Discrimination against the Rohingya
See also Main Library > Refugees > Burmese Refugees in Bangladesh and Main Library >Administration and administrative areas > Arakan (Rakhine) State - http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=1241&lo=d&sl=0 - which carries OBL's main documentation on the current crisis of the Rohingya, with links to UN, governmental, NGO and other sources.
Individual Documents
Description:
"Introduction: With the decline of the Cold War, attention towards ‘environmental conflicts’ was well merited and now it is being fruitful in understanding the study of how environmental degradation
acts as an agent in international and civil conflicts. The case of Cox’s Bazar is no different,
the influx of Rohingya is adversely affecting the livelihood of the host community due to deforestation, inflation and competition over. Although national and international humanitarian
agencies are providing services and creating opportunities for the local population along with
the Rohingyas, resources appear relatively scarce compared to the scale of needs which in long
term might turn into an adverse situation creating hostile conflict between the host community
and the rohingya refugees.....
Defining environmental conflict:
Environmental conflict can be broadly understood as a social conflict relating to the environment. It can be a conflict over the environment, most notably in terms of access to and control
over environmental resources. These so-called “resource conflicts” are defined by Elen Turner
as consisting of “social conflict (violent or nonviolent) associated with both struggles to gain
access to natural resources and struggles resulting from the use of natural resources.” From a neo-Malthusian perspective, environmental conflicts also consist of conflicts resulting from
environmental processes – especially resource scarcity supposedly putting strains on social
relations – even if the conflict per se is not over those “scarce” environmental resources. It
rather generates from unequal distribution of those resources (Billon, 2015)..."
Source/publisher:
Academia Letters
Date of publication:
2021-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
46.63 KB
more
Description:
"Over a year since the attempted coup on February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military junta,
which is led by the perpetrators of the decades-long genocide against Rohingya, is
continuing to act with the intent of destroying this ethnic minority and indigenous group as
well as commit widespread and systematic attacks of violence against the country’s entire
population. As was reported by the United Nations (UN) Independent International FactFinding Mission in 2018, the Myanmar military and security forces had perpetrated war
crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity for decades, including by using sexual
violence as a “hallmark” of their operations; in 2017, these forces launched strategic attacks
of genocide against Rohingya, forcing hundreds of thousands to be displaced and seek
refuge in neighboring countries. Despite the International Court of Justice’s provisional
measures in 2019, today, Rohingya as a group, including the millions of refugees, have no
chance of finding peace and security, returning to their homes across Myanmar, and having
their fundamental rights restored indefinitely.
This briefer provides a brief, on-the-ground situation update of Rohingya and demonstrates
the way in which the Myanmar military and security forces are committing arbitrary
arrest and detention, including by issuing restrictions to the group's movement, to continue
their strategic persecution of Rohingya..."
Source/publisher:
Women’s Peace Network
Date of publication:
2022-03-02
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.52 MB
more
Description:
"Introduction: building business, breaking peace?
Myanmar’s economic opening and transition to democracy has given businesses significant opportunities to expand in a high-growth but problematic emerging market.
Foreign direct investment has grown 10-fold since 20111 across all sectors of the
Myanmar economy. But Myanmar also ranks in the bottom 5 per cent of 189 countries
surveyed by the World Bank for ease of doing business,2 permeated by endemic
corruption at the individual, institutional and political levels.3 The United Nations
Development Programme lumps these issues under the umbrella of ‘business rights’,
including contractual certainty, financial fairness and freedom from corruption and
extortion,4 together considered as the building blocks for successful business
development.
While opening brought optimism that trade and growth would lift Myanmar’s
poorest, these gains have primarily benefited existing local elites as most new investments require local partners who hold high-level roles in Myanmar’s political–
military nexus. Moreover, Myanmar’s military undertook an ethnic cleansing of
2 million Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state – just the type of authoritarian action
that economic opening was promised to temper. Today, some 700,000 Rohingya are
refugees in neighbouring India and Bangladesh, with a further 100,000 in internally
displaced persons camps.5 While many international non-governmental organisations
(INGOs) have condemned the violent cleansing, no businesses operating in Myanmar
have spoken out against it as of February 2017, and none have withdrawn their
government partnerships or left the country. This silence comes as many companies
have explicitly framed their entry (or re-entry) into the Myanmar market as action to
help solidify peace in one of the world’s least developed states, promoting their roles as
agents of peace and sustainable socio-economic development.
Myanmar’s society remains a patchwork of ethnic groups, regional fighting and
power struggles that often pre-date military rule. While growth grows the pie (and
spoils of peace), unevenness of this distribution has exacerbated societal cleavages.
There are 135 ethnic minorities in Myanmar and 18 conflict groups that base their
allegiance and fight upon the stated basis of grievances resulting from social, political
and economic deprivation.6 These conflicts tend to be based in the country’s border
areas, where employment opportunities, infrastructure and state capacity are limited,
and the likelihood of abuses by official forces is high. Nearly all of these conflicts are
rooted in the uneven division of economic opportunities and civil rights in Myanmar,
along with the heavy-handed rule used to maintain it.
Layered within these historically repressive tactics is state-supported ethnic conflict.
These issues have manifested in Rakhine state between Buddhist majority ‘ethnic
Rakhines’ and a Muslim Rohingya minority. The Rohingya are called ‘Bengali
Muslims’ by most in Myanmar, due to their migration from what is now Bangladesh
beginning in the late 1700s, and as an indicator of the desire to designate Rohingyas as
outsiders.7 This is the government’s third major cleansing attempt of Rohingya, following similar efforts in 1978 and 1991.8 Many have used the new liberalised media
landscape to promote divisive ethnic speech, most visibly Buddhist nationalists Ashin
Wirathu and Ma Ba Tha.9 These overtures culminated in a series of ‘Protection of Race
and Religion’ laws that designated Myanmar as a Buddhist state and legalised antiRohingya discrimination.10 Criticised by the UN, INGOs and some domestic NGOs,
the bills were nevertheless passed throughout 2014 and 2015.
To understand why economic opening and rapid development has failed to bring an
inclusive peace to Myanmar, we compare Myanmar’s imperfect opening to existing
assumptions on how businesses can and should operate in fragile states. The literature
has been proliferating rapidly with theories about how, where and why businesses can
contribute to peace-building.11 The business community has also been urged to be
more involved in post-conflict peace-building processes,12 through the Responsibility
To Protect, UN Sustainable Development Goals, Business and Human Rights Guiding
Principles, United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and similar multilateral initiatives.
But the empirical evidence that can support and refine such pushes remains wanting.
We have gaps in understanding national-level variations in motivations behind business
engagement in peace, how international business-peace agendas influence local business
communities, which local business agents are the most effective for peace and development, how competition from firms based in countries with more illiberal
predispositions influences ethical business decision-making and where peace-building
business activities have worsened local ethnic conflict instead of alleviating it. This
article explores new avenues for theory on these issues through analysis of national
business engagement in peace and development in Myanmar after the country’s 2011
economic opening, emphasising business owners in conflict-affected Rakhine state.
This article presents three primary findings about business actions in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Routledge (London)
Date of publication:
2019-02-14
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Ethnic Cleansing, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
514.1 KB
more
Description:
"On Sunday, 27 February 2022, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "the Court"), Mr Karim A. A. Khan QC, concluded a five-day visit to Dhaka and Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. This represented the first visit by the Prosecutor of the Court to Bangladesh.
During the visit, Prosecutor Khan emphasised that the investigation being conducted by his Office into crimes within the Court's jurisdiction allegedly committed against the Rohingya from Myanmar would be a priority during his tenure. He confirmed to all stakeholders that he had allocated additional resources to the investigative team and was seeking to accelerate the collection and analysis of evidence, which had previously been impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Prosecutor Khan delivered this message directly to survivors and affected communities during his visit to Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, home to hundreds of thousands of members of the Rohingya community who have fled violence in Myanmar. In meetings with Rohingya women and youth activists, Prosecutor Khan discussed how his Office can further empower them to contribute to the investigation. During a meeting with local Imams and other religious leaders, the Prosecutor also addressed ways that Rohingya leaders can support victims of sexual and gender-based violence to come forward with their accounts in the context of the Office's ongoing investigations.
"We are here to work with you to build the foundations of justice. The road to accountability will not be simple, but it is a goal we can only achieve by working together, as a partnership between us", stated the Prosecutor.
During the course of the visit, Prosecutor Khan also held several productive meetings with officials of the Government of Bangladesh, and engaged with diplomatic corps and representatives of civil society organisations in Dhaka. Meetings were held with their Excellencies, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina; Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Anisul Huq; State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Abdul Momen; Foreign Secretary, Mr Masud Bin Momen, and Secretary for Maritime Affairs, Rear Admiral (retd.) Khurshed Alam.
In his meeting with the Prime Minister, the Prosecutor recognised the crucial role that Bangladesh had played in providing refuge to the Rohingya as they fled Myanmar in 2017. "That decision represented a moment of true empathy and courage. It also demonstrated the understanding among the Bangladeshi people of the impact of atrocity crimes, based on their own lived experience. This approach of courageous solidarity continues to be reflected in the assistance provided by Bangladesh to our work in pursuit of justice for the Rohingya community", stated the Prosecutor.
The Prosecutor expressed his sincere appreciation to the authorities of Bangladesh for facilitating his visit. He also expressed his gratitude to the non-governmental organisations and United Nations partners that had supported his direct engagement with survivors and affected communities in Cox's Bazar.
The Prosecutor held a press conference in Dhaka at the conclusion of his mission to Bangladesh, fielding questions from local and international media present. During the press conference, the Prosecutor announced his intention to undertake additional visits to Bangladesh in order to further support and advance the work of his Office in relation to this investigation.
The Prosecutor had the following message at the conclusion of his visit:
"I am profoundly grateful for the generosity and support shown to me by the Bangladeshi people and the Rohingya community during this visit. As I stated to survivors in Cox's Bazar: We are here to serve you and help deliver justice. I am leaving here confident that with the renewed focus of my Office on this investigation, combined with the strengthened partnerships we have developed with survivors and national actors, we can now enter a phase of accelerated action. It is my hope and expectation that this will ultimately lead to those that may be responsible for atrocity crimes committed against the Rohingya community being held accountable in accordance with the law."
Background:
In November 2019, ICC Judges granted the former Prosecutor Bensouda's request to open a full investigation into alleged crimes within the ICC's jurisdiction in the Situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar (read her statement following the Judges' authorisation to proceed with an investigationby clicking here).
The Prosecutor may investigate any crimes which fall within the ICC's jurisdiction - and which were committed at least in part on the territory of Bangladesh (or any other State Party or State formally accepting the jurisdiction of the ICC), insofar as the crimes are sufficiently linked to the situation, and irrespective of the nationality of the perpetrators. In this context, the investigation may cover alleged crimes committed since 1 June 2010, the date of entry into force of the Rome Statute for Bangladesh (or from the date of entry into force of the Rome Statute for any other relevant State Party), and includes any future crimes, as long as they are sufficiently linked to the situation..."
Source/publisher:
International Criminal Court
Date of publication:
2022-03-01
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Criminal Court, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Introduction
With the decline of the Cold War, attention towards ‘environmental conflicts’ was well merited
and now it is being fruitful in understanding the study of how environmental degradation
acts as an agent in international and civil conflicts. The case of Cox’s Bazar is no different,
the influx of Rohingya is adversely affecting the livelihood of the host community due to deforestation,
inflation and competition over. Although national and international humanitarian
agencies are providing services and creating opportunities for the local population along with
the Rohingyas, resources appear relatively scarce compared to the scale of needs which in long
term might turn into an adverse situation creating hostile conflict between the host community
and the rohingya refugees.
Defining environmental conflict
Environmental conflict can be broadly understood as a social conflict relating to the environment.
It can be a conflict over the environment, most notably in terms of access to and control
over environmental resources. These so-called “resource conflicts” are defined by Elen Turner
as consisting of “social conflict (violent or nonviolent) associated with both struggles to gain
access to natural resources and struggles resulting from the use of natural resources.” From a neo-Malthusian perspective, environmental conflicts also consist of conflicts resulting from
environmental processes – especially resource scarcity supposedly putting strains on social
relations – even if the conflict per se is not over those “scarce” environmental resources. It
rather generates from unequal distribution of those resources (Billon, 2015).
Theoretical approach into understanding how host communities
and refugees might indulge in environmental conflict
How does environmental degradation lead to violent conflicts?
Homer-Dixon’s (1999) argument that where environmental change contributes to conflict development,
it does so through indirect mechanisms such as host of social, cultural and economic
variables. Competition for resources can be mapped onto existing perceptions of inequality,
resulting in a hardening of group identities and providing a catalyst for hostility
towards out-groups. Research in the political economy of natural disasters finds that sudden
environmental stress can, under certain social conditions, be a catalyst for deepening social
segmentation and intensified intergroup competition and conflict. The social psychology of
intergroup conflict suggests that communities become more deeply segmented under conditions
that foster perceptions of relative deprivation and threats to self-esteem which can be
accelerated by resource degradation and uneven distribution of it (Billon, 2015).
How relationship between the host community and refugees deteriorates
The presence of refugees can create tensions and conflicts with host communities for a number
of reasons.
• First, refugees are often well served by humanitarian agencies and enjoy better access
to water, food, health and education than the host population (OECD 2001). (MARTIN,
2005)
• Second, The OECD (2001) has argued that the economic benefits generated by refugees
‘seldom outweigh the negative impacts of a large-scale refugee presence over extended
periods’. In some contexts the host community can benefit, but the economic rewards
can be confined to a small group of elites.
• Third, the presence of refugees can lead to environmental degradation, putting a strain
on local resources such as water and firewood. Martin (2005) stresses that although environmental degradation is often cited as an important factor in refugee-host relations,
in many cases these issues are instrumentalised by political leaders.
• Fourth, host communities may be opposed to the presence of refugees on social or
cultural grounds (OECD 2001).
• Fifth, refugees may be seen to pose a threat to the security of host communities by harbouring
fighters or by increasing criminality. More broadly, there is some evidence to
suggest that the presence of refugees may increase the risk of intrastate conflict (MARTIN,
2005).
A case study on the host community - Rohingya relationship
However, studies exploring descriptive details regarding attitudes, beliefs and perceptions towards
refugees are generally very limited and this is especially true for the case of the Rohingya
refugees. A large-scale survey exploring perception and experience of the host community
regarding the Rohingya population was conducted by Xchange Foundation (2018) (Walton,
2012). Participants were found feeling unsafe (85%) about the Rohingya residing nearby, reluctant
(85%) to allow the Rohingya children to go to the same school used by their children
and prohibitive (48%) regarding the Rohingya accessing local facilities.The local people also
face multi-dimensional problems due to the Rohingya crisis. Most of them used to graze their
cattle in the fields, which are now occupied by the Rohingya people) (Jerin, 2019). The local
people often feel insecure and do not know what they would do if the Rohingya refugees
become violent. The Rohingya refugees often try to enter local villages. The local people
used to enjoy many facilities such as free medical check-up and healthcare, stipend, and counselling
provided by different NGOs and international agencies. But the termination of such
services after the crisis began made the local people resentful of the Rohingya presence (Jerin,
2019). The coronavirus pandemic is aggravating tensions between Rohingya refugees and
local communities in Bangladesh, underscoring long-held grievances on the margins of the
massive aid response. Increasingly, distrust and stigmatisation have been aimed at Rohingya
refugees accused of carrying the virus. Aid groups report a rise in anti-Rohingya hate speech
and racism, as well as “rapidly deteriorating security dynamics” between the two communities
(Anas, 2020). Distrust is also aimed at aid groups perceived to be favouring the Rohingya at
the expense of local communities. “They don’t care about local people. Some local aid staff
working on the refugee response echo similar beliefs. ((Babu), 2020)
Analysts say the tensions reflect growing resentment among the local communities, who
have lived in the shadows of the refugee response for years which increased rapidly in 2017.
The influx of refugees and the enormous aid infrastructure has raised prices and sent wages
plummeting, while locals say they haven’t benefited enough from hundreds of millions of
dollars earmarked for the Rohingya response each year. ((Babu), 2020)
“They feel like their lands and opportunities have now been permanently lost due to
refugees,” said MA Razzaque, who directs research at the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh
(PRI) . “If we can eat a meal, we can’t have another. The Rohingya families get gas, but we
struggle to find firewood.” Also driving animosity is the perception that aid is plentiful for
refugees, but scant for local communities. The Rohingya crisis resulted in significant differences
in the tourism sector the tourist attractions and hotel and restaurant businesses in Cox’s
Bazar and along the border with Myanmar were affected adversely due to fewer tourist arrivals
since the beginnings of the Rohingya crisis and widespread publicity about problems in
the area (Panday2004, pp. 100-101). Maystadt and Verwimp (2009) state that the economic
structure, agriculture sector and local livelihoods can be affected by the presence of refugees,
particularly in large numbers, because of competition in the labour market and increased price
of daily goods ((Babu), 2020).
Conclusion
While local community members are generally sympathetic to the plight of the newcomers,
there is growing anxiety of being “outnumbered” by foreigners in one’s own land. This sense
of vulnerability is going to become more and more complex as time goes by. These are the
issues that the government will have to deal with sooner than later. And the international community
will have to do more than just pay lip service about what a grand job the Bangladesh
government is doing to host such a huge refugee populace. It is not merely a question of cents
and dollars. Rather, the longer the Rohingyas stay on Bangladeshi soil, the greater will be the
dangers of conflict erupting between Bangladeshis and Rohingyas..."
Source/publisher:
Academia Letters
Date of publication:
2021-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
46.63 KB
more
Sub-title:
Hearings End on Myanmar’s Preliminary Objections to Genocide Case
Description:
"A week of legal proceedings at the International Court of Justice in the Hague ended with Gambia making a plea for the judges to move swiftly and ensure that justice for the Rohingya is delayed no longer.
On February 28, the hearings on Myanmar’s preliminary objections to Gambia’s case on the alleged genocide against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar came to a close. Yet the court could take a year before it decides on whether the case can proceed. In the meantime, the court’s 2020 order to protect the 600,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar is still in place, providing a measure of protection. If the case proceeds, it would take several years before the court reaches a judgment.
While the representation of Myanmar at the court by junta officials has raised concerns, some Rohingya activists have welcomed hearing directly from those considered responsible for the atrocities in northern Rakhine State.
Rohingya activist Yasmin Ullah says watching the perpetrators of mass violence face the court has even been cathartic. “We have not heard once from the military in a legal court as they have always acted by proxy,” she said in a recent discussion.
The momentum to hold Myanmar’s military accountable is building, with a universal jurisdiction case underway in Argentina and an investigation at the International Criminal Court into crimes against humanity connected to the forced deportation of Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh.
Achieving justice for the Rohingya has far-reaching consequences for all those who have suffered at the hands of Myanmar’s military. Abuses against the Rohingya have now echoed throughout Myanmar, as the commanders who oversaw the atrocities against the Rohingya and led a military coup more than a year ago are now carrying out apparent crimes against humanity against other groups across Myanmar.
In its closing statements, Gambia argued that Myanmar’s objections to the genocide case were merely a delaying tactic, and that any further delay in the proceedings may risk further atrocities against the Rohingya. If the case proceeds, Myanmar will need to respond to Gambia’s factual allegations that its security forces took part in a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya, an opportunity that many victims and their families have long been waiting for..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of publication:
2022-03-01
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide
Language:
more
Description:
"Please see below statement from Refugees International Deputy Director for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East Daniel P. Sullivan:
“The continuation of the Rohingya genocide trial at the International Court of Justice is an important signal of accountability. The case against the state of Myanmar for its crimes against the Rohingya people comes even as the Myanmar military continues to commit atrocities against other ethnic minorities and anyone who protests their illegal seizure of power.
The failure to properly address the crimes committed against the Rohingya has undoubtedly emboldened the military junta’s sense of impunity—leading up to the coup that is now wreaking havoc across the country. The ICJ trial exposes these crimes and sets the stage for a more inclusive and peaceful future Myanmar by demonstrating to the perpetrators and victims alike that such violence will not be tolerated.
The trial is also a reminder of the fact that the United States is yet to recognize, itself, the extent of the crimes against the Rohingya. It is long past time for the United States to take that important step and make an official determination that the crimes committed against the Rohingya people are crimes against humanity and genocide.”
Refugees International has urged U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to make a Rohingya genocide determination, including through a joint letter from 95 organizations. The letter builds on Refugees International’s efforts with the previous U.S. administration as part of the #CallitGenocide campaign, which included a nearly 9,000-signature petition and a legal and human rights experts letter (signed by two senior officials in the Biden administration). Refugees International’s analysis on why the attacks on the Rohingya constitute genocide can be found here..."
Source/publisher:
Refugees International
Date of publication:
2022-02-28
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar government’s discriminatory policies with the Rohingya ethnic group since the late
1970s have forcefully compelled a great number of Muslim Rohingya to escape their homes
in the predominantly Buddhist country. Most of them have crossed by land into Bangladesh,
while others took the sea route to reach Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The violence
of Rohingya displacement chronologically occurred after Burma had got independence from
the British, and finally, in 2017, the brutality of Myanmar Junta aroused extremely with reported rape, murder, and burning that generated a massive migration of Rohingya towards Bangladesh. There are compelling reasons for studying the refugee policy of Bangladesh. First, the
magnitude of Rohingya influx in 2017 drew unprecedented global attention when an estimated
750,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar’s Rakhine state entered Bangladesh. (Ashraf,
2021)
The Assignment has been designed with short answers to the following questions:
a) Did the military junta in Myanmar make a long-term plan to forcefully displace
hundreds and thousands of Rohingya’s painful journey to Bangladesh since August 2017?
b) How did they (military junta of Myanmar) execute their plan?
c) Did the Bangladeshi authorities fail to detect Myanmar’s plan?
d) What could have been done to prevent the 2017 Rohingya influx?
The assignment also contains four sections: the first section depicts an introduction including four questions on the Rohingya crisis, the second section draws a short identity of
Rohingya and Myanmar, the third section explains the mainstream covering the real and logical answers to the questions of section one and the final section depicts a brief conclusion.
Myanmar and Rohingya
Myanmar is the largest Buddhist-dominated country at the meeting point of South and Southeast Asia. After his independence from the British on January 4, 1948, Aung San, the general
of his national army took charge of the country’s government. During the time of General
Ne Win, it became a one-party socialist state until 1988. The military junta was melted down
authoritarian with a parliamentary election in 2010 and a nominally civilian government was
formed.
The Rohingya are an ethnic Muslim minority who practice Sunni Islam in Rakhine State
in Myanmar. They differ religiously, ethnically, and linguistically from dominant Buddhists.
Rohingyas have lived in Myanmar for centuries and they are the descendants of Muslim Arabs,
Moors, Persians, Turks, Mughals, and Bengalis who came mostly as traders, warriors, and
saints through overland and sea routes (Kipgen, 2014). They have a glorious past that informs
us about Muslim Sultanate. The Rohingya trace their origins in the region to the fifteenth
century, when thousands of Muslims came to the former Arakan Kingdom. (Eleanor Albert,
2020). But the local people and the government of Myanmar says that the Rohingya are
gradual migrant from Bangladesh. They did never confess them as the ethnic of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Academia Letters
Date of publication:
2022-01-00
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
64.08 KB
more
Sub-title:
Virtual awards show hosted by actor Jay Ellis on Monday
Description:
" Fortify Rights and Doha Debates won an inaugural Anthem Award for training and supporting Rohingya refugee photographers in Bangladesh, said Fortify Rights today. The project will receive the Silver Award in “Best Local Community Engagement” at an award show that will air live on Monday, hosted by TV and film actor Jay Ellis.
“The Rohingya and all people of Myanmar are in their darkest hour, under attack by a brutal military junta, making it even more important to shine a light on the positive forces for change among the community,” said Matthew Smith, CEO of Fortify Rights. “There has never been a more important time to fortify support for refugees, and we’re hopeful this award can help us do more of that.”
Fortify Rights Senior Multimedia Specialist Taimoor Sobhan will accept the award on behalf of Fortify Rights and Doha Debates at the virtual awards show that will air live on February 28 at 1 p.m. PT at anthemawards.com.
The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences established the Anthem Awards as a new initiative of the Webby Awards to celebrate “the purpose and mission-driven work of people, companies, and organizations worldwide.” A panel of judges, including actors Daniel Dae Kim and Ashley Judd as well as prominent business and organization leaders, selected the winners from nearly 2,500 submissions from 36 countries.
Since 2018, in partnership with Doha Debates, Fortify Rights has provided on-the-ground photography and media skills training for three young Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh who are survivors of genocide in Myanmar. The organization equipped the three “media fellows” – Dil Kayas, Omal Khair, and Azimul Hasson – with mobile phones, which Myanmar authorities forbade them from possessing in their native Rakhine State. They have since documented their lives in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps on Instagram, amassing thousands of followers. The project won a Shorty Award in 2020 and was a finalist for a 2019 Shorty Award.
The 23-minute documentary film, EXODUS, produced by Fortify Rights and Doha Debates and directed by Fortify Rights Senior Multimedia Specialist Taimoor Sobhan, delves into the lives of the media fellows as they survive the Rohingya genocide.
Other Anthem Award winners this year include Dr. Jane Goodall “for her lifetime of passionate advocacy for the conservation of the natural world”; American film director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian Adam McKay “for holding up a mirror to society through his work”; and Japanese professional tennis star Naomi Osaka “for claiming her third grand slam title while igniting a conversation about mental health, racial injustice, and police brutality...”
Source/publisher:
Fortify Rights
Date of publication:
2022-02-26
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
They say the junta is trying to placate the international community amid an international genocide hearing.
Description:
"Ethnic Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh will not return to their home in neighboring Myanmar’s Rakhine state unless they are granted equal rights and freedom of movement, they said Thursday, days after the junta announced that it is preparing for their immediate repatriation.
The junta’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Feb. 20 that it is readying the return of “displaced persons from Rakhine state.” The announcement notably avoided both the use of the term “Rohingya,” a mostly Muslim ethnicity that the military says does not exist in Myanmar, and the term “Bengali,” which the junta favors and implies the group is originally from Bangladesh.
The junta statement also called for a meeting with the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), saying that after agreeing to the bloc’s initial recommendations on the re-admission of displaced persons in Rakhine state, assistance is needed to implement them.
Rohingya refugees and activists in Bangladesh told RFA’s Myanmar Service on Thursday that they have no confidence the junta will act on the recommendations and said they need assurances their rights will be protected before they return.
Ali Jenner, a Rohingya refugee from the Baluhali refugee camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, said he and others in the camp “have no trust in the junta at all.”
“If the Rohingya people can get equal citizenship, security rights, equal rights and all our original rights as other citizens there, then we can agree to go back,” he said.
The West African nation of Gambia filed a case at the ICJ in November 2019 accusing Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention during the alleged expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya amid a brutal crackdown in 2017.
The ICJ, which is the judicial arm of the United Nations, began hearings on Feb. 21, the day after the junta statement on returning refugees, to determine whether it has jurisdiction to examine claims that atrocities committed by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya constituted a genocide.
The hearings are scheduled to last until Feb. 28 and will include arguments presented by representatives of Myanmar and Gambia
The junta’s defense lawyers — Christopher Staker and Stefan Talmon — have argued that Gambia submitted its case on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and that the ICJ has no jurisdiction because the OIC is not a country. They also argue that Gambia is not an aggrieved country and has no right to sue Myanmar.
Gambia defended its right to sue Myanmar in an appeal issued on Feb. 23. Gambian Attorney General Dawda Jallow says the case was not only brought to the ICJ to protect the rights of the Rohingya, but to uphold Gambia’s rights as a signatory to the U.N. Convention on Genocide.
Response to pressure
Rohingya living in refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh have said they are hopeful that the ICJ can bring justice for the Myanmar military’s rights violations against the ethnic minority group.
But others are wary of how the case may influence the junta in the near term.
Khin Maung, the founder of the activist group Rohingya Youth Union, who lives in Thinkhali Refugee Camp No. 13 in Bangladesh, said he cannot trust a junta statement he believes was issued as a response to international pressure.
“We welcome the fact that they want to call us home. But did they create necessary conditions for us to return to Rakhine state? That’s what we should be thinking about,” he said.
“[Junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing] is trying to use us for his advantage. He is doing this because of international pressure and not because of goodwill. We are ready to go back, no matter who makes the decision to call us back, but it is impossible to return unless our requirements are met.”
Khin Maung said it is “impossible” for Rohingyas to return home without guarantees of citizenship or security and freedom of movement in the areas where they had previously lived. Discussions about a repatriation should first be held with the Rohingyas themselves, he said.
‘Crimes on a nationwide scale’
However, junta Deputy Information Minister Zaw Min Tun told RFA that the plan to repatriate the Rohingya was created long prior to the ICJ hearings and was not part of a bid to placate the international community.
He said the Rohingya had previously said they would accept the offer to return to Rakhine state, but that Bangladesh had refused to let them leave.
“We have been saying all along that we will accept and let them live as before. Accommodations were prepared,” he said.
“It’s just that they didn’t come back even after we made three or four offers. The other side did not release them … They are working on it with a political agenda.”
Rohingya activist Nay San Lwin told RFA that members of her ethnic group cannot expect that their rights will be respected by the junta when “the military is currently committing crimes against humanity on a nationwide scale.”
In the year since Myanmar’s military seized power from the country’s democratically elected government in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup, security forces have killed nearly 1,580 people across the country.
“Even if the Rohingya return, it will probably be just a handful,” Nay San Lwin said. “Most of them have said that they will return only if they can live in peace with the full basic rights they deserve.”..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of publication:
2022-02-24
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Governments, UN Should Do More to End Abuses, Ensure Protection, Provide Assistance
Description:
"Older people are often at heightened risk of abuses during armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. All parties to armed conflict should end abuses against older people and facilitate humanitarian assistance to older people in need. The United Nations Security Council should ensure that the UN addresses the need for enhanced protection of older civilians in armed conflict in its work.
The 49-page report, “No One Is Spared: Abuses against Older People in Armed Conflict,” describes patterns of abuses documented by Human Rights Watch between 2013 and 2021 against older people affected by armed conflicts in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Mali, Mozambique, Nagorno-Karabakh, Niger, South Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine. The report also draws on the serious protracted violence in two English-speaking regions of Cameroon, Myanmar security force atrocities against older ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine State, and the experiences of older refugees in Lebanon displaced by conflict in Syria.
“Older people face serious abuses, including summary execution, rape, and abduction, during conflicts,” said Bridget Sleap, senior researcher on the rights of older people at Human Rights Watch. “There is an urgent need for governments and the UN to recognize the specific risks and assistance needs of older people and act to protect them.”
Government forces and non-state armed groups have attacked and committed serious abuses against older civilians in conflicts around the world, including unlawful killing, summary executions, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and other ill-treatment, rape, abduction and kidnapping, and destroyed their homes and property. Older civilians have been killed and injured by small arms, heavy weapons, explosive weapons with wide area effects, and chemical and other banned weapons. Older people are often at heightened risk when they are unable or chose not to flee attacks.
In Burkina Faso and Mali, armed Islamist groups, government forces, and ethnic militias have killed numerous older people, including prominent elders. On January 27, 2022, the Malian army executed two men in their 80s and 12 others in the village of Touna, Mali, in apparent retaliation for the death of two soldiers whose vehicle drove over an improvised explosive device.
In South Sudan, a rape survivor in her late 50s said that during government operations against rebel forces in February 2019, a soldier made her carry looted property, beat her with a gun, and raped her repeatedly.
Between December 2016 and April 2017, Syrian government warplanes carried out four aerial attacks with apparent nerve agents, a group of chemicals that includes sarin. Older people were among those who reportedly died in the attacks from chemical exposure.
During hostilities, in many instances older people with limited mobility or other disabilities did not have support from others to flee when fighting neared and had to remain behind. In 2017, Rohingya who were forced out of Myanmar described security forces pushing older people who could not flee back into burning houses. "I saw them push my husband's uncle into the fire. I saw them push him back into the burning house,” one woman said. “He is weak, maybe 80 years [old].... I think they wanted everyone to leave and those that could not leave they put into the fire.”
Other older people chose not to flee their homes because they wanted to protect their property. During the conflict in 2020 over Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic-Armenian majority enclave in Azerbaijan, most younger civilians fled. Those remaining, with few exceptions, were older people. An older woman and her husband, Arega and Eduard, both in their 70s, remained in their village to protect their property. In October, Azerbaijani soldiers found the couple at home and aggressively detained them, holding them initially in abandoned houses without food and water, then taking them to a detention facility in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. Officials denied Arega medication for her high blood pressure. Eduard died in detention. When Arega viewed his body shortly after his death, she described his face as black and blue.
Displaced older people can also face abuse and barriers to obtaining humanitarian assistance. In South Sudan in 2017, a 70-year-old man who was blind said aid was inaccessible on the island to which he was displaced. “Some organizations have registered older people, but I never got registered because they did not come to this particular island,” he said. “There’s no health clinic either on the island. To get medical assistance, I must travel to another island or to the mainland.”
International humanitarian law, the laws of war, recognizes the protection of older civilians during armed conflict. It requires to the extent feasible the safe removal of older civilians, among others, from the vicinity of military targets, and the provision of suitable accommodations for detained civilians on the basis of age among other factors. Older people are also protected at all times by applicable international human rights law.
“UN agencies, peacekeeping missions, and humanitarian actors should ensure that all protection and assistance activities are inclusive of older people and their specific needs,” Sleap said. “Older people, with their unique protection needs, should no longer be invisible victims of armed conflict..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2022-02-23
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Rights of people with disabilities, Human Rights and international relations, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.86 MB 1.13 MB
more
Description:
"21 February 2022: The hearings concerning The Gambia’s case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are a dangerous and unnecessary delay to justice that could worsen the situation in Myanmar, says the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M).
The ICJ is hosting public hearings from today in the case brought against Myanmar by The Gambia for alleged breaches of the Genocide Convention. The hearings are taking place with the illegal military junta representing Myanmar before the Court, despite the junta having no legal or democratic legitimacy, and no claim to effective control over the people or territory of Myanmar. No other United Nations (UN) body has accepted the junta as representing Myanmar.
“It is outrageous for the ICJ to proceed with these hearings on the basis of junta representation. The junta is not the government of Myanmar, it does not represent the State of Myanmar, and it is dangerous for the Court to allow it to present itself as such,” said Chris Sidoti of SAC-M. “The junta leaders orchestrated the genocidal atrocities against the Rohingya – the subject of this case – and are the cause of the current violence and suffering in the country. They are trying to entrench themselves as leaders of Myanmar, including by claiming international recognition. If they succeed, the chances of the Rohingya and all peoples of Myanmar achieving justice where it matters – on the ground in Myanmar – will be severely diminished.”
The hearings are on the preliminary objections filed by Myanmar in January 2021. Preliminary objections are procedural issues that the Court must adjudicate on before it can proceed to the merits of the case. The National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) has communicated to the Court that, as the legitimate government appointed by Myanmar’s elected parliamentarians, it is the proper representative of Myanmar in the case. The NUG has also advised the Court that it withdraws all preliminary objections.
“These hearings, with the junta claiming to represent Myanmar, are a disgrace,” said Yanghee Lee of SAC-M. “They are also an unnecessary delay in the case. The NUG is the only entity with the authority to represent Myanmar before the Court and it has withdrawn the preliminary objections. Those objections are the focus of these hearings and will require several months of deliberation by the judges. The Court should instead recognise the NUG’s authority, formally dismiss the objections and move swiftly to dealing with the actual substance of the case, the atrocities against the Rohingya people.”
The ICJ is required to take into account the attitude adopted by the UN General Assembly concerning questions of member states’ recognition and accreditation. Last year, the General Assembly rejected the military junta’s attempts to gain recognition there. The General Assembly continues to recognise the credentials of Myanmar’s Ambassador to the UN, U Kyaw Moe Tun, who the NUG has appointed as acting alternate agent to the ICJ.
“For the ICJ to disavow Myanmar’s representation at the General Assembly and recognise the junta is to go beyond its jurisdiction and politicise the issue. It is a high point in UN dysfunctionality,” said Marzuki Darusman of SAC-M. “The decision is a total affront to the Myanmar people, including the Rohingya. The Court is simply complicit in the military junta’s violent attempt to seize power over Myanmar and shield itself from justice..."
Source/publisher:
Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
Date of publication:
2022-02-21
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
148.45 KB
more
Sub-title:
This week’s hearing in the Hague must serve to put the generals on notice that they will be held accountable for their crimes
Description:
"Once again, the people of Myanmar are being denied justice and accountability.
At a week-long public hearing set to begin at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague on Monday, the country’s illegal junta will attempt to block the case brought against it by The Gambia for breaching the Genocide Convention during the so-called “clearance operations” in 2017 that drove 750,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh.
The regime’s representatives at the hearing are expected to raise procedural objections to prevent the court moving to the substantive stage of the case, at which point the Rohingya people might expect some form of long-delayed justice.
As if to deliberately mock the international justice system, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing has nominated two individuals accused of committing serious human rights violations and subverting the rule of law—Win Shein, the regime’s minister for planning, finance and industry, and Thida oo, its attorney general—to his ICJ team.
Win Shein has been facing EU and US sanctions since last year, while the US, UK and Canada added Thida Oo to their sanctions lists on the anniversary of last year’s February 1 coup for fabricating charges against State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in an attempt to bar her and other democratic leaders from politics.
Even the junta’s presence at the “principle judicial organ of the UN” is an affront to international law, as it is in violation of a UN General Assembly’s decision to reject the credentials of the military regime and leave the National Unity Government’s (NUG) pick for Myanmar’s permanent representative to the world body, Kyaw Moe Tun, in his seat. This resolution was unanimously endorsed last December by all 193 members of the General Assembly.
By allowing an uncredentialed and illegal military regime to represent the country anyway, the ICJ is not only flouting the decision of the General Assembly, but also undermining the democratic will of the people of Myanmar, who in November 2020 voted overwhelmingly to reject military-backed parties and embrace their country’s transition to democracy. We therefore urge all UN and international organisations, particularly judicial bodies such as the ICJ whose mandates centre on the rule of law, to desist from any action that legitimises the military junta in international affairs.
Moreover, we demand that all UN member states and UN bodies respect the democratic will of the people of Myanmar by recognising the NUG, which the vast majority see as representing their aspirations.
The case for recognition of the NUG was comprehensively made in a landmark legal opinion signed by some of the world’s leading jurisprudential experts last September, and also in a report by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, an independent group of international experts.
Significantly, more than 800 Rohingya survivors of genocide represented by the Geneva-based nongovernmental organisation Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) have called on the international community, including through communications to the president of the ICJ, to recognise the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar. The Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP)—of which we are executive directors—has also established a petition urging recognition of the NUG.
Many of LAW's Rohingya clients, who are survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, overwhelmingly support the ICJ case and consistently state that justice, including an end to Tatmadaw impunity, is a fundamental requirement for their return to Myanmar from Bangladesh.
But these Rohingya genocide survivors, along with the rest of Myanmar’s embattled people crying out for an end to the crisis that has overwhelmed their country, are being egregiously failed by the very multilateral institutions responsible for their protection.
The UN Security Council has been neutralised by China and Russia, for whom Myanmar is a backyard for commerce and arms sales. The current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Cambodian dictator Hun Sen, was recently rebuffed by Min Aung Hlaing when he attempted to resuscitate the regional body’s five-point plan. And the UN secretary-general’s new special envoy for Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, rendered herself hopelessly compromised recently when she suggested that the junta participate in a power-sharing agreement with the NUG.
In the face of these abject failures, Myanmar remains a killing field. The Rohingya’s homeland, Rakhine State, has become a vast prison camp for displaced communities, where the junta continues to act with brazen impunity. In vast swathes of the rest of Myanmar, junta forces are undertaking increasingly desperate rampages against vulnerable communities in ever more futile attempts to bring the country under their control.
Mass murder, summary executions, indiscriminate aerial bombardments and widespread arson attacks are just some of the industrial-scale human rights violations being perpetrated by the leaders of Myanmar’s failed coup.
This brings us back to the ICJ hearing. In 2019, the court unanimously imposed “provisional measures” to prevent any further genocidal acts by the military and to ensure the preservation of evidence related to possible acts of genocide.
Two years on, it’s clear these measures have failed, and that as the court has dragged its bureaucratic feet, the very crimes it is considering have continued in a widespread and systematic manner.
So we urge the ICJ to move beyond procedural wranglings to the substantive hearing of genocide against the Rohingya. The Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar, a massive database of junta crimes, has extensive evidence that would prove decisive in the case against Myanmar’s military leaders.
Most importantly, the Rohingya people must have their day in court, a cathartic moment of truth telling and acknowledgment, and an essential milestone on their long road to justice and accountability.
Even if the court does move to a substantive hearing, a ruling on whether the junta has committed genocide is likely to take years. And so we also urge UN member states to take unilateral and collective steps to bring perpetrators of international crimes to justice and achieve full accountability.
The application of universal jurisdiction, under which perpetrators are pursued in national courts, is one largely untried route to justice in relation to Myanmar. The ground-breaking case by the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK in Argentina and the criminal prosecutions which MAP will file in the coming weeks are good examples.
There must be more efforts like this to put Myanmar’s generals on notice that they will be held to account and that their days are numbered. Above all, the people of Myanmar must know that their courageous struggle for justice is supported by the outside world and that they are not forgotten.
Chris Gunness is the Director of the Myanmar Accountability Project, where Damian Lilly is Director of Protection..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2022-02-21
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Military, which seized power in February 2021, seeks to throw out case alleging it committed genocide
Description:
"Myanmar’s military junta has appeared in place of the detained Aung San Suu Kyi at the UN’s top court, where it sought to throw out a case alleging it committed genocide against the country’s Rohingya minority.
The decision to allow the junta to represent the country in court, after it seized power in a coup last year, was strongly criticised by advocacy groups and a former UN special rapporteur, who warned it risked delaying justice.
The claim that Myanmar’s military carried out genocide was brought to the international court of justice (ICJ) by the Gambia after a brutal 2017 military crackdown that forced an estimated 700,000 Rohingya to flee over the border to neighbouring Bangladesh. UN investigators have since alleged the military’s operations were carried out with “genocidal intent”.
Previously, Aung San Suu Kyi travelled to the court to defend Myanmar against claims the military carried out mass murder, rape and destruction of Rohingya Muslim communities. She is now being held in detention at the behest of the military, which seized power in February 2021 and charged her with a raft of alleged offences.
Aung San Suu Kyi was replaced in court by the junta’s minister of international cooperation, Ko Ko Hlaing, and its attorney general, Thida Oo. Both are subject to US sanctions prompted by the military’s use of brutal violence to repress opposition to the coup.
The national unity government (NUG), formed by elected lawmakers, ethnic minority representatives and activists, had said it intended to represent Myanmar at the ICJ. It said it had withdrawn preliminary objections – unlike the junta, whose representatives argued on Monday the Gambia did not have the legal right to file the case.
Yanghee Lee, a former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, called the hearings a disgrace. “The court should instead recognise the NUG’s authority, formally dismiss the objections and move swiftly to dealing with the actual substance of the case, the atrocities against the Rohingya people.”
The junta’s lawyers outlined several objections, including claims that the Gambia was acting as a “proxy” for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and therefore lacked standing because the ICJ only rules on disputes between states.
Ko Ko Hlaing told the court that the junta, which he referred to as the government of Myanmar, was determined to solve the problems in Rakhine state “through peaceful means of negotiation and reconciliation”.
Rights groups point out that the military is in the midst of a deadly campaign of violence against the public. Over the past year alone, in the aftermath of the coup, its has torched villages, massacred civilians and carried out airstrikes across the country to silence opposition.
Tun Khin, the president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, said the military had totally failed to comply a previous order issued by the court, which said Myanmar must prevent genocidal violence against Rohingya and preserve any evidence of past crimes.
“The Rohingya in Myanmar today are subjected to daily harassment and intimidation by authorities, while there are also state-enforced restrictions on their movement, as well as their access to healthcare, education and livelihoods,” Tun Khin said.
The junta was also blocking humanitarian assistance, leaving many Rohingya on the brink of starvation, he added.
A representative of the Rohingya Student Network, who spoke from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, told the Guardian the ICJ case represented not only the prospect of justice for Rohingya people but also the “hope to bring a federal democracy in Myanmar for all those who are fighting [for an end to military rule] in Myanmar right now”.
The military’s seizure of power has prompted a shift in attitudes towards minorities. Previously there was little solidarity with Rohingya, but since the coup some protesters have apologised for not standing by Rohingya or believing their claims of persecution.
“They joined our fight from 1 February,” said the Rohingya activist, who asked not to be named due to security concerns, referring to the date of last year’s coup. “They just joined our fight, that we [have been] fighting for decades.”
Akila Radhakrishnan, the president of the Global Justice Centre, said she did not believe the junta’s appearance before the court would lend legitimacy to the military. It was likely to simply reflect a continuation of the status quo in court procedures, she said.
