THE PLIGHT ON THE ROHINGYA By Nurul Islam (U.K)Introduction
The Rohingya are one of the most forgotten, persecuted, voiceless, and underrepresentedpeoples on earth. Their population is estimated to be more than 3 millions. Of them about 1.5millions are in diasporas particularly in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia,Thailand etc. They are still willing to return to their ancestral homeland of Arakan in Burma.Their settlement in Arakan dates back to latter part of 7th century A.D. Muslim massacre in Arakan
The Second World War had major bearing on the inter-communal relationship between theRohingya Muslims and the Rakhine Buddhists. In April 1942 communal riots flared upbetween the two communities and about 100,000 unarmed innocent Rohingyas weremassacred while some 50,000 were forced to take refuge in Bengal or adjoining British Indianterritory. A British Commander in Arakan Major Anthony Irwin remarked, “The Arakanbefore the war had been occupied over its entire length by both Mussulman and Maugh. Thenin 1941 the two sects set to and fought. The result of this “war” was roughly that the Maughtook over the Southern half of the country and the Mussulman the Northern… it separatedtwo peoples into two distinct areas of influence.”
1 British colonial government ignored Rohingya On 10 th June 1942 the Rohingya Muslims declared North Arakan as ‘Muslim State’ and‘Peace Committee’ was entrusted for administration of the area
2 (Maungdaw, Buthidaung andRathedaung area). In December 1942 Brigadier C.E. Lucas Phillips of British 14 th Army cameto Maungdaw….After hard negotiation, the Peace Committee formed by Rohingya Muslimsheaded by Mr. Omra Meah and Mr. Zahir Uddhin Ahmed allowed the British 14th Armyreentry through the Naf border town of Maungdaw. As per Public Notice No. 11-OA-CC/42dated 31st December 1942, the British Military Administration declared the former MuslimState as “Muslim National Area”….On 1st January 1945 Brigadier C.E. Lucas Phillipsbecame the Chief administrator of the area and appointed members of Peace Committee asadministrative officers of the area. This represents a landmark in the history of Burmeseindependence. The British recognized the Rohingya Muslims as a distinct racial group and theBritish officer-in-command promised the Rohingyas to grant autonomy in North Arakan.
3 Butthe fact was manifestly ignored by the outgoing British. Neither their case was recommendedto the British colonial government nor to the Burmese leaders. Gen. Aung San’s word of honor In March 1946 “Gen. Aung San came to Akyab and sought the cooperation of the Muslims of Arakan. He met the Muslim leaders at Youngman Society in Thet Kaybin, at Akyab.”
4 Heassured the Muslim Leaders, advocate U Pho Khine, advocate U Yasin, advocate U Khalilur
1-Anthony Irwin, “Burmese Outpost” Collins Clear-type Press: London and Glasgow, 1945, pp 22-23.
2-“Historical background of Arakan”, an article by Md. Ashraf Alam in Souvenir, Silver Jubilee Anniversary(1975-2000) Arakan Historical Society, Chittagong, Bangladesh p.44.In History of Maungdaw Township (in Burmese) compiled by Township People’s Council, Maungdaw, 1980,p.65.
3- Ibid. pp.44-45.
4- U Maung Tin, “Suggestion to Rohingya Consultation Forum”, Bangkok, Thailand, 2-3 August 2006,
p.22 Rahman and U Sultan Mahmood (Ex. Health Minister), of the full national rights in postindependence Burma.
5- Gen. Aung San also assured Muslim leaders saying “We wantMuslims to
work together with us. I give (offer) you a blank cheque. We will live
togetherand die together. Demand what you want. I will do my best to
fulfill them. If native peopleare divided, it will be difficult to
achieve independence for Burma”.
6- It was unfortunate that Gen. Aung San and some of his colleagues were assassinated on 19July 1947. It is sad to say that “on the very day of Bokyoke Aung San’s martyrdom, he had aspecial appointment with Muslim M.L.Cs. from Northern Arakan, Mr. Sultan Ahmed of Maungdaw and Mr. Abdul Gaffar of Buthidaung, in connection with the nationality andpolitical status of Muslims or Rohingyas of Arakan. He (Bokyoke) had also assigned Mr.Sultan Mahmood and U Aung Zan Wai, to go Maungdaw and Buthidaung, so as to organizethe public there for Pa-Sa-Pha-La Anti Fascist People’s Federation League (AFPFL).
