bangladesh.
Intolerance vis-à-vis Muslims touches other areas as well. Refugees in camps along the border with Thailand speak of soldiers forcing them to eat pork just to humiliate them.

Buddhists

Buddhists have not escaped religious persecution when they have voiced criticism against the regime. Ethnic Shan live primarily in the mostly Buddhist north-east corner of the country, but they, too, have been subjected to the same abuses visited upon Christians and Muslims: rape, forced labour and discrimination.

The long arm of the regime has also reached beyond the border of the country. The wife of Myanmar’s ambassador to Great Britain told Buddhist monks in London, Birmingham and Manchester not to take part in events organised by the Colindale monastery (north London) because of its support for democratic groups in exile. Id they did not cooperate, monks would have their passport revoked.

Buddhists constitute around 89 per cent of Myanmar’s 46 million people. Christians and Muslims are 4 per cent each.


Plz check it out here http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1711

True event of embassy fire in Malaysia

4/14/2004The Event of Embassy Fire

Three Brothers Rohingyas Muslim went Myanmar embassy for recognitionof Myanmar citizenship and getting Myanmar passport for three times.Each time they brought along with some documents showing the proofof that they are Myanmar citizen because they do not possessNational Identification Card. One of them brought a photocopy of hisfather's certificate which is awarded as the third gradecommemorative person in Myanmar independence. Each time, Myanmarembassy staff postponed their meeting with Ambassador U Hla Maungand Myanmar embassy staff still denied to recognize them as Myanmarcitizen. Later, they were told to come and see Ambassador U HlaMaung and to process their case on April 7, 2004 at visa sectionroom.

When they went there on that day, Ambassador U Hla Maung and embassystaff told them that they cannot be recognized as Myanmar citizenwithout giving any reason.. They showed their proper documents toAmbassador but still denied and asked them to bring originaldocuments. Then, Ambassador U Hla Maung and embassy staff told themto get out of the embassy in haughty manner. The argument wasgetting serious and embassy staff called the illegal workers who areliving inside embassy compound to beat them and to get them out. Theillegal workers started punching them on their faces, beating themand getting them out of the embassy compound. They were so angry andthey called their friends, their wives and children. Then theybrought the petrol from the petrol station near by and put them inplastic bags.When they got back in front of embassy compound, the illegal workerscame out again and attacked them with their axe and knives.Rohingyas did not have any weapons except petrol bags.

They defendedthemselves and they snatched the axe and knife from the workers andthey fought them back. At the same time, they touched the petrolplastic bags and threw them into the embassy compound. In fact, theRohingya brought just a few of petrol plastic bags not more than 10but inside embassy, the fire suddenly grew bigger than they threw.

They do not know how embassy staff did with the fire in order not toput out but to getting bigger and more devastating.

plz check it out here http://www.innwa.com/dev/show_news.asp?id=226

Malaysia detains Myanmar refugee protesters

Mon March 7, 2005 5:10 PM GMT+05:30

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police detained about two dozen Myanmar refugees on Monday for protesting outside the office of the U.N. refugee agency to demand speedy resettlement, witnesses and officials said.

Women and children were among the protesters, from the Rohingya ethnic group, who held up posters reading, "We need immediate protection", and "We want speedy resettlement", before police bundled them away, witnesses said.

Rights groups and the UN refugee agency fear a drive by Malaysia to deport illegal migrants, which began this month, puts refugees and asylum-seekers at risk of being returned to countries where they may suffer detention or torture.

"They have been arrested because of what was considered an unlawful demonstration," Volker Turk, country representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said.
"Of course we protested on their behalf, but immigration authorities have taken them away to verify their status and have said they will release those who are found to be refugees."
Leaders among the Rohingyas, who came to Malaysia in the 1990s from Myanmar's northern state of Arakan, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The UNHCR says there are more than 10,000 Rohingya in Malaysia, making them the largest group of asylum seekers.

Myanmar disputes their origin and refuses to let them return.

Malaysia's biggest crackdown on illegal migrants since 2002 is aimed at about 200,000 to 400,000 people who stayed on beyond a four-month amnesty for illegal workers -- mostly Indonesians, Filipinos and south Asians -- to leave without punishment.
About 400,000 people took up the offer. Those who stayed risk fines, jail and a whipping for men younger than 50.

About 1,407 people have been detained since the crackdown began on March 1, immigration officials said, of a total of 12,973 whose papers were checked. They can be held for 14 days until officials decide whether to prosecute or deport them.

Malaysian ministers have made conflicting statements about how the country would treat migrants with UNHCR documents certifying them as refugees but Turk said the agency had been told genuine refugees or asylum seekers would not suffer.

The UNHCR has set up a 24-hour operations room to answer requests for document verification from officials involved in the crackdown, he added.

"We have had several dozen calls since March 1. Some people have been released, and about 22 are in detention, even though they have UNHCR documents," Turk said. "But we have asked authorities to release them."

About 35,000 people are registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia, Turk said. Most of the refugees are from Myanmar, ruled by a military junta, and Aceh in Indonesia, where a long-running separatist revolt has driven hundreds from their homes.