Radhakrishnan added: “There is such a strong link between impunity and the coup occurring, and the fact that the military has very rarely faced any direct consequences, that I think there is import to the fact that they are learning that they will be hauled into court – and this time around, unlike 2019, they can’t hide behind Aung San Suu Kyi and the civilian government...”
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2022-02-21
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Discrimination against the Rohingya, About Aung San Suu Kyi
Language:
more
Description:
"Today, I want to address the issues that the judges of the International Court of Justice will have
to consider in regard to proper representation of Myanmar in the case of The Gambia v. Myanmar.
First of all, I would like to thank the organisers of this conference for inviting me to join this event
today. I am glad to have this opportunity to explain our position on that case and why we assert
our responsibility to represent Myanmar in this proceeding. Our fundamental point is simple - Our
goal is to bring justice.
At stake in this decision is justice for the Rohingya victims of the military violence. This violence
caused uncounted thousands of deaths, vast dispossession and exile. The suffering of the
Rohingyas continues to this day.
As the Government of Myanmar, we are acutely conscious of this suffering. As we wrote on 7
September 2021, “the entire world knows that the military is constantly committing inhumane war
crimes."
Now, the judges of the International Court must determine who has the duty to speak for Myanmar
in this case. They face a choice - between the people’s government and the same military who
inflicted so much suffering on our Rohingya sisters and brothers. Who in this choice will bring
justice to the Rohingya?
The National Unity Government that I represent is the true government of Myanmar, deriving its
legitimacy from elected representatives. Ethnic and national political parties have come together
in the face of evil and after an illegal coup to form this government, with the duty to confront the
military and to build a new, inclusive federal democracy in place of rule by hate.
This new Myanmar will include a special place for Rohingya communities. The National Unity
Government is deeply saddened by the violence inflicted on them in 2017, and is committed, as
we have made clear, “to bring the perpetrators to justice, not only for the realisation of justice but
also for the deterrence against future atrocities.
It is in the interests of justice for the sake of our Rohingya brothers and sisters that we have engaged
with the International Court over these last months.
• We have submitted periodic reports as required by the Court in its Provisional Measures of
23 January 2020. We have named our Ambassador to the United Nations, HE U Kyaw Moe
Tun, as Agent for the Court, in place of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who remains unjustly
detained by the military.
• We have withdrawn the preliminary objections that were submitted before the coup. They
are no longer relevant. The need for justice requires this. And, as we have withdrawn these
amendments, the Court should now discontinue the current hearing and proceed to the
merits.
The Court can play a powerful role for Myanmar. As a government, it is our stated aim " to bring
an end to the conflicts and problematic root causes in the Union, to ensure all ethnic
nationalities and populations can... build a Federal Democracy Union." We believe that the
Court, inspired and guided by the principles of the United Nations, will share this goal with us.
The Court has also been approached by representatives of the illegitimate military junta that
currently occupies Nay Pyi Taw. They have received communications from some ambassadors
and from military Attorney General, who has been sanctioned by the United States of America for
her part in the unlawful coup and the violence that has flowed from it.
For representing Myanmar, a person should be empowered to do so by the people of Myanmar.
They are not the government of Myanmar. They are not empowered by the people.
The military act only by the power of the gun. Yes, they have the guns, but they cannot thereby
stand here for law and justice. Are we saying, in this place, that force is law?
And even force is failing them - as the people of Myanmar resist this junta. The people do not
accept their authority and never will.
Regrettably, we now face the risk that international judicial institutions in The Hague might be
seen as inadvertently undermining democracy in Myanmar. The military have not received
credentials for the United Nations. They have been barred from ASEAN and from many other
international fora.
We have faith in international justice. The Charter of the United Nations is founded on respect for
self-determination, and the General Assembly has called for the results of our elections to be
respected.
We do not believe that the International Court of Justice will want to allow the military, to appear
before them as if they speak for the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
It would be a most profound injustice to the Rohingya if the military were to be both their abusers
and have any voice in the Court. This is why many hundreds of Rohingyas have written to the
Court, urging the Judges not to allow the military this legitimacy.
We request the Court to hear our voice, and to allow justice to proceed.
We urge the international community to support the Rohingya victims, and not to allow their
military persecutors this platform.
We call on the military to end this illegal coup and ask all people of good will across the world to
heed the sufferings of all of the people of Myanmar. Our cause is for justice.
We understand the Court was following an administrative anomaly, which is unique and solely to
the ICJ. We believe this hearing does not give any legitimacy to the junta. So, the junta remains
fully illegal and illegitimate.
We, the National Unity Government remains dedicated to its international commitments and
focused on international accountability for all atrocity crimes. We are seeking cooperation with
relevant international mechanisms and bodies and continue to gather and submit evidence of
human rights violations. We have granted jurisdiction to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
for all crimes covered by the Rome Statute since 2002, and we are seeking the support of all those
who care about human rights and justice to work with us for the good of the people of Myanmar.
Thank you for allowing me to speak here today..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Myanmar - NUG
Date of publication:
2022-02-21
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, National Unity Government (NUG)
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
227.31 KB 724.36 KB
more
Description:
"In November 2019, Gambia – with the backing of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – filed a case, The Gambia v. Myanmar, before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The case alleged that Myanmar’s atrocities against the ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine State violated various provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention). Gambia, which ratified the Genocide Convention in 1978, brought the case under Article 9 of the convention, which allows for disputes between parties “relating to the responsibility of a State for genocide” and related acts to be submitted to the ICJ.
In December 2019, the court held hearings on Gambia’s request for provisional measures to protect the Rohingya remaining in Myanmar from genocide, which the court unanimously adopted in January 2020 (see below). In January 2021, Myanmar, then under the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, filed preliminary objections challenging the court’s jurisdiction and Gambia’s standing to file the case.
On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military staged a coup, overthrew the democratically elected government, and replaced it with a military junta, the State Administration Council. The case continues and the ICJ will hold public hearings on Myanmar’s preliminary objections from February 21 to 28, 2022.
2. Why is the genocide case against Myanmar important?
The Gambia v. Myanmar provides an unprecedented opportunity for the ICJ to scrutinize the abuses of Myanmar’s military. While the ICJ case focuses exclusively on alleged crimes against the Rohingya, the military has inflicted grave abuses across Myanmar. At the beginning of the case, ethnic groups both inside and outside the country issued statements backing the ICJ proceedings, noting similarities in the military’s brutal tactics against the Rohingya and other minority communities.
The Myanmar military’s well-documented abuses against the Rohingya and other ethnic minority groups in Myanmar span decades, but until Gambia brought a case before the ICJ, the government’s atrocities within Myanmar had been almost completely beyond the reach of justice. The impunity that the military has enjoyed since first taking power in 1962 enabled ongoing abuses and may have paved the way for the February 1, 2021 coup and the new military junta.
The United Nations-backed Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (“Fact-Finding Mission”) called for the investigation and prosecution of Myanmar’s military commanders, including Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes related to the abuses in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan States since 2011. As leader of the military junta, Min Aung Hlaing has also overseen a brutal crackdown over the past year against millions of anti-junta protesters. Since the coup, junta security forces have carried out mass killings, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, and other abuses that Human Rights Watch believes amount to crimes against humanity. Security forces have killed over 1,500 people since the coup, including at least 100 children, and arbitrarily detained over 11,000 activists, politicians, journalists, and others..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of publication:
2022-02-14
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
272.3 KB
more
Description:
"Burma Campaign UK is calling on Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, to stop arming the Burmese military.
Pakistan has a long-term defence co-operation agreement with the Burmese military and has been supplying them with arms and equipment, most notably the JF-17 fighter jet aircraft.
Now there are new media reports that Pakistan is about to sell mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns to the Burmese military, as well as selling more jets and missiles.
A Burmese military delegation is reportedly visiting Pakistan soon to inspect the weapons before shipment.
These fighter jets, guns, mortars and missiles will be used against civilians, bringing even more death and destruction.
Before he became Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan condemned the genocide of the Rohingya, stating on Twitter:
“Disturbing silence from Muslim World, including Pakistan on the genocide & exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.”
“It is hard to think of a clearer example of hypocrisy than for Imran Khan to condemn inaction on the Rohingya genocide and then arm the military which committed that genocide,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK.
In 2017, Imran Khan also wrote to the Secretary General of the United Nations, condemning inaction by the United Nations, stating:
“Today, again, on behalf of myself and my party (PTI), I wish to state that we find this continuing silence and complete inaction by the UN on the continuing plight and persecution of the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar a shameful testament to UN failure to follow its basic principles of upholding human rights and protecting a people from genocide.”
In June 2021, the United Nations General Assembly passed a Resolution calling on UN members to stop the flow of arms to the Burmese military. Having previously condemned the UN for inaction, Imran Khan is now refusing to take the action which the United Nations has called for.
Burma Campaign UK has written to Imran Khan warning him: “The weapons you are selling to the Myanmar military today may soon be turned against the Rohingya people whose rights you once supported.”
The Burmese military are indiscriminately bombing civilians and using heavy artillery against civilian villages and towns. This has forced more than 400,000 people to flee their homes and has created a humanitarian crisis.
As the Myanmar military desperately try to impose their rule, more than 1,500 people have been killed, and more than 11,000 arrested.
“Imran Khan should side with the people of Burma, not the military which is oppressing and killing them,” said Anna Roberts. “Imran Khan must stop profiting from the suffering of the people of Burma. By arming the Burmese military, Imran Khan is complicit in the human rights violations they commit.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication:
2022-02-14
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearings beginning February 21, 2022 underline the critical importance of bringing justice for the Myanmar military’s abuses against ethnic Rohingya, Human Rights Watch and the Global Justice Center said today. The groups released a question-and-answer document outlining recent developments in the case, including the impact of the February 1, 2021 military coup in Myanmar, on the ICJ proceedings.
The hearings at the court from February 21 to 28 are for the case brought by Gambia against Myanmar alleging that the military’s atrocities in Rakhine State against Rohingya Muslims violate the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention).
“The International Court of Justice hearings are the next step in the landmark case to break the cycle of violence and impunity in Myanmar,” said Nushin Sarkarati, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch. “The case could build a pathway to justice, not only for the Rohingya, but for everyone in the country.”
In November 2019, Gambia filed a case before the ICJ alleging that Myanmar’s atrocities against the Rohingya in Rakhine State violate various provisions of the Genocide Convention. The case before the ICJ is not a criminal case against individual alleged perpetrators, but a legal determination of state responsibility for genocide.
The ICJ held hearings in December 2019, on Gambia’s request, for provisional measures to protect the Rohingya remaining in Myanmar from genocide, which the court unanimously adopted in January 2020. The new hearings will cover Myanmar’s preliminary objections to the case, which challenge the court’s jurisdiction and Gambia’s legal standing to file the case.
The court’s provisional measures require Myanmar to prevent all genocidal acts against the Rohingya, to ensure that security forces do not commit acts of genocide, and to take steps to preserve evidence related to the case. Myanmar is legally bound to comply with this order. However, Human Rights Watch and others have documented ongoing grave abuses against the 600,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar, contravening the provisional measures ordered by the court.
Since the February 2021 coup, junta security forces have carried out mass killings, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, and other abuses that Human Rights Watch believes amount to crimes against humanity. Security forces have killed over 1,500 people since the coup, including at least 100 children, and arbitrarily detained over 11,000 activists, politicians, journalists, and others. Rohingya have also faced even greater movement restrictions and harsher punishments for attempting to leave Rakhine State, which amount to the crimes against humanity of persecution, apartheid, and severe deprivation of liberty.
In 2019, Myanmar’s government appointed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to lead its delegation to the ICJ. During the 2021 coup, the military arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and a junta-controlled court sentenced her to six years in prison. She still faces over 150 years in prison combined on various additional fabricated charges. On June 24, 2021, the junta announced that it appointed a panel of eight senior junta officials to represent Myanmar’s delegation before the court.
During the February hearings, representatives of Myanmar and Gambia will present arguments as to whether the ICJ has jurisdiction to examine the genocide claims against Myanmar. The hearings will take place in a hybrid format, including both in-person and virtual participants. Live streaming of the hearings will be available in English and French on the court’s website and on UN Web TV.
While the ICJ case focuses exclusively on alleged crimes against the Rohingya, the military has committed brutal abuses across Myanmar. In the wake of the coup, ethnic groups have sought greater solidarity in the pursuit of justice, as the military’s atrocities against the Rohingya have been echoed in attacks on civilians around the country. The ICJ case could set the stage to scrutinize the Myanmar military’s longstanding international crimes more widely, Human Rights Watch and the Global Justice Center said.
“As the Myanmar military continues to commit atrocities against anti-coup protesters and ethnic minorities, it should be put on notice there will be consequences for these actions – past, present, and future,” said Akila Radhakrishnan, president of the Global Justice Center. “The ICJ’s proceedings are laying the groundwork for accountability in Myanmar – not only for the Rohingya, but for all others who have suffered at the hands of the military.”..."
Source/publisher:
Global Justice Center
Date of publication:
2022-02-14
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
more
Description:
"Representatives of Myanmar's junta are expected to challenge the jurisdiction of the World Court to hear allegations the country committed genocide against its Rohingya minority in a fresh round of hearings from Feb. 21, the attorney general of Gambia, which brought the case, told Reuters on Friday.
"A hybrid hearing (is) set to commence on the 21st of February, 2022," Gambian Attorney General Dawda Jallow said. He added that Aung San Suu Kyi, who led Myanmar's defence at the first public hearings in 2019 but has since been deposed by the military, had been formally replaced as its top representative in the case.
A hybrid hearing is a procedure where some of the participants are present in person and others participate online due to COVID-19 measures.
More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar after a military-led crackdown in 2017, and were forced into squalid camps across the border in Bangladesh. U.N. investigators concluded that the military campaign had been executed with "genocidal intent".
An ICJ spokesperson declined to confirm dates for a new hearing had been scheduled.
In December 2019 Nobel peace prize laureate Suu Kyi, then Myanmar's civilian leader, personally attended hearings at The Hague to ask judges to dismiss the case.
She was deposed in a 2021 coup and has since been sentenced to six years in detention and faces a slew of further charges. The army takeover of the democratically elected government led to widespread protests. L1N2TQ09N
The military government has been fighting for international recognition and could be eager for the opportunity to show themselves as Myanmar's legitimate representatives at the U.N.'s top court.
Sources close to the case say the junta has been engaging with the court to submit court-ordered reports every six months on the situation with the Rohingya. The reports are not public.
The next step in ICJ proceedings is Myanmar's challenge to the jurisdiction of the court. The question if genocide was committed in Myanmar will be dealt with in later hearings..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2022-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar's shadow government, set up after last year's military coup, said it accepts the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hear allegations that the country committed genocide against its Rohingya minority.
Before the military seized power last year, Myanmar's government led by the now-ousted Aung San Suu Kyi had filed preliminary objections to the ICJ over the case brought by Gambia in a move seen as likely to delay proceedings.
The National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel administration including deposed lawmakers in exile, said in a statement issued on Tuesday that it had withdrawn all preliminary objections to the case.
Still, it is not clear whether this would affect the legal process since the NUG said that through a "bureaucratic idiosyncrasy" the ICJ has been communicating with Myanmar diplomats in Brussels who were under the control of the junta.
"Should the ICJ recognise the military, it would embolden the junta to continue and escalate its daily atrocity crimes," the NUG said in a statement.
It urged the ICJ to deal with Myanmar's permanent representative to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun.
The ICJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment and a spokesman for Myanmar's junta did not answer a telephone call seeking comment.
More than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar's Rakhine State in 2017 after a military crackdown.
Rights groups documented killings of civilians and burning of villages and U.N. investigators concluded that the military campaign, launched after attacks on the security forces by Rohingya insurgents, had been executed with "genocidal intent".
In December 2019, Suu Kyi, then Myanmar's civilian leader, attended hearings at The Hague to ask judges to dismiss the case.
Suu Kyi has been put on trial by the junta and faces years in jail, though the removal of her government has sparked mass protests and a bloody crackdown on dissent by the army.
With Myanmar's military government fighting for international recognition, sources close to the case have previously said the junta has been engaging with the ICJ to submit court-ordered reports every six months on the situation with the Rohingya. The reports are not public..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2022-02-02
Date of entry/update:
2022-02-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
more
Description:
"Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has urged the British government and its parliament to keep up pressure on Myanmar for the “safe, dignified and voluntary” repatriation of the Rohingyas soon.
He reiterated the call at a meeting with the British Parliamentary delegation on the eve of the latter’s visit to the Rohingya camps in Kutupalong and Bhasan Char on Sunday.
UK’s Conservative Party MPs Thomas Patrick Hunt and Paul Bristow interacted with Rohingya leaders in Kutupalong and visited various facilities in the two camps.
They reaffirmed their solidarity with the Rohingya and assured them of remaining seized with their legitimate demands for citizenship, security and freedom of movement in Myanmar.
The UK MPs noted that the British people, especially the British Muslims, felt strongly about the Rohingya situation, and that the international community had a responsibility to stand by this large group of people generously supported by the government and the people of Bangladesh.
Bristow recalled the UK’s humanitarian assistance to the tune of 320 million GBP since 2017 and said they would continue to raise the issue of further improving the living conditions of the Rohingya while they awaited their repatriation.
Earlier, during their meeting with Foreign Minister Momen, the British parliamentary delegation exchanged views on further enhancing trade and investment between the two countries in the post-BREXIT context.
They reiterated their appreciation for the multi-dimensional contributions being made by the British-Bangladesh diaspora in their respective constituencies as well as in the land of their origin or ancestors.
Minister Momen hoped that there would be exchange of high level political visits between the two countries on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
He recalled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s various engagements during her visit to Glasgow and London in November 2021 and thanked the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for undertaking the ‘Brit-Bangla Bandhan’ initiative.
The UK delegation thanked the Bangladesh Foreign Minister for accompanying them during their visits to the greater Sylhet region over the last weekend.
The delegation included, among others, Vijay Shamdas Daryanani, MP, Gibraltar Minister for Business, Tourism, Transport and the Port, Samantha Helen Cohen CVO, CEO of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, and Zillur Hussain, MBE, Founder of Zi Foundation.
Faruk Khan MP, chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Shamima Begum, MP were present.
Drawing parallels: 50 years apart
Arriving in Dhaka 50 years ago, meeting Bangabandhu, and the current growing concern for the Rohingya refugees..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of publication:
2022-01-24
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
more
Description:
"A leaked memo shows how the Myanmar military is desperately trying to hide from international scrutiny of its atrocity crimes against the Rohingya and other people in Myanmar, the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) said today.
A memo from a senior official in the Myanmar military, issued on 6 January 2022 but made public this week, orders all military personnel not to answer letters related to arrest warrants or summons from the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the Argentinian judiciary.
“It is outrageous, but far from surprising, that Myanmar military is now desperately trying to cover the tracks of its genocidal crimes against the Rohingya. This leaked memo shows clearly how the Myanmar junta can never be trusted to cooperate with international justice mechanisms in good faith,” said Tun Khin, President of BROUK.
“This memo is, however, also a sign that the efforts to hold the junta to account for its atrocities are working. It shows that the international community must redouble all efforts to bring Min Aung Hlaing and his cronies to justice.”
The ICC in November 2019 opened a case against Myanmar over crimes against humanity against the Rohingya. In December 2021, the Argentinian judiciary furthermore accepted a petition by BROUK to open a case against senior military officials over genocide and crimes against humanity in Rakhine State since 2016.
The leaked memo makes specific references to both processes and to BROUK as an organisation, while ordering all military personnel not to “accept any letters or arrest orders” from the ICC or Argentinian Courts “related to travel restrictions or arrest warrants or summons”. It is signed by Captain Aung Ko Zaw.
Apart from the judicial bodies, the memo also bans military personnel from accepting letters from “plaintiffs”, a reference to the many victims involved in the judicial processes. BROUK’s case in Argentina, for example, includes as witnesses six women who survived sexual violence during the military operation in Rakhine State in 2017.
Last month, the independent media outlet Myanmar Now revealed that the junta had issued a separate order to all of its staff to not receive any notifications issued by international courts seeking to prosecute junta leaders. That order was signed by Tun Tun Oo, a former general appointed by the regime to serve as Myanmar’s Chief Justice.
Myanmar has led a decades-long genocide against the Rohingya people. In August 2017, the Myanmar military and its proxies launched a vicious operation in Rakhine State, killing thousands of Rohingya and driving hundreds of thousands to flee into Bangladesh.
Since seizing power in a coup on 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military has further driven Myanmar to the brink of ruin. The economy and public services have been decimated, while the junta has killed more than 1,400 people and arresting and torturing thousands of others.
“The Myanmar military has terrorised all people in Myanmar for decades with impunity. The only way to break this horrific cycle of abuse is to ensure that those responsible are held to account,” said Tun Khin.
“Myanmar military will never discipline itself, so international justice is the only answer. Instead of trying to sweep its own crimes under the carpet, the Myanmar military should cooperate fully with all international justice efforts, including by the ICC and in Argentina.”
“This must also be a wakeup call to the international community to act. The UN Security Council must support a full referral of the situation in Myanmar to the ICC, while other countries should look to open universal jurisdiction cases like the one in Argentina.”..."
Source/publisher:
Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
Date of publication:
2022-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2022-01-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
New evidence the junta is violating ICJ “provisional measures”
Description:
"(NEW YORK, December 6, 2021)—The U.N. Security Council should urgently impose a global arms embargo and sanctions against the Myanmar military and refer the situation in the country to the International Criminal Court, said Fortify Rights today. A Myanmar military court today sentenced the country’s democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison on spurious, trumped-up charges of incitement and breaking COVID-19 rules, and new evidence shows the junta is violating legally binding “provisional measures of protection” imposed on Myanmar by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as part of an ongoing trial on the Rohingya genocide.
On November 25, the Myanmar military junta issued an order reiterating longstanding restrictions on the right to freedom of movement for Rohingya in northern Rakhine State, contravening the ICJ’s provisional measures.
“These fresh restrictions brazenly contravene the ICJ’s measures and illustrate an aspect of the junta’s ongoing and unmitigated genocide in Myanmar,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Fortify Rights. “The ongoing atrocities against Rohingya and latest conviction of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi demonstrate yet again how this junta poses a threat to the peace. Security Council member states should support an urgent resolution and force a vote.”
Firsthand testimony and two leaked internal junta documents obtained by Fortify Rights reveal revamped efforts to restrict the movement of Rohingya in Rakhine State following the military coup d’état on February 1, 2021.
An administrative order reviewed by Fortify Rights and issued by the junta-run General Administration Department of Buthidaung Township in Rakhine State on November 25, 2021 states that, “Bengali people can only travel after obtaining legal permission (Form-4)” and that breaching the order will result in “strong action being taken as per the existing law.” The order further states that the restrictions are necessary to protect “township security and the rule of law.”
The junta refers to Rohingya as “Bengali” to deny their existence and imply they are from Bangladesh and not Myanmar. Myanmar authorities have long required Rohingya to obtain express permission to travel from one village to another village and from one township to another township. A Form-4 is typically required for travel from one township to another.
Obtaining approval through a Form-4 involves lengthy bureaucratic processes that often expose Rohingya to extortion and other abuses by the military, police, and administrative authorities. Rohingya who travel without a Form-4 can be subject to punishment under the Residents of Burma Registration Act, which carries a maximum punishment of two years’ imprisonment and/or a fine of 500 Myanmar Kyats (US$0.28).
The Buthidaung Township General Administration Department appended the November 25 order to an internal letter sent to multiple Myanmar military, police, and border-guard commanders as well as township administrative and justice officials.
In a separate internal letter, also obtained by Fortify Rights, from the military junta’s Ministry of Immigration and Population in Rakhine State’s Ponnagyun Township in Sittwe District dated November 10, 2021, Chief Officer Win Myint informs the Rakhine State Director of the Ministry of Immigration and Population located in Sittwe Township of the arrest and conviction of 45 “Bengali (Kalar)” for “travelling illegally.” Kalar is a pejorative term in the Burmese language used to describe Muslims, Indians, or those of South Asian descent. According to the letter, the Ponnagyun Township Court convicted and sentenced individuals in the group on October 21 and, on November 2, the authorities released children, who were part of the group. Five adults remain detained.
Since October 2021, the junta’s forces reportedly arrested and convicted dozens of Rohingya for traveling outside of their villages without permission.
Rohingya in northern Rakhine State told Fortify Rights that, since the coup, it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to travel between townships and villages.
“I had to take a Form-4 [from Buthidaung Township] to go to Maungdaw Township,” a Rohingya man, 25, from southern Buthidaung Township told Fortify Rights on December 1, 2021. “I went to Maungdaw north to work on harvesting a rice field . . . [The authorities] checked our Form-4 at three checkpoints while going to Maungdaw.”
Even prior to the junta’s November order a Rohingya man told Fortify Rights in July 2021 that military soldiers extorted money from him on multiple occasions at military checkpoints for not having proper travel authorization. “They took money from me three times,” he told Fortify Rights. “They were multi-department checkpoints, and they took money from me, saying I didn’t have any documents.”
Investigations over the past eight years by Fortify Rights show successive Myanmar governments systematically restricting the freedom of movement of Rohingya, including requirements that Rohingya obtain a Form-4 to travel to certain destinations and only under specific timelines enforced by the state. The military appears to be tightening the restrictions.
The ICJ’s “Provisional Measures”
In November 2019, The Gambia brought a case against Myanmar at the ICJ in The Hague alleging violations of the Genocide Convention through “acts adopted, taken and condoned by the Government of Myanmar against members of the Rohingya group.” As part of the legal proceedings, on January 23, 2020, the ICJ unanimously indicated legally binding provisional measures of protection for the Rohingya people, requiring Myanmar to prevent and preserve evidence of genocide and “cease forthwith any such ongoing internationally wrongful act and fully respect its obligations under the Genocide Convention.”
As part of the ICJ order, Myanmar must submit an “implementation report” to the court every six months on all measures taken to prevent genocide “until a final decision on the case is rendered by the Court.”
On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military junta took power by force in an illegal and deadly coup d’état, killing more than 1,300 protesters and imprisoning more than 10,000. Included among the several thousand remaining political prisoners are State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.
The junta does not represent the people or the State of Myanmar; nevertheless, the junta is likely to represent Myanmar at the ICJ, said Fortify Rights.
The junta’s latest report to the ICJ was due on November 23, and in turn, The Gambia is expected to respond in writing to the Court. Neither submission will be publicly available at this stage in the legal proceedings.
Fortify Rights, the U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, and others have documented systematic restrictions against Rohingya, including on freedom of movement, as indicative of the Myanmar government’s intent to destroy the group in whole or in part. The draconian denials of freedom of movement prevent Rohingya from accessing livelihoods, lifesaving health care, and other aspects of basic survival.
Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a group is a prohibited act of genocide under Article II of the Genocide Convention. The “conditions of life” provision refers to methods of destruction that do not immediately kill members of the group but ultimately seek the group’s obliteration.
These latest restrictions on Rohingya freedom of movement are occurring in a wider context of ongoing genocidal acts committed by the Myanmar military against Rohingya, including killings, rape and sexual violence, burning and razing homes and villages, and denying Rohingya access to food and shelter. Impunity for these and other mass atrocity crimes is endemic in Myanmar.
On August 25, 2021—the four-year anniversary of Myanmar military-led attacks on Rohingya civilians—the military junta published an amendment to the Myanmar Criminal Code signed by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing ostensibly to outlaw the crime of genocide. Taking language almost verbatim from Article II of the Genocide Convention, the amendment was viewed as an attempt by Min Aung Hlaing to communicate compliance with the ICJ’s provisional measures. However, Article 311, section A(d) of the junta’s amendment included language outlawing measures intended to prevent births unless such measures are “in accordance with any existing laws.” This caveat provides for the prevention of births, which may be an act of genocide. Moreover, the military is typically not subject to the country’s criminal code; crimes perpetrated by soldiers are typically adjudicated in secret military courts.
“In a feigned attempt to appease the ICJ, the junta provided itself with a law to justify the genocidal prevention of births,” said Matthew Smith. “This is not what the ICJ had in mind.”
On June 3, 2021, the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar—the civilian-led government comprising officials deposed by the military junta—acknowledged past atrocities against Rohingya people and committed to ensuring justice and citizenship rights based “on birth in Myanmar or birth anywhere as a child of Myanmar citizens,” which would effectively restore or grant full citizenship rights of all Rohingya people and others.
On November 11, 2021, the U.N. Security Council issued a consensus statement calling on the Myanmar military to cease violence and ensure humanitarian access to those in need. Like the provisional measures issued by the ICJ, the junta has flouted the Security Council’s statement, providing a context for heightened action by the body.
The Security Council should consider the junta’s failure to uphold the ICJ’s provisional measures as well as its failure to respect the council’s own statement, and in turn it should pass a resolution mandating a global arms embargo against the Myanmar military, targeted sanctions to deny the junta financial capital, and it should refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court, said Fortify Rights.
“The junta is committing atrocity crimes throughout the country, against all ethnicities and religious communities, including the Rohingya,” said Matthew Smith. “The world has a duty to act, end the genocide being perpetrated against the Rohingya, and ensure accountability for past and current atrocity crimes.”
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights"
Date of publication:
2021-12-07
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Human Rights and international relations
Language:
more
Description:
"We, the undersigned Rohingya organizations, denounce the so-called "Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army – ARSA" (or Harakah Al Yakeen), a criminal group that self-proclaims to be fighting for the rights of the Rohingya people. The Rohingya community does not accept ARSA as a group that represents the ideals and interests of the Rohingya community in or outside of Burma. Thus, the group must not claim it represents the interests of the Rohingya nation.
We, Rohingya, are a peace-loving community and condemn any criminal groups that promote violence on the civilian population in the name of our ethnic identity. ARSA is a criminal group targeting vulnerable Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and committing heinous cross-border crimes including but not limited to: murder, extortion, forcible abductions, tortures, sexual violence and drug trafficking etc. These criminal activities have escalated dramatically in the recent months. They have also been found to be misleading communities with propaganda aiming to further destabilize the Rohingya community and the region along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border.
As survivors of the ongoing genocide perpetrated by the Burmese military (the Tatmadaw) and the extremist section of Rakhine Buddhist community, the majority of our community members were forced to flee from our homeland in Myanmar and took refuge in neighbouring countries including Bangladesh. We are sincerely grateful to the people and the Government of Bangladesh for assisting the Rohingya by providing refuge for one million of our people as they have done in the past. Although we found refuge from one form of violence in Arakan, the Rohingya now face violence in the hands of criminal groups like ARSA and others.
On 29 September 2021, a prominent Rohingya leader “Mohib Ullah” was brutally assassinated by ARSA followed by seven more Rohingya refugees in mid-October. ARSA is targeting Rohingya community leadership or anyone whom they feel could expose their criminal activities. As a result, the entire community in the refugee camps of Bangladesh live in immediate fear, ongoing trauma, and further insecurities.
While we greatly appreciate the steps already being taken by the Government of Bangladesh to ensure safety and security in the camps, we urge Bangladesh to maintain the pressure on the criminal groups, including ARSA, until their criminal operations in the camps completely cease and they are neutralized. The camps in Bangladesh where civilians are taking refuge must be free of any armed activities by any group other than the Government of Bangladesh or under its direct authority and full control.
We make our earnest appeal to the Government of Bangladesh to take serious action against ARSA, which is deliberately destabilizing the situation and continues to be a security threat for our people, for Bangladesh, and for the wider region. Further, we urge the Government of Bangladesh to protect innocent refugees by providing security in the refugee camps, understanding that the vast majority of people in the camps want nothing more than peace and security, and to return home in a safe, dignified, and voluntary manner with our human rights restored and our traditional homeland returned.
We make our earnest appeal to the Government of Bangladesh to investigate the killings of Rohingya refugees including Mr Mohib Ullah. The individuals, and their organisation, responsible for the crimes must face justice and accountability. The Government of Bangladesh must set an example that impunity in these situations will not be allowed or tolerated.
We call upon media organizations, the international community, activists and human rights bodies not to label ARSA as a member of the Rohingya community nor to characterize ARSA as representative, in any way, of the Rohingya people.
We also call upon all international organizations and foreign governments that are working in the camps to have a zero-tolerance policy towards ARSA and any other criminal gangs and criminal activities which are taking place.
We make our earnest appeal to the Government of Bangladesh and to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to work together to respond promptly when refugees report imminent threats, to provide immediate and effective protection to those in danger, and to ensure effective protection for those who report incidents.
We call on the international community — including Australia, Canada, the USA, the UK, Japan, the UN, the EU, the ASEAN and the OIC — to improve the system of providing protection and resettlement to refugees at heightened risk.
As the situation in Myanmar continues to worsen as a result of the 1 February 2021 coup d’état, we express our deepest gratitude to the many ethnic communities in Myanmar who have joined us in supporting our request for peace in the camps and in Arakan. Despite the violence, the COVID-19 pandemic, and forced starvation that all our brothers and sisters are facing throughout Myanmar because of the military junta, we are grateful for your support and we remain committed to freedom, peace, and prosperity for all with respect for human rights and dignity for everyone..."
Source/publisher:
Rohingya Today
Date of publication:
2021-12-07
Date of entry/update:
2021-12-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Discrimination against the Rohingya, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Rohingya say they will now have to pay bribes to immigration officials to get permission slips to leave the township
Description:
"Authorities in Buthidaung, northern Rakhine State, last week tightened travel restrictions against local Rohingya, requiring them to obtain a permission slip from an immigration office in order to leave the township.
The November 25 order from township adminstrator Nay Oo said that some “Muslim people” had been travelling beyond their own townships, districts, states, and regions without a document known as a Form 4, and that this threatened local security and rule of law.
The Rohingya have been subject to severe restrictions on their movements for years, one of numerous oppressive policies directed at the group that activists say form part of a genocidal campaign that came to a head with military-led mass killings in 2016 and 2017.
Those who travel without permission slips will face legal action and the new rule will be in effect for two months from the date of issue, the order said.
Until now, Rohingya in the township have needed a recommendation letter from their village administrator to travel outside the township, but did not need to ask immigration.
A Rohingya resident of Buthidaung, who asked to remain anonymous, said the new restrictions would mean delays for people who need to travel to Maungdaw to seek medical help and would make it even harder for some Rohingya to earn a living.
The permission slip from the township immigration office will only be eligible only for seven days, he said.
“They are not going to let us travel without Form 4 anymore,” he told Myanmar Now. “We will need to get a recommendation letter from the village administrator first in order to get the permission slip from the immigration office.”
“This is just discrimination; people of other ethnicities do not need Form 4. This is basically just systematic oppression,” he added.
Another Rohingya from Buthidaung said it would be necessary to bribe local immigration officials to get the permission slip. “We have to wait if we don’t pay them. We need to pay them 5,000-10,000 kyat if we want it on the same day.”
Immigration officials in Buthidaung did not respond to requests for comment. Nay Oo, the township administrator, said he was in a meeting when contacted by Myanmar Now for comment.
It is unclear if similar restrictions have been applied anywhere else in Rakhine..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-11-29
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
17 November 2021, New York – European Union General Statement at the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee after the adoption of the Resolution on the Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar: A/C.3/76/L.30 Rev.1
Description:
"Mr. Chair,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
The resolution adopted today is the result of the cooperation between the EU and the OIC. We welcome and appreciate this joint endeavour, which allows us to remind the world, through the General Assembly, that appalling crimes, including reported war crimes and crimes against humanity, have been committed against Rohingya and persons belonging to other minorities in Myanmar. These crimes, committed in particular after October 2016, require truth and accountability. Their root causes remain to be addressed. The atrocities that have been taking place in Myanmar are a poignant reminder to all humanity.
The same military leadership who oversaw the crimes against the Rohingya is now leading the junta. The same military leadership staged the 1 February coup and is now reported to orchestrate the military build-up in the central and northwestern part of Myanmar, and give orders to the security and armed forces to kill, torture, imprison, employ sexual violence, including rapes, and shell villages, hospitals, and schools. All acts that are violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. The EU condemns in the strongest terms these acts and continues to call for immediate cessation of violence and for justice and accountability for human rights violations The EU hereby calls for bringing the perpetrators to justice. The current situation in Myanmar also suppresses hopes for the voluntary, safe and dignified and sustainable return of more than 900,000 Rohingya who have found refuge in Bangladesh.
There is not on one side the question of the Rohingya and on the other side the repression of people opposing the military takeover; they are the two sides of the same bloodstained coin. The strong language in the resolution, reflecting the recent deterioration of the overall human rights situation in Myanmar after the 1 February coup, confirms that.
The military coup on 1 February 2021 forcibly overthrew the civilian government in blatant violation of the will of the people, expressed by the 8 November 2020 elections, with important humanitarian, social, economic consequences. The European Union reiterates its strong condemnation of the coup and of the grave human rights violations committed by the Myanmar armed forces against all the people of Myanmar since then, and wishes to express its unequivocal support for all the people of Myanmar, including Rohingya and other minorities, and their democratic aspirations and for the democratic transition in Myanmar. This requires restoring and strengthening inclusive democratic institutions and processes, refraining from violence and arbitrary detentions, and ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law. The continued flow of arms into Myanmar also gravely undermine human rights and should be stopped immediately. In this context, the EU welcomes the recent appointment of the new Special Envoy of the Secretary General on Myanmar, reiterates its full support to her mandate, and encourages her further engagement and inclusive dialogue with all relevant stakeholders.
The European Union continues to call for the immediate and full implementation of the commitments made at the ASEAN Leaders’ Summit in April, setting out the “Five Point Consensus”. The EU will continue to support ASEAN’s efforts to ensure a peaceful resolution of the current crisis that will ensure the country’s swift return to a democratic path..."
Source/publisher:
Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations - New York
Date of publication:
2021-11-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Deputy ambassador to UN draws comparison to 2017 genocide, as UN aid chief says more than 3 million people need life-saving aid
Description:
"Britain’s deputy UN ambassador has voiced concerns a military build-up in Myanmar’s north-west bears similarities to the Rohingya genocide of 2017.
James Kariuki told reporters before heading into a closed-doors meeting with the UN security council on Monday: “We are concerned that this rather mirrors the activity we saw four years ago ahead of the atrocities that were committed in Rakhine against the Rohingya [Muslim minority]”
The remarks came as UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said the humanitarian situation in Myanmar was deteriorating, with more than 3 million people in need of life-saving aid, adding that “without an end to violence and a peaceful resolution of Myanmar’s crisis, this number will only rise”.
The security council meeting coincides with the first anniversary of the re-election of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, which was then ousted by the military in a 1 February coup.
Myanmar is facing charges of genocide at the international court of justice over a 2017 military crackdown on the Rohingya that forced more than 730,000 people to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh. Myanmar denies genocide and says its armed forces were legitimately targeting militants who attacked police posts.
About 223,000 Burmese remain internally displaced, including 165,000 in the country’s southeast – adding to those already displaced in Rakhine, Chin, Shan and Kachin states prior to the takeover, the UN emergency relief coordinator said.
Griffiths also said in a statement that the situation in the northwest of the Myanmar had become “extremely concerning” in recent weeks as fighting escalated between the Myanmar military and the Chinland Defence Force in Chin state and the Myanmar military and the People’s Defence Forces in Magway and Sagaing regions.
“More than 37,000 people, including women and children, have been newly displaced, and more than 160 homes have been burned, including churches and the offices of a humanitarian organisation,” Griffiths said.
The UN chief said attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including humanitarian workers and facilities are banned under international humanitarian law and “must stop immediately”.
Griffiths called on the Myanmar armed forces to “facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access” and the international community to “fund the response”.
“I’m hoping we will speak together today and with one voice and a statement on Myanmar,” Ireland’s UN ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason told reporters ahead of the council meeting..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-11-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-11-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Genocide, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"The Ministry o f Human Rights o f the National Unity Government (NUG) expresses its alarm
at reports o f killings and extreme acts o f violence in a Rohingya camp in Bangladesh on the
evening o f 21 October 2 0 2 1. According to local sources, as many as seven people were
murdered by attackers bearing knives and firearms. Others were seriously injured.
This heinous act deepens the trauma already experienced by the Rohingya residents of these
camps, themselves survivors of grave atrocities. The NUG extends its condolences to the
families o f those murdered, and will continue to pray for the quick recovery o f the injured.
This incident also lays bare the extreme insecurity in which Rohingya camp members continue
to live. Only three weeks ago, Mohib Ullah, a community leader and champion of Rohingya
rights, was also murdered in a brutal targeted attack. The NUG is gravely concerned about the
plight o f Rohingya camp residents, who face harsh conditions and now live under the threat of
wanton violence by extremists and criminal groups.
The NUG calls on relevant authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation to
ensure accountability, and to take urgent steps to improve camp security.
The NUG remains committed to the voluntary, safe and dignified repatriation of Rohingya to
Myanmar. Furthermore, we remain steadfast in our belief that the establishment o f a Federal
Democratic Union, where all ethnic groups live in peace, is the most durable solution for our
country. It is only through a shared commitment to equality, inclusivity, justice, human rights
and accountability and by working together that we can move forward for the fulfilment of all
people in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of publication:
2021-10-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
33.6 KB
more
Sub-title:
New MoU between UNHCR and Bangladesh kept private
Description:
"The Government of Bangladesh and the U.N. Refugee Agency should revise and release their recent agreement regarding the provision of U.N. services to Rohingya refugees on Bhasan Char island, said Fortify Rights today. Both parties should ensure the right to freedom of movement to and from the island as well as the meaningful participation of Rohingya refugees in any decisions affecting them.
On October 9, the Bangladesh Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a common framework for humanitarian services for Rohingya refugees on Bhasan Char island. The MoU has not been made public; Fortify Rights obtained and reviewed a copy of the signed document.
“The U.N. and Dhaka should revise their MoU, especially a provision outlining restrictions on freedom of movement,” said Ismail Wolff, Regional Director at Fortify Rights. “UNHCR’s lifesaving services are essential and needed on the island, but the agency must ensure it is not propping up a refugee prison with this agreement.”
The MoU not only fails to ensure the right to freedom of movement of Rohingya on Bhasan Char island, but one provision explicitly codifies the government and UNHCR’s restrictions on refugee movement, permitting Rohingya movement from the island only under conditions agreed upon between both parties. Section (2)g of the document seen by Fortify Rights states that the government and UNHCR will decide on the precise ways Rohingya will be permitted to leave the island on an as-needs basis.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, Mohammed Mohsin, and the Bangladesh Representative of UNHCR, Johannes van der Klaauw, reportedly signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations. The memorandum allows for close cooperation between the Bangladesh government and the U.N. Refugee Agency to deliver services on the island.
A public statement by the U.N. on October 9 stated that the MoU covers “key areas of protection, education, skills-training, livelihoods and health, which will help support the refugees to lead decent lives on the island and better prepare them for sustainable return to Myanmar in the future.” The MoU provides UNHCR unhindered access to Bhasan Char, a welcomed move, and stipulates that refugees will be permitted to move freely on the island for daily activities.
The MoU also remains unpublished, despite the Rohingya people’s longstanding requests for transparency in decisions affecting them.
“Bangladesh citizens, Rohingya refugees, and the public-at-large deserve access to the MoU,” said Ismail Wolff. “There is no defensible reason to refuse anyone access to this document, especially Rohingya people, who have been subjugated by powerful actors for too long.”
The MoU also includes reference to Rohingya as “Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals” and “FDMNs,” terminology representative of Dhaka’s longstanding refusal to confer deserved refugee status on Rohingya, the majority of whom fled genocide and other atrocities in Myanmar. Bangladesh should ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and develop a domestic legal framework to regulate the status and protection of refugees, said Fortify Rights.
At the time of writing, there are nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and an estimated 20,000 Rohingya on Bhasan Char island. The Bangladesh government currently confines those refugees on the island, forbidding them from leaving.
From June to September 2021, Bangladesh security forces reportedly arrested more than 200 Rohingya for attempting to leave the island, forcing them to return or detaining them on the mainland. These arrests would constitute arbitrary detention, said Fortify Rights. During the same period, dozens of Rohingya reportedly died at sea while trying to escape the island.
Refugees on the island face widespread human rights violations, including severe restrictions on freedom of movement, beatings, and threats and ill-treatment by Bangladesh security forces. In 2020, testimonial evidence indicated that some relocations to the island were coerced and involuntary.
Over the last year, Fortify Rights interviewed dozens of Rohingya refugees on Bhasan Char regarding conditions on the island, including restrictions on freedom of movement and the fate of those who attempted to escape.
On August 14, 2021, a fishing boat capsized while carrying more than 40 Rohingya refugees, including children, fleeing Bhasan Char island. Bangladesh police reported that some had survived; Fortify Rights interviewed two survivors after authorities returned them to the island. Some Rohingya lost almost their entire families in the avoidable accident.