7- The Rohingya people still believe that their full rights and freedoms would be guaranteed andundying if the father of the nation Aung San were alive. The Rohingyas in the rural areas stillsing with lamentation,
“If Aung San were alive the golden Burma would be in peace and the Rohingya would not be wretched but blissful.” Burma Territorial Force’s carnage (1948-49)
Throughout the independence struggle and in post independence period, the Rakhine leaderstried their utmost to harm the Rohingyas and to influence the Burmese national leaders intoexcluding them from country’s politics. Since independence on 4 January 1948, theRohingyas had been alienated. To the great grief of them, a Burma Territorial Force wasformed in 1948 with hostile Rakhine youths. Under the pretext of looking for rebels, theytook the law in their own hands, burnt down number Rohingya villages, arrested, inhumanlytortured and killed or gunned down hundreds of Rohingya villagers. The Rohingya leadersstrongly protested this carnage inside and outside parliament.
Parliamentary government and ‘divide and rule’ in Arakan
However, during the parliamentary rule (1948-1962), the Rohingya, by and large, enjoyedfundamental rights and freedom to some extent, although serious discrimination existedagainst them. Despite that the Rohingya were recognized as one of the many ethnicnationalities of the Union of Burma.It is grossly offensive to decency and morality that the two sister communities of MuslimRohingya and Buddhist Rakhine have been at loggerheads under ‘divide and rule policy’ of the government and due in part to the ‘policy of exclusion’ of the xenophobic Rakhinepoliticians and academics imbued with illusory perception that Arakan and Buddhism aresynonymous and the Rohingya or Muslims are outsiders. Today this campaign has becomemore vigorous under the patronage of the administration.
Burma Citizenship Law of 1982
The civilianized military government of U Thein Sein continues to reject Rohingya. In 1982,Ne Win redefined the citizenship through enactment of a notorious Burma Citizenship Lawand the Rohingya are now legally considered illegal aliens in the country. This law violates
5 Towards Understanding Arakan History, p.99
6 Prof. Dr. Aung Zaw, “
Tineyin MuslimsSapyusasu
Poggu-kyawmya-2”
(Indigenous gazetted Muslim elite-2), (inBurmese), 2009, p.188.In Autobiography written by advocate U Pho Khine, Akyab.
7
Towards Understanding Arakan History, p.99.
6- It was unfortunate that Gen. Aung San and some of his colleagues were assassinated on 19July 1947. It is sad to say that “on the very day of Bokyoke Aung San’s martyrdom, he had aspecial appointment with Muslim M.L.Cs. from Northern Arakan, Mr. Sultan Ahmed of Maungdaw and Mr. Abdul Gaffar of Buthidaung, in connection with the nationality andpolitical status of Muslims or Rohingyas of Arakan. He (Bokyoke) had also assigned Mr.Sultan Mahmood and U Aung Zan Wai, to go Maungdaw and Buthidaung, so as to organizethe public there for Pa-Sa-Pha-La Anti Fascist People’s Federation League (AFPFL).
7- The Rohingya people still believe that their full rights and freedoms would be guaranteed andundying if the father of the nation Aung San were alive. The Rohingyas in the rural areas stillsing with lamentation,
“If Aung San were alive the golden Burma would be in peace and the Rohingya would not be wretched but blissful.” Burma Territorial Force’s carnage (1948-49)
Throughout the independence struggle and in post independence period, the Rakhine leaderstried their utmost to harm the Rohingyas and to influence the Burmese national leaders intoexcluding them from country’s politics. Since independence on 4 January 1948, theRohingyas had been alienated. To the great grief of them, a Burma Territorial Force wasformed in 1948 with hostile Rakhine youths. Under the pretext of looking for rebels, theytook the law in their own hands, burnt down number Rohingya villages, arrested, inhumanlytortured and killed or gunned down hundreds of Rohingya villagers. The Rohingya leadersstrongly protested this carnage inside and outside parliament.
Parliamentary government and ‘divide and rule’ in Arakan
However, during the parliamentary rule (1948-1962), the Rohingya, by and large, enjoyedfundamental rights and freedom to some extent, although serious discrimination existedagainst them. Despite that the Rohingya were recognized as one of the many ethnicnationalities of the Union of Burma.It is grossly offensive to decency and morality that the two sister communities of MuslimRohingya and Buddhist Rakhine have been at loggerheads under ‘divide and rule policy’ of the government and due in part to the ‘policy of exclusion’ of the xenophobic Rakhinepoliticians and academics imbued with illusory perception that Arakan and Buddhism aresynonymous and the Rohingya or Muslims are outsiders. Today this campaign has becomemore vigorous under the patronage of the administration.