Last year, the government told the Rohingyas they would get temporary residence permits to help them find work since they could not return home, Turk said.

please check it out http://www.reuters.co.in/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp?type=worldNews&localeKey=en_IN&storyID=7824868

Another Burmese MP U Kyaw Min( Buthidaung) detained while U Kyaw San staging hunger strike

March 18, 2005 (DVB)

U Kyaw Min, a member of Committee for Representing People’s Parliament (CRPP) was arrested at his Rangoon home by the authorities of Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on 17 March.
A CRPP member told DVB that special police agents came to his home around midnight and told him to follow them for some “questions”. But it is still not known why he was arrested and where he is being detained.
52-year old U Kyaw Min is the elected representative (MP) of No.1, Constituency, Buthidaung, Arakan State, and a working member of Human Rights and Democracy Party.

Meanwhile, Sagaing Division National League for Democracy (NLD) chairman U Kyaw San who was arrested on the same day at his Rangoon home, is staging a hunger strike, according to his wife, Daw May Nwet.
“When I went to see him this morning, he told me that he has not been eating since yesterday evening. Don’t come and give me food, he was shouting like that. I heard that but did not see him. He is being detained at Insein Police Station,” she told DVB

Please check out here: http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=4276

Reply to Aye Chan by Kunyia

Dear Dr. Aye Chan,

We are very grateful to read your explanation about Rohingyas , which you means they are without historical background .Right before you,they had historical background because the world did not have historian like you (Thu dae Thi) then.

So I am really sorry! Why you are behind these oppressed tracing all activities instead of tracing Bangladeshi Jhumia Maghs, who reached to the peak of Arakan administration (Authority) because they are your co-religionist????

My Dear Dr.Aye Chan,

I would like to ask you simple innocent questions,,,

Are you going to collect all Magh from all over the world as Israeli so called JEWS from Ethiopia, Russia and etc..

If Magh can change to their name Rakhine , why cannot say Muslim of Arakan themselves Rohingya where they are people of Rohong…..

It will be better to advise you to follow Islam as most of your people are claiming them breeding religion in the name of ANTI MUSLIM. As a historian you do have judge in every corner not only in the Rohingya side but also you have to take care to safeguard the territory of Arakan Land which was 20,000 sq miles before now 14,200 sq miles at present .Also lost more than 100 sq miles in demarcation of border between Bangladesh and Burma in (MA SA LA) Ne Win’s regime.

So you better to consider reality not writing the propaganda of Rohingya and ostensible matters.

Please visit:
http://www.rohingya.jp/pdf/ABU%20ANIN%20_%2027-5-2004%20_[1]_RFG.pdf
http://www.rohingya.jp/pdf/swemaw.pdf
http://www.rohingya.jp/pdf/rhistory1.pdf
http://www.rohingya.jp/pdf/drac1.pdf
http://www.rohingya.jp/pdf/mgayechan.pdf

Thanks,
kunyia
Free Rohingya Campaign

Dear reader,
I’m sharing the brief about magh people of Arakan shown below.

MAGH PEOPLE OF ARAKAN
Why do Maghs want to disown their own name? The fact is that for more than 2 centuries from the middle of 16th century till 1784, the year of Burmese conquest of Arakan, the Maghs of Arakan in collusion with Portuguese freebooters caused such an agonizing terror and consternation in the minds of people of Bengal that the name Magh becomes synonymous with pirates. The fierceness, cruelty, lawlessness and their obnoxious activities had led the land under occupation to earn the ignoble name of "Magher Mulluk" which means a land without law, justice and order. Magher Mulluk has become a proverbial meaning lawlessness.

The Buddhist community of Arakan owns the name Magh only as their lineage of ancestry traces to Magadha origin of Bihar. But the purity of Arian blood in these Magadah immigrants was lost as a result of intermarriages between them and their co-religionists – the Mongolians and Burmans, who overwhelmed the region intermittently for centuries. Later they are almost assimilated into Burmans. Their culture, civilization, language and appearance are as same as Burmans. Some of them are although struggling for Arakan, but their mentality and behavior are of Burmans. Burmans write their language as Burmese. They speak it with slight phonetic differences.

An account of the mid-seventeenth century historian Shahabuddin Talish "Fathya–I–Ibriya p. 183" suffices to authenticate the fact that those Maghs marauders belonged to the kingdom of Arakan. The account appears in his Fathya–I–Ibriya p. 183 as such "Arrcan pirates, both Maghs and Firingi, used constantly to (come) by water route and plunder Bengal. They carried off the Hindus and Muslims, male and female, great and small, few and many, that they could seize, pierced the palms of their hands, passed thin canes through the holes, and threw them one above another under the deck of their ship. In the same manner as grain is flung to fowls, every morn and evening they threw down uncooked rice from above to the captives as food". The Maghs have earned such a bad name during last many centuries that it has become a great shame for their descendants of today to own the name Magh. Instead they had started calling themselves as Rakhine the derivative of which is directly related to Arakan and Muslims. In Bangladesh district gazetteers, Chittagong, p. 115, wrote, "The term Rakhaing is in fact the corruption of Roang/Recon, the old name of Arakan. Hence all terms Rakan, Rakanj, Arkhank, Recon, Arraco, Arrcan used by different historians are related to either Roang or Arakan. It is in no way related to Rakkhapura as claimed by Arakanese chronicles”.

Today Burmese JUNTA says that there is no Rohoingyas, next day they will say, is there any Maghs? O’ Magh people, wait for this.