One Rohingya man, 27, who was on the boat when it capsized, told Fortify Rights: “I had three children. I lost every one of them on the boat while we were trying to escape the island. Along with my children, I lost a niece, my younger brother, and wife of my younger brother.”
The same man explained his rationale for leaving the island:
The reason we tried to escape the island was because of the many hardships [we faced] even for daily survival. . . After our arrival [on Bhasan Char], we found this place was nothing less than a prison. We are made crippled. . . We’re surrounded by the authorities, and we can’t move anywhere. It’s very difficult to escape the island because of the security personnel. . . The authorities know that people are in a circle of persecution and unhappy with the current system they put us in. They [the authorities] also know that if they allow movement for the people, they will not come back, so they keep all of us under control.
Almost all Rohingya on the island Fortify Rights spoke with reported restrictions on freedom of movement. A 30-year-old Rohingya mother of three told Fortify Rights how she has demanded to return to the mainland refugee camps, saying: “The suffering is unbearable on this island. . . Even on this island, the movement is restricted for us. . . We are demanding the authorities send us back to the [mainland] camps.”
Another Rohingya refugee, 32, told Fortify Rights in June 2021 about barbed-wire fencing on the island: “There is fencing around the camps on Bhasan Char. We can show you how they are keeping us. It’s as if we are in a jail.”
In 2015, the Bangladesh government began developing Bhasan Char as part of plans to relocate more than 100,000 Rohingya refugees from overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar District. Despite multiple requests by the U.N., the Government of Bangladesh did not grant U.N. agencies access to the island until March 2021 and began transferring Rohingya to the island before any protection and technical assessment by the U.N. Over the last two years, Fortify Rights and others repeatedly urged the Bangladesh government to allow the U.N. to conduct protection assessments and review the sustainability and environmental conditions on the island before any transfers are made.
While governments are obligated to protect the right to freedom of movement, restrictions are allowed under international law if they are necessary to achieve specific legitimate aims and only if they are proportionate to achieving those aims. However, given the remote and isolated nature of Bhasan Char island, the inability of refugees to leave, and the severe restrictions on freedom of movement, Bhasan Char is essentially an island detention center, said Fortify Rights. There is no basis in international law for detaining refugees solely based on their immigration status. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a state party, protects the rights to liberty, which in this case would include refugees.
“Rohingya tell us they are grateful for Bangladesh’s protection, but they must be free, and they must be front and center of all decisions that impact them. Time and again, governments and other actors have failed to ensure meaningful participation of refugees in the decisions that directly impact their lives and rights,” said Ismail Wolff. “The Bhasan Char project has been a human-rights misadventure from its very inception. The U.N. and the Bangladesh government must address previous violations and ensure the rights of Rohingya refugees are fully respected.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights"
Date of publication:
2021-10-15
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
more
Description:
"GENEVA (1 October 2021) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Friday expressed her shock and sadness over the killing of Rohingya human rights defender Mohib Ullah and called for a prompt, thorough and effective investigation into his death.
“It is heartbreaking that a person who spent his life fighting to ensure that the violations committed against the Rohingya people were known world-wide has been murdered in this way,” Bachelet said.
“I want to pay tribute to an exceptional human rights defender, who despite the risks that his work entailed, nevertheless continued defending the rights of his people,” she added.
Mohib Ullah, who was chair of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), was shot dead on Wednesday by unknown assailants in the Kutupalong / Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in southern Bangladesh. Set up in August 2017, the camp currently hosts more than 750,000 Rohingya who fled the mass killings, rapes and persecution by the Myanmar army and security forces.
For years, Mohib Ullah methodically collected information about human rights violations suffered by the Rohingya in their home state of Rakhine, in northwestern Myanmar, and sought to galvanise international action.
He travelled to Geneva in March 2019 to address the 40th session of the Human Rights Council in person, explaining how deeply the Rohingya had been discriminated against for decades and deprived of their basic rights, including nationality, land, health and education.
“Imagine if you have no identity, no ethnicity, no country. Nobody wants you. How would you feel? This is how we feel today as Rohingya,” he told States attending the Human Rights Council session. “We are citizens of Myanmar, we are Rohingya.”
“His words were very powerful and highlighted the terrible situation of the Rohingya and today, four years later, they echo as a reminder that Rohingya are still waiting for justice and still waiting to return home,” the High Commissioner said, adding that Mohib Ullah’s death highlights the precarious conditions of the Rohingya in both countries. “We need to do much more to help this persecuted community, both in Bangladesh and in Myanmar,” she added.
Insecurity has been increasing alarmingly in the Kutupalong / Cox’s Bazar camp, with growing criminality, rising tensions between different groups, as well as heavy handed security crackdowns during anti-drug operations. Anti-Rohingya sentiment has also been increasing within Bangladeshi communities.
“Whoever was responsible for his murder, Mohib Ullah’s death is a clear example of the insecurity in the camp, and the apparent attempts to silence moderate civil society voices,” the High Commissioner said.
“A prompt, thorough, and independent investigation should be conducted not only to identify and apprehend his killers, and expose their motives, but also to define what measures are needed to better protect vulnerable civil society leaders, while avoiding further securitisation in the camps,” Bachelet said.
“I fully understand the huge challenges Bangladesh has faced in hosting the Rohingya refugees, and the need for more external support. However, the safety and protection, as well as basic rights of refugees and those hosted in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, must be ensured,” Bachelet said.
Meanwhile in Myanmar itself, the situation of approximately 600,000 Rohingya who remain in Rakhine State remains dire, with many still confined in camps. Alleged violations include unlawful killings, arbitrary arrest and detention, and high levels of extortion.
“Mohib Ullah’s killing should be a clarion call to the international community to redouble its pressure on Myanmar to recognize the Rohingya and accept their return, and to pursue accountability for the terrible crimes committed against them,” she added..."
Source/publisher:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
Date of publication:
2021-10-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-10-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Defenders, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar’s Coup Built on Years of Failed Accountability
Description:
"On August 1, Myanmar’s commander-in-chief, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, dressed in civilian clothes, made a televised speech six months to the day after leading a coup that thrust the country back under brutal military rule. Amid claims of establishing a multiparty democracy, the junta leader announced that his manufactured state of emergency, which has given rise to massive human rights abuses, would be extended until August 2023.
Later that day, Min Aung Hlaing appointed himself prime minister of the State Administration Council (SAC) junta’s “caretaker government.”
“We have to try to bring them back to a stable condition,” he said of the junta’s use of force against the millions of peaceful protesters who have taken to the streets since February 1. “We must apply our collective strengths.”
The past eight months have offered a stark demonstration of the military’s application of its “collective strengths.” Since the coup, security forces have carried out a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests with the same callous disregard for life that has driven their scorched-earth strategy in ethnic regions for decades. Police and soldiers have killed over 1,000 people, including about 75 children, arrested more than 6,000 protesters, journalists, and others, and tortured and raped detainees.
Human Rights Watch determined that the military’s post-coup abuses—vast, methodical, and systematic—amount to crimes against humanity. The broad-based and consistent nature of the crackdown reflects not the individual actions of security officers, but a countrywide policy of the junta.
Crimes against humanity committed since February 1 include murder, enforced disappearance, torture, rape and other sexual violence, severe deprivation of liberty, and other inhumane acts causing great suffering. Across the country, security forces have repeatedly used lethal force, including live ammunition, mortar shells, and grenades, while using so-called less-lethal weapons indiscriminately and excessively. Video footage has captured soldiers shooting down children on motorbikes, brutally beating medical aid workers, and firing shotguns into crowds of peacefully protesting doctors.
These displays are tragic but not surprising for anyone who has been paying attention to the human rights situation in the country. In 2017, Min Aung Hlaing orchestrated crimes against humanity in which the military committed genocidal acts and other horrific abuses against ethnic Rohingya in northern Rakhine State, killing thousands and forcing over 730,000 to flee to Bangladesh. The same notorious military units implicated in the 2017 atrocities—since sanctioned by the US and UK—have been deployed in the streets of Yangon, Mandalay, and other cities and towns since the coup, terrorizing protesters calling for civilian democratic rule.
The throughline of these two grave crises—the 2021 coup and the 2017 atrocities against the Rohingya—lies in the decades-long impunity enjoyed by Myanmar’s military, or Tatmadaw.
The Tatmadaw is an institution driven by brutality. It sows disunity and fear with the sole aim of propping up the supremacy of its leadership. It seeks to create an oppressive atmosphere of terror, in ways both overt and subtle. It knows no other way of exercising power. And has done so unchecked for decades.
The coup has made clear that the bloodshed happening today on the streets is a direct corollary of a military that for years has faced few to no consequences for its crimes.
In the four years since the military’s atrocities in northern Rakhine State, the situation for Rohingya in Myanmar and abroad offers a dismal reflection of justice delayed. In Rakhine State, 600,000 Rohingya remain trapped under a system of discriminatory laws and policies that amount to apartheid under international law.
In Bangladesh, nearly a million Rohingya refugees live in sprawling, overcrowded camps, their prospects of voluntarily returning to a Myanmar where they could live safely and securely more distant than ever. The commander-in-chief who orchestrated the ethnic cleansing campaign that led to the massacres of their families and neighbors has now not only evaded justice, but installed himself as leader of the country.
There have been some flashes of progress toward accountability. Gambia, one of the smallest countries in Africa, has brought Myanmar before the International Court of Justice for violating the 1948 Genocide Convention in its atrocities against the Rohingya. The International Criminal Court is conducting a limited investigation into alleged crimes against humanity which were completed in Bangladesh that will identify individuals for prosecution.
But as a whole, the international response to the Tatmadaw’s cycles of ethnic cleansing and forced deportation of the Rohingya has been fragmented and halting. The UN Security Council, the body with the authority to respond with binding resolutions on states, has remained paralyzed. At the time of coup, the Council had not produced a formal document on Myanmar in over three years.
Diplomats meanwhile have favored the closed-room tactics of quiet diplomacy and “dialogue” over strong measures for accountability—a futile approach compounded by an enduring and misguided faith in the former de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s imagined democratic credibility.
A clear and consistent multilateral strategy for accountability and justice never emerged in the wake of the 2017 violence. Instead, the military maintained its grasp on Myanmar’s levers of political and economic power, with Min Aung Hlaing remaining untouched at the helm.
When armored vehicles rolled through the streets of the capital, Naypyidaw, before dawn on February 1, with the military detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected leaders, foreign governments were quick to voice concern. Their condemnation grew louder as the death toll of protesters rose in March and April.
Some consequences followed. The US, UK, EU, and Canada sanctioned junta leaders and major military enterprises, including its two main conglomerates, the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL). But the sanctions’ toll on the military’s cash flow has not been enough.
France and other governments have skirted the global call for sanctions on the massive foreign oil and gas revenues that bankroll the junta and its weapon purchases. Japan and Australia have done even less, issuing no sanctions on military leaders or entities since February, despite condemning the coup.
Meanwhile, the Security Council’s historical inaction on Myanmar endures, with permanent members Russia and China—long serving as Myanmar’s protectors at the Council—resisting substantive action, and Western members too timid to push the limits. As a result, the Council has done little beyond issuing statements calling for the release of political prisoners and an end to the violence.
“What are we waiting for?” a US diplomat asked in a speech at a July council meeting. “The longer we delay, the more people die. This Council is failing in our collective responsibility to safeguard international peace and security. And it is failing the people of Burma.”
The UK, the Security Council’s designated penholder for resolutions on Myanmar, has for years taken a hyper-cautious approach to the country. Since the coup, it has bound its own hands under the banner of maintaining consensus among council members, focusing on anodyne statements over substantive action. This strategy already failed to achieve an ounce of justice for the Rohingya, only emboldening the military with a sense of reprieve.
The unwillingness of the UK, US, and France to press for a resolution in fear of vetoes by China and Russia has ultimately betrayed the Council’s mandate to ensure international peace and security as well as the millions of people risking their lives in Myanmar by opposing the coup.
“We will do everything we can to mobilize all the key actors and international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said days after the coup. Eight months on, that momentum has waned. The Security Council failed to capitalize on the international outcry triggered by the coup and the window it offered for real, swift impact.
The people of Myanmar continue protesting, but they do so with a sense of having been abandoned. “There is nobody coming to help them to stop this violence,” said activist Khin Ohmar.
The dangerous narrative persists that there is a way forward with the Tatmadaw seated at the table. Calls for “all parties to engage in dialogue,” as the UK ambassador to Myanmar recently tweeted, ring hollow in the face of the military’s depravity and stark repression of any opposition. The UK and other governments’ delayed action under the pretense of waiting for effective leadership from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is similarly empty. The regional bloc has a track record of neglecting its responsibility to act to protect the people of Southeast Asia. Since releasing its five-point consensus in April, ASEAN has taken no meaningful steps to press the junta to end its abuses. Min Aung Hlaing, meanwhile, has been unwilling to meet even ASEAN’s low bar.
In June, faced with Security Council inertia, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling on member states to prevent the flow of weapons into Myanmar. Lamentably, the Security Council has yet to follow the General Assembly’s lead with a binding global arms embargo.
The Human Rights Council held a Special Session following the coup but adopted a watered-down resolution in the interest of consensus. Subsequent resolutions have been stronger, but the crisis has received reduced attention from the Council in recent months.
Over the next months, UN member states will be drafting a Myanmar resolution for the Third Committee of the 76th General Assembly session now underway. Drafters should ensure the resolution expressly condemns Min Aung Hlaing and the Tatmadaw as orchestrators of the crisis, identifies the abuses committed since February 1 as crimes against humanity, and calls for the Security Council to advance international accountability.
The resolution should recognize the coup and the atrocities against the Rohingya as intersecting crises with shared perpetrators that demand a cohesive response. This could reinvigorate pressure on the Security Council to pass a resolution instituting a global arms embargo and referring the Tatmadaw’s grave crimes across Myanmar since at least 2011 to the International Criminal Court. The Council should also impose targeted sanctions including global travel bans and asset freezes on the leadership of the junta and military-owned conglomerates.
To cut off the military from the revenue funding its ongoing crimes against humanity, the US, UK, EU, and other governments should work together to strengthen international sanctions. Governments should target the junta’s gas revenues, its largest source of foreign income, totaling about US$1 billion annually in duties, taxes, royalties, fees, and other profits. Broad coordination and enforcement are crucial for these to have an effective influence on the military’s calculations.
Myanmar’s crisis may have faded from the front pages of world news, but its urgency still pulses across the country, a hum both daily and catastrophic.
“They are attempting for the disintegration of the Tatmadaw,” said Min Aung Hlaing, denouncing the opposition Civil Disobedience Movement in his August 1 speech. In fact, what the protesters are risking their lives for is nothing more than respect for their rights and freedoms, and justice for their suffering. But concerned governments supporting the fight for civilian democratic rule in Myanmar also need to recognize that achieving such aims will require excising the Tatmadaw from the vast control it wields in every layer of Myanmar life..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-09-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-09-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
more
Description:
"In August 2017 and in October-November 2016, Myanmar security forces advanced upon numerous
Rohingya villages in Rakhine state. The 100-300 assailants, comprised of the Myanmar military,
Border Guard Police (BGP), police, and mmobilized Rakhine civilians, besieged the villages from
their deployment stations, which typically included BGP camps, military camps, Rakhine villages,
schools, and temples.
Security forces killed and injured Rohingya villagers with indiscriminate gunfire; raped Rohingya
women, and unlawfully arrested Rohingya men. Security forces burned down Rohingya homes
and looted Rohingya property. In the terror after such mass-scale violence and killing, Rohingya
villagers escaped to Bangladesh, where they now live in temporary tents within precarious refugee
camps.
Premeditation and intent to commit genocide is apparent from security forces’ advance planning and
deployment. They commonly began intimidation tactics in the dark hours before dawn, by firing
guns, and then attacked the villages in the early hours of the morning. Security forces consistently
surrounded Rohingya villages, completely blocking escape or leaving only one of four sides open
for egress. They shot indiscriminate gunfire to incite panic and fired at Rohingya people as the
civilians fled.
Yet the systematic destruction of the Rohingya people began far earlier than August 2017. Starting
from decades earlier, the government confiscated land from Rohingya villagers.
And during the time period of 2012-2016, Rohingya experienced multiple and successive forms of
religious discrimination and persecution. This included prohibitions on giving religious sermons, on
holding religious events, on practicing Qurban (ceremonial sacrifice of livestock animals), and on
performing azan (making calls to prayer). They were forbidden to gather in groups of five or more
people, which abrogated religious fellowship. Nor could they freely use their mosque for prayer or
provide Islamic education to their children at the madrasa. Security forces physically beat, arrested,
jailed, and extorted money from those found in prayer or religious practice.
Marriage required payment of high fees, of up to 500,000 kyat, in order to obtain permission from
the authorities. As the permission was issued, the authorities directed the Rohingya to have no more
than two or three children, under threat of punishment.
The Rohingya had no freedom of movement but were forced to obtain a series of travel permits,
even to travel to a neighboring village. And despite obtaining such permission by paying large
amounts of money, security forces extorted money at checkpoints. Security forces beat, fined,
arrested, and jailed those who did not obtain travel permission. Later, the Rohingya were forbidden
to even leave their own homes between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
The Rohingya faced discrimination in schooling, thereby foreclosing their education. The
government barred them from obtaining public employment. The military regularly conscripted
Rohingya men into forced labor. The Rohingya also faced discrimination in obtaining medical
treatment and healthcare.
Although the Rohingya voted before, this too was foreclosed after 2015. Finally, no Rohingya
person held Myanmar citizenship. Indeed, the authorities tried to force them to accept NVC, a card
which would register them as foreigners. In summation, Rohingya people were deprived of basic
rights in essentially every aspect of daily life.
With this history of discrimination and persecution of the Rohingya as the backdrop, we recommend
first that the international community provide affirmative support to having the entire matter of
genocide referred to the International Criminal Court or to a newly established special or ad-hoc
court for investigation and trial. The truth-seeking investigation must proceed without any grants
of immunity, for the wrongdoers occupy all levels of society. The bad actors include the Myanmar
military, BGP, and officials of the Myanmar government, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu
Kyi and other Cabinet Members, as well as civilians who were mobilized into paramilitary forces.
We also recommend that the Myanmar government provide remedy and relief to the victims and
survivors, founded first on restoration of previously-held rights, as well as financial recompense to
those for whom such restoration is insufficient, such as victims who have suffered psychological
harm. In such situations, it is critical to respect and decide the specific substance and form of
remedy and relief according to the wishes of the victims and the Rohingya community.
Further action includes the introduction of legislation and administrative measures to abolish
systems and practices that discriminate against the Rohingya, including those involving hate speech
and other forms of prejudiced information. Education is necessary to improve awareness of hatred,
bias, and discrimination.
The Myanmar government must cease registering the Rohingya with NVC identification cards
and must ensure restoration of their citizenship rights. Finally, the Myanmar government and the
international community must actively guarantee and ensure participation of Rohingya people in
discussions about possible repatriation..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Dignity Initiative
Date of publication:
2021-09-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-09-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, International Criminal Court, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
44.36 MB (Original version) - 112 pages, 4.87 MB (Reduce version) - 122 pages
more
Sub-title:
Investigations in international courts will only give a partial picture of what happened in 2017, the rest must not be lost to history
Description:
"More than four years after Myanmar military soldiers committed mass murder, rape and arson against the Rohingya in Rakhine State, several efforts aimed at achieving the distant-seeming goal of bringing Min Aung Hlaing and other perpetrators to justice are underway.
Cases have been accepted at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), while Rohingya advocates in Argentina are pushing for courts there to accept a third case that specifically names both civilian and military officials implicated in the genocide, including detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Justice is by no means guaranteed for the Rohingya, or others across the country who have been suffering under the military both before and after the February 1 coup. Regardless of the legal outcomes of these cases, the reality is that the military will continue to enjoy impunity as long as it clings to power.
Even so, the one thing that these cases can do for the Rohingya is to act as truth-seeking exercises, putting down on the official record exactly what happened. But even the courts of The Hague do not have the capacity to comprehensively document what happened in the weeks and months after the killing started on August 25, 2017.
During the bloodbath, some 300 villages across Rakhine were subjected to atrocities. Nearly 24,000 Rohingya civilians were killed in numerous massacres, while 18,000 women and girls were raped, according to a report from the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).
The ICC, the ICJ and others will not and cannot do a full truth-seeking investigation covering every affected village. These international legal proceedings will focus on several villages that were heavily affected, inviting a couple of dozen witnesses to the stand.
That means a huge amount will be left out of the proceedings, information that ought to be brought to light for historical, legal, and moral reasons. We must not allow the details about what happened in the majority of Rohingya villages in 2017 to be lost to history.
In Asian Dignity Initiative's latest report on the massacre, seven Rohingya researchers interviewed 845 civilians from 30 villages in Rakhine State in a bid to ensure as many details about what happened are put on the record as possible.
We want to continue these efforts in the future so that no village is left out. When the Covid-19 situation allows again, grassroots efforts to build a comprehensive picture of what happened must resume..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-09-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-09-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, International Criminal Court, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
more
Description:
"Today, 25 August, marks four years since our people fled genocidal attacks by Myanmar
security forces in Arakan State also known as Rakhine State, Myanmar in 2017. Today, 25
August, is the fourth Anniversary of the Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day.
We mark this day so that all future generations of Rohingya will know what happened to our
people. We the undersigned organizations, remember, mourn, and call for accountability
for the atrocity crimes committed by the Myanmar security forces including genocide and
crimes against humanity.
The Myanmar security forces killed, raped, and burned our villages trying to destroy us.
The attacks led to the exodus of nearly one million Rohingya to Bangladesh, where we now
live in sprawling and overcrowded refugee camps.
On 1 February 2021, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and the Myanmar military overthrew
the elected Government of Myanmar in a coup. The military and police have since
killed more than 1,000 men, women, and children- p rimarily peaceful protesters- a nd
imprisoned several thousand others for opposing the junta's rule.
The junta that controls the country is the same military junta that led genocidal attacks against
our people and now are committing human rights violations against the whole country.
Rohingya are still at grave risk in Rakhine State where the junta commits crimes with impunity.
The military continues to confine thousands of Rohingya to internment camps and Rohingya
are still denied citizenship, freedom of movement, and other basic human rights.
We are citizens of Myanmar and support the resistance movement against the junta
including the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) the National Unity Government (NUG),
and all people working for democracy and human rights.
We support the international community and the NUG's commitment for international
justice including at the International Criminal Court, International Court of Justice, and
through the universal jurisdiction case in Argentina. However, we call on the NUG to
expand on its Rohingya policy and appoint a Rohingya minster and other Muslim leaders.
We call on United Nations member states to impose targeted sanctions against the
Myanmar military and work to end impunity in the country. United Nations have been slow
to show coordinated action to hold preparators accountable for crimes.
We support the International Court of Justice genocide case at the World Court. We the
undersigned organisations, call on governments around the world including the United
States, United Kingdom, and others to make a clear genocide determination about the
crimes committed against Rohingya.
We Rohingya are still living in overcrowded and sprawling refugee camps. We thank the
Bangladesh government for welcoming us to the country and providing us safety. We long
to return home to Myanmar.
Four years on, we will work to be able to return to our homeland as citizens, to build
a country that ensures justice and rights for people regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity..."
Source/publisher:
Champions of Change, Education & Wisdom Development for Rohingya Women , Rohingya Refugee Committee , Rohingya Women Education Initiative, Rohingya Youth for Legal Action, Rohingya Youth Unity Team, Voice of Rohingya, Rohingya Student Union
Date of publication:
2021-08-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-09-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Human Rights and international relations, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Anti-coup protesters, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
65.96 KB
more
Sub-title:
Some senior members of the Buddhist clergy have given their blessing to the generals in power. But hundreds of lower-ranking monks have been jailed for protesting.
Description:
"Day after day, despite a raging pandemic and the threat of snipers’ bullets, a small band of Buddhist monks in burgundy robes gathers in the city of Mandalay in Myanmar. Their acts of dissent last only a few minutes, hasty candlelight vigils or flash-mob protests in the shadow of a monastery with gilded eaves.
The clerics’ demand is lofty: men in uniform, men who protest a bit too loudly that they are pious Buddhists, must exit politics. The military has dominated Myanmar for the better part of 60 years, most recently by staging a coup against an elected government and killing more than a thousand people for daring to oppose its power grab.
“In the future, there should be no dictatorship at all,” read one sign held aloft by a monk on Monday.
In an overwhelmingly Buddhist nation where monks are seen as the supreme moral authority, the political chaos since the Feb. 1 coup has laid bare deep divisions within Myanmar’s clergy. While a minority of monks have openly joined the protest movement, and hundreds have been imprisoned for it, clerics have not taken the leadership role that they were known for in past bouts of resistance to the military. Some prominent monks have even given the generals their blessing.
This split in the monastic community, Buddhist clerics say, is partly due to the military’s assiduous courting of influential monks, luring them with donations and promises that soldiers, more than civilian leaders, are the true defenders of the faith. Harder-edged tactics have also been used to discourage monks from protesting, as armed security forces occupy monasteries — potential centers for resistance — and order clerics to return home, citing the coronavirus pandemic.
The relative absence of monks from the protests, particularly in the first weeks after the coup, has not matched the broader mood in Myanmar. Millions marched in the streets after Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief, ordered the jailing of elected leaders. Even today, as security forces shoot protesters on sight and the coronavirus rips through the country, pockets of democratic rebellion have endured.
For centuries, Myanmar’s monks have taken bold political stands, from hunger strikes demanding independence from Britain to street protests against the army’s rule in 2007. And though the government-run national clerical council mostly capitulated to the new order imposed in February, some monks have defied it.
U Mani Sara, a monk from Mandalay, spent a month in prison for attending anti-military rallies earlier this year. On the way to his cell, he was forced to jump like a frog for hours, he said. Spoiled rice was delivered in the morning in a plastic bag, which he had to use for other purposes because there was no toilet.
“The military is a demonic force that uses Buddhism for political purposes to build power,” Mr. Mani Sara said.
The Tatmadaw, as the military is known, has always used lavish displays of religiosity to legitimize its rule. On the day after the February coup, General Min Aung Hlaing, the leader of the putsch, prostrated himself at the feet of a senior Buddhist abbot.
The image of the general and the monk, which appeared in state media outlets, carried a clear message: In a deeply devout country, the army takeover had been sanctified by a higher authority.
“The military is one of the main culprits in tarnishing the image of Buddhism in Myanmar,” said U Ariyawuntha, an abbot in Mandalay.
General Min Aung Hlaing, who has ordered multiple pogroms against religious minorities, has deliberately fused faith to flag. His army has instructed Buddhists that protecting the religion is a national duty, and that the Tatmadaw is the country’s ultimate spiritual guardian.
When an army-led campaign of atrocities drove more than three-quarters of a million Rohingya Muslims into neighboring Bangladesh in 2017, monks were among the fiercest champions of the violence, echoing the military’s baseless claims that Buddhism was being threatened by a resurgent Islam. The public largely supported the deadly campaign, which the United States has described as ethnic cleansing.
But the junta’s sectarian justifications for its coup — that the civilian government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was in cahoots with oil-rich Muslim nations to degrade Buddhism — have not gained such widespread acceptance. And some monks, far from supporting the generals, have disrobed to join the armed People’s Defense Force, which is aligned with a self-declared opposition government formed from remnants of the ousted civilian leadership and representatives of ethnic, religious and civil society groups.
“I will be a soldier until we get democracy,” said Bo Thaid Dhi, who was a monk until he began training with the People’s Defense Force this summer. “I have traded the monkhood for manhood.”
In 2007, tens of thousands of monks marched, some with their begging bowls upturned to symbolize their discontent with military rule. With the clergy leading the way, hundreds of thousands of laypeople joined the protests.
The military responded by shooting pro-democracy protesters who had gathered in the shadow of a golden pagoda. Dozens of monasteries were ordered shut. Public sentiment hardened against the generals, and the military eventually fashioned a power-sharing agreement with Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, whose second landslide victory at the polls, in November, was followed by the February coup.
This time around, many Buddhist institutions have stayed silent as the military has cracked down on dissent, though a vocal minority of monks participating in the flash protests have had their actions amplified on social media.
The state religious council, which depends on official funding, has largely toed the line. Nationalist monks have echoed the military’s criticism of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, accusing her of betraying Buddhism to Islam (even though, while in office, she defended the military’s persecution of Rohingya Muslims).
“Only pessimists or dissidents have accused Senior General Min Aung Hlaing of using Buddhism to gain power,” said the monk U Su Citta Sara, a spokesman for the Committee for the Protection of Nationality and Religion, or Ma Ba Tha, which preaches against mixing with Muslims. “The people who were killed by the military on the streets during the protests may not be really innocent.”
Monks associated with Ma Ba Tha receive financial support from Tatmadaw generals. They have toured razed Rohingya villages and offered benediction to Buddhist civilians who took part in the bloodshed.
“After 2007, the military understood the strength of monks and tried to create Ma Ba Tha to create divisions between monks using Islam, so that is why fewer monks are involved in the 2021 revolution,” said U Par Kata, another monk who escaped to the area where the People’s Defense Force has conducted training. “Monks who support the military and coup are not only destroying the country, they are also destroying Buddhism.”
After the coup, the nation’s most respected monk, Ashin Nyanissara, known more commonly as Sitagu Sayadaw, was silent as security forces shot and killed unarmed demonstrators and child bystanders alike. He allowed men in uniform to pray at his feet.
Only weeks later did he urge the junta to stop killing peaceful protesters.
Sitagu Sayadaw has monastic outposts in the United States and runs theological universities. As the army’s campaign of slaughter, mass rape and arson against the Rohingya intensified, he delivered a sermon to military officers that provided religious justification for killing non-Buddhists. The military and monkhood cannot be divided, he said.
When General Min Aung Hlaing went to Moscow on arms-buying trips in 2018 and 2019, Sitagu Sayadaw accompanied him. When the general, now Myanmar’s self-appointed prime minister, returned to Russia in June for more weapons procurement, he attended a ceremony at a temple complex that Sitagu Sayadaw had blessed on one of their earlier trips.
Another chief monk who stayed silent while soldiers killed protesters was Sayadaw Bhatanda Kavisara, the abbot of a monastery near Naypyidaw, the military-built capital. It was at his feet that General Min Aung Hlaing prayed on the day after the coup.
In June, a military plane carrying Sayadaw Bhatanda Kavisara, army officers and some of his wealthy donors crashed in bad weather, killing nearly everyone on board. His ornate funeral, attended by General Min Aung Hlaing, was front-page news in state newspapers. Some Buddhists who oppose the coup said they saw something close to karmic retribution in the abbot’s death.
A very different path was taken by another abbot, U Kay Tha Ya, who until earlier this year led a monastery in Yangon, the nation’s biggest city.
When the police tried to arrest him for joining the protests, Mr. Kay Tha Ya fled to a part of Myanmar controlled by ethnic rebels, where he gave up his robes. Since then, he said, he has killed two soldiers as a member of the People’s Defense Force.
“As a monk I couldn’t kill them, so I decided to become a soldier,” he said. “It’s like going down from heaven to hell. But I think it was necessary.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The New York Times" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-08-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Inter-Communal violence and discrimination - Myanmar - General articles and analysis, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
more
Description:
"On 25 August, 2021, the Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day Organizing Committee
and the Women’s Peace Network held an online panel discussion to commemorate the four
years since the Myanmar military’s systematic use of sexual violence in its genocidal attacks
against Rohingya.
“The military has killed indiscriminately, slaughtered us like animals. Tens of thousands
of Rohingya women were gang-raped by the Myanmar military. It was systematic and we
consider it as part of the genocide. They were using rape as a weapon against women to force us
out of Myanmar. There still is no justice for us,” explained Win Win Maw, a poet, cultural agent
and writer at the Rohingya Cultural Memory Center in Bangladesh.
Moon Nay Li, who has worked for the Kachin Women's Association for 18 years and
currently holds the position of advocacy officer and spokesperson, highlighted that for decades,
the military used rape as a weapon of war with impunity, and the international community’s
failure to act emboldened them to continue this horrific practice to this day.
“I think the lack of impunity emboldened them, the lack of punishment and the military
immunity have made the situation worse,” she said.
Khin Omar, human rights advocate and founder of a number of civil society
organizations, including the Women's League of Burma, Burma Partnership, and Progressive
Voice, then elaborated on the question of justice for survivors, stating that survivors and victims
of sexual violence needed remedy, and that Myanmar as a country needs to hold the military
accountable so that they would “stop raping women.”
Another of our panelists, Naw K’nyaw Paw, a lifelong peace activist and General
Secretary of the Karen Women’s Organization, explained the psychosocial consequences of
sexual violence as follows: “The victims of sexual violence have suffered mental and physical
trauma, they can’t focus on work tasks, they seek isolation, they become triggered and
re-traumatized, and they face stigma. Sexual violence can also separate women from their social
communities, but they need an income and social support. We need justice, but we also need to
help victims to support their livelihoods and dignity.”
As some of our speakers pointed out, sexual violence against ethinic minorities was long
seen as something normal in Myanmar, mainly because ethnic minorities such as Rohingya were
not perceived as Burmese citizens. Dr. Tin Mar Oo, a medical doctor and Rohingya women
rights activist told us that these feelings of disunity are starting to dissipate under the current
junta rule.
“Myanmar is at war. The military is attacking everybody, in different parts of Myanmar.
They are using sexual violence as a weapon, we have to understand that. It is important that we
work together to find justice for all the victims of the Myanmar military,” she proclaimed.
The fruitful discussion, moderated by former political prisoner and founder of the
Women’s Peace Network, Wai Wai Nu, demonstrated the strong need for remedy and
accountability. Hence, together with our panelists, the Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day
Committee and the Women’s Peace Network call on the international community to provide
financial and psychological support for the victims of the Burmese Military’s wide-spread use of
sexual and gender-based violence. We also call on communities to provide social and
psychological support for traumatized survivors. Further, we demand that the National Unity
Government repeal the 2014 and 2015 Race and Protection laws, which discriminate against
ethnic, racial, and religious minorities and render women and girls who are already a target to
violence even more vulnerable.
Moreover, as former Dutch ambassador, member of the Rakhine Advisory Commission,
and author Laetitia van den Assum has put it, “without accountability, justice doesn’t stand a
chance”. If we want justice for survivors, we cannot permit the junta to continue their campaign
of terror with impunity. Thus, we call on the United Nations Security Council to refer Myanmar
to the International Criminal Court or create a Special Tribunal to hold the military accountable
for their crimes..."
Source/publisher:
Women’s Peace Network
Date of publication:
2021-08-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Women's rights
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
54.08 KB
more
Description:
"25 August 2021: Four years ago, decades of state persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar culminated in a campaign of genocidal atrocities committed against Rohingya by the Myanmar military. Today, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) remembers the victims, those still facing persecution in Rakhine state, and the refugees in Cox’s Bazar and around the world.
The 25th of August marks the day in 2017 when the Myanmar military and security forces descended upon Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine state and unleashed a campaign of horror against Rohingya girls, boys, women and men. Thousands were killed, thousands more were raped and tortured, and three quarters of a million people were forced to flee to Bangladesh, where they remain. Those who fled joined a quarter of a million earlier Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
“We three have all been profoundly changed by our investigations into what was done to the Rohingya in August 2017, by meeting with survivors and hearing your stories,” the members of SAC-M said to the survivors. “Today, we remember the victims, we encourage you in your struggle and we reaffirm our commitment to the continuing fight for justice, reparation and the reinstatement of your rights.”
The one million Rohingya refugees confined to camps in Bangladesh continue to endure dire conditions. Deadly fires swept through the camps earlier in the year and now serious flooding has caused further destruction.
The coup launched by the Myanmar military in February has created further uncertainty around the prospects for establishing conditions in Myanmar conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified and durable return of Rohingya refugees.
The Rohingya who remain in northern and central Rakhine face deteriorating conditions and ongoing discrimination. Their access to COVID-19 vaccination programmes is reported to be restricted or prevented entirely. Meanwhile, the threat of more military rule – the same military responsible for the atrocities remembered today – threatens to entrench the military’s impunity for its crimes and render justice ever more remote.
“The fourth anniversary of the atrocities also serves as a moment for us all to recall the lessons of history, and what may come if racism, exclusion, persecution and impunity for human rights violations are allowed to prevail,” said SAC-M. “Those lessons must inspire the people of Myanmar as they rise up against the military and look to a future of peace, pluralism and a new democracy in which the Rohingya are full, equal participants in Myanmar society.”
Should a tragedy of such magnitude that fatefully befell the Rohingya, which is veritably a national tragedy, ever recur, that would spell the demise of the idea of the Myanmar nation.
On this day of remembrance SAC-M calls on the people of Myanmar and the international community not to forget. Not to forget what the Myanmar military has done. Not to forget what it continues to do. Not to forget what is at stake for all those striving to resist military rule. Not to forget the Rohingya..."
Source/publisher:
Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-08-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Human Rights and international relations
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
109.62 KB 536.29 KB
more
Sub-title:
August 25 is observed by Rohingya as 'Genocide Remembrance Day,' but theirs is not just the story of a single day in 2017
Description:
"Kabir, a Rohingya refugee, fled his village in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state on August 25, 2017. But this was not the first time he had been forced to flee, nor the first time Myanmar soldiers had burned down his home. Nor is Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where he now lives, the first camp he has sought refuge in.
In August 2017, Myanmar security forces launched a campaign of killings, rape and arson against the Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine amounting to crimes against humanity and acts of genocide. More than 730,000 escaped to Bangladesh over the next few weeks.
August 25 has come to be observed by Rohingya as “Genocide Remembrance Day,” but their plight is not the story of a single day, or even a single mass exodus. The roots of August 25, 2017, lie in the decades of state repression and violence that preceded it, orchestrated by successive governments to erode their freedoms and enshrine their vulnerability.
Kabir, now 27, grew up in Rathedaung township. As a teenager, he worked as a day laborer on farms or construction projects.
Kabir had to carry travel permits to pass through security checkpoints to get to work. He was, like almost all Rohingya in Myanmar, denied the citizenship that would recognize his family’s roots in the country. The authorities would harass them on the job, he told us, fining Rohingya workers for missing a day or beating them for making a mistake.
“But still I was happy,” he said. “At least we could work.”
In 2012, he said, things changed. A targeted campaign of hate and discrimination against the Rohingya started across Rakhine state, led by ethnic Rakhine nationalists and Buddhist leaders, stoked by the military and police.
That July, Buddhist monks in Rathedaung issued a statement presenting a plan for the “Arakan Ethnic Cleansing Program” of Rohingya. Violent attacks flared and tensions grew. “Our Buddhist neighbors ostracized us,” said Kabir, identified in this article by only his first name for his security.
By October, Rakhine villagers, often alongside police and soldiers, were burning Muslim homes, destroying mosques, and looting property in townships across Rakhine state.
“For 15 days, they couldn’t set our houses on fire because it was raining,” Kabir said. “But one day, our neighbors along with Buddhists from other areas attacked our village. We tried to fight back but couldn’t. Finally, we fled.”
Kabir’s family ended up in a settlement with other displaced Rohingya in Koe Tan Kauk, or Dunse Para in the Rohingya language, a village tract in Rathedaung along the Bay of Bengal. Rohingya across Rakhine were living under an oppressive regimen, denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.
In October 2016, the ethnic armed group later known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked three police outposts in northern Rakhine state, including one in Koe Tan Kauk. Myanmar military and police responded with brutal “clearance operations,” killing and raping Rohingya and burning down their homes. The authorities arbitrarily rounded up young men, interrogating and torturing them.
Soldiers rounded up all the men and teenage boys from Kabir’s settlement in Koe Tan Kauk and held them at a local military camp. The soldiers separated 12 of them from the group, including Kabir, and took them to a nearby school, where they interrogated them about ARSA and beat them. Kabir said he saw one man’s nails pulled out.
“They took each of us on our own into a room for interrogation,” he said. “Waiting outside you could hear the screams. When it was my turn, they beat me with a stick and military belt at the same time. At one point, one of them kicked me in the genitals, and I fell unconscious.”
The young Rohingya men were held at a pagoda for three days. Some were then sent to the prison in Sittwe, the state capital. Kabir and others were released after paying bribes and signing a paper from their interrogators saying they weren’t tortured.
Soldiers and border-guard police kept the Rohingya camps and hamlets in Koe Tan Kauk under constant surveillance into 2017. Rohingya men and women were barred from fishing or collecting wood; schools remained closed.
The security-force presence grew. In August, naval craft arrived off the coast of Koe Tan Kauk, bringing soldiers from the notoriously abusive light infantry divisions (LIDs) to northern Rakhine state.
On August 25 at about 4am, villagers in Koe Tan Kauk awoke to the sound of gunshots. The military later reported that two of the several ARSA attacks carried out simultaneously that morning had taken place in Koe Tan Kauk. Seven members of the armed group were killed.
Security forces, including the 33rd LID, and local ethnic Rakhine arrived that same morning, shooting at Rohingya villagers who attempted to flee to the forested hills. Some, they captured and slit their throats.
Women and girls were brought to the military camp and raped. Older persons, and people with disabilities, were burned alive in their homes as the entire Rohingya areas of Koe Tan Kauk were torched.
“The whole camp was burned,” Kabir said.
Satellites first detected active fires in Koe Tan Kauk in the early afternoon of August 25. The imagery revealed 700 buildings burned, encompassing every Rohingya hamlet and camp. The extensive areas destroyed meant it was very likely the burning was deliberate.
A United Nations Fact-Finding Mission reported later that the Myanmar naval ships stationed just offshore fired weapons at the village. Hundreds were killed. Almost every person from Koe Tan Kauk whom the UN interviewed said he or she had lost at least one family member.
Again, Kabir and his family fled. First to Inn Din, then Bossara, north of Koe Tan Kauk in Maungdaw township.
“From there, we walked for nine days to reach Aley Than Kyaw,” Kabir said, to the beach in southern Maungdaw. The trek took them through the jungle mountains where every day thousands more Rohingya were fleeing, seeking refuge as the military torched their villages and homes.
Kabir paid 100,000 kyat (US$70) a head for his family to cross the Naf River by boat to reach Bangladesh. In Cox’s Bazar, they joined what would become the world’s largest refugee camp.
Four years later they live there still, entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance and his sister’s small income from her work at an aid organization. Nearly a million Rohingya live in the sprawling, overcrowded camps, facing deadly landslides and the risk of disease, fires among the bamboo and plastic shelters, and violence.
An initial welcome by the Bangladeshi government and host communities has been replaced with increasing restrictions on their rights to livelihoods, freedom of movement, and adequate education and health. Bangladeshi authorities are threatening to move an additional 80,000 Rohingya to join the 20,000 refugees already sent to Bhasan Char, a remote, low-lying island that many fear is unfit and unsafe for habitation.
The prospect of Kabir and his family returning safely to Myanmar, meanwhile, has never been more distant. In Rakhine state, 600,000 Rohingya remain trapped in squalid and oppressive conditions amounting to the crimes against humanity of persecution, apartheid, and severe deprivation of liberty.
Since the military coup on February 1 this year, they have lived under an abusive junta led by the same generals responsible for the grave crimes against them.
Those seeking to flee by boat in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea have never faced greater risks, the UN refugee agency recently reported. Rohingya who have reached Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia or India live on the margins as undocumented migrants, facing constant threat of arrest and detention, or forced return to military-controlled Myanmar.
And everywhere, Rohingya are still awaiting justice. That is what they have been asking for, not just for the past four years, but for decades. They are demanding that those responsible for these crimes against the Rohingya be held to account, and that governments claiming to be in their corner should do all that they can to make that happen.
Myanmar’s military coup has only underscored the devastation that decades of impunity can bring.
“We are losing hope here, too,” Kabir said in Cox’s Bazar. “We were very industrious people in our village. But our fate made us live this refugee life. Still, I have hope that one day we will be able to go back to our village to live with safety and security.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2021-08-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
more
Description:
"Today, on the fourth anniversary of the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar, we call for justice and inclusion for the
Rohingya.
Decades of discrimination and mistreatment peaked on 25 August 2017. when the Myanmar military initiated a
brutal crackdown against the Rohingya in Rakhine State that led to mass human rights violations and caused over
725.000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. Today, approximately 1 million Rohingya reside in the refugee camps in
Cox's Bazar. Bangladesh. The overcrowded and under-resourced camps are ill-equipped to face rising COVID-19,
dengue fever, and cholera cases and are vulnerable to floods and fires. Meanwhile, back in Myanmar, hundreds of
thousands of Rohingya remain internally displaced, many confined in detention camps, and the country as a whole,
since the 1 February 2021 coup, is in a state of crisis.
Despite the hardship the Rohingya have faced, they demonstrate, on a daily basis, their resilience and strength.
Since 2019, A]AR has worked with Rohi ngya refugees in the camps and has witnessed this determi nation first-hand.
Carrying the trauma of the past and the uncertainty of the future, the refugees persist, tirelessly seeking out new
ways to improve their circumstances while continuing to honor their culture and faith.