Burma Citizenship Law of 1982
The civilianized military government of U Thein Sein continues to reject Rohingya. In 1982,Ne Win redefined the citizenship through enactment of a notorious Burma Citizenship Lawand the Rohingya are now legally considered illegal aliens in the country. This law violates
5 Towards Understanding Arakan History, p.99
6 Prof. Dr. Aung Zaw, “
Tineyin MuslimsSapyusasu
Poggu-kyawmya-2”
(Indigenous gazetted Muslim elite-2), (inBurmese), 2009, p.188.In Autobiography written by advocate U Pho Khine, Akyab.
7
Towards Understanding Arakan History, p.99.
It is an oppressive law injurious todemocracy and human rights. Shockingly, the Rakhine academic Dr. Aye Kyaw wasinstrumental to framing this discriminatory racist law under infamous Ne Win. Citizenship isthe social and legal link between individuals and their democratic political community.Statistical genocide and communal strife
The regime is making statistical genocide in an effort to make Rohingya people look few,small and insignificant as a part of an evil design to deny them of their rights and prepare theminds of the people of the world for appalling consequence of slow-burning genocide. Theregime launches frequent drive operations and makes forced relocation to sweep off theRohingya inhabitants. The authorities in connivance with the state patronized non-state actorsstir up occasional communal strife in Arakan and other parts of Burma resulting in the heavyloss of Muslims’ lives and properties. From 1983 the townships of Gwa, Ponnagunt andTaung-gut in southern Arakan have been turned into a ‘Muslim free zone’.‘Rakhine State’ is attributed to the Buddhist Rakhine only
Under his Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) regime’s socialistic constitution formerDictator Ne Win had granted statehood of Arakan in 1974 changing its name to “RakhineState” to attribute it only to the Rakhine or the Buddhist community of Arakan, at theexclusion of the Muslim Rohingya. The uncompromising Rakhines had manned anddominated the ‘Rakhine State Council’, which ruthlessly strived to implement Ne Win’sTwenty Year Plan (a secret plan) to exterminate the Muslims from Arakan.‘Arakan’ is the name of the place or country, not the name of its people. But in recent yearsthe Rakhines are using “Arakan” as their racial name (despite their official name ‘Rakhine’)with intent to deny the existence of Rohingya in Arakan. Settler villages and demographic changes Planned increase in Buddhist settler villages built on the Rohingya lands dotting pagodas inevery nock and corner of the Rohingya homeland has caused serious demographic changes. Ithas systematically exterminated the Rohingya population. Vast tracks of their lands wereconfiscated and allotted to the Buddhist settlers invited from inside the country andBangladesh. Some of them are drug addicts, ex-convicts and stray people and are hostile tothe Rohingya villagers. They go on rampages through the surrounding Rohingya villages andcommitted loot, robbery, extortion, kidnapping and theft of cattle and movable propertiesunder the patronage of the administration. These have forced the Rohingyas to becomeincreasingly landless, internally displaced and to eventually starve them out to cross theborder into Bangladesh.
Restrictions on the freedom of movement
The Rohingyas are banned from traveling from place to place, even within the same locality,without a pass. They cannot visit their friends and relatives, buy food from markets, visithospitals and doctors, attend the funeral of their loved ones, send their children to schools,and work on their farmland outside their locality. Without paying a bribe travel permission isnot issued. These restrictions on their freedom of movement and residence within the bordersof the country have coerced many Rohingya families to live away from each other. EvenMembers of the Parliament and servicemen are not spared from this humiliation. On 29 July2005, U Kyaw Min (alias) Shamsul Anwarul Haque, who is a Rohingya M.P. was sentencedto 47 years in jail, under Emergency Provision Act and Nationality Law. His wife and threechildren were also sentenced to 17 years each for traveling and residing in Rangoon.
4 Restrictions on marriage The Rohingyas are banned from getting married and founding
families. Prospective coupleshave to obtain permission from different
authorities, including the Nasaka , army, police andimmigration. In all these cases bribery is
obvious and rampant. Getting this permission couldtake one or two or
more years. Sometime no marriage permission has been granted.
Anestimated 15,000 applications for marriage permission now remain
pending with theauthorities in northern Arakan. Each Nasaka Sector Commander capriciously issuesoppressive diktats with a
freehand to compress the Rohingyas. There is no similarity in
harshmechanism from one commander to another.From September 2003, newly
married couples have to agree not take more than two children.Since
February 2006, Nasaka seldom presses the bridegroom to shave his beard as aprecondition
for marriage permission. The engaged couples were called for
interviewstogether asking wicked questions in front of their guardians.