Several international mechanisms are working to advance justice for the Rohingya. and the pro-democracy
movement has taken steps to show its support of the Rohi ngya. However, at present, both justice and the voluntary,
safe, and dignified return of the Rohingya remain a distant goal. This must change.
On this anniversary, we therefore call on the international community to:
• Advance initiatives providing urgent and interim measures to help repair the lives of survivors and invest
in long-term empowerment programming for survivors;
• Promote accountability by joining The Gambia in its case against Myanmar before the International Court
of justice (ICJ) and by supporting and enhancing understanding of the accountability mechanisms,
including the ICJ, the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the Independent Investigative Mechanisms
for Myanmar (IIMM), and by pursuing universal jurisdiction cases in their own countries;
• Support the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar;
• Support Bangladesh in the provision of assistance and resources to the Rohingya; and
• Maintain pressure on ASEAN to give effect to the right of Rohingya survivors to an effective and
enforceable remedy..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Justice and Rights, Sisters2Sisters, Perlindungan Insani Indonesia, KontraS, KontraS Aceh, The May 18 Memorial Foundation, Cross Cultural Foundation, Kurawal Foundation, Migrant CARE, Milk Tea Alliance Indonesia, SP Kinasih Solidaritas Perempuan, YLB
Date of publication:
2021-08-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), International Criminal Court, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
Size:
58.63 KB 25.59 KB 251.39 KB
more
Description:
"To Our Rohingya sisters,
On this day commemorating the Rohingya genocide, the Karen Women’s Organization
(KWO) wishes to express our solidarity for the pain and suffering Rohingya victims and their
families have endured under militarized campaigns waged by the Burmese Army. KWO is all
too familiar with the brutality of which the junta is capable of. Our communities have been
devastated by scorched earth campaigns and a slow genocide of the Karen people for
decades.
The struggle of ethnic people is rooted in the military’s desire to preserve Bamar history and
traditions. Their ruthless attempts to assimilate the population has come with destruction
and force waged against the Karen, and other ethnic groups in the country. Our differences
and diversity ought to be celebrated. But instead, the junta continues to attempt to
aggressively eliminate our very existence.
Women and girls in particular have been subjected to harrowing forms of gender-based
violence and sexual assault. The Burmese military has long used rape as a weapon of war
against ethnic women to intimidate, traumatize and silence their victims. These abuses
weigh heavy, but they must not deter, distract nor disengage from our efforts to hold the
Burmese military accountable. We are haunted by the junta’s unrelenting attacks which have
taken loved ones from us too soon, and forced us to carry the weight of lives lost without
justice. But we cannot let them win. We must be strong and carry on without fear.
KWO offers our solidarity in the strongest possible forms and will fight for the day when our
suffering is no longer in vain, and for long-lasting peace in Burma where we are all
recognized as equals, regardless of our ethnicity, religion or gender. Until then, we are with
you in our ongoing calls for justice..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Women's Organization
Date of publication:
2021-08-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Women's rights
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
111.65 KB
more
Description:
"Four years ago, Burma’s military launched a horrific ethnic cleansing against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State. The brutality of the military’s atrocities on that day shocked the conscience of the international community – but we recognize the Rohingya had already suffered decades of grave human rights abuses, and that many of those abuses continue today. The United States remembers the victims and recommits to pursuing and demanding accountability for those responsible for these atrocities and other human rights abuses, and seeking justice for victims. We recognize the need to address the root causes of this violence and hold perpetrators accountable to help prevent such atrocities from recurring.
Today, the same military leaders who perpetrated the February 1 coup are committing abuses against pro-democracy activists and members of ethnic and religious communities across the country, and we have seen the same light infantry brigades that terrorized Rohingya communities in 2017 inflict brutal violence on pro-democracy protestors since the coup. The coup and the brutality of the military’s subsequent crackdown have exacerbated the already precarious situation for vulnerable people across Burma, including Rohingya. The United States continues to underscore the need for unhindered humanitarian access to all people requiring assistance in Burma.
At the launch of the 2021 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis in May, the United States announced nearly $155 million in new assistance to sustain critical efforts to support Rohingya refugees and members of the host communities in Bangladesh and internally displaced Rohingya. and other affected people in Burma. Our assistance will help meet the immediate needs of nearly 900,000 refugees in Bangladesh, including women and children. This new funding, which includes life-saving COVID assistance, brought our total humanitarian aid for those affected by the crisis in Burma, Bangladesh, and elsewhere in the region, to more than $1.3 billion – including more than $1.1 billion in Bangladesh and more than $238 million in Burma – since August 2017. We encourage other members of the international community to likewise support peace building and social cohesion work in Rakhine State, and to contribute to the Joint Response Plan.
The United States will continue to promote justice for victims and accountability for those responsible for atrocities and other human rights abuses. To that end, we have imposed visa restrictions and financial sanctions on top military leaders and units, including those linked to serious human rights abuse against Rohingya, and suppression of peaceful protests since the February 1 coup. We have also supported the UN fact finding and investigative mechanisms focused on Burma; and pressed Burma to implement the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures order.
The United States also welcomes the inclusive path forward envisioned by the NUG and other pro-democracy groups in Burma and their pledge to reform the 1982 citizenship law, among other actions intended to protect the rights of Rohingya and members of other ethnic minority groups. These steps will be necessary to safeguard the human rights and human dignity of all people in Burma, including Rohingya.
The United States will continue to partner with the people of Burma to support peace and justice, critical humanitarian assistance, a return to the path to democracy, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of State
Date of publication:
2021-08-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
Language:
more
Description:
"Today is a most memorable day for us, for our children and for our generations to come. On this day of August 25, 2017, the Burma/Myanmar brute forces, army, police and state-sponsored non-state actors and Buddhist Rakhine vigilantes started pre-planned genocidal onslaughts against our innocent people carrying out mass murder, widespread rape, systematic arson attacks and wholesale destruction of homes and villages.
Today we remember something that happened to us or to our communities. Similarly, we remember something that happened before 25 August 2017, and the mass atrocity crimes between 2012 to 2016 in Arakan and across the country. Today we also remember what befell our people before we were born, specifically the killing of about100,000 of our innocent people in 1942.
Today our people, the survivors in Arakan and refugee camps, are mere ruins. We are a people without a past for it was taken away from us, and without a future. Everything is broken and our homeland is irrecoverably destroyed.
The crimes never happen overnight. The Rohingya genocide is the last step in the continuity of destruction that began decades ago, largely from 1962 military takeover in Burma. Their aim is to destroy our people in whole or in part from our ancestral homeland to which we have physical, psychological and spiritual attachment.
There are many testimonies of survivors. They were unarmed people caught off guard, chosen as victims solely because of their ethnicity and religion. In spite of our repeated forewarning of genocide looming over our defenceless people, there was no international response.
Here, we are compelled to ask ourselves: how was this genocide possible at all? The answer lies in the inactivity of the international community, which according to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crimes of Genocide (1948), was obliged to act, that is to “prevent and punish” genocide. Unfortunately, still almost all governments have avoided calling the crime by its proper name –genocide—eschew their obligation from the Convention, which, ultimately, implies intervening. Encouraged by the hesitancy of the international community, the perpetrators realized their criminal policy without punishment.
We thank the people and government of Bangladesh for sheltering and looking after our refugees on humanitarian grounds. We also appreciate the international community for their humanitarian aid.
We are grateful to The Republic of Gambia for filing a genocide case in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with the backing of Bangladesh and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Despite Court (ICJ) Order on 23 January 2020, the Rohingya who are left behind in Arakan are under constant threat of genocide facing a great humanitarian disaster. Sponsored demographic changes are progressively made in the Rohingya Homeland of North Arakan.
Under the present unsafe conditions, the return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh and elsewhere to Burma will put them at risk of further crimes. The international community must not fail them again, and it has a responsibility to protect them. The UNSC should refer the criminals to International Criminal Court. This is the time for the United Nations to intervene in Arakan/Rakhine State, if necessary, by seeking global consensus.
The punishing of crimes must be accepted as a personal moral imperative. Without embracing the responsibility for the crimes, there is no compromise with the criminals and the enemies of humanity. All perpetrators must be brought to justice.
In conclusion, today we remember and honour all those who were killed as heroes and shaheeds (martyrs). We will remember them forever. Today we also salute our female survivors, including the rape victims, for their courageous efforts to survive, even as refugee widows and orphans. The carnage is more than a tragedy. The extent of barbarity or methods employed in Arakan/Rakhine State against our people surpassed everything else that took place on the territory of Myanmar. That will not and cannot be forgotten..."
Source/publisher:
Arakan Rohingya National Organisation
Date of publication:
2021-08-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Human Rights and international relations, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
more
Description:
"On the 4th anniversary of the genocidal military offensive against Rohingya civilians, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is still refusing to act to hold the Burmese military accountable for their crimes.
Dominic Raab refuses to support referring Burma to the International Criminal Court, and refuses to join the genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
“Not only is Dominic Raab failing to act to support accountability for genocide of the Rohingya, he is actively resisting cross-party pressure on him to do so,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Dominic Raab refuses to join the genocide case at the International Court of Justice, despite cross-party support for him to do so. His failure to act makes no sense either in terms of promoting accountability, or politically for himself and his own reputation as an embattled Foreign Secretary who says he wants to support human rights.”
On 25th August 2017 the Burmese military launched a pre-planned attack against ethnic Rohingya civilians in Rakhine State, Burma. Around 800,000 Rohingya were forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh. Thousands of people were killed and raped. The majority of the Rohingya forced to flee were children.
UN investigators have concluded that what took place was genocide and called for Burma to be referred to the International Criminal Court, but despite Foreign Office Minister Mark Field stating in October 2017 that the UK would support a referral if the UN supported that approach, the British government is still refusing to say it supports a referral.
At the same time Dominic Raab is refusing to join the genocide case at the International Court of Justice. While claiming international leadership on addressing human rights in Burma, it was in fact Gambia which brought the genocide case to the court, with Dominic Raab watching from the sidelines and resisting cross-party pressure in the UK to join the case.
The cross-party Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament published a report in July 2021 calling on the British government to join the case.
104 MPs backed a Parliamentary Motion calling on the British government to join the ICJ case and support ICC referral.
104 MPs and Lords, including former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, wrote to Dominic Raab calling on him to join the case at the ICJ.
The Labour Party supports joining the case at the ICJ.
As does the Liberal Democrat party.
Rohingya community organisations and international human rights and humanitarian organisations have also called on the British government to join the case at the ICJ.
Burma Campaign UK has published a briefing paper detailing the hypocrisy and inconsistencies of Dominic Raab’s stated support for accountability whilst at the same time steadfastly refusing to take action to support accountability..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication:
2021-08-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"On this 4th anniversary of the Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day, the Women’s League of
Burma (WLB) would like to convey our message of solidarity to our Rohingya sisters and
brothers. We share your sorrows, pain and demand justice in the name of all those who
perished in the brutal crackdowns by the Burmese military and the survivors who remain.
WLB condemns in the strongest possible terms the violence committed by the Burmese
military, which forced more than 700,000 Rohingyas to flee from Rakhine State into
Bangladesh.
The WLB and its member organizations have also experienced the agony of being forced to
flee our homelands all as well. For decades, the Burmese military has terrorized ethnic
communities with their wide-spread campaigns of violence. Sexual and gender-based
violence, especially rape has been systemically utilized by the Burmese military junta.
Women and girls in ethnic areas have long suffered under the Burmese military junta's culture
of impunity. Accountability for the crimes against ethnic women and girls is long overdue.
Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have been forced to flee for their lives. This
humanitarian crisis has disproportionate impact on women and children. They face great risks
ranging from including malnutrition to being sexually exploited.
Since the military coup on February 1, the human rights situation in Burma is deteriorating
day by day. Civilians of every gender, religion and socio-economic background have been
killed and detained by the junta simply for demanding their basic fundamental rights and
freedoms. The Burmese military junta perhaps think it is above the law and that there are no
consequences for the atrocity crimes and human rights violations it committed in Rakhine
state and continues to do so all over Burma.
Impunity has emboldened them so the world must act to ensure that the harrowing ordeals
faced by our Rohingya sisters, brothers and other ethnic community over the decades must
never happen to others. We must put an end to sexual violence in conflict, extrajudicial
killings, arrests of peaceful protesters and inhuman treatment in detention.
WLB reinforces our repeated calls for an immediate referral of the Burmese military junta to
the International Criminal Court and domestic courts with jurisdiction to bring justice for
victims and survivors.
And to our Rohingya sisters and brothers, we hold your pain close to our hearts and vow to
work alongside you all to break free of the reins of injustice which have kept us chained for
too long.....၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် သြဂုတ်လ ၂၅ ရက်နေ့တွင် အမျိုးသမီးများအဖွဲ့ချုပ် (မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ) သည် ရိုဟင်ဂျာညီအစ်ကို ညီအစ်မများ နှင့် တသားတည်းရပ်တည်ကြောင့် သတင်းစကားပါးခြင်း ဆိုသည့် ထုတ်ပြန်ကြောညာချက်ကို ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
Women's League of Burma
Date of publication:
2021-08-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Women's rights
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
27.66 KB 529.81 KB
more
Description:
"1. Today, August 25, 2021, marks a grim anniversary in the world's modern history and
that of Myanmar: the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the fascist Myanmar
military's acts of genocide committed against Rohingya and torture and oppression
committed against Hindus, Mro, Thet, Khami, Maramagyi, Daingnet, and Kaman of
Rakhine State. Today also marks the 206th day since the fascist military' unjust seizure of
power from the democratically-elected government.
2. Our Spring Revolution Interfaith Network fully supports the National Unity
Government's Policy Position on the Rohingya in Rakhine State, and we welcome the
NUG's agreement to accept the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction with respect to
international crimes committed in Myanmar.
3. We, the Spring Revolution Interfaith Network, strongly urge the international
community to take action against those who have enjoyed impunity for their
unspeakable atrocities against people of diverse ethnic and religious groups historically
and through the present, in order to provide justice to victims of genocide in Rakhine
State and victims of the current regime of terror in Myanmar.
4. We, the Spring Revolution Interfaith Network, deeply regret and apologize for our
failures to speak out or work for the justice of the Rohingya who fled genocidal acts, and
the Hindus, Mro, Thet, Khami, Maramagyi, Daingnet, and Kaman people in Rakhine State
who also suffered atrocities at the hands of the fascist military.
5. We, the Spring Revolution Interfaith Network, hereby declare our strong desire to
collaborate with revolutionary groups from all ethnic communities and religious entities
in order to build a federal democratic country based on non-discrimination, freedom,
justice, and equality for all.....နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေး ဘာသာပေါင်းစုံကွန်ရက် သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ချက်
ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက်တွင် တရားမဲ့ပြုကျင့်ခံခဲ့ကြရသည့် နိုင်ငံအနှံ့မှ လူမျိုးစု ညီအစ်ကိုမောင်နှမများ အပါအဝင် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်အတွင်းရှိ လူမျိုးတုန်းသတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်းခံခဲ့ရသည့် ရိုဟင်ဂျာလူမျိုးများ၊ ဟိန္ဒူဘာသာဝင်များ၊ မြို၊သက်၊ခမီ၊မရမာကြီး၊ ဒိုင်းနက်၊ကမန် စသည့်လူမျိုးစုငယ်များ ခံစားခဲ့ရသည့် ဘေးဒုက္ခများအား တရားမျှတမှုရရှိစေရန် ထိရောက်စွာ လုပ်ဆောင်ပေးနိုင်ခြင်းမရှိသည့်အပေါ် မိမိတို့က ဝမ်းနည်းစွာ တောင်းပန်အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher:
The Spring Revolution Interfaith Network
Date of publication:
2021-08-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
27.66 KB 241.56 KB
more
Sub-title:
Covering up wrongdoing in the name of unity and as a strategy against the junta will only ensure that past injustices are perpetuated and that military rule will live on indefinitely.
Description:
"The formation of Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) by elected members of parliament, ethnic and civil society leaders, and representatives of the Civil Disobedience Movement and General Strike Committees of the Spring Revolution was a historic moment. For the country’s diverse communities, it offered real hope that a genuine federal democracy—one that guarantees and protects their rights— can be established. As a moral as well as a political guide, the NUG must therefore transparently communicate to the people of Myanmar what and who it stands for.
To live up to its historic role, the NUG must now face the lack of justice and accountability that have allowed the Myanmar military to commit grave crimes against ethnic communities, including the Rohingya, for decades. For far too long, the military has acted with total impunity.
The last decade has seen the enactment and maintenance of racist, Islamophobic, and misogynistic legal frameworks that have served to enable the military’s most egregious abuses. The four “Race and Religion Protection Laws” adopted in 2015 built on the 1982 Citizenship Law to enshrine deeply discriminatory attitudes against a segment of the population; together with the empowerment of extremist Buddhist nationalists, they laid the groundwork for the incitement of anti-Muslim violence and the Myanmar military’s “clearance operations” against the Rohingya in 2017.
The genocide of that year went beyond the horrific crimes routinely committed by the military in ethnic areas for decades. More than 800,000 Rohingya were systematically murdered, raped and expelled from their homeland and a system of apartheid was created in which those who remained in Myanmar were confined to internment camps.
When it was in power, the National League for Democracy (NLD) remained silent in the face of the military’s grave crimes, particularly those committed against the Rohingya. Rather than cooperating with international mechanisms to hold the military accountable, the ruling party defended the generals at hearings held by the International Court of Justice. It even intentionally avoided using the term “Rohingya”, in line with state attempts to erase Rohingya identity. The NLD government did not repeal racist laws, despite having the capacity to do so with their parliamentary majority.
The culpability of the previous NLD government needs to be addressed head on. Covering up wrongdoing in the name of unity and as a strategy against the junta will only ensure that past injustices are perpetuated and that military rule will live on indefinitely.
We have seen some signs of hope. The NUG has adopted a policy paper on the Rohingya that is a positive start in acknowledging their rights, ending systemic efforts to oppress and exclude them, and recognizing the atrocity crimes that they have faced. It is encouraging that the NUG has moved towards achieving justice and accountability by working to become a party to the Rome Statute. However, more concrete steps must be taken.
It is precisely because the military has never faced any significant consequences for its crimes against the Rohingya and other ethnic groups that it is now able to inflict horrific atrocities against the rest of the population. Justice and equality for the Rohingya will serve not just the Rohingya alone, but also all the other peoples of Myanmar.
This is the moment for the NUG to start building the foundation for an inclusive, federal, and democratic Myanmar. The NUG’s declaration that it will grant the International Criminal Court jurisdiction to prosecute crimes dating back to 2002, made in response to calls from Myanmar civil society organizations and the international community, is a welcome move. The NUG must continue on this path towards ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and support the Court’s procedures in order to bring the perpetrators of serious crimes to account.
The NUG and the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) should use their power now to repeal racist laws such as the 1982 Citizenship Law and the four “Race and Religion Protection Laws”. These laws are not only racist and xenophobic, but also perpetuate gendered discrimination and violence and violate the rights of children, while subscribing to the misogynistic and patriarchal system fostered by decades of military rule.
The NUG must listen to the voices of all the people of Myanmar, including those of the Rohingya and other ethnic and religious minorities—and particularly those of the victims and survivors of crimes committed by the Myanmar military. More importantly, it is vital that the Rohingya are included in the NUG’s political processes as we work towards dismantling institutionalized systems of oppression and discrimination built and entrenched by the military. This will be essential as we reimagine an inclusive and transformative future for Myanmar that guarantees and respects the humanity and human rights of all.
As the Myanmar military has waged a nationwide campaign of terror against the country’s people, solidarity with the Rohingya has been displayed on protest banners, on social media, and in comments by public figures. On August 25, the anniversary of the start of the military’s 2017 campaign against the Rohingya, members of Myanmar civil society plan to release an open letter calling for the restoration of their rights and for the military to be held accountable for its crimes. In this way, we can begin to imagine a Myanmar that derives strength from its diversity, rather than from notions of ethnic supremacy.
The NUG must act as a beacon for this future Myanmar and take concrete actions to demonstrate its political will to ensure and guarantee the equal rights of the Rohingya. They must also recognize that the crime of genocide was committed by the military against the Rohingya in 2017 and fully cooperate with international accountability mechanisms to seek justice for the victims and survivors.
Only by doing so can the NUG ensure that when democracy is restored in Myanmar, it will be able to foster a just and peaceful society based on federal principles, inclusivity, human rights, and human dignity that we can all belong to and be proud of and keep nurturing for future generations to come..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-08-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), National Unity Government (NUG)
Language:
more
Description:
"Immediate Release
Date: August 21, 2020
Rohingyas and those that stand in solidarity with them, will mark the 3rd anniversary of Myanmar’s genocide, in the first ever worldwide multilingual online rally. The event will bring together more than four dozen international supporters including UN officials, human rights activists, genocide scholars, international law experts, and concerned journalists from all continents. They will join Rohingya survivors and refugees to memorialise and honour the thousands of victims slaughtered, raped and tortured in the violent purge by Myanmar government troops, that began on 25th August 2017.
Solidarity, messages of compassion, and calls to end the ongoing genocide will be delivered in 12 languages including Rohingya, Burmese, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Malay, Bahasa Indonesian, Mandarin, Khmer, Japanese, Italian, Spanish and Turkish.
Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, the last OIC Special Envoy to Myanmar and former Minister of Foreign, Defence and Home affairs of Malaysia will open the global memorial service. He will be joined by former UN special rapporteur on human rights situation in Myanmar, Argentinian human rights lawyer Tomas Ojea Quintana, Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) Nicholas Koumjian, Founding President of the Genocide Watch Prof. Gregory Stanton, Malaysian MP & Chair of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights Charles Santiago, former Secretary General of South Asia Forum for Human Rights Tapan Kumar Bose, South African author & TV journalist Imran Garda, Uzbek documentary filmmaker Shahida Tulaganova, British journalist Shafiur Rahman, and Cambodian genocide scholar Farina So.
“Neither pandemic nor repressive regimes can silence the voices of Rohingya people who demand accountability, restoration of full and equal citizenship and a homeland with inalienable rights of all peoples.” said Ro Nay San Lwin, Co-founder and Coordinator of the Free Rohingya Coalition.
Prominent Rohingya refugees and survivors – from Bangladeshi refugee camps and throughout the diaspora – will honour the memories of their fellow Rohingya victims who were murdered during past four decades of various waves of genocidal killings.
Among the Rohingya speakers are nominee for International Women of Courage Award for Malaysia (2018) by US State Department & Founder of Rohingya Women Development Network Sharifah Shakirah, Ms World Australia National Finalist 2020 Pan Sandar Myint, Co-author of “First They Erase Our Name” Habiburahman, President of Burmese Rohingya Association Japan Zaw Min Htut, and President of Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK Tun Khin.
Musicians from Asia, Africa, Europe and USA will perform live as an act of solidarity for Rohingya people.
The online rally will be Facebook Live at the Free Rohingya Coalition Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FreeRohingyaCoalition) at 1400 GMT (3PM UK) on 25th August. In addition, it will be live streamed on Turkish International news channel Anadolu Agency through its 13 world languages programme.
Rohingyas in Myanmar have been subjected to state policies of persecution which are widely considered to be a textbook example of genocide. Myanmar is currently facing a full investigation for its grave crimes in international law including the crimes of deportation and other crimes against humanity by the ICC. Last December UN’s highest court, International Court of Justice began the public hearing over Gambia’s allegations that Myanmar has violated its obligations under the genocide convention. This January ICJ judges had unanimously ordered Myanmar to immediately end any and all acts of genocide against Rohingya people, as they are protected by the genocide convention.
The memorial is hosted by the Free Rohingya Coalition in collaboration with the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, one of the world’s leading genocide centres, and Forces of Renewal Southeast Asia, a region-wide grassroot network rights activists and scholars.
Free Rohingya Coalition is a global network of Rohingya activists and friends of Rohingyas who share common concerns about Myanmar’s ongoing genocide and the need for Rohingya survivors to play an active role in seeking a viable future for their group.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Maung Zarni +44 7710 473322
Ro Nay San Lwin +49 176 62139138..."
Source/publisher:
Free Rohingya Coalition
Date of publication:
2021-08-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Human Rights and international relations
Language:
more
Description:
"The National Unity Government is deeply saddened by the horrendous violence, gross human rights
violations, and massive displacement that the Rohingya people suffered four years ago, resulting in
hundreds of thousands fleeing their home and taking refuge in neighboring countries.
The same military responsible for those atrocities have perpetrated crimes against humanity and war
crimes against people in Myanmar on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or political belief,
especially people living in the ethnic areas over decades. Since 1 February 2021, the entire people of
Myanmar, have been experiencing atrocities and violence, witnessed by the whole world through
different media.
We will endeavor to seek justice and accountability for all crimes committed by the military against
the Rohingya and all other people of Myanmar across the country throughout our history. It is
important to bring perpetrators to account in the interest of truth and justice, as well as because we
believe doing so will act as a deterrent against future atrocities. In this regard, we are trying to
cooperate with international judicial bodies. We have lodged a declaration with the registrar of the
International Criminal Court, accepting the Court's jurisdiction with respect to international crimes
committed in Myanmar's territory since 1 July 2002, which is the earliest date permitted by the
Statue of the International Criminal Court.
We are gravely concerned about the situation of the Rohingya people living in refugee camps of
neighboring countries and who continue to face difficult conditions within Myanmar. Voluntary and safe repatriation of Rohingya people in a dignified manner is our utmost priority. We believe that
repealing the 1982 Citizenship Law with a new one that bases citizenship in Myanmar or birth
anywhere as a child of Myanmar citizen and abolishing the process of issuing National Verification
Cards will also contribute to solving problems during the repatriation process.
We also accept the importance of addressing the root causes of the plight of Rohingya people in
Rakhine State, taking into consideration the recommendations for possible solutions in the reports of
relevant international bodies and directly from Rohingya communities. We firmly believe that
establishment of the Federal Democratic Union, where all ethnic groups belonging to the Union live
together peacefully, will be the best solution for our country. We have been attempting to achieve
that goal together with all ethnic groups.
On this solemn anniversary, we, the National Unity Government, would like to express again our
commitment to the fundamental principles enshrined in the Federal Democratic Charter, including
fundamental human rights and human dignity as well as individual rights held by each person
regardless of their ethnic origin and collective rights held by ethnic groups, and to the establishment
of a Federal Democratic Union in which the violence committed against the Rohingya people will
never be repeated..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-08-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
38.1 KB
more
Description:
"Rohingya communities in villages and displacement camps in Sittwe and Buthidaung townships in Rakhine State say they have been facing food shortages for more than three months.
Displacement camps holding hundreds of thousands of Rohingya in the west of Sittwe have received no relief aid since June, Khaung Dokka camp manager U Maung Maung Tin told The Irrawaddy.
“We have not received cash allowances for some three months. We are having real hardships. Some already have no money to buy rice and have sold what they have to survive. The situation is that bad,” he said.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have been sheltering in camps along the Sittwe coast since sectarian strife targeted the Muslim community in 2012. Some make a living fishing, farming and doing casual work while the majority rely on international aid.
“We can hardly buy food. We can’t go out due to COVID-19 [restrictions] and we have no work. There have been petty crimes, like stealing food, committed by those who are starving. WFP [World Food Program] staff told us that they are not giving aid because of orders from their managers,” said a Rohingya from the Sae Thamar Gyi displacement camp in Sittwe.
The WFP previously provided a monthly allowance of 15,000 kyats (US$9) per head for the camp, he said.
Rohingya villages in Buthidaung Township on the Bangladesh border have received no relief aid for more than three months, said a Muslim villager from Hteik Hto Pauk in the township.
“We have received no food supplies for three months. People are being forced to sell or pawn their belongings as they can’t go out to earn a living due to COVID-19. Every day, we long for supplies and call to ask when they will come,” said the villager.
There are more than 50,000 Muslims in several villages in Buthidaung Township and the WFP used to provide them with monthly supplies of rice, oil and other basics.
By THE IRRAWADDY 23 August 2021
Rohingya communities in villages and displacement camps in Sittwe and Buthidaung townships in Rakhine State say they have been facing food shortages for more than three months.
Displacement camps holding hundreds of thousands of Rohingya in the west of Sittwe have received no relief aid since June, Khaung Dokka camp manager U Maung Maung Tin told The Irrawaddy.
“We have not received cash allowances for some three months. We are having real hardships. Some already have no money to buy rice and have sold what they have to survive. The situation is that bad,” he said.
A displaced Rohingya woman.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have been sheltering in camps along the Sittwe coast since sectarian strife targeted the Muslim community in 2012. Some make a living fishing, farming and doing casual work while the majority rely on international aid.
“We can hardly buy food. We can’t go out due to COVID-19 [restrictions] and we have no work. There have been petty crimes, like stealing food, committed by those who are starving. WFP [World Food Program] staff told us that they are not giving aid because of orders from their managers,” said a Rohingya from the Sae Thamar Gyi displacement camp in Sittwe.
The WFP previously provided a monthly allowance of 15,000 kyats (US$9) per head for the camp, he said.
Rohingya villages in Buthidaung Township on the Bangladesh border have received no relief aid for more than three months, said a Muslim villager from Hteik Hto Pauk in the township.
A displaced Rohingya woman.
“We have received no food supplies for three months. People are being forced to sell or pawn their belongings as they can’t go out to earn a living due to COVID-19. Every day, we long for supplies and call to ask when they will come,” said the villager.
There are more than 50,000 Muslims in several villages in Buthidaung Township and the WFP used to provide them with monthly supplies of rice, oil and other basics.
International non-governmental organizations are in talks with Rakhine State’s military authorities to provide relief supplies to Rohingya villages and displacement camps..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-08-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
more
Description:
"This Wednesday, August 25, marks the fourth year since the Myanmar military waged genocidal attacks on the Rohingya. The attacks led to thousands of deaths, mass rape, and the forced displacement of nearly 800,000 refugees to Bangladesh. Refugees International has consistently urged the U.S. government to recognize those attacks for what they are: genocide. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken launched a formal review on a Rohingya genocide determination in early 2021 and recently stated that it was being “very actively considered.” But the United States has yet to make a genocide determination.
Refugees International Senior Advocate for Human Rights Daniel Sullivan made the following statement:
“Four years ago, I witnessed hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fleeing into Bangladesh by foot with only the clothes on their backs. They described in disturbingly consistent detail the tactics of the Myanmar military: surrounding villages, setting fires, and shooting people as they fled. The U.S. State Department, among many other organizations, has collected a mountain of evidence since.
Secretary Blinken should hesitate no longer in making a genocide determination.
The Myanmar military continues to attempt to consolidate power, expanding its history of cruel tactics against ethnic minorities to anyone who opposes its coup. Impunity has only fueled the military’s actions. Failure to recognize past abuses will only encourage the perpetrators and increase the risk of further mass atrocities. The stakes could not be higher.
A Rohingya genocide determination would underscore the United States’ commitment to accountability and create the precedent for recognizing abuses against other minority groups. It would create momentum for further global actions, including new targeted sanctions, an arms embargo, and reinforcement of accountability efforts. A Rohingya genocide determination would also signal U.S. solidarity with the Rohingya and with countries like Bangladesh, which continues to host nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees. Such solidarity may encourage increased humanitarian aid and positive policies toward refugees, even as Bangladesh implements more restrictions in the camps.
Perhaps most importantly, the horrible facts justify a legal determination that the state of Myanmar is responsible for this crime.
A genocide determination matters. It matters to the Rohingya who have suffered from the Myanmar military’s attacks. It matters to the latest targets of the military’s abuses. And it matters as a strong message to future would-be genocidaires. The time to call it genocide is now.”
Refugees International led a recent joint letter signed by 95 organizations to Secretary Blinken urging a Rohingya genocide determination. The letter builds on previous efforts with the Trump administration as part of the #CallitGenocide campaign, which included a nearly 9,000-signature petition and a legal and human rights experts letter (signed by two senior officials in the Biden administration). Refugees International’s analysis on why the attacks on the Rohingya constitute genocide can be found here..."
Source/publisher:
Refugees International
Date of publication:
2021-08-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Human Rights and international relations
Language:
more
Description:
"As the world recognises International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, BHRN calls on the international community to remember the religious minorities of Burma who are facing ongoing violence and oppression for their beliefs. Muslims, Christians, and other religious minorities have suffered in Burma for years in the country at the hands of the military and ultra- nationalists and these offenses continue to this day.
“While the world commemorates the victims of violence based on religion or belief, we must do all we can for those who are suffering still. In Burma, religious persecution against Muslims and Christians remains one of the most serious issues in the country. The illegitimate military junta has maintained its attacks on minorities since seizing power and there is legitimate fear this will only get worse as they maintain control. The best way we can honour the victims of the past is to prevent others from being victimized in the future,” said BHRN’s Executive Director Kyaw Win.
Burma has been the site of ongoing violence against religious and ethnic minorities for decades. Christians in Kachin, Karen, Karennie and Chin states have all faced serious persecution and violence by the armed forces, and Christians across the country have faced restrictions on their freedom to practice their religion. Similarly, Muslims throughout the country have faced horrific violence, including the genocide of the Rohingya, as well as oppressive restrictions on their ability to practice their religion freely.
The observation of International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief falls just a few days short of the anniversary of the Rohingya genocide. While reflecting on these two important dates BHRN calls on the world to act to prevent any further suffering in Burma. Sanctions on all business interests of the military must be imposed and a global arms embargo must be enforced against the junta. The international community must work with Burma’s legitimate leaders in the National Unity Government to create a plan that will ensure the rights of all minorities and use every tool available to return the NUG to power to implement it.
Organisation’s Background
BHRN is based in London and operates across Burma/Myanmar working for human rights, minority rights and religious freedom in the country. BHRN has played a crucial role in advocating for human rights and religious freedom with politicians and world leaders..."
Source/publisher:
Burma Human Rights Network
Date of publication:
2021-08-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rakhine (Arakanese) periodicals
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
129.42 KB
more
Description:
"1. Foreword
2020 was the deadliest year on record for refugee journeys in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. Governments and leaders across Asia Pacific have been confronted with the question of whether we have collectively learned from history. Even more critically, we must ask ourselves whether we can sit by and repeat past tragic mistakes.
These past twelve months call to mind the events of 2015, another harrowing, landmark year for refugees and migrants at sea. The world was shocked by not one but two major, almost simultaneous humanitarian emergencies: the Andaman Sea crisis followed swiftly by the desperate journeys of more than a million men, women and children by sea to Europe.
Here in the Asia Pacific, the abandonment at sea of some 5,000 men, women and children by people- smugglers, with no government willing to bring them ashore, was a moment of reckoning. We watched in horror as human beings who had fled discrimination and persecution were left adrift, starving and sick, for months. Hundreds died. Not long afterwards, on the other side of the globe, the body of the young Syrian refugee, Alan Kurdi, washed ashore in Turkey. The collective tide of emotion was not only one of grief, but shame that such tragedies could happen.
In South East Asia, governments resolved to prevent collective inaction and its fatal consequences. Through the 2016 Bali Declaration, States acknowledged the need for a reliable and concerted response to this genuinely regional challenge. In establishing the ASEAN Trust Fund, member states also committed in 2015 to provide financial support to emergency and humanitarian relief efforts during similar movements of people, so that such vessels are never denied entry for fear of carrying the responsibility for reception and solutions alone.
Today, some six years later, these mechanisms have failed to live up to their promise. We see once again increasing movements of Rohingya refugees in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. We know their voyages are becoming more deadly. The longer a ship remains at sea, the more refugees are exposed to life-threatening risks. Increasingly, a majority of those aboard are women and children.
International Laws and conventions stipulate clear obligations for States to provide a safe harbour for those in distress at sea. But these legal frameworks derive from a much older and more instinctive truth – that rescue at sea is a fundamentally humanitarian act.
We have seen this humanity reflected in myriad acts of ordinary citizens around the world and in Asia. Acehnese fisherman who, with no fanfare or agenda, quietly rescued some 470 Rohingya refugees and brought them ashore between June 2020 and June 2021. Host communities in Bangladesh who, despite limited resources, have taken in more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees and provided them with sanctuary.
This report sets out the developing trends in movements of refugees in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, and the clear need for more comprehensive solutions. Equally critically, however, it gives voice to the thousands of refugees who have risked their lives in desperation – to reunite with family, to access education, to support themselves through gainful employment.
Among them, a young Rohingya father who was reunited with his wife and daughter after their seven- month ordeal at sea. “It was the happiest day of my life,” he told UNHCR staff upon seeing his family for the first time in over six years. “We are faceless, homeless and left adrift; we need a solution. I want to say to the whole world, please find a solution for us.”
Finally, this report makes clear and actionable recommendations on how to avoid further tragedies. These include bolstering search and rescue efforts at sea, stopping the deadly practice of pushbacks, and working towards a regional mechanism for predictable and equitable disembarkation.
For as long as States bordering the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal are reluctant to rescue and land those in distress at sea, that collective failure to act will have tragic and fatal consequences. We can and must do better.
Indrika Ratwatte Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees..."
Source/publisher:
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Geneva) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-08-19
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), Human Rights and international relations, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Human rights and education, Public Health, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
(10.93 MB - Original version), (5.07 MB - Reduce version)
more
Description:
"Dear Secretary Blinken,
We, the undersigned organizations, write to urge you to publicly determine that the state of Myanmar has committed genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya people. We welcomed your launch of a process earlier this year to make such an official determination. Now, several months later, as the fourth anniversary of the brutal campaign against the Rohingya approaches - and with the ongoing risk of further atrocities - we urge you to publicly announce your determination and to refer to the crimes by their proper name: crimes against humanity and genocide.
The February 1st coup by the same military that perpetrated abuses against the Rohingya, and the ongoing abuses by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya, other ethnic groups, and the Burmese population in general, only underscore the importance of recognizing the military’s past crimes against the Rohingya for what they are. We have welcomed your attention to the coup and the sanctions measures you have imposed on those responsible. While the coup does not impact the factual and legal basis for a possible genocide determination, it does underscore the importance of the United States speaking forthrightly about gross abuses of human rights when they occur. Such action is critical in sending signals to governments and the Myanmar military, that abusers will be held accountable. Such signals also play a critical role in deterring further abuses.
In the case of the Rohingya, the evidence of genocide and crimes against humanity is clear and convincing and has been amply documented. As prominent legal and human rights experts, including former high-level State Department and White House officials (two of whom are now serving in senior positions in the Biden administration), concluded in a letter in August 2020 [attached]:
“[We] believe the information and assessments produced so far compels the United States, in its capacity as a government and not as a court, to publicly express its view that genocide has been committed and may be continuing against the Rohingya of Myanmar.”
The military coup places an increased urgency on this request as the last trappings of democratic restraints on the military are pulled away. The military’s actions are already greatly exacerbating the COVID pandemic and a growing humanitarian crisis. A U.S. government determination of genocide and crimes against humanity would subject Myanmar and its military to much needed international scrutiny at a time of increased risk of atrocities against the Rohingya and other ethnic minority groups including the Chin, Karen, Kachin, Rakhine, and Shan, as well as against the population of Myanmar as a whole, who have been targeted for opposing the coup. Such a determination would also be useful in exposing atrocities and preserving the truth ahead of any future transitional justice actions. A Rohingya genocide determination would in no way preclude further atrocity determinations regarding abuses committed by the military against other ethnic groups or others. Rather, it would demonstrate a commitment to evidence-based accountability as the struggle for a truly inclusive and representative democratic Myanmar continues.
A determination would also help to ensure continued international attention on the plight of the Rohingya, while enabling the United States to mobilize additional diplomatic and economic pressure on Myanmar to shift its behavior. This attention could offer a measure of protection for the Rohingya and others in Myanmar. It would also represent an expression of solidarity with the governments of Bangladesh and other refugee hosting countries, signaling the United States is committed both to accountability and supporting conditions for safe and voluntary return when conditions so permit.
Such a determination would be wholly consistent with findings of the Department of State, which concluded that the attacks on the Rohingya were “well-planned and coordinated” and that they were "extreme, large-scale, widespread, and seemingly geared toward both terrorizing the population and driving out the Rohingya residents." The law group engaged by the State Department to investigate atrocities against the Rohingya conducted its own legal analysis and found reasonable grounds to believe that genocide was committed. Several other independent groups have reached similar conclusions including Refugees International, the International State Crime Initiative, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Fortify Rights in collaboration with Covington & Burling LLP. The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to recognize that “atrocities committed against the Rohingya by the Burmese military and security forces since August 2017 constitute crimes against humanity and genocide.” A UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission similarly found “a pattern of conduct that infers genocidal intent on the part of the State to destroy the Rohingya, in whole or in part, as a group.” The Fact-Finding Mission has further warned, “The State of Myanmar continues to harbour genocidal intent and the Rohingya remain under serious risk of genocide.”
Now is the time to use the words that fit the crimes. U.S. leadership matters. We call upon you to demonstrate the moral leadership and courage necessary to push global action in the face of genocide.
Again, we welcome your review and urge you to finalize it quickly. Should you have any questions, please feel free to be in touch with Daniel Sullivan ([email protected])..."
Source/publisher:
Refugees International
Date of publication:
2021-08-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Genocide, Human Rights and international relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
127.37 KB
more
Description:
"Authorities in Myanmar currently have no plan to include minority Rohingya Muslims living in densely-packed camps as they begin vaccinating priority groups against COVID-19 in western Rakhine State, the junta-appointed local administrator said.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh during military operations in 2017 and those who remain complain of discrimination and mistreatment in a country that does not recognise them as citizens.
Local administrator Kyaw Lwin told Reuters from Sittwe township that the rollout had begun there with 10,000 vaccinations for priority groups such as the elderly, healthcare workers, government staff and Buddhist monks.
There were no current plans for vaccinating any of the Muslims living in camps in Sittwe, he said.
"We are only following orders," he said, declining to comment on whether the plan amounted to discrimination against the Rohingya, who say they can trace local roots back centuries.
"It all depends on how many vaccines we receive and the instructions we get. So far we haven't received any instructions regarding that," Kyaw Lin said.
Spokespeople for Myanmar's health ministry and the military authorities did not answer calls seeking comment on the vaccination plans.
Myanmar's coronavirus response almost collapsed after a Feb. 1 coup as many health workers stopped work in protest, but the army is now trying to step up vaccinations as Myanmar faces its worst spike in infections.
An average of nearly 300 people a day have died in recent days, according to official figures that medics believe are significant underestimates.
CAMPS AFFECTED
The densely packed shacks and muddy narrow alleys where Rohingya live behind barbed wire to separate them from the Buddhist majority in Sittwe have also been hit by the coronavirus, residents say.
From the Thet Kal Pyin camp, Nu Maung, 51, told Reuters authorities had collected names for possible vaccinations if shots become available for those who are over 60, but there was no sign of that happening.
He himself had suffered COVID symptoms, but he was unable to get to the hospital for tests, he said.
"Many people are sick. A lot. A few people died, mostly older people," he said.
Authorities have not given figures for infections in the camps.
At two other camps near Sittwe, Phwe Yar Gone and Thet Kal Pyin, residents said the authorities had not sent anyone to prepare the ground for potential vaccinations.
Fortify Rights group human rights specialist Zaw Win said it was shocking but unsurprising that Rohingya would not be a priority for vaccination.
"Rohingya have long faced extreme restrictions on their rights and in their everyday lives, including the right to health," he told Reuters.
"Rohingya we are speaking to in Northern Rakhine have expressed fear and distrust of the state medical system and what might happen to them if they try to go to hospital with COVID-19 symptoms."
An estimated 140,000 displaced Rohingya live in Rakhine state. The vast majority of them are confined to camps, with those in or around Sittwe housing more than 100,000 people.
Up to half a milllion more Rohingya remain in villages elsewhere in Rakhine. Rohingya residents of Maungdaw and Buthidaung, north of Sittwe, said some Rohingya villagers had been vaccinated, but that supplies had now run out.
At least 700,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine for Bangladesh in 2017 during operations by the army under the command of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who is now prime minister and head of Myanmar's junta.
U.N. investigators said the operations were carried out with "genocidal intent" but the army denied that and said they were aimed at countering terrorists.
Vaccinations started this week in the camps in Bangladesh that house more than one million Rohingya refugees..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-08-11
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Description:
"Renewed Rakhine-Rohingya Tensions?: On 29 July 2021, the Rohingya Post first reported that hundreds of Arakan Army troops
and Buddhist Rakhine had sealed off a Rohingya village in Minbya Township, since 24
July 2021. The village was running out of essential supplies and villagers were being
tortured in the local mosques.
Burma Campaign UK reported that the Arakan Army had occupied and laid siege to Let
Ma (also known as Lumbashor by the Rohingya) Village, Minbya Township, Rakhine
State, but had withdrawn in the afternoon of 2 August taking two villagers with them.
Burma Campaign UK called on the Arakan Army to immediately release the two villagers
and to commit to ending all abductions and hostage taking of civilians. Burma Campaign
UK also reported that the Arakan Army had forced villagers to sign documents and be
filmed stating that no human rights violations had taken place.
The Development Media Group, a Rakhine news agency promoted for its professionalism
and unbiased news, denied the report claiming that it is propaganda against the Arakan
Army and its growing influence on the people of Arakan/ Rakhine State.....What Happened and Why?: Letma or Lumbashor is a big village with quite a large population. The villagers are well
known for being very united and strong in protecting themselves from the excesses of
successive authorities, even during the Japanese occupation. There is no Tatmadaw
base near the village but there are some AA bases which means the area is likely
‘administered’ by the civilian arm of the AA – United League of Arakan.
According to local sources, on 21 July before Eid ul Adha, the festival commemorating
Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, AA troops demanded that every household
making kurbaan (animal sacrifices) in the village pay Kyat 15,000 and provide 3 kilograms
of meat (beef or mutton). Some villagers did not comply. Therefore on 24 July, AA troops
arrived at Letma from three directions. Rakhine villagers from surrounding villages then
surrounded the village. The family and relatives of 12 villagers who refused to pay were
detained and kept imprisoned in a mosque without food for three days. During the
occupation, AA soldiers apparently made the villagers cook and provide meals for them.
Soldiers were reportedly also stealing cattle and goats owned by the Rohingya villagers.
According to Burma Campaign UK, the AA troops were commanded by Lt. Colonel Zaw
Min Htun and Major Khaing Kyaw.
The AA denies the allegations and claims that they were trying to capture bandits, who
are engaged in smuggling cattle. It is true that cattle smugglers are active in the area but
Twan Mrat Naing, Commander-in-Chief of the AA, posted an apparent threat to
Rohingyas on his Twitter account today, stating: “We promote ethnic diversity and
religious tolerance but can’t afford to provide safe haven and breeding ground for the
terrorists and criminal gangs. Be aware that you are just about to turn your best friend
into (an) enemy by using your best tool of disinformation.”
Given the rapid expansion of the AA and its ‘administrative’ areas due to the absence of
local authorities following the 1 February coup, it is possible that as one observer noted,
“Twan Mrat Naing, sometimes may not know what is really happening on the ground.
Some of his commanders may have been misbehaving and intentionally wrongly
reporting to him. It is likely that they did something that was not right. But even if Rakhines
do not like what has been happening on the ground, nobody (especially Rakhine) dares
or wants to criticise the AA openly even on social media.”
If this is true, the AA leadership will need to redouble its efforts and make a
sincere attempt to improve. Compared to fighting, governance is difficult and good
governance is even more difficult. The culture of impunity so prevalent in the Tatmadaw
must not be allowed to grow in the AA and ULA. Twan Mrat Naing is a good leader and
he needs to face problems head-on. The goodwill of the Rakhine and Rohingya people
as well as that of the Myanmar and international communities must not be squandered..."
Source/publisher:
Euro Burma Office
Date of publication:
2021-08-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Euro Burma Office, Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
212.11 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Burma Campaign UK has now received reports that almost all the Arakan Army soldiers withdrew from Let Ma village on the afternoon of 2nd August, and that detained villagers have been released.
Villagers were apparently forced by members of the Arakan Army to sign documents and be filmed stating that no human rights violations had taken place.
We have also been informed that two villagers were abducted by the Arakan Army when they left.
We call on the Arakan Army to immediately release the two villagers and to commit to ending all abductions and hostage taking of civilians.
——————————————————————————————
Burma Campaign UK is alarmed by reports we are receiving from several sources that the Arakan Army has occupied and laid siege to Let Ma (Letma) Village, Minbya Township, Rakhine State.
Burma Campaign UK is still attempting to clarify all details, but the risk to life appears so serious we believe it is vital to draw attention to this crisis now.
According to information received by Burma Campaign UK, up to 300 Arakan Army soldiers began the occupation on 24th July. The Arakan Army had ordered villagers to provide meat, cow skins and 15,000 Kyat, which they describe as a tax. Some villagers refused as they also have to pay taxes to military controlled local government authorities.
The family and relatives of 12 villagers who refused were illegally detained and kept imprisoned in a Mosque without food. A month old baby separated from her mother is reportedly unconscious.
We are also receiving information that the occupying soldiers are stealing livestock from villagers.
Lt. Colonel Zaw Min Htun and Major Khaing Kyaw are understood to be commanding the Arakan Army soldiers.
Following some individuals posting about the siege on social media, Twan Mrat Naing, Commander-in-Chief of the Arakan Army, posted an apparent threat on his Twitter account today, stating:
“We promote ethnic diversity and religious tolerance but can’t afford to provide safe haven and breeding ground for the terrorists and criminal gangs. Be aware that you are just about to turn your best friend into enemy by using your best tool of disinformation.”
The link to the tweet is available here.
We call on the Arakan Army to immediately withdraw from the village and to ensure there is no further loss of life and that no further human rights violations are committed..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication:
2021-08-02
Date of entry/update:
2021-08-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The National Unity Government’s plan to end discrimination against the Rohingya and replace the 1982 Citizenship Law could face opposition from among its own supporters – if the parallel government gets the chance to implement it.
Description:
"In early June, the National Unity Government, a parallel administration set up by lawmakers elected last November, issued a new policy on the Rohingya promising to end human rights abuses against them and grant them citizenship.
Discrimination and violence against the largely stateless Muslim minority have been a source of controversy within Myanmar and abroad for decades, and the NUG’s position is already proving divisive.
The United Nations welcomed the change in policy, as have Rohingya leaders. However, some also question whether the NUG can even implement what it has proposed when it is still struggling to be recognised and function as Myanmar’s government.
Due to the military coup, many people who in the past have stridently opposed recognising the Rohingya have remained quiet about the policy. Although some NUG supporters welcomed the new stance, most still seem unwilling to accept extending citizenship rights. Meanwhile, locals in Rakhine State were said to be unhappy they had not been consulted and questioned the NUG’s authority for issuing the policy.....Cautious support for the new policy: Many countries, including the United States, condemned the military coup on February 1 and expressed support for anti-coup protestors and the NUG. Despite this support, NUG representatives engaging with the international community and seeking support have faced tough questions about its position on the Rohingya.
At a May 4 hearing held by the United States House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, Myanmar’s permanent representative to the United Nations, U Kyaw Moe Tun, was questioned about the lack of Rohingya representation within the NUG and its position on granting citizenship. Representative Ted Lieu of California sent a clear message: “I cannot support the NUG and will oppose efforts for the United States to support your National Unity Government until you commit to having at least a representative of the Rohingya people and you commit to stopping the genocide.”
On June 3, the NUG released its new policy, which commits to ending human rights abuses against the Rohingya and promises to grant them equal citizenship rights. In just one of the many striking departures from National League for Democracy policy, the statement used the term “Rohingya”. The NLD government had usually called them “Muslims living in Rakhine”, but after Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacks on police and military posts in August 2017 it even referred sometimes to “extremist Bengali terrorists”.
The policy says the Rohingya should have the right to citizenship and should enjoy the same rights as other citizens in accordance with human rights law and in line with the principles of federal democracy. The NUG also promised that once a new constitution is drafted it would repeal laws used to repress the Rohingya, including the 1982 Citizenship Law, which discriminates against the Rohingya and other ethnic groups deemed non-indigenous. It also said it would abolish the National Verification Card process – the current pathway to citizenship for the Rohingya, but one that they have largely rejected. “This new Citizenship Act must base citizenship on birth in Myanmar or birth anywhere as a child of Myanmar citizens,” the policy states..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-07-15
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), National Unity Government (NUG), Statelessness in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"Your Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to thank you for the opportunity to engage through this interactive dialogue with the Human Rights Council and exchange on issues and situations that are of major concern to my mandate. Previous such engagements have enabled action on highlighted situations, and it is my hope that today’s discussion will do the same.
Part of my mandate as Special Adviser is to provide early warning and to collect existing information on massive and serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including against ethnic, religious and national minorities, which if not prevented or halted, might lead to genocide. Atrocity crimes – war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide - affect entire societies through generations. Prevention is so much less costly – in all areas, and particularly in saving human lives.
The inaction to promptly respond to those warning signs allows genocide and atrocities to happen. We need stronger commitment and early action at the community, national, regional and international level and sincere approaches to prevention and early action is more urgent than ever.
We can’t repeat the same failures and their devastating impacts, such as the conflict in Syria, which has raged for over 10 years with ongoing gross violations against civilians. There must be UNITED NATIONS accountability for the gross violations and crimes committed against the people in Syria, and prompt collective actions by international community to protect the population.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Since the military takeover in Myanmar, I have issued multiple warnings of a heightened risk of atrocity crimes in this country. The widespread and increasingly systematic attacks against peaceful protesters, resulting in killings of hundreds of people, thousands arbitrarily arrested - many subjected to enforced disappearance – the targeted killings of civilians as a result of clashes between the Myanmar Armed Forces and ethnic armed organizations, may constitute crimes against humanity. The human rights, humanitarian and security situation are deteriorating quickly, with indiscriminate attacks against civilian population, threatening the lives of thousands of people in Myanmar.
I am deeply concerned about the impact that the current situation may have on the minority groups, including the Rohingya population. The office of the Special Adviser has warned, since the violence against the Rohingyas in 2017, that despite the numerous warnings of the risk of atrocity crimes, no early actions were taken to stop the killings, torture, rape, forcible displacement and horrible suffering of Rohingya people. Today, in 2021, the escalation of violence in Myanmar continues against civilians, putting the Rohingya and other minority groups at imminent risks. Root causes need to be addressed, including guaranteeing definite citizenship and other rights to the Rohingya community in Myanmar, ensuring accountability for past crimes in order to deter more atrocity crimes from being committed. Stronger support is also needed to the international mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court and the Human Rights Council- Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar in fighting impunity in the country.
In Yemen, I’m growing increasingly concerned about the protection situation of civilians as the conflict continues in the absence of a nationwide ceasefire. Indiscriminate and targeted attacks across a proliferation of frontlines have resulted in ongoing grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law that may amount to war crimes. In particular, the situation in Ma’rib has become increasingly dire for the large number of displaced people residing there as the fight for control of the area draws on. I also highlight the grave impact that the denial and obstruction of humanitarian aid and other essential goods is having on civilians countrywide, particularly as the number of cases of COVID-19 continue to rise.
On Afghanistan, I echo the recent call by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the concerns raised by SRSG Deborah Lyons to the Security Council, for the international community to do more to support Afghanistan and prevent a reversal on the important gains made on the rights of women and minority communities over the past several years. I am particularly concerned over reports of attacks and targeting of minority communities such as the Hazara. The 8 May attack on students, most of whom were girls, in a majority-Hazara area of Kabul, is one horrific example of the violence faced by this community and which is also specifically targeted at women and girls. I urge this Council to look at ways it can support ongoing efforts to protect these populations.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In Ethiopia there are continue reports of ethnic and religious tensions, hate speech, incitement to violence and allegations of human rights violations and abuses including killings, rape, displacement of populations and destruction of property. I have previously called on the Ethiopian authorities to establish national mechanisms for accountability of alleged human rights violations and other crimes committed, to address the root causes of ethnic violence, build national cohesion and reconciliation.
Central-African Republic has witnessed increasing human rights violations, targeted violence against communities and forced displacement of civilians committed by armed groups, government forces and bilaterally deployed security personnel, which could contribute to risks of atrocity crimes.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, armed groups and intercommunal violence continues to threaten populations in eastern provinces. Escalating violence, particularly in Ituri and North Kivu, results in large numbers killed and a displacement crisis. My office is working closely with the peacekeeping mission – MONUSCO – to find ways to improve protection outcomes for the long- suffering civilian population and support the Mission’s efforts aimed at addressing and countering hate speech that contributes to fuel tensions between communities.
In South Sudan, there is persistent localized violence across many areas of the country amid limited progress in implementing the terms of the peace agreement. Much of this violence, which is perpetrated along ethnic lines, is fueled by an increasing proliferation of weapons and ammunition, with armed militia. My office has been advocating for accountability for atrocity crimes committed and the implementation of transitional justice measures contained in the peace agreement, noting that the Hybrid Court for South Sudan needs to be established and swiftly operationalized in coordination with the African Union.
I welcome the 30th special session of the Human Rights Council on the grave human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem on 27 May 2021. While I am glad that the parties to the conflict managed to agree on a ceasefire at the end of May, the situation remains very volatile in Israel and the OPT and tensions can trigger renewed violence. I support the HRC resolution establishing an international commission of inquiry to investigate violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021, and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions. Only by addressing the root causes of the violence, we will prevent further serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the context of this conflict.
I welcome the resolution recently adopted by the Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka which strengthens avenues for accountability and reconciliation. The report by the High Commissioner sets out several areas of concern including continued impunity for past violations, militarization of government functions, increase in divisive and hateful rhetoric again minority communities as well as intimidation of civil society, these trends are also concerning from an atrocity prevention perspective. I encourage the Sri Lankan Government to ensure accountability for past violations, to invest in comprehensive reconciliation and to respond to hateful and divisive narratives by strengthening efforts to promote non-discrimination and inclusion for all Sri Lankans. My Office stands ready to support in these efforts.
Justice, accountability and reparation are fundamental to break those cycles of atrocity crimes, reconstruct trust in institutions, reconcile populations divided by conflict, provide victims with a real opportunity to rebuild their lives and and build real and lasting peace. I encourage this Council to ensure victims’ right to truth, justice and reparation are reflected in your actions and decisions, which will in turn assist in preventing future crimes.
Justice and accountability remain central for trust-building and reconciliation in the region of the Western Balkans. Just last week, I concluded an official visit as Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, precisely to Bosnia and Herzegovina. I expressed concern, in all my meetings, at persistent instances of genocide and war crimes denial and glorification of war criminals. I also expressed concern at increasing patterns of hate speech. Some of my interlocutors likened the ongoing inflammatory rhetoric to that which existed prior to the 1992-1995 war in the country. I strongly believe that the situation in the country requires increased high-level commitment to trust-building and reconciliation, specially by the top leadership level.
During my ten days in the country, I visited various grassroots initiatives that are contributing to build trust from the bottom up. There is much to admire and learn from the work of these local peace champions that are building mutual trust, respect and understanding at the grassroots level. They constitute a positive example to be replicated by political leaders in building a future of peace and prosperity.
In the region of the Americas, I am particular concerned on the situation of indigenous peoples.
In Brazil, Ecuador and other countries, I call on governments to protect communities at risk and ensure accountability for the crimes committed. The discrimination and hate speech against the displaced populations, such in the context of Venezuela, remains a great concern for my office. I would also like to highlight the fundamental role of transitional justice in Colombia to ensure peace can prevail, and the need for an immediate response to the violence against human rights activists and former combatants.
The Office maintains a general concern on the impact of racism and discrimination in the overall Global North, which can ignite social polarization increasing the risk of atrocity crimes when/where elements of resilience are weak with a focus on migrant/refugee populations.
Excellencies,
When atrocity crimes are committed, the repercussions are felt across borders and cause disastrous human, economic and security consequences. The sharp increase in the number of people displaced including refugees fleeing Myanmar, Central-African Republic, Ethiopia,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, among others, requires an urgent response. People displaced need to be protected by neighboring countries, according to international norms and principles, while the root causes of the problem must be addressed. This includes guaranteeing full protection and respect of human rights of the population, with attention to the vulnerable minority groups, and ensuring accountability for past crimes.
The Human Rights Council through its mechanisms have provided important contributions in deterring atrocity crimes, through the early warning of special procedures mandate holders and through the establishment of facts and promotion of accountability by the commissions of inquiry and investigative bodies. I encourage this Council to continue and strengthen such efforts on early warning and early action, to deter further atrocities to happen, with a focus on the country situations I have just highlighted. I also encourage the Council and Member States to use the Universal Periodic Review as a tool to detect and address underlying risks factors of atrocity in countries under review, as well as report on their efforts towards preventing these crimes.
I want to reiterate the call from my predecessors and the Secretary-General for the universal ratification of the Genocide Convention. Forty-two United Nations Member States have yet to accede or ratify the Convention. It is time to commit and act to eradicate the scourge of the crime of genocide from our societies.
As Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, I am committed to do my utmost to continue providing early warning and recommendations on potential situations of atrocity crimes. I will also continue to assist in building the capacity of national authorities, regional organizations and civil society, including community leaders, to prevent and respond to atrocity crimes. I ask this body and all Member States to do the same. Genocide and other atrocity crimes are preventable if we put aside narrow political interests and work together. Prevention is a collective responsibility and its upon us to make this a reality, that “never again” will any person experience the terrible suffering of this egregious crime of Genocide.....
Thank you...."
Source/publisher:
UN Human Rights Council via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-06-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
204.43 KB
more
Description:
"The Myanmar military regime has organized a new legal team led by its foreign minister, U Wunna Maung Lwin, to present the defense in the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
The regime’s order restructuring the committee, which was previously led by detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was announced in a bulletin published by the Myanmar Gazette on Thursday.
The panel has eight members. Among them are two former military officers—U Wunna Maung Lwin, who will serve as chairman; and the regime’s planning, finance and industry minister, U Win Shein—and two serving lieutenant generals: Yar Pyae and Adjutant General Myo Zaw Thein.
The other members of the panel are the junta’s minister for international cooperation, U Ko Ko Hlaing, as vice chairman; its new union attorney general, Daw Thida Oo; its deputy foreign minister, U Kyaw Myo Htut; and Daw Khin Oo Hlaing, who is said to be an international criminal law expert and also a member of a seven-member advisory board to the regime.
After a brutal military crackdown in the western state of Rakhine in 2017 that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee across the border to neighboring Bangladesh, the African nation of Gambia in November 2019 brought a case at the ICJ—which is an organ of the UN and is also known as the World Court—accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya. State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi defended the country against the charge in December 2019.
Gambia’s legal team submitted a list of the Myanmar military’s atrocities against the minority Muslim group in northern Rakhine state. These included mass rapes, the burning of families in their homes and the killing of dozens of Rohingya children. As the case could take years, Gambia asked the ICJ to order Myanmar to take “provisional measures” to prevent more violations.
Going further than the measures requested by Gambia, the ICJ ordered Myanmar on Jan. 23 to report on its compliance with the provisional measures in four months and then every six months thereafter. The Daw Aung San Suu Kyi-led civilian government submitted two reports prior to its ouster by the military in a coup on Feb. 1.
The deputy foreign minister for Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG), U Moe Zaw Oo, said during an online press conference on June 4 that the civilian government would no longer offer a defense in the case. It vowed to work with the ICJ and said it would accept the court’s decision in the case.
The NUG also said it is considering accepting the exercise of jurisdiction by a separate international court, the International Criminal Court, over the killings, torture and other crimes against civilians committed by the Myanmar junta since the coup on Feb. 1. The Myanmar military seized power from the democratically elected National League for Democracy government, detained civilian leaders and abolished the new Parliament on the day it was scheduled to convene.
Since the coup, the Myanmar regime has killed at least 877 people and arrested more than 6,200, of whom 5,088 remain in detention, according to advocacy group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
At least 25 civilians have been tortured to death after being arrested by regime forces since the military takeover..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-06-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"Wherever they are and wherever they go, Rohingya children in south and southeast Asia
face discrimination, exclusion, and denial of their most basic rights. For most of these
children, these challenges begin in Myanmar, where the Rohingya community has suffered
decades of state-sponsored persecution and violence. However, even after Rohingya
families have left Myanmar – often in search of safety or a better life for themselves and
their families – Rohingya continue to experience unequal treatment and denial of their
rights, which over time has exposed them, their children, and their children’s children to
ever-widening cycles of deprivation and marginalisation.
This report examines the situation of Rohingya
children in five countries in southeast and south
Asia: Myanmar, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand,
and Indonesia. As places of origin, transit, and/or
destination, these countries are home – either
permanently or temporarily – to hundreds of
thousands of Rohingya children. All countries are
required under international law to respect, protect,
and fulfil these children’s human rights. Yet too often
these rights are denied.
Based on in-depth desk research, key informant
interviews, and analysis of national laws, the report
examines three areas affecting Rohingya children’s
lives and enjoyment of their rights: legal status and
access to identity documentation; access to
education; and risks to security and wellbeing, in
addition to other child protection concerns. While
not intended as a comprehensive examination of the
situation, the report seeks to provide a snapshot of
the challenges – in law, policy, and practice – that
prevent Rohingya children in these countries from
living their lives in safety and with dignity, equality,
and respect for their rights.....LIFE ON THE MARGINS:Based on publicly available information and estimates
by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and
other credible sources, there are close to
700,000 Rohingya children in the five countries
covered by this report. Rohingya boys and girls live
lives on the margins of society across the region.
Most lack any formal legal status – deprived of the
right to a nationality in Myanmar and effectively
rendered stateless as a result. Most Rohingya
children inherit their de facto statelessness from their
parents and – when they grow up – go on to pass it
on to their children, perpetuating cycles of exclusion
and marginalisation. Rohingya children also often
struggle to access birth registration, which means
they often have often no official record that they
even exist. Failure to provide children with birth
certificates exposes them to a range of age-related
abuse and exploitation and can prevent them
from exercising other rights and receiving legal
recognition and protection as children.
Across the region, Rohingya children struggle
to access comprehensive, quality education. The
reasons for this are varied and wide-ranging. In
some countries, discriminatory policies prohibit
Rohingya children from accessing formal education,
while in others, policies which on paper should
facilitate access to education are not enforced or
fully implemented. In several countries where access
to formal education is restricted, United Nations
(UN) agencies, NGOs and Rohingya community
groups have stepped into provide informal education; however, quality varies and lack of
resources – including adequate funding, facilities and
teaching staff – poses significant challenges.
While primary-level education is generally more
available, lack of schools and limited financial
resources mean that secondary level students
often struggle to continue their studies. Even
when they do, education is often not accredited,
which means that children leave school with no
officially recognised qualification. Adolescent girls
experience greater difficulties going to school as
cultural attitudes deprioritise girls’ education and
they face greater threats to their physical safety
when traveling long distances to the nearest
school. As a result, girls are much more likely to
drop out of school, placing them at greater risk
of early marriage and adolescent pregnancy.
Without education, children grow up with limited
opportunities to build a better life for themselves,
and this can have devastating impacts on their
emotional and psychological well-being. It also
seriously limits their ability to earn an income,
often condemning them to a life of poverty..."
Source/publisher:
Save the Children (London)
Date of publication:
2021-06-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children, Human Rights Education, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.39 MB
more
Description:
"Stateless Rohingya Muslims face constant setbacks in returning to their Myanmar homeland.
Battered by monsoon rains, Rohingya refugees try to rebuild their makeshift dwellings in the world's largest refugee camp.
Tens of thousands were left without shelter when fire tore through their Cox’s Bazar camp in March. Eleven people were killed.
The fire was the start of another miserable chapter for the displaced Rohingya, who fled their homes in Myanmar after the military launched a crackdown against the Muslim minority.
Now, nearly a million of them live in squalid conditions in camps in neighboring Bangladesh.
The pandemic has made it much harder for international aid to get through. The Rohingya are worried they'll be forgotten.
The United Nations is appealing for more funding to help the Rohingya to return home..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of publication:
2021-06-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Human Rights and international relations, Burmese and other stateless people in Burma, Bangladesh and India, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
more
Description:
"A 12-year-old boy in ragged clothing shoulders a child, his younger sister of 3 years, as they walk mile after mile, escaping their home, because their father was shot dead on the spot and their mother was raped in front of them and killed thereafter. They are fleeing with many others who have similar experiences. Some of them lost their parents, or brothers and sisters while others saw their entire families burn alive. Two pregnant women walk for miles with inexplicable
hardship, but try their best to keep their babies inside alive.
The group finally enters Bangladesh after walking one day and seven hours, crossing lands and hills, and riding by boat. Like this group, more than half a million Rohingyas have fled persecution in Myanmar to Bangladesh since the military crackdown started on August 25, 2017. Following an alleged attack on 30 police camps and one military base by the radical Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), Myanmar security forces indiscriminately fired on Rohingya
civilians, burnt their houses down, raped girls and women, and killed hundreds of Rohingyas mercilessly. The intensity of atrocity was so extreme that the global community, including the United Nations, the European Union, human rights groups like International Organization of Migration (IOM), Amnesty International, and the Human Rights Watch, came forward to stand beside Rohingyas and condemn Myanmar for its deadly violence, severe brutality, and
crimes against humanity. The United Nations Human Rights Council termed it as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and major international media outlets like the New York Times, ABC News, and CNN have called it genocide.
Many agencies working in the borderland of Bangladesh and Myanmar to support Rohingyas, particularly wounded ones, old people, children, and pregnant women, have said that this is one of the most devastating humanitarian catastrophes in the history of refugee crises. Myanmar's de facto leader, and also
a Nobel laureate in peace, Aung San Suu Ki, has also been accused by the international community of supporting the genocide committed by the Myanmar security forces.
The reason the Rohingyas, often called “the most persecuted people in the world," have been repressed and afflicted for decades is because of their identity as an ethno-linguistic and religious minority within the state structure of Myanmar. Additionally, a growing anti-Muslim Buddhist sentiment instigated by Ashin Wirathu, a Buddhist monk named by TIME “Burmese Bin-Laden,”
has contributed to the current critical condition unsuitable for Rohingya
Muslims’ peaceful living in Rakhine state.
The citizenship of Rohingya people was taken away by the Myanmar Citizenship Law of 1982, which conferred citizenship to 135 nationals, excluding Rohingyas, even though they have been residents of Arakan, what is now called Rakhine state, since the eighth century. Following the independence of Burma, now Myanmar, in 1948, the Rohingyas were close to gaining state recognition, but
after General Ne Win took power in 1962, the military regime started and this hope was lost. During this period of time, the Rohingyas underwent a brutal experience of human rights violations, atrocities, and a severe degree of oppression in their everyday experiences. Their lives were restricted, freedom of movement was cut off, education was halted, and even marriage became subject
to military approval. Following the Citizenship Law of 1982, the Rohingyas started living in an “open jail” as they were confined to their villages. In 1978, a severe military crackdown took place in Arakan state that triggered a massive influx of 200,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh. The second influx occurred in 1991 when around 250,000 Rohingyas took refuge in Bangladesh. Following
an effective international pressure, under an agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar, almost all in 1978 and some 236,000 Rohingyas in 1992 were repatriated, but a large number of them returned to Bangladesh because the situation of the Rakhine state remained unchanged.
A big riot of Rakhine Buddhists supported by state agencies and Rohingya Muslims took place in June 2012, forcing around 120,000 Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh. In October 2016, 87,000 Rohingyas left Myanmar to escape deadly military operation. However, 2017 has witnessed even more extreme atrocities committed by the Myanmar security force, compelling around 600,000 Rohingyas to flee and take refuge in Bangladesh. Of the 600,000, 50 percent are
children, 30 percent are women (85 thousand are pregnant), 15 percent are old, and the remaining 5 percent are youth.
Many reports and Rohingyas' narratives have confirmed that thousands of Rohingya youths were killed in Rakhine state by the security forces. Now, the majority of Rohingyas live in Bangladesh (1,100,000 [combined with previously living 500,000 and newly arrived 600,000]), 800,000 live in Myanmar, and the remaining 700,000 live in other countries (India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates). Due to their miserable lives and inhuman state of livings, the Rohingyas have become an ideal example of how people lead their lives in the presence of "everyday death." Many attempts
are being made to resolve the Rohingya crisis, but nobody knows when, and how, Rohingya people will gain a peaceful life with due human dignity..."
Source/publisher:
Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs
Date of publication:
2017-10-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
73.32 KB
more
Description:
"A Muslim minority ethnic group in Buddhist dominated Myanmar, the Rohingya constitute about 4 percent of the country’s population. They inhabit the northern part of the Rakhine (formerly Arakan) State of Myanmar, one of the least developed parts of the country.
Persecuted for decades by the Burmese State, their numbers inside Myanmar have diminished steadily over the years from well in excess of a million to a few hundred thousand. Denial of citizenship, religious persecution, killings, rape, massacres and refusal to provide
even the most basic of human rights by subjecting them to forced labor, seizure of their land and property, extortion, denial of the freedom to travel to find work, and most humiliatingly
placing restrictions on marriage and the number of children they can have has led to hundreds of thousands of impoverished Rohingya fleeing to neighbouring countries, especially Bangladesh, over the course of the last seven decades. The United Nations (UN) has described them as "the most persecuted minority in the world".
At the core of the issue is the identity and religion of the Rohingya, with the Myanmar government refusing to acknowledge or use the term Rohingya, insisting on calling them ‘Bengali’ instead to highlight their alleged foreign origins. The largeststateless community in the world,the close to a million Rohingya living in appalling
conditions in makeshift refugee camps in Bangladesh are confronted with an enormous humanitarian crisis. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stated on 13 December 2017, that while there were 400,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in early
2017, by the end of that year this number had swelled to over 1,000,000. The scale of the crisis is put into clear perspective by the fact that in contrast to their swelling numbers in Bangladesh, only an estimated 180,000 Rohingya remain in their native Rakhine State in
Myanmar. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently termed the State of the Rohingya as "catastrophic" and "completely unacceptable". Their miserable condition is being sought to
be exploited by radical Islamic organizations backed by the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) such as the Lashkar-e-Taibah (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), as well as by other Sunni militant organizations, to serve their own nefarious purposes. Rohingya insurgent organizations such as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) are being set up, and the attacks against Myanmar security forces launched by these insurgents
are providing the excuse for a highly disproportionate response by the Myanmar government, thereby exacerbating the already grave plight of the Rohingya. That the ISI-backed groups are
also looking to direct the attention of radicalized elements from the Rohingya against the Sheikh Hasina-led government in Bangladesh and against India lends wider security ramifications to the issue.
US Vice President Mike Pence assessed the situation aptly when he described the Rohingya expulsion as a "historic exodus" and a "great tragedy unfolding", adding that the situation may "sow seeds of hatred and chaos that may well consume the region for generations to
come and threaten the peace of us all"..."
Source/publisher:
European Foundation for South Asian Studies (Amsterdam)
Date of publication:
2018-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
322.08 KB
more
Description:
"Indian Supreme Court rules Rohingya refugees can be returned to Myanmar
(Cox’s Bazar, April 9, 2021)—The Government of India should protect Rohingya refugees and prevent their forced return to Myanmar, Fortify Rights said today. On April 8, the Supreme Court of India denied a petition challenging the arbitrary detention of Rohingya refugees in northern India. The court further ruled that the refugees could be returned to Myanmar, where Rohingya have faced mass atrocity crimes by Myanmar security forces for years.
Since a February 1 military coup d’état, the Myanmar military and police have killed more than 600 men, women, and children.
“India has a responsibility under international law to protect refugees from being forcibly returned to a place where their lives or freedoms are threatened,” said Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights. “The same military responsible for the ongoing genocide against the Rohingya is now violently carrying out a military coup in Myanmar.”
On March 6, Indian authorities in Jammu and Kashmir detained more than 160 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, according to media reports. Two refugees petitioned the Supreme Court last month, seeking the release of the detained refugees and an order to prevent their return to Myanmar.
On April 8, the Supreme Court of India rejected the petition, paving the way for the forced return of the refugees to Myanmar. In a six-page interim order reviewed by Fortify Rights, the court said, “we cannot comment upon something happening in another country” regarding the petition’s claims that returnees would face persecution should they be returned to Myanmar. “It is not possible to grant the interim relief prayed for,” the order said.
Under customary international law, the principle of non-refoulement prohibits a state from returning any person on its territory or under its jurisdiction to a country where they face persecution. Article 3 of the U.N. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which India is a party, states: “No State Party shall expel, return (‘refoule’) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he [or she] would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights"
Date of publication:
2021-04-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Scores of Rohingya reportedly adrift at sea
Description:
"Regional governments in South and Southeast Asia should support safe disembarkation and humanitarian assistance for scores of Rohingya refugees on a boat reportedly adrift at sea.
“Too many Rohingya lives have already been lost at sea due to the callous inaction or pushbacks of regional governments,” said Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights. “Regional governments in South and Southeast Asia should urgently protect those on board to prevent any further loss of life.”
Fortify Rights spoke with Rohingya refugees in Malaysia, Bangladesh, and India, who made phone contact with passengers on the boat. A Rohingya on the boat told a family member in Bangladesh by phone that there are 90 people on board, including 65 women. The stranded Rohingya also told family members that the boat departed Bangladesh on February 11 and that the boat went adrift after the engine failed. Fortify Rights received taped phone conversations between Rohingya refugees, who claimed to be on the boat, and their relatives.
“More than five people died today,” a Rohingya man says on one recording. “Please try to send water by any means.”
In another audio recorded on February 22, a Rohingya man on the boat says: “The India Navy is helping us. They provided food to us. Please tell my mother to pray for us. We can drink water now.”
After locating the boat on February 22, the Indian Navy reportedly provided food, water, and first aid to the refugees on the boat. According to Reuters, a senior Indian Coast Guard official confirmed they tracked the boat to an area off the coast of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
On February 22, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)–the U.N. agency mandated to protect refugees–called for the “immediate rescue of a group of Rohingya refugees in distress on the Andaman Sea.” The statement said: “Many [of the Rohingya refugees] are in a highly vulnerable condition and are apparently suffering from extreme dehydration. We understand that a number of refugees have already lost their lives, and that fatalities have risen over the past 24 hours.”
“Mohammed Jubar”–not his real name–in Kutupalong refugee camp told Fortify Rights on February 22 that his brother departed on the boat more than ten days earlier. He said his brother called him from the boat on February 21, saying he and others were out of drinking water and stranded at sea.
“I heard people are dying on the boat,” Mohammed Jubar told Fortify Rights. “If they have to stay on the boat, my brother will also die.”
Mohammed Jubar told Fortify Rights that on February 21 he received a call from a dallal–a term in the Rohingya language to describe an intermediary involved in human trafficking–requesting a payment.
“[The dallal] told us to give 200,000 Bangladeshi Taka [US$2,300],” Mohammad Jubar said. “If we pay him, he said on the phone he will bring my brother home.”
The name of the trafficker is on file with Fortify Rights.
Another Rohingya refugee in Malaysia, who spoke to a relative on the boat, told Fortify Rights that his relative and others on the boat “need water and food.”
“Pushback” actions and policies violate the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the “rejection at the frontier, interception and indirect refoulement” of individuals at risk of persecution. The principle of non-refoulement is part of customary international law and binding on all states. Under this principle, all countries are obligated to protect Rohingya from being returned, including through returns that are informal, such as pushbacks out to sea.
In February 2020, at least 15 Rohingya from refugee camps in Bangladesh reportedly drowned in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean after their boat, carrying more than 100, capsized en route to Malaysia. In April 2020, Fortify Rights documented killings, beatings, and severe deprivations of food and water by crew members on boats of Rohingya refugees.
In March 2019, the National Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) and Fortify Rights published a 121-page report, “Sold Like Fish,” based on a multi-year investigation into mass graves and human trafficking of Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Malaysia from 2012 to 2015.
On February 1, the Myanmar military overthrew the democratically elected Government of Myanmar. The junta has arrested more than 600 people and used lethal force in its crackdown on peaceful anti-coup protesters. Rohingya continue to face genocide and other international crimes in Myanmar, and migration routes available to them remain deadly. There are more than a million Rohingya refugees in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, where the government continues to restrict basic freedoms of Rohingya refugees.
“We’ve seen this emergency before, and it can be avoided,” said Amy Smith. “Governments should urgently rescue and provide immediate protection to Rohingya stranded at sea.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights"
Date of publication:
2021-02-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
more
Description:
"PREFACE: The Rohingya crisis defies easy summary. Terms such as ethnic
cleansing, genocide, abuse of human rights, have all been
applied to what is undoubtedly a major humanitarian crisis of our
times. Understanding and responding to the plight of hundreds of
thousands of Rohingyas requires a multi-disciplinary approach,
with the need for engagement from a wide variety of
perspectives. Legal and medical questions, issues around
cultural contexts and the physical environment, psychological
and social factors, religious and political considerations, are all
highly relevant. There is no simple solution to a whole complex
of interconnected issues: here, as in so many other cases, the
eruption and tragic human consequences of collective violence
raise innumerable challenges. It is all the more urgent that we
can bring people together to engage in the kind of informed
debate that can assist intelligent action.
We are delighted that such a distinguished and broad range of
scholars and practitioners have contributed their insights in this
booklet of abstracts, and that some of them will be able to
contribute further in person at the conference held at UCL on 4-
5 July 2019. We welcome participation in what we hope will be a
productive set of encounters, seeking both to understand and,
through enhanced understanding, to inform more effective
responses to this still unfolding crisis.....Genocide Studie.....FORWARD : According to the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), there are over 70 million people worldwide
who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. As an
underlying principle of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) to be achieved by 2030 is to leave no one behind, it is
essential that the needs and aspirations of the forcibly displaced
are addressed. Of these about 10 million are stateless. With
limited or no legal rights, and often denied refugee legal status,
the challenges they face are severe. About one third of the
stateless forcibly displaced, belong to the Rohingya diaspora.
The Rohingya are a Muslim-majority ethnic group from today's
Rakhine State in Myanmar. After a long period of systematic
exclusion, the Rohingya were stripped of their citizenship in
1982. Since the late 1970s, nearly two million Rohingya have fled
Myanmar, with another one million living as internally displace
people (IDPs) within Rakhine State, in waves of violent forced
displacement perpetrated by the Myanmar authorities.
Violence towards the Rohingya in Myanmar from 2017, caused
the mass displacement of people to southeastern Bangladesh.
The Human Rights Council acting under UN resolution 34/22 has
cited this as a crime against humanity and called for an
investigation for genocide against the authorities in Myanmar.
The majority of the nearly one million displaced persons are
residing in overcrowded temporary makeshift shelters, of
bamboo frames and plastic sheeting, in Cox’s Bazar district.
Kutupalong is the world’s largest refugee camp. These camps
are highly susceptible to rainfall-triggered landslides, flash
flooding and cyclones and the likelihood of a public health
emergency from infectious diseases is high, which in this
vulnerable population threatens new disaster...."
Source/publisher:
University College London
Date of publication:
2019-07-05
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Human Rights and international relations, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Muslims in Burma, Statelessness in Burma/Myanmar, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.74 MB (246 pages)
more
Description:
"This article is part of a Just Security series on the Feb. 1, 2021 coup in Myanmar. The series brings together expert local and international voices on the coup and its broader context. The series is a collaboration between Just Security and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School.
This installment reflects conversations with Rohingya residents of refugee camps in Bangladesh about the coup in Myanmar. Camp residents’ views were collected by Shabbir Ahmad and other members of a team of Rohingya researchers during a recent community feedback collection project. The opinions expressed here are the views of the authors and camp residents, not those of any institution with which the authors are affiliated.
The Rohingya community of Myanmar has been isolated and persecuted for decades, leading to waves of mass displacement, isolation, and resistance. The situation of the Rohingya deteriorated further into crisis after the National League for Democracy (NLD) took power in 2015, starting with a 2016 crackdown and culminating in the massive 2017 violence that displaced over 700,000 people.
Refugees in Bangladesh believe the situation could worsen even further under the current junta, creating new risks for the Rohingya who remain in Myanmar and indefinitely delaying any prospect of a safe repatriation for those displaced. According to one camp resident: “The democratic government didn’t do well for us Rohingya. However, the current conditions will be even worse for us, and maybe for everyone in Myanmar.” According to another, “We Rohingya people don’t expect anything positive to come from the military coup. We know very well that the Myanmar Army is merciless and doesn’t feel afraid of committing injustice.” The greatest fear for many camp residents is that repatriation at a large scale will be impossible as long as Myanmar remains under the control of the Myanmar military, the Tatmadaw. In recent comments, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing affirmed these concerns, reiterating once again that the Tatmadaw does not recognize the identity of the Rohingya people or their right to return home. As long as the junta remains in place, there is little possibility of forging solutions to the outstanding political, legal, and justice questions surrounding the Rohingya crisis.
But there is another dimension of the coup in which an unanticipated, positive change has emerged: There has been a wave of social and political reconciliation between Rohingya and other Myanmar people. Though the situation remains formidable both for Rohingya in Myanmar and for those who seek to return from Bangladesh, certain social and political fault lines that have been present throughout Myanmar’s recent history seem to be shifting.
Emerging Grassroots Solidarity
After the first large-scale protests against the coup took place in Yangon on Feb. 6, Shabbir Ahmad, a young Rohingya social activist and educator who currently lives as a refugee in Bangladesh, met with several other youth. They decided to use Twitter to express support for the anti-coup protesters within Myanmar. And they have been at it ever since.
At first, Shabbir and his friends’ tweets received little attention, but they persisted. The Tatmadaw’s crackdown on protesters grew increasingly brutal, and Shabbir watched as civilians across Myanmar were afflicted by violence similar to that committed against Rohingya in 2017. Many in Myanmar began to recognize the magnitude of the Rohingya people’s suffering as they experienced indiscriminate violence firsthand themselves. Rather suddenly, according to Shabbir, “hundreds of Twitter users began apologizing in comments under my tweets. They expressed regret for not supporting Rohingya during the Tatmadaw’s genocidal campaigns, for misunderstanding our plight, and for being afraid to speak up. It was remarkable for us to finally feel their support.”
Shabbir continued posting prayers for the protesters’ safety and security, sharing condolences for those killed in the protests. Four months after the coup, he still posts solidarity messages and photos from the camps nearly every day under his Burmese name, Naing Oo. (Rohingya and others from minoritized ethnic groups in Myanmar often have two names, one in their mother tongue and one in Burmese.)
Shabbir’s most viral Tweet to date was a photo series of refugees whose bamboo and tarpaulin huts burned in the recent devastating March 22 fire that left 45,000 refugees without shelter. “Despite losing their homes and possessions the night before the photos were taken, my subjects were eager to be photographed squatting atop the ashes and rubble of their shelters while making the three-finger Hunger Games salute that has become emblematic of the Myanmar anti-coup resistance movement,” Shabbir described. “Their determination to show solidarity during their own moment of loss struck Myanmar Twitter users, dozens of whom apologized to the Rohingya under my post. Some expressed regret, shame, and grief.” Shabbir tried to reply to each comment in order to make personal connections.
In the past, Shabbir said, “We Rohingya lamented our inability to build a good relationship with other Myanmar people. We never felt any support from them, even during our most difficult times. But since we began voicing our support for the coup protestors, we have felt a big shift in the relationship between the communities.” This includes elders and others who don’t use social media but have heard from others about the online reconciliation. “Everyone in the camps is aware that this is happening, and nearly everyone has been supportive,” he added.
Still, the outpourings of solidarity were not without controversy. “Mistrust was hard to overcome. Amongst refugees, there were a few people who didn’t like what we Twitter users were doing,” Shabbir explained. “They thought Myanmar civilians were pretending to reconcile in order to get support from the international community, and that they would betray Rohingya after using them. My friends and I worked tirelessly to convince our fellow camp residents that our outreach efforts could bring long-term benefits, and subsequently, we think we have earned most people’s trust.”
According to Shabbir, “It seems that refugees here in the camps have authentically forgiven and are feeling happy to finally forge good relationships with Myanmar people of all ethnicities.” He expressed that no one could have imagined that the coup would bring about this positive development, which has shown that some solutions can and must be forged by “ordinary” people rather than by politicians and figureheads in Myanmar and the international community.
Signs of Political Progress
The emerging reconciliation was soon visible offline as well, with anti-coup protestors in Yangon showing up to rallies with handwritten signs apologizing to Rohingya. The willingness of new civilian leaders to recognize the Rohingya suggested to Shabbir and his peers that social activism could trickle up to influence discourse at the national level. Supportive comments made by members of the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and its international envoy Dr. Sasa, who has promised to pursue justice for Rohingya, were a source of encouragement to continue expressing solidarity.
However, during the initial months after the coup, there was ambiguity as to whether the positive expressions from Dr. Sasa and others would amount to a departure from the stance of the previous NLD government. The National Unity Government (NUG) was formed by the CRPH on April 16 and there were some initial doubts over whether it would condemn longstanding policies of Rohingya exclusion and persecution. But it has since taken several steps to distinguish itself from the recently ousted civilian administration. One positive sign came on May 20, when NUG Special Representative U Htin Linn Aung stated during a Wilson Center webinar that the NUG fully intends to support Rohingya repatriation. On May 30, the NUG published a press statement asserting that it would cooperate with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) process currently underway to determine whether Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya.
Then, on June 3, the NUG released a progressive policy position statement lauded by many observers and described as a “monumental shift” by the human rights group Fortify Rights. The NUG’s statement declared its intent to do away with Myanmar’s problematic and outdated 1982 citizenship law, and to ensure birthright citizenship to all people born in Myanmar as well as to the children of Myanmar citizens. This would effectively mean the acknowledgement of existing citizenship rights for the Rohingya.
The June 3 statement also clarified the NUG’s position in regard to the current International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation on crimes committed by the Tatmadaw against the Rohingya. Previously, the NUG had only mentioned that it would consider accepting the ICC’s jurisdiction to investigate the Tatmadaw’s crimes since the coup, which would not cover earlier periods of violence against the Rohingya. According to the June 3 statement, however, the NUG intends to “initiate processes to grant the ICC jurisdiction over crimes committed in Myanmar against the Rohingyas and other communities” – a commitment that offers hope for full accountability.
Despite feeling hopeful about the recent developments, Shabbir and others in the camps have been careful to temper their optimism. The junta’s grasp on power in Myanmar remains fierce, if threatened, and the NUG has no certain pathway to gaining control. Shabbir sees the addition of a Rohingya representative to the NUG cabinet as a critical next step to bridge the gap between social reconciliation and the political action needed to forge lasting solutions, but so far, no Rohingya cabinet members have been named.
According to Shabbir, “This lack of inclusion has been disheartening for many people who fear it signals that the support from Dr. Sasa and others is disingenuous. But we camp residents remain hopeful that the NUG will involve the Rohingya soon.” Whether this will happen remains questionable. Though Dr. Sasa was appointed as the NUG’s International Cooperation Minister, politicians who have publicly expressed anti-Rohingya views were also given key positions in the NUG. “Fortunately, Rohingya Twitter users have seen various Myanmar people posting on social media to encourage the NUG to involve us,” Shabbir added. “We acknowledge that it may take time to build a good relationship with the NUG, and we are encouraged by the progress made thus far.” The need for recognition of Rohingya issues by the NUG has been noted internationally as well. During a congressional hearing on May 5, several U.S. officials said that support for the NUG should be contingent upon adoption of an explicit anti-genocide policy.
Life as a Waiting Game
Meanwhile, life for those in the camps continues as a waiting game. Eager to return home, many closely follow Myanmar politics, weighing whether each development might promote or hinder the prospect of safe repatriation. The coup is the most significant of these developments since the mass exodus of Rohingya to Bangladesh four years ago. Many people arrived in Bangladesh expecting to return home “in days or weeks, not years” once the violence subsided, as one person put it. Now, they are confronted with the reality of having to endure camp conditions for years or even decades. Those initially confident in prompt repatriation now accept that the violence and instability resulting from the coup is likely to further delay the prospect of repatriation in the near term.
Camp residents nevertheless remain hopeful that international justice and accountability delivered through the ICJ and ICC will help expedite progress toward solutions, and the NUG’s statement of support for these international mechanisms is a positive step. However, the residents lack access to clear information about these legal mechanisms, their scope, and their limitations, leading to what many would argue are overly optimistic perceptions given the history of international justice moving at a glacial pace. Victims have long called for international action to resolve the refugee crisis and hold perpetrators of war crimes and other atrocities accountable, but many have been disappointed by an international response perceived as slow and inadequate: “What is the reason why we need to suffer in the camps for over three years? Why isn’t the international community doing anything for us?” Anti-coup protestors in Myanmar are now similarly frustrated by what they view as a lack of prompt and effective international support.
But many forms of justice that Rohingya need in their daily lives – citizenship, repatriation, access to education, and other services – will not be delivered by foreign politicians or faraway courts in Europe. As the coup and resulting instability cement the reality of long-term displacement, camp residents’ need for access to education, livelihoods, civil justice, and basic rights demands more urgent attention. Parents fear that their children will become part of a lost generation of unschooled youth, and illicit economic activity proliferates as refugees face financial pressures but lack the right to formal employment. While international accountability is ultimately necessary for sustainable peace, displaced Rohingya families face more urgent needs every day, as do Rohingya still living in Myanmar.
Complex Hopes and Next Steps
There are a few outliers in the camps, people who have an open mind about the Tatmadaw’s seizure of power or who think that the coup could have a positive impact on repatriation. They wonder if, free of the democratic process laden with complexities and bureaucratic red tape, the Tatmadaw might opt to relieve international pressure by addressing the crisis. One person commented, “The NLD had no real power to give us our rights. Whenever they consulted about Rohingya issues in Parliament, some members would always object, so they couldn’t do anything. But if the military could be convinced by the international community to give rights to Rohingya, they wouldn’t need to consult in Parliament and they could do as they wish.”
But these optimistic views were mostly voiced immediately after the coup. Some people’s hopes were raised when Tatmadaw commanders met with groups of Rohingya elders in Rakhine State just days after seizing power. The commanders blamed Aung San Suu Kyi for the crisis and vowed to make progress where the NLD had failed. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing stated the same in a televised address on February 8. However, no follow-up action was taken, and these early hopes have faded. Some commentators were struck by the Tatmadaw’s audacity in attempting to shift blame for military repression of Rohingya to the previous civilian government.
As the junta has made no public efforts to engage with the ICC and ICJ cases about the Rohingya crisis while continuing to enact violence throughout Myanmar, it has provided no reason for affected communities to believe that it would pursue just and sustainable solutions. And the voices of hope have diminished with time as the Tatmadaw’s indiscriminate cruelty has been on full display with the killings of civilians in the streets and renewed violence against other ethnic minorities in the border regions.
Over the past four years, contending with the daily hardships of refugee life was difficult enough, but was viewed by many in the camps as a short-term necessity. People’s mental health is now impacted as they orient to the bleak prospect of remaining displaced for the foreseeable future due to the coup. In this context, the NUG’s positions in support of Rohingya citizenship and international justice are particularly welcome signs that progress is possible and that they will someday return home. As Rohingya have continuously stated, the right to Myanmar citizenship is the most fundamental guarantor of their future protection. Without citizenship, it is hard to envision a pathway toward just, safe, and sustainable repatriation.
Ultimately, the end of military rule is necessary as a precursor to forging peace and political solutions. In the meantime, the NUG should not lose sight of the need for Rohingya inclusion, their daily challenges in Myanmar and in the camps, and their right to justice. A meaningful next step would be for the NUG to add a Rohingya representative to its cabinet. As others have noted, the NUG should also reconsider the inclusion in the cabinet of officials who hold anti-Rohingya views. Taking these steps would earn the NUG greater international legitimacy, and, more importantly, would strengthen its ability to work toward an inclusive and just society..."
Source/publisher:
Just Security (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-06-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
Language:
more
Description:
"U.N. agencies have commended the Indonesian government for offering a safe haven to dozens of Rohingya refugees who have been stranded at sea for months.
Ninety Rohingya embarked on their ill-fated journey from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh in the first week of February. Nine refugees reportedly had died by the time their harrowing four-month odyssey came to an end last Friday.
Spokesman for the U.N. Migration Agency Paul Dillon said the boat ran into trouble almost immediately after it set sail. He said the engine broke down leaving the group adrift at sea and putting the refugees’ lives at risk.
“They ran into engine trouble again near East Aceh last week. Local fishermen discovered their stranded vessel and brought them to safety. Upon disembarkation, the local government of Aceh officials immediately conducted rapid COVID-19 tests and COVID-19 vaccinations were subsequently provided to all of the arrivals," he said.
Dillon said his agency is providing food, drinking water and medical support to the 81 Rohingya who survived the journey. He said the group consists of 45 women, 17 men and 19 children.
U.N. refugee spokesman Babar Balloch said the UNHCR and humanitarian partners also are onsite to provide additional support and to ensure that refugee needs are met.
He notes this is not the first time Rohingya refugees at sea have been rescued by the communities and local authorities in Aceh, Indonesia. He praises them for providing a lifeline to the desperate people, noting not all nations are as humane.
“It is both a humanitarian imperative and an international obligation to provide vessels in distress with life-saving assistance and disembarkation to a place of safety…Vulnerable women, children and men should not be left to the mercy of the high seas,” said Balloch.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh to escape violence and persecution in Myanmar in 2017. Human rights officials say thousands of refugees flee the overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar every year in hopes of achieving a better life in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.
The International Organization for Migration says roughly 1,400 Rohingya found themselves stranded at sea during the 2020 sailing season, which ended with the arrival of the monsoons in early June. It says at least 130 Rohingya are reported to have died..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of publication:
2021-06-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Human Rights and international relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
NUG issues monumental policy shift on Rohingya rights
Description:
"The National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar should appoint an ethnic-Rohingya representative to help it implement and expand upon its new policy on the rights of Rohingya people, Fortify Rights said today.
The NUG today issued a new “Policy Position on the Rohingya in Rakhine State,” acknowledging the rights of Rohingya people and atrocity crimes they faced in Myanmar. The statement represents a monumental shift from the persecution of the Rohingya by the military junta as well as previous governments, which routinely denied the existence of the Rohingya as well as evidence of mass atrocity crimes they suffered.
“This is an important moment for the Rohingya people and Myanmar as a whole,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Fortify Rights. “This new policy establishes a foundation for the future realization of Rohingya rights in Myanmar, and for a more unified path to democracy.”
The statement commits the NUG to ensuring justice and accountability for crimes against Rohingya in Myanmar.
“We will actively seek justice and accountability for all crimes committed by the military against the Rohingyas and all other people of Myanmar throughout our history,” the statement reads. “We intend if necessary to initiate processes to grant [the] International Criminal Court jurisdiction over crimes committed within Myanmar against the Rohingyas and other communities.”
The NUG committed to “abolishing” the National Verification Card process, which is coercive and requires Rohingya to identify as foreigners. The NUG further committed to ensuring citizenship rights based “on birth in Myanmar or birth anywhere as a child of Myanmar citizens,” which would effectively restore or grant full citizenship rights of all Rohingya people and others.
The NUG also affirmed its commitment to “voluntary, safe, and dignified repatriation” of Rohingya refugees to Rakhine State.
The NUG cabinet presently does not include any Rohingya representatives. Established on April 16 by elected legislators and others ousted in the February 1 military coup d’état, the NUG is comprised of 26 ministers and four executives, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, who both remain imprisoned by the military junta.
“The NUG should appoint a Rohingya envoy to liaise with Rohingya people and to ensure Rohingya concerns are adequately represented and addressed by the cabinet,” said Matthew Smith. “This new policy is a positive first step in that direction.”
In addition to appointing a Rohingya representative, the NUG should continue to prioritize meaningful consultation with Rohingya people globally, including Rohingya women, said Fortify Rights..."
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-06-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), National Unity Government (NUG)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Description:
"Ahead of next Tuesday’s (18 May) donor conference and launch of the 2021 Joint Response Plan (JRP) for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency is calling for renewed international commitment, support and solidarity for Rohingya refugees.
The 2021 JRP brings together the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh, and 134 UN agencies and NGO partners to target almost 1.4 million people this year. The US$943 million plan seeks to meet the needs of more than 880,000 Rohingya refugees and 472,000 Bangladeshis in the surrounding host communities in Cox’s Bazar District. Most Rohingya refugees, some 740,000, fled violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in 2017.
With the refugee crisis in its fourth year, Bangladesh needs robust and sustained international support to ensure the safety and wellbeing of stateless Rohingya refugees. This must not become a forgotten crisis. Both Rohingya refugees and Bangladesh, having generously hosted them for decades, must see the world standing with them.
Adding to the complexity of this crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded vulnerabilities for refugees and host communities alike. To date, the Government of Bangladesh, with the support of the humanitarian community, has effectively managed the COVID-19 response and the spread of the disease in the Rohingya camps and surrounding areas, though the trajectory of the virus remains unpredictable. A coordinated and inclusive response has saved lives. However, it is critical to ensure the continued delivery of all humanitarian assistance and protection services.
The needs of Rohingya refugees reach beyond subsistence and physical safety. Refugees, like any other people, cannot be allowed to wait for years without access to education and options for a decent life and a meaningful future. In order to mitigate the risks of people taking dangerous onward journeys, more must be done to ensure that refugees have hope in Bangladesh, and of a future back home in Myanmar. Otherwise, they may increasingly risk such journeys by land or sea to find a solution elsewhere.
Last year, the United Nations appealed for more than US$1 billion to meet the needs of the Rohingya refugees and host communities in Cox’s Bazar District. At the end of 2020, this appeal was just 59.4% funded. We stress that the international community must not only maintain support for refugees and their hosts, but also adapt to new and emerging needs and pursue the search for durable solutions.
The search for durable solutions must remain focused on the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to their homes in Myanmar, when conditions allow them to do so. However, the ongoing crisis and political instability in Myanmar have added new layers of complexity to this challenge.
Jointly co-hosted by the Government of Bangladesh, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR, the virtual 2021 JRP launch event will highlight the most immediate needs and ongoing humanitarian response..."
Source/publisher:
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Geneva)
Date of publication:
2021-05-14
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
more
Sub-title:
NUG says it will scrap law denying citizenship, in ‘notable step forward’ for rights of Rohingya people
Description:
"Myanmar’s parallel government has urged Rohingya to join with them in fighting the military junta, promising to offer justice and citizenship to the persecuted minority.
The statement has been welcomed by rights experts as “an important and notable step forward” in the movement for full rights for the Rohingya, who have faced decades of discrimination and violence in Myanmar.
Despite roots that go back for centuries, Rohingya are widely seen as foreigners in the country and have been denied citizenship under successive governments, including that of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). Her government avoided even using the term Rohingya, instead referring to the minority ethnic group as “Muslims in Rakhine state”. In 2019 Aung San Suu Kyi appalled international observers when she traveled to The Hague to defend the military against allegations of a genocide.
In a statement on Thursday, Myanmar’s national unity government, which includes many NLD politicians, said attitudes were changing.
“The entire people of Burma is sympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya as all now experience atrocities and violence perpetrated by the military,” it said.
“The solidarity of the entire people is now at its best. We are confident that we can build a union that meets the needs of all those in the country who have a stake in its future.”
The statement said the NUG would scrap a 1982 citizenship law that denies Rohingya citizenship, and which has effectively rendered them one of the largest stateless populations in the world. Citizenship would instead be based on birth in Myanmar, or birth anywhere to a Myanmar citizen, the NUG said.
The NUG, which was set up after the military coup, also said it was committed to the safe repatriation of Rohingya who have been forced to flee military violence, and promised to “actively seek justice and accountability for all crimes committed by the military against the Rohingya”.
Nearly 900,000 Rohingya refugees remain stuck in squalid, crowded conditions in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh. This includes about 750,000 people who were forced to flee over the border in 2017, when the military launched a genocidal campaign of violence, rape, murder and torching homes.
The NUG, which is seeking international recognition, has faced questions, including from the US, over whether it will recognise the citizenship and rights of Rohingya.
Tun Khin, president of Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, said the NUG’s statement was a welcome announcement, but that further clarity was needed, including on how the NUG would commit to seeking international justice.
“The NUG must, crucially, recognise that a genocide is taking place against the Rohingya,” he said. “If we can’t face the reality of the past, there is no way that we can build a common future.”
Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said the NUG’s announcement was “an important and notable step forwards”.
“I am hopeful that today’s policy statement marks an initial, long-deserved though long-denied movement towards peace, justice and security for the Rohingya,” he said in a statement. International governments should increase pressure on the junta, Andrews added, so that such commitments could be transformed by Myanmar’s legitimate representatives into law.
At least 845 people have been killed by the military since it seized power on 1 February, while thousands remain in detention, including Myanmar’s elected politicians..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Discrimination against the Rohingya, National Unity Government (NUG), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"In honour of human rights and human dignity and also to eradicate the conflicts and root causes in the Union, the National Unity Government aims to build a prosperous and federal democratic union
where all ethnic groups belonging to the Union can live together peacefully. This objective is clearly stated in the Federal Democratic Charter.1
Sovereignty belongs to the member states and the people of the member states as proclaimed in the guiding principles for the establishment of a federal democratic union."
Everyone in the Union has full enjoyment of fundamental human rights. All ethnic groups who are native to the Union have full enjoyment of individual rights held by individual people and collective
rights held by ethnic groups. All citizens who swear allegiance to the Union regardless of their ethnic origins are considered to have full enjoyment o f citizens’ rights.3 The National Unity Government
will not tolerate any form of discrimination. The National Unity Government regards the above-mentioned policies as a basis in addressing the matters related to the Rohingyas in Rakhine State. We are confident that extensive deliberations, which consider the positions of all stakeholders in Rakhine State, their historical backgrounds, and
national and international laws, will enable all to find shared solutions in a way that respects the human rights of all persons.
At present, the elimination of the military dictatorship has become the common goal of the entire people because of the violence committed by the illegitimate military council. It is also the period of
national resistance against the military dictatorship. The solidarity of the entire people is now at its best. We are confident that we can rebuild a Union that meets the needs of all those in the country
who have a stake in its future. After consultations with the many different stakeholders in Rakhine States, including Rohingya
groups and refugee representatives from the IDP camps, the NUG here makes clear how it will seek to apply these principles for the good of all in the Rakhine State. The National Unity Government well understands the violence and gross human rights violations
inflicted upon Rohingyas by the thuggish military and the massive displacement, with hundreds of thousands fleeing their homes during the conflicts in Rakhine State over the last decades. We are
deeply saddened by this. The entire people of Burma is sympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya as all now experience atrocities and violence perpetrated by the military. Endeavouring to bring the perpetrators to account is not only for the realization of justice but also
acts as a deterrent against future atrocities. Therefore, we regard this as a priority task. Reparation and Justice will be ensured in the future Federal Democratic Union Constitution. We will actively seek justice and accountability for all crimes committed by the military against the
Rohingyas and all other people of Myanmar throughout our history. We intend if necessary to initiate processes to grant International Criminal Court jurisdiction over crimes committed within Myanmar
against the Rohingyas and other communities. We consider that the 88 recommendations set out in the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State chaired by Dr Kofi Annan must play a crucial role in addressing the affairs in Rakhine State.4 These recommendations are based on solutions for the root causes of violence. However, over the past four years, much has changed to make the situation worse in Rakhine State for all ethnic
groups there. Using these recommendations as well as other relevant recommendations as inputs, we earnestly believe that we can work together with all the people in Rakhine State to chart a new
course towards a democratic inclusive and prosperous future.
We would also like to highlight the importance of legal matters in seeing to the Rakhine question. We will consider the opinions and views of the entire people in the country, including those in
Rakhine State, in drafting a new constitution that can resolve the many problems caused by the 2008 At present, the elimination of the military dictatorship has become the common goal of the entire
people because of the violence committed by the illegitimate military council. It is also the period of national resistance against the military dictatorship. The solidarity of the entire people is now at its
best. We are confident that we can rebuild a Union that meets the needs of all those in the country who have a stake in its future.
After consultations with the many different stakeholders in Rakhine States, including Rohingya groups and refugee representatives from the IDP camps, the NUG here makes clear how it will seek
to apply these principles for the good of all in the Rakhine State.
The National Unity Government well understands the violence and gross human rights violations inflicted upon Rohingyas by the thuggish military and the massive displacement, with hundreds of
thousands fleeing their homes during the conflicts in Rakhine State over the last decades. We are deeply saddened by this. The entire people of Burma is sympathetic to the plight of the Rohingya as
all now experience atrocities and violence perpetrated by the military.
Endeavouring to bring the perpetrators to account is not only for the realization of justice but also cts as a deterrent against future atrocities. Therefore, we regard this as a priority task. Reparation
and Justice will be ensured in the future Federal Democratic Union Constitution. We will actively seek justice and accountability for all crimes committed by the military against the Rohingyas and all other people of Myanmar throughout our history. We intend if necessary to initiate processes to grant International Criminal Court jurisdiction over crimes committed within Myanmar against the Rohingyas and other communities. We consider that the 88 recommendations set out in the final report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State chaired by Dr Kofi Annan must play a crucial role in addressing the affairs in Rakhine State.4 These recommendations are based on solutions for the root causes of violence. However, over the past four years, much has changed to make the situation worse in Rakhine State for all ethnic groups there. Using these recommendations as well as other relevant recommendations as inputs, we earnestly believe that we can work together with all the people in Rakhine State to chart a new
course towards a democratic inclusive and prosperous future.
We would also like to highlight the importance of legal matters in seeing to the Rakhine question. We will consider the opinions and views of the entire people in the country, including those in
Rakhine State, in drafting a new constitution that can resolve the many problems caused by the 2008 constitution. The views and insights of all can contribute to this process. All the people in the country, including all stakeholders in Rakhine State, are invited to participate in the process of drafting the new constitution. Such dialogue is essential to creating a shared future for the country. The process of repealing, amending, and promulgating laws, including the 1982 Citizenship Law, by the new constitution when the drafting is completed will be beneficial in resolving the conflict in Rakhine State. This new Citizenship Act must base citizenship on birth in Myanmar or birth
anywhere as a child of Myanmar Citizens. We further commit to abolishing the process of issuing National Verification Cards, a process that the military has used against Rohingyas and other ethnic groups coercively and with human rights violations. The Rohingyas are entitled to citizenship by laws that will accord with fundamental
human rights norms and democratic federal principles.
The voluntary, safe, and dignified repatriation of Rohingyas who fled to neighbouring countries from Rakhine State due to Tatmadaw violence is a crucial matter. We reaffirm the agreements signed with
neighbouring countries for the repatriation process. We are ready to cooperate with all stakeholders of good will in a special programme to implement the process. We are committed to the repatriation
of Rohingyas as soon as repatriation can be accomplished voluntarily, safely, and with dignity. The National Unity Government is a government whose primary duty is to fight the illegal military
dictatorship. While we focus on this task, we are also planning for the future. We believe it will be beneficial in building the future democratic federal union to listen to all stakeholders in a spirit of
collaboration. Therefore, we invite Rohingyas to join hands with us and with others to participate in this Spring Revolution against the military dictatorship in all possible ways..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-06-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Muslims in Burma, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), National Unity Government (NUG)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
149.44 KB
more
Description:
"အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရသည် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးနှင့် လူသားတို့၏ ဂုဏ်သိက္ခာကို လေးစား လိုက်နာပြီး ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပဋိညာဉ်တွင် ရှင်းလင်းစွာဖော်ပြထားသည့်အတိုင်း ပြည်ထောင်စုအတွင်း ဖြစ်ပွားခဲ့သည့် ပဋိပက္ခများ၊ အရင်းခံပြဿနာများကို အပြီးသတ်ချုပ်ငြိမ်းစေရန် နိုင်ငံသူ ၊ နိုင်ငံသားများအားလုံး ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ အေးအတူပူအမျှ အတူတကွယှဉ်တွဲနေထိုင်နိုင်သော သာယာဝပြောသည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်ထောင်စုအား တည်ဆောက်ရန် ရည်ရွယ်သည်။
ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စု တည်ဆောက်ရေးဆိုင်ရာ လမ်းညွှန်အခြေခံမူများတွင် ဖော်ပြထားသည့် အတိုင်း “ပြည်ထောင်စုအဖွဲ့ဝင် ပြည်နယ်များနှင့် ယင်းပြည်နယ်များအတွင်းရှိ ပြည်သူတို့သည် အချုပ်အခြာအာဏာ၏ မူရင်းပိုင်ရှင်များ ဖြစ်သည်” ဟု ခံယူသည်။
ပြည်ထောင်စုတွင် နေထိုင်သူတိုင်းသည် အခြေခံလူ့အခွင့်အရေးကို အပြည့်အဝ ခံစားခွင့်ရှိရမည်။ လူမျိုးတိုင်းသည် လူပုဂ္ဂိုလ် တစ်ဦးချင်းအလိုက် ခံစားခွင့်ရှိသည့် တစ်သီးပုဂ္ဂလ အခွင့်အရေးများနှင့် လူမျိုးအလိုက် ခံစားခွင့်ရှိသည့် စုပေါင်းအခွင့်အရေးများကို အပြည့်အဝခံစားပိုင်ခွင့်ရှိရမည်။ ပြည်ထောင်စု၏ နိုင်ငံသားတိုင်းသည် နိုင်ငံသားများ၏ အခြေခံအခွင့်အရေးများကို အပြည့်အဝခံစားခွင့် ရှိရမည်ဟု ခံယူသည်။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရသည် ခွဲခြားဆက်ဆံမှုမှန်သမျှကို လက်မခံပါ။
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရသည် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်အတွင်းရှိ ရိုဟင်ဂျာပြည်သူများနှင့် ပတ်သက်သော အကြောင်းအရာများကို ကိုင်တွယ်ဖြေရှင်းရာတွင် အထက်ပါမူဝါဒများကို အခြေခံရမည်ဟု သဘောထားသည်။ ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်အတွင်းရှိ ပါဝင်ပတ်သက်သူများအားလုံး၏ သဘောထားများ၊ နောက်ခံသမိုင်းကြောင်း အဖြစ်အပျက်များ၊ ပြည်တွင်းနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာဥပဒေများကို ထည့်သွင်းစဉ်းစားလျက် လူတိုင်း၏ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကိုလေးစားသည့် အားလုံးလက်ခံနိုင်သော ဖြေရှင်းမှုများကို ဖော်ဆောင်နိုင်မည်ဟု ယုံကြည်သည်။
ယခုအချိန်တွင် အာဏာသိမ်း စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကြောင့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ် အမြစ်ပြုတ်ရေးသည် ပြည်သူအားလုံးအတွက် ဘုံဦးတည်ချက်တစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်လာပါသည်။ တစ်နိုင်ငံလုံး အတိုင်းအတာဖြင့် တွန်းလှန်နေသောအချိန်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ပြည်သူအားလုံး စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်မှု အရဆုံးအချိန် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်မှုဖြင့် ပြည်သူအားလုံးတို့၏ လိုအပ်ချက်ကို ဖြည့်ဆည်းပေးနိုင်မည့် အနာဂတ် ပြည်ထောင်စုအား ပြန်လည်တည်ဆောက်နိုင်မည်ဟု မိမိတို့ ယုံကြည်သည်။
ရိုဟင်ဂျာအဖွဲ့အစည်းများနှင့် ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်းများ၊ ပြည်တွင်းရွှေ့ပြောင်းနေထိုင်သူများစခန်းများမှ ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များအပါအဝင် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်ရှိ ပါဝင်ပတ်သက်သူများစွာနှင့် တွေ့ဆုံဆွေးနွေးမှုများ လုပ်ဆောင်အပြီး အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရသည် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်ရှိ ပြည်သူများအားလုံး၏ အကျိုးအတွက် အောက်ပါ မူဝါဒများကို ချမှတ်လုပ်ဆောင်သွားမည်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရသည် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်တွင် လွန်ခဲ့သော ဆယ်စုနှစ်များအတွင်း ဖြစ်ပျက်ခဲ့သော အဖြစ်အပျက်များအတွင်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ ရိုဟင်ဂျာပြည်သူများအပေါ် နည်းမျိုးစုံဖြင့်အကြမ်းဖက်ခြင်း၊ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးများကို ရက်ရက်စက်စက်ချိုးဖောက်မှုများကြောင့် လူဦးရေ သောင်းပေါင်းများစွာ နေရပ်မှစွန့်ခွာ ထွက်ပြေးရခြင်း၏ ဘေးဒုက္ခများကို ကောင်းစွာသိရှိပြီး အထူးစိတ်မကောင်း ဖြစ်ရပါသည်။ ယခုအခါ အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်တပ်၏ ရမ်းကား ရက်စက်မှုများ၊ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကို ကိုယ်တွေ့ မျက်မြင်တွေ့ကြုံခံစားနေရသော မြန်မာပြည်သူတရပ်လုံးကလည်း ရိုဟင်ဂျာပြည်သူတို့၏ ဆိုးဝါးလှသည့်အဖြစ်ဆိုးအပေါ် စာနာနားလည် နေကြပါသည်။
ထိုသို့ ရက်စက် ရမ်းကားမှုများ၊ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများကို ကျူးလွန်သူများအား တရားဥပဒေအရ အရေးယူ အပြစ်ပေးခံရရန် ကြိုးပမ်းခြင်းသည် တရား မျှတမှုကိုဖော်ဆောင်ခြင်းသာမက ထိုသို့သော အဖြစ်အပျက်မျိုး နောက်နောင်တွင် ထပ်မံဖြစ်ပွားခြင်းမရှိစေရန် ကြိုတင်ကာကွယ်ခြင်းလည်း ဖြစ်သောကြောင့် ဦးစားပေးအလေးထား ဆောင်ရွက်ရမည့် လုပ်ငန်းတစ်ရပ်အဖြစ် ခံယူပါသည်။ ရိုဟင်ဂျာများနှင့် အခြားပြည်သူတို့အပေါ် သမိုင်းတလျောက် ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှုများနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ အပြစ်ရှိသည့် စစ်တပ်၏ တာဝန်ခံမှုများဖော်ဆောင်နိုင်ရန်နှင့် တရားမျှတမှုနှင့် ဆုံးရူံးနစ်နာခဲ့ရမှုများအတွက် ကုစားမှုများကို လူတိုင်းရရှိခံစားနိုင်ရန်အတွက် အထူးလုပ်ဆောင် သွားမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ အနာဂတ်ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီဖွဲ့စည်းပုံ အခြေခံဥပဒေထဲတွင်လည်း ပြန်လည်ကုစားရေးနှင့် တရားမျှတမှုဖော်ဆောင်ရေးတို့ပါဝင်လာစေရန် သေချာစွာ လုပ်ဆောင်သွားမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ ရိုဟင်ဂျာများနှင့် အခြားပြည်သူတို့အပေါ် ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှုများအတွက် နိုင်ငံတကာ ရာဇဝတ်မှုတရားရုံး၏ စီရင်ပိုင်ခွင့်ကို အသုံးပြုနိုင်ရန် အစပျိုးလုပ်ဆောင်နေပါသည်။
ဒေါက်တာကိုဖီအာနန်ဦးဆောင်သော ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်ဆိုင်ရာ အကြံပေးကော်မရှင်၏ ၂၀၁၇ ခုနှစ်၊ ဩဂုတ်လတွင် ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သော အပြီးသတ်အစီရင်ခံစာပါ အကြံပြုချက် (၈၈) ချက်သည် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ် ဆိုင်ရာ ပြဿနာများကို ဖြေရှင်းရာတွင် အရေးကြီးသော အခန်းကဏ္ဍမှပါဝင်ကြောင်း မိမိတို့မှတ်ယူပါသည်။ ထိုအကြံပြုချက်များသည် အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများ၏အကြောင်းရင်းများအတွက် အဖြေရှာမှုများအပေါ် အခြေခံထားခြင်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။ သို့သော် လွန်ခဲ့သည့် လေးနှစ်တာကာလအတွင်း ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်၏အခြေအနေမှာ ယင်းဒေသရှိ ပြည်သူအားလုံးအတွက် ပိုမိုဆိုးရွားလာခဲ့သည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် အဆိုပါ အကြံပြုချက်များနှင့် အခြားသက်ဆိုင်ရာအကြံပြုချက်များကို သုံးသပ်စရာအချက်များအဖြစ် မှတ်ယူ၍ ဒီမိုကရေစီနည်းလမ်းတကျ လူတိုင်းပူးပေါင်းနိုင်သည့် သာယာဝပြောသော အနာဂတ်ကို ဦးတည်သော စာမျက်နှာသစ်ကို ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်ရှိ ပြည်သူများအားလုံးနှင့် လက်တွဲလုပ်ဆောင်ရန် လိုအပ်ကြောင်း မိမိတို့ အလေးအနက်ယုံကြည်ပါသည်။
ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်ဆိုင်ရာ ပြဿနာကို ဖြေရှင်းရာတွင် ဥပဒေကြောင်းဆိုင်ရာ ကိစ္စရပ်များ၏ အရေး ကြီးမှုကိုလည်း မီးမောင်းထိုးပြလိုပါသည်။ ၂၀၀၈ အခြေခံဥပဒေ၏ ပြဿနာပေါင်းစုံကို ဖြေရှင်းနိုင်မည့် အခြေခံဥပဒေသစ်တစ်ရပ်ကို ရေးဆွဲရာတွင် တစ်နိုင်ငံလုံး အပြင် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်အတွင်းရှိ ပြည်သူလူထု၏ အတွေးအမြင်များ၊ သဘောထားများကိုလည်း ရယူမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ အားလုံး၏ အမြင်များနှင့် မျှော်မှန်းချက်များက ဤလုပ်ငန်းစဉ်ကို အကျိုးပြုနိုင်မည်ဖြစ်သည်။ ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်ရှိ ပါဝင်ပတ်သက်သူများ အားလုံးနှင့် တိုင်းပြည်တစ်ဝှမ်းရှိ ပြည်သူလူထုအားလုံးကို အဆိုပါ အခြေခံဥပဒေရေးဆွဲရေး ဖြစ်စဉ်တွင် ပါဝင်ကြရန် ဖိတ်ခေါ်ပါသည်။ ထိုသို့ပါဝင်လုပ်ဆောင်ခြင်းသည် အားလုံးကမျှော်မှန်းသည့် နိုင်ငံ၏အနာဂတ်ဖော်ဆောင်ရေးအတွက် မရှိမဖြစ်လိုအပ်လှပါသည်။
၁၉၈၂ နိုင်ငံသားဥပဒေအပါအဝင် တခြားဖိနှိပ်သည့်ဥပဒေများကို ဖျက်သိမ်းခြင်း၊ ပြန်လည်ပြင်ဆင်ခြင်းနှင့် အသစ်ပြဌာန်းခြင်းလုပ်ငန်းစဉ်များကို ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေရေးဆွဲအပြီး လုပ်ဆောင်ခြင်းသည် အထောက်အကူ ဖြစ်မည်ဟု ယုံကြည်ပါသည်။ ယင်းဥပဒေသစ်အရ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသားဖြစ်မှုသည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင်းမွေးဖွားခြင်း သို့မဟုတ် မည်သည့်နေရာတွင်ဖြစ်စေ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသားမိဘများမှ မွေးဖွားသူဖြစ်ခြင်းကို အခြေခံစေရမည်။
ရိုဟင်ဂျာနှင့် အခြားလူမျိုးများအပေါ် လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ချိုးဖောက်မှုများဖြစ်ပွားစေသည့် နိုင်ငံသားစိစစ်ရေးကဒ်များ ပြဌာန်းလုပ်ဆောင်ခြင်းလုပ်ငန်းစဉ်များကို ပယ်ဖျက်မည်။ ရိုဟင်ဂျာပြည်သူများသည် အခြေခံ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးစံနှုန်းများ၊ ဖက်ဒရယ် ဒီမိုကရေစီ အခြေခံမူများနှင့် ကိုက်ညီသော ဥပဒေများ အတိုင်း နိုင်ငံသားဖြစ်ခွင့်ရှိပြီး နိုင်ငံသားဖြစ်သူတိုင်းလည်း အခြားနိုင်ငံသားများနှင့် တန်းတူပြည်သူရေးရာအခွင့်အရေးများကို အပြည့်အဝရရှိခံစားနိုင်ရမည်။
အကြမ်းဖက်တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများကြောင့် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်မှ အိမ်နီးချင်းနိုင်ငံများသို့ နေရပ် ပြောင်းရွှေ့ နေထိုင်နေကြရသော ရိုဟင်ဂျာပြည်သူများ မိမိတို့ နေရပ်သို့ မိမိကိုယ်ပိုင်ဆန္ဒသဘောဖြင့်၊ ဂုဏ်သိက္ခာရှိရှိ လုံခြုံစွာ ပြန်လည်အခြေချနိုင်ရေးသည် အရေးကြီးကိစ္စရပ်တစ်ခုဖြစ်သည်။ ထိုသို့ ဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်ရန် အိမ်နီးချင်း နိုင်ငံများနှင့် ချုပ်ဆိုထားသော သဘောတူညီချက်များကို ဆက်လက်သဘောတူ လက်ခံကြောင်း ထပ်လောင်း အတည်ပြုပါသည်။ ထိုသို့ ပြန်လည်အခြေချနိုင်ရေးအတွက် အထူးအစီအစဉ်တရပ်ကို သက်ဆိုင်ရာအားလုံးနှင့် ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ရန် အသင့်ရှိပါသည်။ ရိုဟင်ဂျာပြည်သူများ မိမိတို့ နေရပ်သို့ မိမိကိုယ်ပိုင်ဆန္ဒသဘောဖြင့်၊ ဂုဏ်သိက္ခာရှိရှိ လုံခြုံစွာ ပြန်လည်အခြေချနိုင်ရေးကို လုပ်ဆောင်နိုင်သည့်အခြေအနေရောက်ရှိသည်နှင့်တပြိုင်နက် လုပ်ဆောင်သွားမည်ဟု ခိုင်မာစွာ ပြောကြားလိုပါသည်။
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရသည် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်တိုက်ဖျက်ရေးအတွက် အဓိကတာဝန်ယူနေသည့် ကြားကာလအစိုးရဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ထိုတာဝန်ကို အဓိကထားထမ်းဆောင်နေသည့်အပြင် အနာဂတ်အတွက်ကိုလည်း ပြင်ဆင်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ အကျိုးသက်ဆိုင်သူအားလုံး၏ အသံများကို နားထောင်ခြင်းနှင့် ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းဖြင့် အနာဂတ် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စု တည်ဆောက်ရာတွင် အကျိုးဖြစ်စေမည်ဟု ယုံကြည်ပါသည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် ရိုဟင်ဂျာပြည်သူများ အနေဖြင့်လည်း စစ်အာဏာရှင် တိုက်ဖျက်ရေး နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးတွင် အခြားသော ပြည်သူများနှင့် အတူတကွ ဖြစ်နိုင်သောနည်းလမ်းများဖြင့် ပူးပေါင်း ပါဝင်ကြပါရန် ဖိတ်ခေါ်အပ်ပါသည်။ စစ်မှန်သော ဖက်ဒရယ် ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်ထောင်စုတွင် ညှိနှိုင်းဆွေးနွေး အဖြေရှာခြင်းဖြင့် မဖြေရှင်းနိုင်သည့် ပြဿနာရှိမည်မဟုတ်ပါ။..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-06-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Muslims in Burma, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), National Unity Government (NUG)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.26 MB
more
Description:
"Myanmar's junta leader Min Aung Hlaing cast doubt on the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled to Bangladesh in comments made in his first interview since taking power in a Feb. 1 coup.
Min Aung Hlaing was asked by Chinese-language Phoenix television whether the Muslims could be allowed back to Rakhine State - from where most fled an army crackdown in 2017 that U.N. investigators said had "genocidal intent".
"If it doesn't comply with Myanmar's laws, what else is there to consider? I don't believe there is any country in the world that would go beyond their own country's refugee laws to accept refugees," Min Aung Hlaing responded, according to a transcript of the interview.
When asked whether that meant vocal international appeals on behalf of the Rohingya were to no avail, he nodded.
Min Aung Hlaing, who headed the army in 2017 when some 700,000 Rohingya fled from advancing troops, reiterated the view of nationalists in Buddhist-majority Myanmar that the Rohingya are not one of its ethnic groups.
He said the term Rohingya had only emerged since independence from Britain in 1948.
"After we gained our independence, the census also registered the words 'Bengali', 'Pakistani' and 'Chittagong', but never the word 'Rohingya', thus we never accepted it," Min Aung Hlaing said.
Rohingya have been widely referred to as Bengali by Myanmar authorities - implying that they are outsiders from Bangladesh, although some can trace their roots in Myanmar back for centuries.
Myanmar's elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was overthrown by Min Aung Hlaing on Feb. 1, had also come under international criticism for defending the army against charges of genocide relating to the Rohingya.
She and the military rejected accusations of genocide saying the security forces were engaged in legitimate operations against Rohingya insurgents when the refugees fled to Bangladesh.
Not long after the coup, Min Aung Hlaing said efforts to repatriate refugees from Bangladesh would continue, but there has been no sign of progress while the junta has struggled to impose control in Myanmar.
Bangladesh is keen to see the Rohingya go back to Myanmar from the huge camps in which most of them are living in southeastern Bangladeshi border districts.
Bangladesh's Dhaka Tribune journal reported on Monday that efforts were underway to restart talks on the repatriation between Bangladesh and Myanmar with the help of China..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2021-05-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Muslims in Burma, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Topic:
cooperate, Coup, Gambia, Genocide case, ICC, ICJ, junta, Military, National Unity Government, NUG, proceedings, provisional measures, regime, Rohingya, World Court
Topic:
cooperate, Coup, Gambia, Genocide case, ICC, ICJ, junta, Military, National Unity Government, NUG, proceedings, provisional measures, regime, Rohingya, World Court
Description:
"Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) said that as the country’s lawful government it is taking all steps necessary to cooperate with the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on proceedings in a case in which Myanmar is accused of committing genocide against the Rohingya.
After a brutal military crackdown in the western state of Rakhine in 2017 that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee across the border to neighboring Bangladesh, Gambia in November 2019 brought a case at the ICJ—which is an organ of the UN and is also known as the World Court—accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya. State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi defended the country against the charge in December 2019.
Gambia’s legal team listed the Myanmar military’s atrocities against the minority Muslim group in northern Rakhine state, including mass rapes, the burning of families in their homes and the killing of dozens of Rohingya children. As the case could take years, the African nation asked the ICJ to order “provisional measures” to prevent more violations.
Going further than the measures requested by Gambia, the ICJ ordered Myanmar on Jan. 23 to report on its compliance with the provisional measures in four months and then every six months thereafter. The Daw Aung San Suu Kyi-led civilian government submitted two reports prior to its ouster by the military in a coup on Feb. 1.
In a statement released on Sunday, the NUG said it is very concerned about the difficult situation facing the Rohingya, especially those who fled to Bangladesh in 2016-17.
As the lawful government, ensuring continuity of representation before the court and being mindful of the timetable established by the court are among its duties, the NUG said.
It added that it is also considering accepting the exercise of jurisdiction by a separate international court, the International Criminal Court, over the killings, torture and other crimes against civilians committed by the Myanmar junta since the coup on Feb. 1. The Myanmar military seized power from the democratically elected National League for Democracy government, detained civilian leaders and abolished the new Parliament on the day it was scheduled to convene.
Since the coup, the Myanmar regime has killed at least 840 people and arrested more than 5,500, of whom 4,409 remain in detention, according to advocacy group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-05-31
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, International Criminal Court, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Muslims in Burma, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The Biden administration has a chance to reassert the United States’ moral authority on human rights.
Description:
"Justice delayed is justice denied. As lawyers who have advised nearly every international criminal and hybrid tribunal, as well as over two dozen peace negotiations around the world, we have seen firsthand the consequences of ignoring atrocities in the name of preserving peace or alliances.
The Biden administration is faced with an historic opportunity. By labeling the atrocities committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine State as genocide, the Biden administration has a chance to reassert the United States’ moral authority on human rights and to lead the international community on issues of justice and accountability. The Biden administration should speak out firmly and clearly in favor of holding Myanmar and the individual perpetrators accountable for “the crime of all crimes.”
We know firsthand the gravity of the atrocities committed against the Rohingya. In March and April 2018, our pro bono law firm, the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), at the request of the U.S. Department of State, undertook a large-scale, comprehensive human rights documentation investigation mission in the refugee camps and settlement areas in eastern Bangladesh. Our investigation mission aimed to provide an accurate accounting of the patterns of abuse and atrocity crimes perpetrated against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and to help inform the policy decisions related to accountability in Myanmar.
Our team of expert investigators interviewed over 1,000 Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazar camps, documenting shocking patterns of violence, abuse, and widespread human rights violations committed against the Rohingya. Among the abuses are widespread killings, torture, persecution, rapes, and other sexual violence.
Our team, including many former State Department lawyers, analyzed 15,000 pages of interview responses from 1,024 questionnaires. The evidence led us to conclude that there are reasonable grounds to believe that genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes have been committed against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State.
Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.
When we sent our factual findings report and data to the State Department in 2018, the Trump administration chose not to label any of these crimes as genocide or crimes against humanity, thereby excusing the United States from any legal or moral obligation to take action.
This April, the Biden administration demonstrated its willingness to acknowledge the crime of genocide in another context, as President Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to formally call the crimes committed against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire genocide. The United States should not wait 106 years (or even 106 days) to similarly label the crimes committed against Rohingya civilians. By acknowledging the Rohingya genocide, the Biden administration has the rare opportunity to reverse a previous wrong and lead with moral clarity on the international stage.
As the international community has stayed largely silent in the face of the Rohingya genocide, we have already begun to witness the consequences.
Over 18,000 Rohingya have been relocated from the camps in Cox’s Bazar to a remote island in Bangladesh in the past six months. Those still living in Cox’s Bazar have faced deadly fires and suspiciously consistent destruction of their homes and livelihoods.
In Myanmar itself, this silence and complicity has eroded the legitimacy of democratic government and empowered the military. As Aung San Suu Kyi defended the actions of Myanmar’s military against the Rohingya population before the International Court of Justice, she both undermined her moral authority to lead a democratic Myanmar and emboldened the military to bring an end to her leadership role, as seen in this year’s coup and unrest.
To secure a durable peace in Myanmar and to provide justice, redress, and a hopeful future for the victims of the Rohingya genocide, the United States must use its position of power on the international stage to lead with values of human rights and recognize the Rohingya genocide. As an international leader, America may be “back,” but it should not be back to business as usual with delayed recognition of genocide..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2021-06-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Muslims in Burma, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The case of Rohingya refugee crisis
Description:
"Background: The Rohingya are a large Muslim ethnic minority in Myanmar at the center of a humanitarian catastrophe. Myanmar government does not recognize them as citizens or one of the 135 recognized
ethnic groups in the country. Myanmar regards them as illegal immigrants, a view rooted in their heritage in East Bengal, now called Bangladesh.1 However, the history of the geographic region of Myanmar dates back to centuries and it is evident from
the chronological conflicts that the roots of the Rohingya community belong to that region and the people are subjected to mere communal conflicts. But before discussing their origin the question
naturally arises that where did this term “Rohingya” come from. As mentioned by Dr. Nasir Uddin, in his book “To host or to hurt”, ‘After summarizing the unpublished thesis of A.S. Bahar entitled “The Arakani Rohingyas in Burmese Society”, M. A. Alam codify the origin of the Rohingyas as follows: “ Rohang, the old name of the Arakan, was very familiar region for the Arab seafarers even during the pre-islamic days. Tides of people like the Arabs, Moors, Turks, Pathans, Moghuls, Central Asians, Bengalis came mostly as
traders, warriors, preachers and captives overland or through sea route. Many settled in Arakan, and mixing with the local people, developed the present stock of people known as ethnic Rohingya. (To host or to hurt, Nasir Uddin) The history of the region of Burma has seen a sequence of ethnic shifts, conquests, expansion and
collapse that is quite typical of the history of most regions of the world. In the last millennium and a half, there has tended to be a core state or core in the Irrawaddy Valley, which repeatedly expanded towards
and contracted from the periphery of the modern day territory of Myanmar; therefore by the mid 90’s around one third of the population of Myanmar was made up of ethnic groups distinct from the Burman
majority. This naturally reflected the history of interaction with China to the north, India to the west, Thailand and Laos to the east and Indonesia and Malaysia to the south. In particular, the mountainous
regions to the north and east of the central Irrawaddy regions have long been home to a diverse range of non-Burmese ethnicities. Some of these groups live exclusively in modern day Myanmar but many live
on both sides of the various borders. Up to the nineteenth century, the evidence points to a degree of ethnic and religious tolerance, even as the Burmese regions became increasingly dominated by
Buddhism, while more marginal groups retained animist beliefs or adopted Christianity or Islam. These discussions lead to the fact that it is particularly important to separate the history of Arakan from
that of Burma up to the 1800s. The core of the Burmese civilization in central Burma, along the Irrawaddy Valley is geographicaly and culturally linked to the tibetian region, southwest China and the
rest of East Asia. The south (the modern day Mon and Taninthayri provinces) is part of the wider Malaysian Peninsula and has sea links to the south, including Sri Lanka and parts of Indonesia. In fact,
this was the original vector for the early spread of Buddhism to Burma.
However, Arakan region in the west has always been separated from the rest of Burma by a high and difficult-to-traverse coastal mountain range. As such, for most of its early history, both in terms of ethnic
makeup and political economic interaction, the natural links of the region were across the Bay of Bengal to India rather than with the rest of Burma. It was also a relatively poor province, reliant on subsistence
agriculture and fishing, so it was generally of little interest to would be conquerors..."
Source/publisher:
Department of Architecture (Bangladesh)
Date of publication:
2018-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Muslims in Burma, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
7.69 MB (86 pages)
more
Description:
"1. The National Unity Government is taking every step to cooperate with the International Court of Justice, the world’s highest court, and, by that, to ensure that we comply with Myanmar’s international legal obligations. We are very concerned about the difficult situation of the Rohingya especially who fled to Bangladesh in 2016-17.
2. It is amongst the duties of the National Unity Government, as the lawful government of Myanmar, to ensure continuity of representation before the Court, and to be mindful of the timetable established by the Court.
3. The National Unity Government of Myanmar is also actively considering accepting the exercise of jurisdiction by the International Criminal Court over the killings, torture and other crimes against civilians that have occurred since the attempted coup started on 1 February 2021.
4. The National Unity Government wishes to reaffirm that we will continue to working closely with the Court and all relevant stakeholders for benefits of the country and all people in Myanmar, respecting the National Unity Government’s commitment to human rights as the only acceptable basis for our shared future..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-05-30
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
62.89 KB 372.02 KB
more
Description:
"The year was defined by the Rohingya crisis, which lingers on and remains un-resolved. The agreement signed by the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh in November 2017 had several aborted starts in 2018. Both governments came under the pressure of China to deal with the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees bilaterally, without the involvement of other (international) parties. What was evi-dently a forced repatriation plan was eventually halted in November. The outcry of human rights and refugee organisations continued unabated, as did western outrage against State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, widely seen as callous and complicit in the military’s atrocities against the Rohingya. As ties with the United States worsened, ChIn response to the series of terrorist attacks in August 2017 by the Rohingya militant organisation named the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
(ARSA), the Myanmar military carried out what it termed ‘clearance operations’, which in the space of a few weeks in September, and involving mass rape, arson and indiscriminate killings, led to one of the greatest refugee crisis in recent decades.1 Approximately 750,000 Rohingya (representing the majority of this stateless, largely Muslim ethnic group) fled Rakhine state seeking refuge on the other side of the border, in the Chittagong district of eastern Bangladesh. The fallout within Bangladesh was that this impoverished South-East Asian country was confronted with a crisis withina’s economic clout in Myanmar was consolidated, as evidenced by the expansion of economic projects and Beijing’s leverage on Nay Pyi Taw during the
crisis. At home, however, Suu Kyi remained personally popular. Despite some efforts at rebooting, her government’s performance has oscillated between ineptitude and incompetence. Some personnel reshuffles and new strategic plans notwithstanding, its shortcomings remain well-known, being plagued by personalisation, the central-
isation of decision-making and over-reliance on loyalty, to the detriment of expertise and professionalism. The NLD’s cohabitation with the military has continued, but no open rifts have thus far surfaced.....Introduction: In response to the series of terrorist attacks in August 2017 by the Rohingya militant organisation named the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), the Myanmar military carried out what it termed ‘clearance operations’, which in the space of a few weeks in September, and involving mass rape, arson and indiscriminate killings, led to one of the greatest refugee
crisis in recent decades.1 Approximately 750,000 Rohingya (representing the majority of this stateless, largely Muslim ethnic group) fled Rakhine state seeking refuge on the other side of the border, in the Chittagong district of eastern Bangladesh. The fallout within Bangladesh was that this impoverished South-East Asian country was confronted with a crisis with which it could barely cope. Within the borders of Myanmar, physical destruction across Rakhine state was observed, yet there was also widespread
support across most segments of Myanmar society for the way in which the authorities handled the crisis. The agreement signed by the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh in November 2017 went through several aborted starts in 2018. Both governments came under the pressure of China to deal with the repatriation
of the Rohingya refugees bilaterally, without the involvement of other (international) parties. The outcry of human rights and refugee organisations continued unabated, as did western outrage against State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, widely seen as callous and complicit in the military’s atrocities against the Rohingya.
Of course, dealing with the Rohingya crisis and the repatriation issue
was not the only issue faced by the Myanmar government in 2018, but the fallout from the violence continued to cast a long and dark shadow on the country’s international image. Domestically, Aung San Suu Kyi remained personally popular, despite an overall poor government performance. Being about halfway into the National League for Democracy’s (NLD) term in office, it is now a good time to assess the performance of the government in terms of its domestic, economic and foreign policy. Its performance has been rather disappointing. Always bound to disappoint in light of the unrealistically high expectations that accompanied it, the government led defacto by Aung San Suu Kyi has combined ineptitude, centralisation and personalisation of decision-making. Substantial time has been spent on drawing up strategic plans, and less on actually building up human capacity,
expertise and turning plans into practice. This article is structured as follows. First, it revisits developments in domestic policy. Stalled progress in the peace process and increasingly fraught relations with ethnic Rakhine suggest that despite some efforts at
rebooting, transition has stalled.2 The subsequent section reviews the mixed picture insofar as the economy is concerned. Lastly, it examines how the country’s international ties have been affected by the crisis, enabling China to consolidate its already strong influence..."
Source/publisher:
University of St Andrews (Scotland)
Date of publication:
2018-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
126.02 KB (14 pages)
more
Description:
"Abstract: The tension and violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine State, Myanmar has been escalating to the extent that it could be called ethnic cleansing or crime against humanity. The international
community has insufficiently done in preventing and protecting the Rohingya that are facing persecution in Myanmar. The national mechanism in Myanmar which consists of the Rakhine
Conflict Investigation Commission, the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, and the Central Committee for Rakhine State Peace, Stability, and Development Implementation intends
to address the truth and solution to the crisis. Moreover, due to the latest incident in Muangtaw where nine policemen were killed, the Myanmar government also establishes another commission
to investigate such an incident. The international community also calls for the independent truth commission to address the Rohingya issue. It is high time to examine and assess those mechanisms
to what extent they help mete justice and accountability for atrocities in Myanmar. This paper will also compare and contrast the works of human rights and investigation commissions established
by Myanmar and the others in order to suggest the best practices to enhance the mechanisms in Myanmar.....INTRODUCTION: Atrocity crimes are pervasive in many areas of the world. They are gross human rights violations which the international community must not tolerate because they are crimes of international concern which pose a threat to peace and international security. 1 However, some
atrocity crimes happen in the areas out of sight of the world. Little is known about what has been happening in those areas, such as in Myanmar. Myanmar seems to be a peaceful Buddhist country
in Southeast Asia; however, it has been facing internal armed conflicts for decades since the country has become independent from the United Kingdom in 1948. 2 The conflicts and human
rights abuses have erupted in several states namely Kachin, Shan, Kayah, Kayin, and Rakhine.3 Particularly, in Rakhine State, Myanmar attempts to hide atrocities against the Muslim minority –
the Rohingya – from the attention of the international community to avoid responsibility and accountability. This paper focuses on the problems in Rakhine State, in particular the Rohingya
issue. The Rohingya conflict is now not only a domestic concern but being treated as an international problem. Several reports from non-governmental organizations and international affairs literatures regarding the Rohingya issues have been published. Yet, only a few legal publications and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs)’ reports have addressed or touched upon the Rohingya problem regarding the possibility of the crime of genocide and crime against
humanity. 4 None of the legal literature has examined the attempts of the government and the international community to bring justice and accountability to the Rohingya. Therefore, this will be the very first preliminary study on the transitional justice mechanisms of the contemporary conflicts. This paper will explore, examine, analyze, and assess the legal implications of the mechanisms to resolve the Rohingya issue established by both Myanmar in the domestic level and the international community at the international level. This paper argues that despite the number of mechanisms, they are fragmented, overlapping, and have not served sufficient justice and
accountability for the violence against the Rohingya. Therefore, the government of Myanmar should push more effort to address this issue.
The first part of the paper will explore the background of the Rohingya story in terms of both historical and contemporary contexts to address the root causes and figure how conflict evolves through time. The second part will describe both domestic, hybrid, and international
mechanisms dealing with the atrocity against the Rohingya in Myanmar. This will explain how those mechanisms emerge and function. The third part will assess and analyze the impacts of each
mechanisms based on their progress, procedures, and outcomes. This part will also compare and contrast the work of those mechanisms to evaluate the capabilities to probe the ongoing conflict.
The fourth part will juxtapose the existing mechanisms to the other types of mechanisms used elsewhere and will also look at the way forward to bring justice and accountability to Myanmar.
This part will also provide a critical review of the paradox of justice and peace in the Myanmar context and the introduction of the anticipated mechanisms. Lastly, this paper will conclude with
some preliminary observations of the works and studies of those transitional justice mechanisms and will provide some recommendations to enhance the capacity of the mechanisms..."
Source/publisher:
Jutha Saovabha
Date of publication:
2021-04-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
320.88 KB
more
Description:
"Summary: Myanmar, also known as Burma, has suffered decades of repressive military rule, poverty due to years of isolationist economic policies, and civil war with ethnic minority groups.
The transfer to civilian leadership in 2011 spurred hopes of democratic reforms. But the military maintained control over parts of the government, and security forces began a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.
The military launched a coup in February 2021, announcing a yearlong state of emergency and arresting opposition figures, including de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and civil society activists.....Introduction: Throughout its decades of independence, Myanmar has struggled with military rule, civil war, isolation from global affairs, and widespread poverty. In 2011, the military junta dissolved, giving way to a military-installed transitional government and ushering in what many believed would be a new era for the Southeast Asian nation. The country’s longtime opposition party—the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi—won majorities in both chambers of parliament in 2015, and some foreign governments and companies that had previously shunned Myanmar began developing ties with it.
But the military, known as the Tatmadaw, has continued to dominate many aspects of domestic affairs. Military and civilian leaders, including Suu Kyi, have also faced international condemnation for ongoing human rights abuses and brutal violence against Rohingya Muslims in the western state of Rakhine, which a UN report said were committed with “genocidal intent.” In February 2021, the military staged a coup and officially retook control, dashing hopes for democratic progress..."
Source/publisher:
Council on Foreign Relations (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-02-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Ethnic Cleansing, Genocide, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, Several Groups, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"On Saturday, May 15, 2021, the Myanmar military – known as the Tatmadaw – launched a coordinated attack against the town of Mindat in Myanmar’s western Chin State. This latest crackdown was precipitated by several weeks of sustained fighting between the Tatmadaw and civilian defense forces in Mindat, formed in March in response to increasing military violence against civilians participating in the peaceful nationwide anti-coup resistance. Following an imposition of martial law on the grounds of insurgency, the siege of Mindat has been characterized by indiscriminate deployment of heavy weaponry by land and air, widespread use of forced labor and human shields, and active obstruction of delivery of basic humanitarian necessities for civilians, including food, water, and access to medical care and supplies.
In response to escalating violence against civilians in Mindat, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) issued the following statement:
“The reports out of Mindat, including the Tatmadaw’s blocking of humanitarian and medical aid and access to clean water, expose the horrifying reality of ongoing violence against tens of thousands of civilians in Mindat by the Myanmar military. These actions further echo the unconscionable actions and severe breaches of international human rights law perpetrated by the Tatmadaw since the group seized power in a February 1 coup d’état. Physicians for Human Rights is appalled by the Myanmar military’s unlawful implementation of martial law in Mindat, who has pushed civilians into Mindat’s surrounding jungles to escape detention, and the reported obstruction in access to clean drinking water.
“Through an unlawful and violent campaign to seize power, directly violating security forces’ responsibility and duty to protect, the Tatmadaw continues to violate the basic human rights of Myanmar’s people. Mindat civilians, mostly men, who have reportedly been forced into the forested areas around Mindat, have little to no access to shelter, water, food, or medical care. Their forced absence has left women and children in Mindat vulnerable to the brutal tactics of war deployed against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities by the Myanmar military, including sexual and gender-based violence, which PHR has long documented and corroborated.
“This new wave of violence in western Chin State has further contributed to the displacement of tens of thousands of people, both internally and across the Indian border. The escalating crisis critically compounds already strained access to humanitarian and medical aid experienced by internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar. Medical personnel are reportedly unable to reach IDPs in Mindat without coming under artillery fire by the Tatmadaw, and are prevented from tending to patients in critical condition due to a lack of safe medical facilities available for emergency surgeries. PHR condemns the Myanmar military’s obstruction of critical medical and humanitarian aid, and the impediment of medical personnel’s duty to administer care to civilians desperately in need.
“Physicians for Human Rights demands that the Tatmadaw immediately cease attacks against the Mindat community, reestablish access to clean water and medical supplies, and end the obstruction of medical and humanitarian aid, which is in grave violation of international human rights law. As well, PHR calls on international and regional actors, including the United Nations Security Council and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations, to urgently negotiate an agreement to establish a safe and secure demilitarized humanitarian corridor into Mindat and other similarly afflicted territories across Myanmar. PHR emphasizes the acute need for humanitarian and medical personnel to fully access affected civilians without encumbrance, as is necessary to provide health care to the sick and wounded, to deliver humanitarian aid more broadly, and to ensure the safety and security of surrounding communities.
“The latest human rights violations demonstrate that ongoing sanctions and justice and accountability efforts are not sufficiently serving as deterrents. International actors that have been leading the effort to advance targeted sanctions against perpetrators of these abuses – such as the United States and European Union – should build a broad, international coalition comprised of governments and businesses in support of a sanctions regime that will prevent the Tatmadaw and other security forces from accessing resources to continue perpetrating abuses against the Myanmar people.”
Dr. Maung,* a volunteer surgeon based in Mandalay and a PHR medical partner, said that he had spoken with medical colleagues on the ground in Mindat who have reported on the dire need for immediate medical aid. “Several patients are in need of emergency surgery. Without it, they won’t survive for long. Surgeons are traveling from Mandalay to try and assist the wounded, but first they must be able to transfer the patients to a safe zone, as there is little they can do in the jungle,” he said.
In a statement responding to the Myanmar military’s coup, PHR condemned mass arbitrary arrests and detention of civilian leaders and human rights defenders in Myanmar, and called for an immediate de-escalation of the situation, the prompt release of political prisoners, and the restoration of communications networks. Following escalating violence directly after the coup, PHR additionally condemned attacks against protestors and the reported detention of medical professionals.
PHR reprises its call to the international community to hold the Myanmar military and other responsible actors accountable for its August 2017 campaign of widespread and systematic violence against the Rohingya ethnic minority in “clearance operations” that forced more than 720,000 Rohingya into neighboring Bangladesh. The Tatmadaw has an egregious history of human rights violations against civilians, including perpetrating forced labor, sexual violence, torture, extrajudicial killings, child labor, and other abuses in Myanmar’s ethnic territories, including Chin State, which PHR documented in 2011. International efforts to quell the violence are critically important as the perpetrators of these grave violations increase their political power and continue to operate with impunity within Myanmar.
*Dr. Maung asked that we use only his surname for security reasons..."
Source/publisher:
Physicians for Human Rights (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-05-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Chin State, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration in Chin State, Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"The British government has announced shocking cuts to its aid in support of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The £27.6 million announced amounts to a 42% cut in aid to Rohingya refugees compared to what the government contributed in October 2020, and less than a quarter of what the UK contributed in 2019.
The statement, which was dated yesterday but distributed today, made no mention of the fact that it amounts to a cut of around 42% in aid to Rohingya refugees.
“Even in a climate where aid cuts were expected due to the government’s broken promise of delivering 0.7% of GNI in aid, this is still shocking”, said Karin Valtersson, Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK. “The Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are genocide survivors, they are some of the most vulnerable people on the planet, many are survivors of sexual violence, of torture, of having witnessed family members including children being killed by the Burmese army.”
The Rohingya fled genocide at the hands of the Burma military in 2017 and the refugee camp is the largest in the world. According to official figures, over 880,000 refugees reside in the camp, over half are children.
The announcement of the slashing of support for the Rohingya refugees comes at the same time as Burma Campaign UK warns of overall cut to the Burma aid budget. The aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is not part of the Burma aid budget.
Poverty levels are rising steeply in Burma as the people are bravely opposing the military coup and at the same time are suffering the consequences of military brutality and an economic crash due to both the coup and the Covid epidemic.
“Dominic Raab talks the talk but he doesn’t walk the walk on Burma. He likes to offer statements, whether it is on justice or support to protestors, but doesn’t follow it up with action. This includes aid. In their most dire moment of need, Dominic Raab has decided to abandon the poorest people of Burma”, said Karin Valtersson.
The military coup has made it even more unlikely for the Rohingya to be able to return to Burma in the short-term, as the general that led the genocide against them, Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, is now the leader of the country. Instead of cutting aid to the Rohingya camps, the international community, including the British government, should work with Bangladesh to plan for a protracted refugee crisis with decent shelter and living conditions for the Rohingya.
“Over half of the refugees in the camp are children, and they are living in squalid conditions with not enough access to sanitation or hygiene, and very little education. The camp is fenced in by barbed wire and the security in the camp is deteriorating. The living conditions of these children are unimaginable as they are and these cuts will make their situation even worse”, said Karin Valtersson.
The way in which the UK government releases aid spending figures year on year makes it hard to do precise year on year comparisons. According to Burma Campaign UK research, the aid allocation to the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh since the genocide of 2017 is as follows:
2017-2018: £129m,
2019: £117m,
2020: £47.5m,
2021: £27.6m..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication:
2021-05-19
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
more
Description:
"Today I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to the United States Government for announcing a new assistance fund of nearly $155 million to sustain critical efforts to support the brave Rohingya people who have been forced to flee Myanmar and live in refugee and IDP camps and host communities in Bangladesh, and other affected people in Myanmar. I would also like to reiterate my sincere thanks to the People and Government of the United States of America for standing in solidarity and being a strong voice for the people of Myanmar and recognizing the NUG as a voice for the People of Myanmar. The United States has been a good friend and taken large steps to help end the cruel regime in Myanmar by issuing sanctions on the junta, many of its entities, and individuals connected with it. We are thankful that in our darkest hour, when the military junta is doing everything in their power to commit acts of terrorism against
our brave people, the United States of America is standing with and generously supporting the brave people of Myanmar in many different ways. As the Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation, and Spokesperson of the NUG, I sincerely welcome the statement below from U.S. Department of State Secretary
Antony J. Blinken: “At the launch of the 2021 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis, the United States announced nearly $155 million in new assistance to sustain critical
efforts to support Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh and internally displaced Rohingya and other affected people in Burma. “Our assistance will help meet the immediate needs of the nearly 900,000 refugees in Bangladesh who fled from horrific violence in Burma’s Rakhine State, including women and children,” said U.S. Department of State Secretary Antony J. Blinken. FULL
STATEMENT: https/ /www.state.gov/the-united-states-announces-new.../" We are thankful for this aid and urge the international communities to not cut aid to the brave people of Myanmar, but instead to increase help sent in every way possible.
The junta is daily murdering innocent civilians and brave self-defenders, including women and children, and destroying and looting homes and supplies. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance for the International Communities to..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-05-19
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
71.78 KB
more
Description:
"Burma Campaign UK today releases a new briefing paper: ‘Why is Dominic Raab Refusing to Act on Accountability for Burmese Military Crimes?
The paper details how, despite British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and other government ministers repeatedly talking about holding the Burmese military to account for its crimes, in practice they are fiercely resisting pressure to take action on accountability.
Dominic Raab refuses to say he supports referring Burma to the International Criminal Court.
Dominic Raab refuses to join the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
Dominic Raab repeatedly blocked UK legislation which would have enabled the UK to make genocide determinations and take more action in response to genocide.
For decades, the Burmese military has been committing human rights violations which break international law. They have enjoyed impunity for their crimes, encouraging them to commit further crimes. Holding the military to account for their crimes is essential to ending the decades long cycle of human rights violations and military dictatorship in Burma.
The British government did not implement the recommendations of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, set up in response to the genocide of the Rohingya and violations of international law against other ethnic groups in Kachin and Shan States.
The only action the British government took against the generals in response to genocide of the Rohingya was to stop a handful of generals from taking holidays in the UK (a visa ban).
The briefing paper poses the question:
“The British government and the rest of the international community need to reflect on whether the military being allowed to get away with genocide would have been a factor in their calculations as to whether they could get away with the coup without facing serious consequences from the international community.”
“It is hypocritical of Dominic Raab to talk about accountability at the same time as refusing to act on accountability,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “There are millions of good reasons to act on accountability, millions of people suffering under the military. There is no good reason not to act."..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication:
2021-05-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, International Criminal Court, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General
Language:
more
Description:
"At the launch of the 2021 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis, the United States announced nearly $155 million in new assistance to sustain critical efforts to support Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh and internally displaced Rohingya and other affected people in Burma. Our assistance will help meet the immediate needs of the nearly 900,000 refugees in Bangladesh who fled from horrific violence in Burma’s Rakhine State, including women and children.
As the leading contributor of assistance in response to the Rohingya refugee crisis, the United States is helping to support the victims of atrocities and other vulnerable people in need. With this new funding, our total humanitarian aid for those affected by the crisis in Burma, Bangladesh, and elsewhere in the region since the brutal violence by the Burmese military in August 2017 is more than $1.3 billion, including more than $1.1 billion for programs inside Bangladesh. Given the tremendous funding needs for this crisis, we welcome the contributions that some member states have made to this humanitarian response in recent months. We encourage the broader international community to do more and urge other countries and stakeholders to contribute as well.
The United States recognizes the cost and responsibility that the response has placed on host countries, especially Bangladesh. We will continue to support all countries in the region that prioritize protection of Rohingya refugees. In the aftermath of the February 1 military coup and the brutal military crackdown in Burma, we remain committed to addressing the Rohingya crisis, recognizing that the coup leaders are many of the same individuals responsible for previous human rights abuses, including atrocities against Rohingya. We continue to work with international partners to support justice and accountability for all those responsible for the coup and human rights abuses.
We continue to advocate for the rights of Rohingya and urge their inclusion in discussions about their future. We also continue to underscore the need for unhindered humanitarian access to all people requiring assistance in Burma. We urge Bangladesh to take steps to protect refugees, particularly at this time of increased risk to them, and not create conditions that would force them to return to a country where they could face persecution and violence.
The United States is committed to promoting peace, security, and respect for the human rights and human dignity of all people in Burma, including Rohingya..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of State
Date of publication:
2021-05-18
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Humanitarian assistance, international standards and principles, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"This briefing looks at the gap between the words
and the actions of the British government when it
comes to action on accountability.
At the same time as making repeated statements
about holding the Burmese military to account for
their crimes, British Foreign Secretary Dominic
Raab is refusing to publicly support referring Burma
to the International Criminal Court, and refusing to
join the Rohingya genocide case at the International
Court of Justice.
One of many examples of a British Government
Minister talking about accountability since the
military coup on 1st February 2021 came on
Saturday 27th March.
Following the killing of more than 120 people by
the Burmese military, Dominic Raab once again
Tweeted about holding the military to account.
He stated:
“Today’s killing of unarmed civilians, including
children, marks a new low. We will work with our
international partners to end this senseless violence,
hold those responsible to account, and secure a
path back to democracy.”.....At the same time Dominic Raab: Refuses to publicly support the UN Security
Council referring Burma to the International
Criminal Court.
• Refuses to join the Rohingya genocide case
at the International Court of Justice.
• Repeatedly blocked amendments to
bills in the British Parliament to enable
determinations of genocide to be made
and more action to be taken in response to
genocide.....Impunity has encouraged further human
rights abuses: As has been well documented, the Burmese military
has been violating international law for decades.
It has done so with impunity at a domestic and
international level. This impunity encourages further
violations of international law and further horrific
human rights violations.
During the past ten years, as the British government
heralded a so-called democratic transition in Burma,
human rights violations against ethnic minorities, so
serious that they violate international law, actually
increased..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of publication:
2021-05-20
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, International Criminal Court, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
426.2 KB
more
Sub-title:
The Rohingyas were equal citizens and enjoyed all the rights and privileges as any other until 1982 when the Citizenship rules of Myanmar were re-written and this time it left out the Rohingya.
Description:
"Ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya – a reality: Many believe that the Rohingya have been a part of Myanmar well before the British colonists arrived and have been an integral part of the country ever since. They have been mostly concentrated in the Rakhine region of the country and have been subjected to horrific atrocities from time to time. There have been countless instances of genocide-like situations for the community before but nothing as brutal as what started in 2012 and has been going on ever since albeit with varying degrees of intensity. The events have plagued a stratum of people who have in many ways got used to living in conditions that are sub-human and have accepted the same as their destiny.
The world is aware of what has been going on in Myanmar for way too long now, but nothing has been done so far to save the countless lives that are being lost on a daily basis. As many as 800,000 people have been displaced from the Rakhine region into Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, and India. Their living conditions in those countries are not better than what it would have been had they been at the mercy of Lucifer himself. The ones who were unlucky enough to stay back have faced a greater ordeal. They have been restricted to a concentration camp-like holding areas and have been denied basic human rights like the right to movement, medical treatment, etc. They are not allowed to work or earn and are forced to live off the scraps that the government gives them. There are no medical facilities in these camps and the one doctor who treats patients is not even a doctor. Children are dying of malnutrition and of diseases like dysentery and diarrhea that are easily treatable.....The silence of a Noble Peace Prize winner: It’s almost ironic that the Prime Minister-equivalent of Myanmar is 1991 Noble Peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Her father was the one who broke the shackles of colonialism and made the country in the image of a nation that gave equal rights and privileges to all citizens irrespective of their religion, caste, creed, etc. The Rohingya in Myanmar were equal citizens and enjoyed all the rights and privileges as any other until 1982 when the Citizenship rules of the country were re-written and this time it left out the Rohingya. Stripped off their honour and right to exist, they started crumbling under the oppression meted out to them by the security forces and the ethnic Rakhine Buddhists with whom they were sharing the land.
When Suu Kyi was questioned about the genocides of 2016 and beyond by a journalist, she replied by saying that she would not go so far as to call it a genocide. Shockingly, even after the truckload of evidence and testimonials at her disposal, she continues to shrug off the genocides by calling the evidences exaggerated and asking the world to ask the question “why the same was happening” instead of telling her that “it was happening”. That was one of the most perplexing statements that I heard from a world leader in a long time.....The impact of Ashin Wirathu and his 969 Movement: Ashin Wirathu, a Buddhist monk who was hailed by the then president of Myanmar as the son of Buddha has been known to be someone who has peddled his hate for the Muslim community under the guise of Nationalist fervour for long. He was even featured on the TIME Magazine cover with a headline that read “THE FACE OF BUDDHIST TERROR”. He was imprisoned on charges of inciting violence and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment but with the situation in Myanmar changing and the need of a leader to mobilize mass emotion felt, he was given a pardon and released after serving 8 years of his sentence. The man immediately got back to his work and using his “969 Movement”, did exactly what the ones who had released him believed he would — spread chaos and violence with his venomous speeches.
Within a short span of time, he had incited enough hate to generate multiple riots. But he did something that was far more important for the government and military than any of the violence that he was inciting. He was able to integrate many different ethnic Buddhist groups under the common umbrella of “hatred for the Muslim Bengalis” and this let the government and the forces concentrate their full might on the Rohingya sidelining all the protest and the other disturbances from different ethnic groups that had plagued the country. The Buddhists completely forgot how brutally they were subdued by the very same government and military and were up in arms in support of what they were doing.....The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army – retribution or mistake: The Rohingya, who had faced violence for so long finally found a voice in the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), also known by its former name Harakah al-Yaqin (meaning Movement of Faith). The organization was founded by Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, a Karachi-born Rohingya who served as an imam to a 150,000 Rohingya diaspora in the city of Mecca. He received training under the Taliban in Karachi and arrived in Rakhine, Myanmar in 2012 coinciding with the beginning of the religious riots. On 9 October 2016, Ataullah led hundreds of insurgents to the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, where they attacked Burmese Border Police posts. A week later, Ataullah appeared in an online video, claiming responsibility for the attacks. Ataullah led a second large-scale attack on 25th August 2017, which resulted in the deaths of 71 people. This was just the instigation and reason that the Myanmar Army needed to get into action. Using the attacks as pretext, the army intensified its operations and cracked down with renewed vigour and never seen before horror. When asked if ARSA was a religion-based terrorist group in an interview, one of its members made it clear that they were not religious in nature and their struggle was only for the rights of the Rohingya many of whom were Hindus.....My views on the subject: It must be agreed that Myanmar’s Rohingya have been a subjugated lot for centuries. In the absence of the very basic of human rights, it is always possible for people to resort to violence especially when they are funded from outside. With the kind of torture and insults that the Myanmar Rohingya have had to face post-2012, it is no surprise that they rose up in revolt. The Myanmar government and the military used the violence on their part as a weapon against them and targeted not only terrorists but mostly innocent civilians. They threw small kids into burning houses. There was a woman who was attacked by the security forces and after being hit on the head, she fell unconscious. By the time she gained consciousness, she realized that she was raped by at least 20 different people. A 48-year-old man who, up till the attacks was a shopkeeper, never got to meet his son who was in another part of the same area and never made it back. He had a good life but he is now one of the 8 million refugees in Bangladesh lying in the mud and in a dilapidating thatched hut with 5 little children.
It is necessary to bring the terrorists to justice, but the law of my country has always taught me that it is ok to let 10 guilty escape rather than punish one innocent. That is the belief that we Indians have grown up with. To us what is happening to the Rohingya is beyond anything that we could ever learn to come to terms with. I am confident that there must have been other ways to deal with this situation. Many parts of my country are plagued by terrorism and radicalism, but we never see our military burning away villages or using helicopter-borne artillery targeting one and all. With piles of evidence and first-person accounts to contain with, it is left to be seen when the world community will do something about this ongoing genocide. It is also left to be seen if the Rohingya community will survive this extermination..."
Source/publisher:
EastMojo
Date of publication:
2021-05-18
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Arakanese/Rakhine/Rohingya history, Statelessness in Burma/Myanmar, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
more
Description:
"Michael Lidauer explores electoral politics in Myanmar: The Tatmadaw sought to legitimise the 1 February 2021 coup d’état – which occurred hours before the newly elected parliament was about to convene – with one key narrative: that the November 2020 elections were marred by widespread fraud.[1] To counter this argument, twelve civil society organisations released a statement four days prior to the coup, declaring that “the elections were credible and reflected the will of the majority voters” (PACE 2021). Indeed, no evidence has become available that any electoral materials were tampered with.....The electoral narrative of the coup: The Tatmadaw has commented on weaknesses in the electoral process at several times before and even more so after the elections, referring inter alia to the question of organising elections under the conditions of Covid-19 and inconsistencies in the voter lists. Before the electoral campaign period, in August 2020, the Commander-in-Chief discussed with a delegation of political parties their concerns (The Irrawaddy, 15 August 2020). Although accepting the election results immediately after election day, the military fielded numerous objections regarding the elections and rejected the results during the weeks leading to the coup, and recapitulate this in their public communications (cf. Tea Circle Oxford, 9 March 2021). It ultimately blamed the government, not only the election administration, for shortcomings.[2]
Apart from the President, the State Counsellor and other governmental protagonists, the Union Election Commission (UEC) Chairman and members were arrested, and a new commission was appointed few days after the coup. In fact, the UEC became the single-most targeted institution with arrests and interrogations (AAPP 2021). Since then, the newly appointed UEC – headed by the same Chairman who was in charge of organising the 2010 elections – appears to build a body of evidence to substantiate the military’s claims of electoral fraud with publications about voter list data and ballots used in the 2020 elections in the Global New Light of Myanmar which yet await a closer analysis.
Given the unfolding dramatic events of civilian resistance, heavy-handed responses by the security apparatus, and the struggle for international recognition of legitimate actors, this appears of a lesser significance in the current situation. However, the underlying electoral narrative is likely to become reinvigorated if the Tatmadaw keeps to the idea of organising fresh elections, as announced in the Five-Point Road Map of the State Administration Council, coupled with proposals to change the electoral system.
This article seeks to look beyond claims of manipulation and provide more nuanced perspectives. While the elections have generated credible results, there were nevertheless a number of challenges related to long-standing weaknesses in the legal framework, political competition, and the dynamics generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, all of which are important to keep in mind for a more comprehensive understanding of the recent electoral process.
What is more, the organisation of elections reveals frictions in civil-military relations among Burmese elites from which ethnic minorities suffer as a consequence. As Myanmar people on all fronts oppose a new military regime and as the armed forces exercise their powers against the population, this article aims to recollect some elements of the electoral process preceding the coup, in the hopes of contributing to an understanding of the ongoing situation and of gathering lessons learned for times when elections in Myanmar will again be under scrutiny.
One such element is the cancellation of elections in parts of the country, a complex phenomenon that defies a simplistic explanation. Its analysis helps to understand majority-minority as well as civil-military relations even beyond the electoral process. Ahead of election day, on 8 November 2020, the polls were locally cancelled in many more locations than during previous elections, which resulted in disenfranchisement, political controversies, and diminished trust in the election administration (cf. ANFREL 2021: 45-51). However, while disenfranchisement was much debated, it was not a new phenomenon.....Varieties of disenfranchisement: In Myanmar, electoral disenfranchisement pertains to multiple processes of exclusion from the ballot, affecting people in various ways. These systemic deficiencies have been part of the electoral legal framework since long and were no novelty to the 2020 elections. Disenfranchisement extends inter alia to voters who are not at their place of residence at the time of the elections but elsewhere in the country or abroad. This may concern the diaspora, refugees, migrant workers, students or other travellers, although procedures exist for those who are temporarily registered at a new place and could therefore “transfer” their ballot. Persons who are forcibly displaced by conflict (namely internally displaced persons, or IDPs) often cannot take part in the polls, as authorities repeatedly failed to develop and implement a consistent and effective policy for IDP inclusion at the ballot box.
Voting for IDPs was discussed ahead of the 2015 general elections, but was largely overlooked by national and international audiences, whose attention focused on the overall success of the election and its result, leading to a peaceful transition of power to a government led by the National League for Democracy. More debated – but not significantly tainting the perceptions of an overall well-run process at that time either – was the legal disenfranchisement of predominantly Muslim voters and candidates, preceding the mass exodus of the Rohingya to Bangladesh in 2017. The highly contentious Rakhine State politics during the last term ultimately altered how Myanmar was seen in the world.
The recently published article “Boundary Making in Myanmar’s Electoral Process: Where elections do not take place” discusses both the processes of “legal denial” for Muslim voters and candidates as well as the lack of voting opportunities for IDPs during the 2015 elections. It is part of the forthcoming Modern Asian Studies Special Issue on “Border Governance: Reframing Political Transition in Myanmar and Beyond”, edited by Kirsten McConnachie, Elaine Lynn-Ee Ho and Helene Kyed. The article also discusses election cancellations, which occurred ahead of the general elections in 2010 and 2015, but did not stir much controversy at that time. Despite affecting approximately half a million voters in 2015 – the phenomenon of election cancellations remained little understood. However, without further specifications in the legal framework and without transparent criteria for cancelling or postponing the polls, election cancellations occurred again in 2020, but this time attracted much more attention and controversial debates.....Election cancellations in 2020: Myanmar’s legislation allows for localised election postponements due to risk of violence or natural disasters. While such decisions are usually informed by state institutions in the security sector and by election sub-commissions, the ultimate authority to cancel and postpone elections lies with the Union Election Commission.[3] The UEC is the constitutionally mandated body tasked with organising and overseeing elections. The UEC Chairperson and commissioners are appointed by the President. In addition to a permanent secretariat in Nay Pyi Taw, there are sub-commissions at state/region, district and township level. At the local level, the UEC relies strongly on personnel from other state institutions including from the General Administration Department (GAD) which until 2019 was under the authority of the military-led Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) and only then became part of the Ministry of the Union Government under civilian administration (cf. Lidauer and Saphy 2014; Renshaw and Lidauer forthcoming).
The cancellation or postponement of elections has different electoral consequences, depending on the size of the administrative unit concerned. Vacant seats in the legislature occur only where elections are cancelled for entire constituencies; in this case the need for by-elections arises. Conversely, the partial cancellation of elections in a number of wards or village tracts smaller than a constituency does not translate into vacant seats, but leads to the disenfranchisement of voters residing in the cancelled areas, as the election goes ahead regardless of their participation (Lidauer 2021). Vacant seats in the hluttaws at national level proportionally increase the voting powers of military representatives for whom 25 per cent of the seats are reserved.[4]
On 16 October, the UEC announced the cancellation of elections in a number of electoral constituencies where “free and fair elections cannot be held” (UEC Announcement 192/2020). While this timing and reasoning followed the pattern of similar announcements in 2015, the scale of these cancellations was unprecedented. Elections were cancelled for nine entire townships in Rakhine State and six entire townships in Shan State, as well as for 581 additional wards and village tracts in these States together with Kachin, Kayin and Mon States and Bago Region.[5]
The cancellations resulted in 15 vacant seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw (nine in Rakhine, six in Shan), seven vacant seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw (all Rakhine), as well as 32 vacant seats in states’ legislatures (20 in Rakhine, 12 in Shan). Based on data shared by the UEC, over 1.2 to 1.3 million voters did not have the opportunity to vote as a result of the cancellations, and 189 candidates (who had already started campaigning) lost the possibility to contest these elections.....Reasons and reactions: These decisions caused strong reactions among political parties and civil society organisations, with allegations of gerrymandering in Rakhine State. Several parties questioned the UEC’s impartiality in this process, demanded more transparency and consultations, called for ethnic voting rights to be protected, and for the decisions to be reconsidered. On 27 October, eleven days after the first announcement, the UEC made further cancellations public, notably for Paletwa township in Chin State[6] – raising the overall number of constituencies without elections to 54 – and revoked some of the earlier decisions. These additional announcements did not help to improve perceptions and trust in the UEC, but hardened the belief that its decisions would favour the incumbent.
The UEC decisions were criticised both for cancelling elections in some areas and for going ahead in others. In various areas, elections were in fact cancelled for different reasons, although on the same legal basis. The cancellation of four entire townships that form part of the Wa Self-administered Zone, and its ally in Mongla township – resulting in five vacant Pyithu Hluttaw seats and ten vacant State Hluttaw seats respectively – had been expected, as elections did also not take place there in 2010 and 2015. These are areas without any Myanmar governmental administration to prepare for elections, where a voter list had not been established, and no candidates had been enlisted.
The cancelled areas in Kachin State, Karen State and Eastern Bago Region (including one village tract of Mon State) followed a similar logic, as all these areas pertained to ceasefire areas under full or mixed control of ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and have changed little since 2015, but did not result in vacant seats in any hluttaw. In Kachin State, elections were cancelled in fewer village tracts than in 2015 in a number of townships. In Kayin State, unlike in 2015, no elections were cancelled in Hlaingbwe township, and the cancelled areas were significantly reduced in Kyainseikgyi township. This was reportedly a result of negotiations between candidates and the election administration.
Partial election cancellations also occurred across Shan State. In southern Shan State, elections were cancelled entirely for Mongkaing township, where several EAOs are present. In northern Shan State, partial cancellations coincided with locations where armed conflict or tensions between the Tatmadaw, EAOs, and local militia had occurred. Kyaukme and Tangyan townships stood out with new cancelled areas while others were similar to 2015. In eastern Shan State, the cancelled areas corresponded to territories where the government has historically a weak presence.
In Rakhine State, where election cancellations were new, they were all argued for on the basis of security threats resulting from ongoing armed conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA). This included entire townships that ethnic parties and candidates considered safe, such as Pauktaw and Ponnagyun, and partial cancellations in other townships where only voters in small urban areas remained eligible to elect their respective representatives, such as in Taungup, Kyauk Phyu and Ann townships.[7] Widely held assumptions that all these cancellations would result in electoral outcomes favouring the NLD proved incorrect; in fact, ethnic parties secured the majority of elected seats in the Rakhine State Hluttaw despite the cancellations. The partial election cancellations in Paletwa township in Chin State, affecting a total of five electoral constituencies,[8] were also contentious.....High-level public disputes over the election cancellations: The UEC’s decision-making process regarding the election cancellations became a public point of controversy at a high political level, involving the Office of the President and the Tatmadaw, and resulting in mutual accusations of shortcomings between the military and civilian leadership. The UEC stated that several governmental offices, including MoHA and the Ministry of Defence, were consulted to arrive at the decisions where elections should be postponed. The Tatmadaw, while maintaining that the UEC is the only authority to decide whether to hold elections or not, outlined that the UEC’s announcements did not reflect the military’s advice (Eleven, 20 October 2020).
In fact, this issue – touching upon civilian administrative authority but also upon questions of security, the Tatmadaw’s domain – was not the first point in time that saw military discontent with the electoral process, but brought tensions between the civilian government and the armed forces in particular to the fore. These discussions exacerbated ethnic parties’ frustrations about the exclusion of their voters from the elections.....Impact on Rakhine State: In the immediate aftermath of the elections, the AA and Tatmadaw became unlikely allies in demanding that the cancelled polls should take place before the formation of the new hluttaws. In mid-December, this demand was supported by the President, and the Rakhine State sub-commission reportedly started preparations for by-elections (Radio Free Asia, 15 December 2020). For the AA, this was an opportunity to broaden their bargaining powers and increase their legitimacy. On the side of the Tatmadaw, the push for elections in Rakhine State was also interpreted as part of larger efforts to discredit the overall electoral process (The Irrawaddy, 20 January 2021). It was nevertheless unlikely that these elections would have taken place in the immediate aftermath, since, following amendments to the electoral laws in 2016 and 2019, by-elections for vacant seats cannot take place one year after and one year before general elections. In that context, by-elections seemed unlikely to happen before April-May 2022.
In the interim, the postponement of elections in Rakhine State appeared to generate an unexpected opportunity for a truce between the Tatmadaw and the AA (ICG, 23 December 2020); fighting ceased and tens of thousands were reportedly able to return home. In mid-January, the Rakhine State Hluttaw passed a proposal to urge the government to remove the “terrorist” designation of the AA. This designation, in place since March 2020, had been seen as an impediment to ceasefire negotiations. With an unusual expression of solidarity, Rakhine and Rohingya communities issued a joint declaration of mutual respect that emphasized not only elections for those areas where they were cancelled, but also for the Rohingya (Rohingya Today, 18 January 2021).....Reflecting on the elections in the light of the coup: All interpretations about reasons for the cancellations and effects of vacant seats as well as speculations about early by-elections and any opportunities that may have come from this situation were overtaken by the coup d’état of 1 February. Portraying itself as the guardian of electoral democracy, the military leadership deployed a narrative of electoral fraud to justify its takeover. The public controversies around the election cancellations were one element in a longer process of discrediting the 2020 elections.
The issue of election cancellations demonstrates that the 2020 electoral process has seen a number of challenges, inter alia related to decision making process in the state administration. Although the final decision about election cancellations remains with the UEC, sub-national offices charged with informing these decisions were reporting within different hierarchies in the context of electoral security, turning decisions on localised election cancellations into an area of civil-military co-ownership and co-dependency. The process of election cancellations in 2020 illustrates the problematic nature of this co-ownership, which did not occur as such in 2015 when the leadership of the election management body had more direct communication channels with the security apparatus. As a consequence, the situation resulted in opportunities to criticize the UEC, despite the fact that similar cancellations had occurred in previous elections albeit at different scale.
The cancellations shed light on loopholes in the system – here, the lack of clear procedures for postponing the polls – that were present both in the 2015 and the 2020 elections, and show how weaknesses in the regulatory framework for elections amplified the opposition between the civilian and military parts of the State ahead of the coup d’état, with detrimental effects on ethnic minorities.
Now is not the time to strive for electoral reforms, but debates about elections and suffrage rights in Myanmar are essential and will eventually return. At that time, the transparency and process of any necessary election cancellations should be enhanced with clear communications and consistent criteria for such decisions, alongside other issues pertaining to electoral integrity, accountability and inclusion that will be important to address..."
Source/publisher:
"Tea Circle" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2021-05-19
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Several Groups, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Various groups, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Description:
"In recent years, the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage, particularly in conflict contexts, has become increasingly visible. Cultural heritage destruction in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, and Syria drew the attention of the world’s media, caused public outcry, and in one instance led to a successful International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution (Burke 2016; González Zarandona, Albarrán, and Isakhan 2018; Kraak 2018; Moffett 2017; UN News 2017a). Although the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage in Myanmar (Figure 1) has been less visible internationally, throughout the 2017 Rohingya refugee crisis there were numerous documented examples of cultural heritage destruction both by the Myanmar authorities and by ordinary residents of Myanmar (a country often still known as Burma1). The 2017 Rohingya refugee crisis drew world attention to the circumstances of this persecuted Muslim ethnic minority and to the nature of the military crackdown that caused around 700,000 Rohingya to flee their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine state for Bangladesh (UN News 2017b; OCHA 2018; UNHCR 2018).
During 2017, Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, partially or totally razed almost 300 Rohingya villages and destroyed numerous mosques in northern Rakhine state (Human Rights Watch
2017a, 2017b, 2018). The Myanmar authorities have subsequently remodelled large parts of northern Rakhine state which has included constructing at least one military base on lands previously occupied
by the Rohingya (Amnesty International 2018a, 2018b; Associated Press 2018; Child 2018). Largescale destruction of heritage in Rakhine state did not begin in 2017. During 2012, conflict between Buddhists and Muslims caused the destruction of entire neighbourhoods around the Rakhine state capital, Sittwe, displacing more than 140,000 people, overwhelmingly Muslims (Human Rights Watch 2012; Republic of the Union of Myanmar 2013).
In this article we map heritage destruction in Myanmar’s Rakhine state from the time of this 2012 violence to the present, and we consider the role of religion and recent political change in violence
towards cultural heritage in contemporary Myanmar. We trace patterns of heritage destruction as legal and/or illegal iconoclasm specifying the key elements of heritage destruction in Rakhine state.
Our analysis focusses on the use of heritage destruction as a tool of genocide, and we suggest that heritage destruction in Rakhine state ought to be understood as part of the authorities’ policies of
genocide against the Rohingya. We conclude the article with a call for UNESCO to act to extend its ‘Unite4Heritage’ campaign to include the destruction of heritage by state actors. Traditionally, iconoclasm was considered the destruction of images – paintings and statues,
mainly – for religious and political motives. Particular (Western) iterations of this phenomenon have been identified during the eighth and ninth centuries in Byzantium, and the Reformation in
Europe, where religious images were considered idols and thus erased to avoid idolatry. Nonetheless, the concept of iconoclasm has gradually evolved to start considering other types of destruction, not
only images, but also ideas, buildings, cultural property and heritage; the targets of iconoclasts because they reflect a part of a group’s identity (see Latour 2002 for an extended discussion).
In this paper, we not only consider Rohingya heritage as those culturally significant sites for them, such as mosques and neighbourhoods, but also the traditions practised by the Rohingya for
centuries in those sites. The paper does not point to a particular type of ‘heritage’, but rather it takes heritage in its broadest meaning. That is, we consider heritage not only the tangible expressions of Rohingya culture as exemplified by mosques, but also other forms considered
intangible and moveable, and providing evidence of long-term Rohingya settlement in Rakhine state such as the presence of Rohingya villages (the destruction of which can serve to erase
physical evidence of long-term Rohingya residency). In doing so, the aim of this paper is not to detail all the heritage which has been destroyed in Rakhine state, but to map the destruction of
Rohingya heritage to demonstrate the link between heritage destruction and a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya..."
Source/publisher:
International Journal of Heritage Studies
Date of publication:
2019-09-21
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, International Criminal Court, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Muslims in Burma, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Statelessness in Burma/Myanmar, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.09 MB
more
Description:
"Introduction: Not so many people were acquainted with the issue of Rohingya prior to the communal conflict that erupted in 2012. In fact, the conflict has brought the “hidden” issue to the surface, to a new level of visibility particularly among common people. Nevertheless, there is still relatively plenteous unknown patency behind the
tragedy that occurred to the Rohingyas, besides a simple fact that it is an ethnoreligious conflict between Buddhist majority of Burman and Arakanese against the Muslim minority of Rohingya. The United Nations, indeed, even has regarded the Rohingyas as one
of the world’s most persecuted minorities1 and among the world’s least wanted.2 This paper observes three major issues that are strongly linked and contributed to the creation of predicament for the Rohingyas. Comprehending these three issues are pivotal in order to see and possess thorough understanding about the Rohingyas The first issue covers the problem that related to the legal status of the Rohingyas. Second, the issue that related with the human rights abuse that happened toward the Rohingyas. Third, the issue of Buddhist fundamentalism.....The Birth of The Stateless Rohingya: The statelessness of Rohingya is a product of legal-political process
conducted by the Burmese regime ever since the birth of modern Burma. The main driving force behind this policy has been the (political) stance of the Burmese authority that does not consider
the Rohingya as a part of its native population (shown by the Panglong Agreement). In fact, the origin of Rohingya is still debatable hitherto. Both sides, the Burmese and the proRohingya, claim to have the most precise argument regarding the origin of Rohingya.
Based on the point of view of Burmese historians, Khin Mau Saw, for
example, stated that there had never been the term “Rohingya” before 1950’s (when the Mujahids changed their name into “Rohingyas”) supported by the fact that there was no such name as “Rohingya” in the Census of India 1921 (Burma) compiled by G.G Granthan,
I.C.S (Superintendant of Census Operation Burma) or in the Burma
Gazetter, Akyab District compiled by R.B Smart..."
Source/publisher:
Ricky Raymon
Date of publication:
2013-12-27
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Human Rights and international relations, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Muslims in Burma, Statelessness in Burma/Myanmar, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
84.34 KB
more
Description:
"On Feb. 1, 2021, the Myanmar military – the Tatmadaw – shattered the all too brief effort to transition to democracy in Myanmar. Over the past two and a half months, the Tatmadaw has continued its illegitimate effort to undermine the democratic elections from last year and prevent the elected government from taking power. In the face of mass popular opposition and international condemnation, the military has only escalated its use of violence against its own population – systematically stripping away rights and violently attacking protestors and dissidents, reportedly killing over 700 civilians as of Apr. 20, 2021, and detaining more than 3,000.
Despite the continued threats and extreme violence, the people of Myanmar have stood their ground and refused to be silenced. On Apr. 16, opponents of the coup from across the political spectrum announced the formation of a National Unity Government (NUG) to resist the military. Just as importantly, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), a grassroots movement aimed at disrupting state functions and crippling the economy in order to undermine the military’s attempt to rule, has been hugely successful in galvanizing collective action since early February. In addition to the tens of thousands of CDM participants walking out of their private and public sector positions, protests across the country have seen massive youth engagement on a scale not seen in a generation. The organizing power has been impressive. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok have been used to spread awareness and coordinate protests, strikes, and other forms of peaceful resistance. The military has taken notice of the CDM’s power, issuing threats against young people protesting and shooting indiscriminately at protestors of all ages, including children. Parallel movements have arisen in areas like neighboring Thailand, with Thai youth protesting their own authoritarian government in solidarity with activists from Myanmar.
Today we launch a Just Security series that will take a deep dive into the situation in Myanmar. The series will provide insights that put the coup and civilian response into historical and modern context, deepen unexplored angles on the current crises, and survey possibilities and ways forward over the next six months to a year. This series also aims to elevate policy discussions on a number of issues, ranging from peace and accountability to religion and democracy, asking: What is happening now and why?
Within the series, contributions from authors from Myanmar and others working closely on the situation will explore topics such as youth leadership in the CDM and protests, domestic and international solidarity, environmental concerns, the dissolution of rule of law in Myanmar, and what the coup means for ongoing international accountability efforts. Below, we offer an overview of the major themes of the series, along with a timeline of the struggle for democracy in Myanmar. The current uprising against military rule must be understood in the context of these decades-long struggles for peace, democracy, accountability, and justice..."
Source/publisher:
Just Security (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-04-26
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Discrimination against the Rohingya, International Criminal Court, Several Groups, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - General, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, National Unity Government (NUG), Various groups, Political History, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
257.17 KB
more
Description:
"A brutal crackdown could happen any day. Military violence is expected every day. Soldiers have casually killed peaceful protesters throughout the four weeks since Myanmar’s military undertook a coup to remove the country’s civilian government. Military violence has incrementally, but steadily increased. Bravely, millions of peaceful protesters still take to Myanmar’s streets to oppose the military coup and demand the release of the country’s civilian leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi. By employing tactics learned from other recent Asian protest movements, they have seemingly confounded Myanmar’s military, which has struggled to deal with the nature of protests and their scale.
But Myanmar’s military leaders are cunning and may well have foreseen elements of the protesters’ strategy and adopted their own plans accordingly. The success of anti-coup campaigners may well depend on their preparedness to continue searching for outside examples of how to successfully defeat entrenched but illegitimate rulers.
The determination and size of Myanmar’s peaceful anti-coup protests are impressive. Three weeks after the coup and despite draconian new laws that threaten to punish with twenty years jail the act of inciting “hatred or contempt” towards coup leaders, crowds have continued to grow. Protesters have numbered in the millions, with new groups joining the movement daily. A nationwide civil disobedience movement is under way, and the country’s bureaucracy, banking, and transport systems have ceased to function. The military’s legitimacy as competent managers is in tatters.
Protesters know they are facing off with one of the world’s most vicious militaries, a force with more than half a million active personnel that is known to routinely turn weapons on civilians. A 2018 UN Human Rights Council report described how the military routinely committed crimes against humanity and war crimes against ethnic minority groups. Myanmar’s military stands accused of genocide against the Rohingya during a 2017 campaign that included mass murder, widespread gang rapes of women and girls as a military tactic, and the razing of hundreds of towns and villages. Soldiers commit atrocities with impunity — those few that might ever be found guilty of crimes by Myanmar’s courts are routinely pardoned soon after.
The worst military violence is usually reserved for Myanmar’s ethnic minorities, but historically the military has also been prepared to meet popular peaceful uprisings — like the 1988 protests that first brought Aung San Suu Kyi to political prominence — with brutal force. In 1988, the military put down protests by killing thousands, making widespread arrests, and imposing decades-long prison sentences. Similar tactics were employed to end the 2007 monk-led Saffron Revolution.
A grim indication of what Myanmar’s protesters expect is that many have taken to writing their blood type on their forearms with permanent markers so medical teams can better care for them when the violence comes.
Already the military has used live rounds to kill peaceful protesters in Mandalay and the capital Naypyitaw. There are also reports that soldiers fired on ambulances and medical teams that came to assist the injured. Troops from the 33rd Light Infantry Division, infamous for their genocidal actions against Rohingya civilians, have been prominently deployed in Mandalay. Their unconcealed presence can only have been intended to instil fear in the protesters about what future violence might soon come.
So far, the military’s use of violence has not been overwhelming; they have focussed more on mass arrests than mass murder, with killings of peaceful protesters in the dozens rather than the thousands. Several hundred new political prisoners are now refilling the jails that were emptied during a recent prisoner amnesty. More are arrested daily. One explanation for the military’s seeming reluctance to meet the current protests with the same brutality they demonstrated in 1988 or 2007 is that this time the protest movement is much, much larger and represents a wider cross-section of the national population.....The protesters’ new strategies: Myanmar’s youthful protest movement has adopted strategies learned from Asia’s other youth-infused activist movements — particularly those in Thailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Protesters often style themselves as part of the Milk Tea Alliance of democracy campaigners. Originally symbolic of opposition to Chinese encroachment in domestic affairs and anti-authoritarianism, the Milk Tea Alliance derived its name from a perceived cultural similarity between the places from which it drew its membership — namely, an affinity for milky tea products, marking a distinction with China’s traditional love of black tea. Since the coup, #milkteaalliance has been widely used in Myanmar.
Shrewdly, protest leaders have adopted similarly diversified leadership strategies to those of other Milk Tea Alliance groups. This, and widespread participation in a national civil disobedience movement, has presented the military with genuine challenges in identifying and arresting individual movement leaders. From Thailand, Myanmar’s protesters adopted the three-finger salute as a symbol of opposition to the coup. Images of Myanmar’s frustrated population staring down armoured vehicles in the streets of Yangon while defiantly saluting for democracy appeared in media worldwide and helped keep the eyes of the world focussed on Myanmar for weeks after the coup.
Less high profile but no less significant has been the protesters’ adoption of key tactics from Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement — particularly the “be like water” mantra. This has encouraged protesters to avoid direct confrontation with soldiers and instead adopt a highly agile style of protest that forces the authorities to constantly respond and adapt to the protesters’ agenda. By behaving like political flash mobs and frequently changing tactics, protesters have seemed frequently to catch the authorities off guard. Over the last three weeks, protesters deployed an astonishing number of different tactics, from traditional marches, to sit ins and music performances outside foreign embassies. They have shut down road transport by parking “broken down” cars at key intersections and driven convoys of vehicles so slowly as to create gridlock. One protest even involved a train of elephants with their mahouts.....Has the military adopted a new strategy, too?: Regardless of the protesters’ agility, the military is yet to attempt to put down this uprising with the same ferocity it used in earlier demonstrations. This suggests the military too might be adopting a new strategy. Rather than using aggressive approaches similar to those deployed by China’s security services in Hong Kong or the Thai authorities’ mass arrest of protesters, Myanmar’s military has attempted to disrupt protests through nightly internet blackouts, by arresting those key leaders they can identify and locate, and through occasional violence at protest sites. Compared to the speedy and overwhelming violence meted out to Rohingya civilian populations in 2017, the military’s approach towards anti-coup protesters seems deliberately unhurried.
The military has used an approach closer to the Kremlin-inspired response to recent protests in Belarus, rather than aping the tactics of China’s security forces in Hong Kong. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, when facing widespread protests against his rigged August 2020 election, did not immediately use overwhelming force to crush opposition; instead, he hoped the protests would dissipate of their own accord. Protests have continued, but they have failed to dislodge Lukashenko who seems determined to weather the storm through incremental arrests of activists and the targeting of domestic journalists.
The break with Chinese-inspired anti-dissident strategies should not necessarily come as a surprise. Internationally, China is widely regarded as supportive of Myanmar’s military, and has worn significant domestic opprobrium for its refusal to condemn the coup. Anti-Chinese feeling within Myanmar is approaching feverish levels, but China has been less than fulsome in its support for the coup. China’s Ambassador told Myanmar media that the coup was, “absolutely not what China wants to see.” China’s authorities had a close relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi’s government and have had, at times, a tetchy relationship with Myanmar’s military, which may now feel they have some reason to doubt the reliability of Chinese advice.
That the military might turn to Myanmar’s other long-term defender on the United Nations Security Council, Russia, should also not be surprising. Russia has left little doubt that it regards the coup as legitimate, with Russia’s representative to the UN Human Rights Council describing it as a “purely domestic affair of the sovereign state.”
Russia, while not a major trading partner of Myanmar, is one of its major arms dealers and has extensive experience quelling revolutions in the countries on its own periphery. Myanmar’s massive street protests are certainly reminiscent of the colour revolutions of former Soviet states.
In recent years, Myanmar’s military have developed much closer ties with Russia. TASS, Russia’s official news agency, described this process as “intensive development.” Russia’s geostrategic interests are certainly served by maintaining close ties with the Myanmar military; and Myanmar, in 2018, agreed to make it easier for Russian naval ships to visit Myanmar ports, thereby enhancing Russian access to the Bay of Bengal. Just weeks before the coup, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Myanmar to discuss military cooperation with coup-leader Min Aung Hlaing. During that visit, extensive arrangements were put in place that would enable Myanmar to purchase new surface-to-air missile systems, intelligence and electronic warfare drones, and radar from Russia. It is possible, moreover, that an understanding was reached between them about intelligence cooperation, and the coup leaders’ response to Myanmar’s protest movement might now be informed by the Kremlin’s experience in undermining popular uprisings.....The protesters’ new strategies: Myanmar’s anti-coup protesters have successfully adopted many of the tactics and strategies of the Milk Tea Alliance. These tactics — which have peaceful strategies at their core — were developed in the crucible of east and southeast Asian protest. Myanmar has a long history of peaceful anti-military protest; this is the approach Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters have long advocated. However, the close ties that have developed between the militaries of Myanmar and Russia may make peaceful Milk Tea Alliance tactics less useful in the longer-term.
Pre-empting the military tactics derived from Russia’s experience of undermining anti-authoritarian uprisings might require a significant tactical rethink by Myanmar’s protest movement. For instance, key to the success of Ukraine’s 2014 Euromaidan revolution was protesters’ preparedness to themselves embrace violence in response to official crackdowns. This avoided prolonged conflict of the kind we see today in Belarus, where Lukashenko remains in power and the protest movement is steadily weakened through arrests.
The success of Myanmar’s popular uprising may now depend on its leaders’ ability to swiftly refine the approach of the Milk Tea Alliance, and to learn lessons from the experience of Belarus and Ukraine — places where anti-protest tactics inspired by Russia’s military have been successful. Afterall, there is strong evidence Myanmar’s military has already learned from Russia’s tactics.
Ronan Lee is Visiting Scholar at the International State Crime Initiative in the School of Law, Queen Mary University of London. He was formerly a Queensland State Member of Parliament (2001–2009) and served on the frontbench as a Parliamentary Secretary (2006–2008) in portfolios including Justice, Main Roads and Local Government, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships. He is the author of Myanmar’s Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech..."
Source/publisher:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia)
Date of publication:
2021-03-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, violations of, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
728.4 KB
more
Description:
"Saffron robed Buddhist monks, leather clad punks, shirtless muscle-bound hunks, taffeta ballgown wearing “princes protesters”, chefs in toques, black robed lawyers, construction workers in hard hats, nurses and doctors in scrubs, tattooed martial artists, nat spirit worshipers, civil servants, drag queens, trade unionists, farmers, teachers, taxi drivers, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, the old, the young, women, men, girls and boys — this week and last, these were just some of the groups who joined the biggest protests against military rule ever seen in Myanmar.
Protesters arrived on foot, in convoys of bicycles, motorcycles, horse pulled drays, cars, trucks, tractors, and boats. They represented every religion, ethnic, and age group, and they gathered in hundreds of villages, towns, and cities. One protest took place on the water using boats among the floating villages of Inle Lake, a popular tourist spot. Yangon’s shops sold out of red balloons, the colour Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party. The flags and traditional dress of Myanmar’s ethnic minority communities were proudly displayed. Yangon’s usually hidden Rohingya community even openly joined in, and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh showed solidarity by holding candle-light vigils and sharing photos displaying the three fingered salute that has been adopted by the protesters.
Amid a sometimes carnivalesque atmosphere, protesters sang songs, gave speeches, recited poetry, painted banners, and posted on social media — the protests have an undoubtedly youthful edge. It would hardly have been possible to imagine, let alone bring together, a more diverse mix of Myanmar’s fifty-five million people. But apparent within this extraordinary diversity, was unity behind a common goal: the restoration of Myanmar’s democratically elected civilian government and the removal of the military from political power.
By undertaking a coup and arresting Myanmar’s recently re-elected civilian political leaders, military boss Senior General Min Aung Hlaing precipitated nationwide social unrest. Day after day, protesters have ignored military instructions to disperse, and there is widespread and growing resistance to the new military junta with public servants and hospital staff downing their tools. Banks were reported closed because they lacked the staff to open. It seems every day more people join the resistance. Notably, this has included defections of police — usually under military control — to join the protests, labelling themselves “People’s Police” and calling for the restoration of the democratically elected civilian government.....The threat of military violence: The military will not give up easily. Every protester, however enthusiastic, knows the threat of catastrophic violence constantly looms. To hold on to power, the military could unleash unspeakable violence against peaceful protesters at any moment. They have recent form for this. In 2017, the military subjected Myanmar’s Rohingya community to indiscriminate murders, widespread sexual assaults, village burnings, and mass detention — more than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh. Similar violence could easily be brought to bear on the protesters.
For the protesters, the casual brutality of Myanmar’s military was highlighted during the first days of the coup when peaceful gatherings in the capital Nay Pyi Taw were met with water cannons and rubber bullets interspersed with live rounds, leading to the shooting of a 19-year-old woman in the head. Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, a grocery store worker who travelled from her village with her sisters, remains in a critical condition and is not expected to survive the shooting. She may not be the first protester murdered by Myanmar’s military but in a country where social mores often lean to the traditional, the optics of shooting a young woman as she peacefully asked for the return of the democratically elected government has further undermined the military’s standing.
Growing protests demonstrate the coup lacks public support and its military leaders lack legitimacy. While previous military coups have been unpopular, the military was often able to use “divide and rule” tactics to play groups off against each other and undermine coordinated resistance. However, this time the coup leaders have simultaneously unified virtually every key sector of the country against them.....Myanmar’s generational change: Before the coup, Myanmar’s demographics were already flowing strongly against continued military influence in government. While a defining feature of modern Myanmar politics has been the strong influence of the 1988 uprising that catapulted Aung San Suu Kyi and many other civilian government leaders — including ousted President Win Myint — to political prominence, more than seventy per cent of Myanmar’s population was not born when that uprising occurred. Myanmar’s young people have been kept away from power by the political endurance of those who first came to prominence in 1988 and have largely filled key leadership roles in Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration, but as time passes that situation was always bound to change.
Myanmar’s young people have grown up as Myanmar liberalised its previously highly restricted communications and media sectors, they have good links with and knowledge of the world beyond Myanmar and are accustomed to freely expressing their political opinions. The aspirations of Myanmar’s youth often contrast wildly with those of their parents and grandparents, who grew up under military-rule when the country was a hermit state closed to outside media and hostile to foreign influences. Young protesters are making clear that they do not want to be ruled by old, male soldiers and indications are they will continue to resist until the military is overthrown.
Myanmar’s street protests are also making clear many don’t merely want a return to the pre-coup status quo, which included extensive military influence in government, no civilian oversight of the military, and a military veto on constitutional change — they want the military out of politics permanently. And quickly. Much more quickly than Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian administration, tarnished internationally by its failure to oppose genocide against the Rohingya, have pushed for during its time in power.....The importance of Rohingya solidarity: Young people will hope the tide of demographics helps lead to the washing away of martial rule, but to take on Myanmar’s entrenched military, they will need all the allies they can find. This is a central point I make in my book Myanmar’s Rohingya Genocide, where I call for Myanmar’s young people and the Rohingya to embrace each other as natural allies. My hope is that as Myanmar’s younger generation move closer to political power, a more humanitarian approach towards the Rohingya could be a consequence of a generational change in Myanmar politics, and I strongly encourage the Rohingya leadership to actively engage with young people to seek common ground.
Of course, it would be understandable if some Rohingya opted to sit out these protests, treating Aung San Suu Kyi’s arrest as fair comeuppance for her endorsement of military actions against them, but the Rohingya’s leadership understands that removing the military from political power in Myanmar must be a priority — the strong solidarity with protesters already shown by Rohingya groups is proof of this.
There have been powerful examples of Rohingya solidarity with the protests and a statement condemning the coup from the Rohingya Women’s Network is a particularly significant endorsement, considering the specific targeting of Rohingya women and girls by Myanmar’s military.
The Rohingya have been disappointed by Myanmar's civilian politicians, but they support Myanmar's moves towards democracy — and they especially support calls for the rejection of the compromised 2008 Constitution that allows the military to avoid civilian government oversight. The coup and its aftermath present real opportunities for the Rohingya and Myanmar’s young people to forge common cause for the removal of the military from political influence in Myanmar permanently and reforming the constitutional framework so they can never return to power....Myanmar’s Rohingya reckoning: There are strong indications this important political realignment was already under way in Myanmar before the coup, with some youth activists concerned about the growth of racism in politics having taken action to curb it. Young inter-faith activists and groups like Generation Wave have been vocal supporters of human rights for all in Myanmar, including the Rohingya, and were strongly critical of ongoing military influence on politics.
Young political activists, especially those from ethnic minority groups, had been growing increasingly frustrated with restrictions on freedom of expression and with public expressions of racism. The #BlackLivesMatter-inspired “Don’t call me Kalar” social media campaign is an excellent example of this. “Kalar” is a pejorative often applied by racists to Rohingya and others with darker skin, but young people embraced with gusto an online campaign to end the practice, demonstrating similar cleverness, wit, and political edginess as we have seen in many anti-coup protests.
Public silence during the 2017 Rohingya crisis has increasingly been a subject of concern for anti-coup protesters, many of whom are fast coming to terms with the inconsistency of their silence when the military brutalised the Rohingya while they themselves now call for international help to remove that same military from power. It is better this realisation comes late than not at all. The sight of democracy protesters in downtown Yangon carrying signs reading, “I really regret about Rohingya crisis”, are an indication a rethink about the reaction towards the Rohingya’s most recent crisis in 2017 is underway for some.
One of many recent tweets I have received points to this reckoning, and highlights the legacy of decades of state media demonisation of the Rohingya, who were commonly portrayed as sinister foreign interlopers rather than a group indigenous to Myanmar:
Many in Myanmar have been unaware the Rohingya were uncontroversially recognised as citizens during the civilian government era that followed independence between 1948 and 1962, but had their rights restricted and their citizenship rights disputed once the military seized power in the 1962 coup that presaged five decades of military rule. The Rohingya know better than most the value of a democracy and the perils of military rule. Considering the international support they can harness, the Rohingya should now be a key ally of democracy protesters in the campaign to oust the military. The most effective way for the Rohingya and others in Myanmar to fight the military is by cooperating.
Myanmar’s coup is a step too far for most and defeating it is an opportunity for the country to at last change its constitution in order to kick the military from politics. This presents Myanmar with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine the country’s future. The shared experience of military oppression of the Rohingya and Myanmar’s majority, made tangible by the coup and its aftermath, opens up a path forward — one that realises the future imagined when the country emerged from colonial rule in 1948, a time when the Rohingya played a full role in politics and were regarded as a legitimate part of the national fabric.
But achieving this future means the military’s coup first needs to be defeated — and in the short term, that’s far from a sure bet.
Ronan Lee is Visiting Scholar at the International State Crime Initiative in the School of Law, Queen Mary University of London. He was formerly a Queensland State Member of Parliament (2001–2009) and served on the frontbench as a Parliamentary Secretary (2006–2008) in portfolios including Justice, Main Roads and Local Government, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships. He is the author of Myanmar’s Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech..."
Source/publisher:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia)
Date of publication:
2021-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
555.15 KB
more
Description:
"With a vast ethnic and cultural diversity,1 as well as high
levels of poverty, Myanmar has witnessed the emergence
of a myriad of armed non-state actors (ANSAs), which have
splintered and morphed over time, and has subnational
tensions arising from tremendous distinctive dynamics.
The majority of such actors, known as ethnic armed
organizations (EAOs), have primarily pursued a high level
of autonomy along with the recognition of identity and
rights. These claims have been ongoing since before the
colonial period, intensifying after independence in 1948
and still persisting in 2017. The 1980s and 90s saw important progress towards peace, with several ceasefire deals and the creation of the Border Guard Forces (BGFs) following plans for demobilization. Yet, these deals have all failed and have, therefore, generated
the proliferation of ANSAs. It was not until 2015 that the
government of Aung San Suu Kyi achieved the signing
of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA); however,
this process has failed to be inclusive, leaving aside key
actors after the government imposed restrictions for its signature and as a result, have maintained their armed confrontation.
Myanmar is composed of seven states, seven regions, six selfadministered zones (or divisions) and one union territory.2
One of the seven states, Rakhine (situated on the west coast of the country), is the site of ongoing tensions between the Myanmar armed
forces and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).
Violence escalated sharply from October 2016, when ARSA
first attacked, and continued to spiral, with the last military
crackdown on 25 August 2017. Thus, in order to understand the complex setting in Myanmar, it is crucial to outline the dynamics of these longterm tensions, while focusing on the latest developments in
Rakhine state and the challenges these give rise to..."
Source/publisher:
Geneva Academy Of International Humanitarian Law And Human Rights (Geneva)
Date of publication:
2017-12-00
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Various groups, Political role of the Tatmadaw, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
207.21 KB
more
Description:
"We live in a rapidly changing world in which people often seek about human rights. But it turns meaningless when we see the number of refugees around the world is increasing rapidly. It will be unbelievable to hear that,the present world is facing the most global refugee crisis and we are witnessing a massive shift of humanity due to racial violent disorder, religious virulence, extreme nationalism, political and social conflict. In recent worlds Rohingya Muslims refugee have been the focus of considerable loved ones public concern .
It is believed that Rohingya Muslims are the most persecuted population all over the world.They have faced decades of systematic discrimination, stateless and targeted violence since the early 20th century. But the Rohingya affair has been largely ignored by the world community due to geopolitics , something that pushed some scholars to think that they represent a ghost and forgotten ethnic group, suffering slow burning genocide. The UN called the Myanmar authority to put an end the brutal security operation claiming the atrocities against the Rohingya as ‚a textbook example of ethnic cleansing‛
As Myanmar authorities are subjecting the Rohingya Muslim minority to collective punishment ,millions of Rohingya muslims crossed the international border and took shelter in Bangladesh. Bangladesh provided shelter for them from the humanitarian perspective as it was going on for many years with a significant spikes following violent attacks in 1978 ,1991-1992 ,2016 and finally in late August 2017.
Following the co-ordinate attack on 30 police camps and an army base by so called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)1 a group previously known as Harakah al-Yaqin on August 25, 2017,causing deaths of 12 police officers, the Myanmar military began a major crackdown in the villages of Northern Rakhaine State. The atrocities included attacks on Rohingya people and locations, looting and burning down Rohingya villages, mass killing of Rohingya civilians, gang rapes, and other sexual violence. As a result Rohingya Muslims started to flee to save their life to avoid ethnic and religious persecution by Myanmar’s security forces and as a neighbouring country their destination is of course Bangladesh. As of 15 October 2017, the Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG)2 reported that 537,0001 Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh since the attacks.But anoher report says that at least 720,000 Rohingya fled after the bloody crackdown and entered Bangladesh to join some 300,000 already living in the camps who took shelter during past influx. More than 6,700 Rohingya Muslims including at least 730 children under the age of five were killed in the first month of the crackdown according to Medcins Sans Frontieres (MSF) an international humanitarian medical non governmental organization (NGO) of French but Myanmar claims officially the figure is only 400. Whatever the figure is, the question arises towards international community whether it will be regarded as ‚Genocide ‚or ‚Ethnic cleansing.‛.....Ethnic cleansing defined: Ethnic cleansing and genocide seems to be same in nature but completely two distinct concept. The term ethnic cleansing is a literal translation of the Serbo-Croatian phrase :‚etnicko ciscenje‛ , that is focused in the context of the 1990’s conflict in the former Youguslavia . But the roots of the term and who started the term is still unknown. It is believed that the term ethnic cleansing is invented by Slobodan Milosevic.3 The expression ethnic cleansing has been used in resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly and has acknowledged in judgements and indictments of the ICTY.
There is no international treaty relating to the crime Ethnic Cleansing. As it has not been considered as an independent crime under international law ,so no exact definition will be given or what exact acts will be constituted for the purposes of the ethnic cleansing is not cleared. However a United Nations Commission of experts mandated to look into violations of international humanitarian law in the territory of the former Youguslavia defined ethnic cleansing in its interim report S/25274 as "… rendering an area ethnically homogeneous by using force or intimidation to remove persons of given groups from the area."4..."
Source/publisher:
Jagannath University (Dhaka)
Date of publication:
2017-08-00
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, International Criminal Court, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
333.98 KB
more
Description:
"Burma has a quasi-parliamentary system of government in which the national parliament selects the president and constitutional provisions grant one-quarter of parliamentary seats to active-duty military appointees. The military also has the authority to appoint the ministers of defense, home affairs, and border affairs and one of two vice presidents, as well as to assume power over all branches of the
government should the president declare a national state of emergency. In 2015 the country held nationwide parliamentary elections that the public widely accepted as a credible reflection of the will of the people. The National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader Aung San Suu Kyi was the civilian government’s
de facto leader and, due to constitutional provisions preventing her from becoming president, remained in the position of state counsellor.
The Myanmar Police Force (MPF), under the Ministry of Home Affairs (led by an active-duty general), is responsible for internal security. The Border Guard Police is administratively part of the MPF but operationally distinct. The armed forces under the Ministry of Defense are responsible for external security but are also engaged extensively in internal security, including combat against ethnic armed
groups. Under the constitution civilian authorities have no authority over the security forces; the armed forces commander in chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, maintained effective control over the security forces. Extreme repression of and discrimination against the minority Rohingya population, who are predominantly Muslim, continued in Rakhine State. Intense fighting between the military and the ethnic-Rakhine Arakan Army (AA) that escalated in January displaced thousands more civilians, further disrupted
humanitarian access to vulnerable populations, and resulted in serious abuses of civilian populations. Fighting between the military and ethnic armed groups in northern Shan State, as well as fighting there among ethnic armed groups, temporarily displaced thousands of persons and resulted in abuses, including reports of civilian deaths and forced recruitment by the ethnic armed groups. Significant human rights issues included: reports of extrajudicial and arbitrary
killings by security forces; enforced disappearance by security forces; torture and rape and other forms of sexual violence by security forces; arbitrary detention by the government; harsh and sometimes life-threatening prison conditions; political prisoners; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; significant problems with the independence of the judiciary; severe restrictions on free expression
including arbitrary arrest and prosecution of journalists, and criminal libel laws; substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, including arrests of peaceful protesters and restrictions on civil society activity; severe restrictions on religious freedom; significant restrictions on freedom of movement, in particular for Rohingya; significant acts of corruption by some officials; some unlawful recruitment and use of child soldiers; trafficking in
persons; crimes involving violence or threats targeting members of national, ethnic, and religious minorities; laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults, although those laws were rarely enforced; and the use of forced and child labor..."
Source/publisher:
[US] Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Date of publication:
2019-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
US State Dept. - reports on human rights in Burma, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Various groups, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
351.45 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"A leading Myanmar swimmer has called for the country's Olympic committee to be expelled from the Olympic Movement, saying "genocidaires do not deserve to be in the Olympics."
In a Facebook post, swimmer Win Htet Oo said by rejecting the Myanmar Olympic Committee he had foregone any chance of competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games later this year.
Currently training in Melbourne, Win Htet Oo's Facebook profile says he's "a Myanmar swimmer dreaming about Tokyo 2020."
The swimmer has been a vocal critic of the Myanmar in recent weeks.
"I do not wish to participate in the Tokyo Games under the stewardship of a NOC [National Olympic Committee] that is tied to a regime that continues to inflict suffering on my people," said Win Htet Oo in another Facebook post on April 10.
The IOC did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment, but the organization told AFP that "'to the best of our knowledge,'" Win Htet Oo had not been selected by the Myanmar team.
World Swimming Magazine describes Win Htet Oo as one of Myanmar's "top swimmers," who swam for his country at the 2013 and 2019 Southeast Asian Games
There is no listing for Win Htet Oo on the website of swimming's governing body (Fédération Internationale De Natation).
The Myanmar Olympic Committee did not respond to CNN's request for comment.
READ: Protests and demonstrations banned at 2020 Tokyo Olympics
In February, Myanmar armed forces commander in chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing seized power, overthrowing the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party and installing a military junta.
The following months have seen ongoing protests against his rule and the rise of a Civil Disobedience movement in which thousands of blue- and white-collar workers including doctors, teachers, civil servants and factory workers have gone on strike with the aim of disrupting the economy and unseating the general.
Security forces have brutally suppressed the protests with deadly and systematic crackdowns in which police and soldiers have shot people dead in the streets and arbitrarily detained perceived opponents.
More than 750 people have been killed by security forces since the coup, and more than 4,500 arrested, according to advocacy group Assistance Association of Political Prisoners.
On March 28, UN officials condemned "systematic" attacks on peaceful protesters and called on the international community to "protect the people of Myanmar from atrocity crimes."
"The shameful, cowardly, brutal actions of the military and police -- who have been filmed shooting at protesters as they flee, and who have not even spared young children -- must be halted immediately," said Alice Wairimu Nderitu, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights in a joint statement.
READ: Which nation is expected to top Olympic medal table?
A UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar in 2018 called for Min Aung Hlaing to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide over his military's brutal crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine State in 2017.
In his latest Facebook post, Win Htet Oo said he'd been inspired "by the continued defiance to military rule in Myanmar by an intersectional movement that will never submit. Their bravery is undying."
"The National Unity Government is the only legitimate representative of the people of Myanmar and all international organisations and governments should recognise the NUG as Myanmar's government," added Win Htet Oo, who swam for New York University between 2012 and 2015..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2021-05-01
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
more
Topic:
Joint Statement by Alice Wairimu Nderitu, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the situation in Myanmar
Sub-title:
Myanmar: Top UN officials condemn “systematic” attacks on peaceful protesters, and flag international responsibility to protect the people from atrocity crimes
Topic:
Joint Statement by Alice Wairimu Nderitu, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the situation in Myanmar
Description:
"The UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, on Sunday issued a clear warning of a heightened risk of atrocity crimes in Myanmar, following another day of widespread bloodshed by the Myanmar military.
The two senior UN officials strongly condemned the Myanmar military’s widespread, lethal, increasingly systematic attacks against peaceful protesters, as well as other serious violations of human rights since it seized power on 1 February 2021. Thousands of people have also been arbitrarily arrested – many subjected to enforced disappearance. Saturday witnessed the bloodiest day since the demonstrations against the coup began, with security forces killing at least 107 individuals – including 7 children – according to multiple credible reports, with the number of deaths expected to rise as reports are confirmed. Hundreds more were wounded and detained during these seemingly coordinated attacks in over 40 locations throughout the country.
Bachelet and Nderitu called on the military to immediately stop killing the very people it has the duty to serve and protect.
“The shameful, cowardly, brutal actions of the military and police – who have been filmed shooting at protesters as they flee, and who have not even spared young children – must be halted immediately. The international community has a responsibility to protect the people of Myanmar from atrocity crimes,” Bachelet and Nderitu said.
The Special Adviser and the High Commissioner called on the Security Council to take further steps, building on its statement of 10 March 2021, and for ASEAN and the wider international community to act promptly to uphold the responsibility to protect the people of Myanmar from atrocity crimes. While the State has the primary responsibility to protect its population, the international community shares that responsibility, and in cases where the State is manifestly failing, the international community “should take timely and collective action in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations to protect civilian populations that are at risk of atrocity crimes.”
Nderitu and Bachelet called for an end to systemic impunity in Myanmar. “We must ensure accountability for past crimes and deter the most serious international crimes from being committed,” the two officials stated. “The failure to address the atrocity crimes the military has committed in the past, including against Rohingya and other minorities, has brought Myanmar to this terrible pass. There is no way forward without accountability and fundamental reform of the military.”
The senior officials urged all parties – including defecting officials, police and military officers – to cooperate with international mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court and the Human Rights Council’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, in fighting impunity in the country.
This situation has also put at further risk the already vulnerable ethnic and religious minorities in Myanmar, including the Rohingya. This population has long suffered horrific violence at the hands of the Myanmar military with impunity, as documented by the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar established by the Human Rights Council.
“We are deeply concerned about the impact that the current situation may have on these populations and are closely monitoring developments. The rights of minority groups, including the Rohingya population must be fully respected,” the two UN officials stated. They noted the diversity of the protest movement, and encouraged the newfound sense of unity across ethnic and religious divides, as well as the growing recognition of past crimes against minorities, including Rohingya..."
Source/publisher:
United Nations Secretary-General
Date of publication:
2021-03-28
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Genocide, Human Rights and international relations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
more
Description:
"This thesis has been written as a response to the worrying rise of hate speech online and focuses primarily on Myanmar. It aims to analyse hate speech as a factor of Myanmar’s internal conflicts and, through my own field research and an examination of existing literature, it attempts to suggest effective, long term methods to counter hate and build peace. Building peace and resolving conflict requires commitment to constructing a foundation of activities and actors, across all levels of society, which aim to achieve sustainable reconciliation.1 As Wallensteen suggests, conflict resolution is far more than the absence of violence: it is the agreement of parties to respect each other and live together in peace.2 Therefore, the core focus of this research is to discuss how Smile Education and Development Foundation can equip young people with the tools to challenge online hate speech and bring communities together.
This research is specifically focused on Buddhist hate speech, though this is not to suggest that there is no negative rhetoric or actions from Muslims or other minority groups. However, this study would suggest that by transforming negative attitudes towards Muslims and the religious/ethnic/cultural ‘Other’, the chance of future violence from either party decreases significantly.
Myanmar has a history of intrastate conflict which is largely down to the marginalization of minority groups; the Burman (Bamar) ethnic group constitutes two thirds of the country but controls the government and military, often failing to protect the rights of the ethnically diverse remainder of the country. To further understand the complex situation, a conflict assessment of Myanmar will be conducted in chapter one, using Mathew Levinger’s four step assessment framework. The assessment will draw upon the marginalization of ethnic and religious groups as a driver of conflict and Buddhist/Muslim tensions, in addition to economic struggles and the oppressive military junta. It is important to address the key components of the conflict in Myanmar to understand how existing tensions can be exploited to spread hatred and mistrust against Muslims, who, as a consequence, are often blamed for problems within society.
One of the most common manifestations of religious intolerance, both in Myanmar and other contexts, is online hate speech. The internet has provided tools to enrich society, connect the world, and create educational information available to those who would not have had access to this before. However, these same tools have paradoxically become a platform to spread lies, prejudice and hatred that will often target religious or ethnic minority groups. Chapter two aims to deconstruct online hate speech and the consequences for Myanmar’s Muslim community, focusing primarily on Facebook – the most used social media platform in the country. While such hate speech can be brushed off by some as bigoted ranting or merely painful words, many, including Foxman and Wolf (2013), and Waldron (2012), whose work is discussed in chapter two, believe it could serve as a warning sign for more severe consequences. Worryingly for targeted minority groups such as the Muslim community in Myanmar, hate speech’s widespread appearance makes it seem increasingly acceptable. Once the youth become actively involved in these hate sites, they will be exposed to value sets and ideologies that soon become the norm. With a large percentage of internet users consisting of younger people, the focus of this report, the impact of this hate and the distorted truths that circulate online can affect many generations to come. It is what Waldron describes as a ‘slow poison’ threatening social peace.
Chapter three draws on the conclusions made in the conflict assessment of chapter one, and of chapter two’s analysis of the harm of online hate speech in Myanmar, to evaluate the best possible methods of countering hate speech for this context. Through addressing religious peacebuilding ideas from Gopin, examining existing counter hate speech campaigns in Myanmar and from around the world, and bringing in points discussed in both focus groups, I will draw conclusions about methods of prevention, regulation, and counter narratives that may be useful in bringing together Myanmar’s Buddhist and Muslim communities..."
Source/publisher:
University of Winchester (UK)
Date of publication:
2015-12-00
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Genocide, Muslims in Burma, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
909.66 KB ( 77 pages)
more