From time to time, an applicationfor marriage permission has to be
witnessed by three clean-shaven guardians. It has beenofficially
encouraged to needle as much ridicule and irony and sarcasm as possible,
so thatlife becomes dreadful and intolerable for the Rohingya. During
his visit to Buthidaung jail innorthern Arakan in February 2010, the UN
Special Rapporteur Quintana affirmed that most of the prisoners he saw
were connected with marriage cases.
Restrictions on higher studies
Since promulgation of Burma Citizenship Law in 1982, the higher studies of the Rohingyastudents are under serious restrictions. They are restricted to study in any seats of learning inthe country. Professional courses are a problematic matter for them. From 2001 they are evenrestricted to travel to regional capital Akyab (Sittwe) for studies at Sittwe University. TheRohingya students are not treated as equals. Unlike other colleges and universities, theRohingya students reading in Sittwe University have no security of life, honour and dignity.They are frequently attacked by fellow racist Rakhine students and muggers. They are notprotected in the campus and the hostels so that they abandon their studies. Due to such horror,now all Rohingya students in Akyab have left the university hostels.In addition, there are few high and middle schools with no enough primary schools.This inhuman policy has further marginalized the Rohingyas as the most illiterate sectionwithin Burma population, and they are thus forced to embrace a very bleak future. So longthese practices of thugs lacking a spiritual nature exist there will flourish no democracy, nohuman dignity and rights in Arakan, nay, in the whole of Burma.
Relentless taxation The authorities or Nasaka
impose relentless taxation on all food grains and agriculturalproduces of the Rohingya such as, paddy tax, shrimp tax, vegetables tax, tree tax, cattle tax(for cow, buffalos, goats) and fowl tax, roof/house tax and house-building or repair tax. Theyhave to pay taxes for collecting firewood in the jungles, fishing in the rivers and breedinganimals at homesteads as well as grazing cattle on the pastures. They also need to pay when anew baby is born and a member of the family dies for birth registration and burial, let alonetheir cattle.
Other grave human rights violations Northern Arakan has turned into a militarized zone with increased violations of human rights.Forced labour still exists despite increasing pressure from ILO.Arrest of Rohingyas for thepurpose of extortion under various pretexts, false and imaginary charges are dailyphenomenon all over Arakan. Nasaka border security forces and armed forces are licensed to
Restrictions on higher studies
Since promulgation of Burma Citizenship Law in 1982, the higher studies of the Rohingyastudents are under serious restrictions. They are restricted to study in any seats of learning inthe country. Professional courses are a problematic matter for them. From 2001 they are evenrestricted to travel to regional capital Akyab (Sittwe) for studies at Sittwe University. TheRohingya students are not treated as equals. Unlike other colleges and universities, theRohingya students reading in Sittwe University have no security of life, honour and dignity.They are frequently attacked by fellow racist Rakhine students and muggers. They are notprotected in the campus and the hostels so that they abandon their studies. Due to such horror,now all Rohingya students in Akyab have left the university hostels.In addition, there are few high and middle schools with no enough primary schools.This inhuman policy has further marginalized the Rohingyas as the most illiterate sectionwithin Burma population, and they are thus forced to embrace a very bleak future. So longthese practices of thugs lacking a spiritual nature exist there will flourish no democracy, nohuman dignity and rights in Arakan, nay, in the whole of Burma.
Relentless taxation The authorities or Nasaka
impose relentless taxation on all food grains and agriculturalproduces of the Rohingya such as, paddy tax, shrimp tax, vegetables tax, tree tax, cattle tax(for cow, buffalos, goats) and fowl tax, roof/house tax and house-building or repair tax. Theyhave to pay taxes for collecting firewood in the jungles, fishing in the rivers and breedinganimals at homesteads as well as grazing cattle on the pastures. They also need to pay when anew baby is born and a member of the family dies for birth registration and burial, let alonetheir cattle.
Other grave human rights violations Northern Arakan has turned into a militarized zone with increased violations of human rights.Forced labour still exists despite increasing pressure from ILO.Arrest of Rohingyas for thepurpose of extortion under various pretexts, false and imaginary charges are dailyphenomenon all over Arakan. Nasaka border security forces and armed forces are licensed to
5
practice crimes against humanity in North Arakan. They routinely
confiscate properties,cattle, fowls, cash and food while committing
criminal atrocities without let or hindrance.Rape of Rohingya women
becomes an official military strategy to depopulate Rohingyas tobe
populated by Buddhist settlers. It is the most horrendous and degrading
way of ‘ethniccleansing’. Many mosques and madrasas (religious schools), Waqf
lands (endowments) andgraveyards have been demolished or taken over. Extension, repairs and renovation, orconstruction of new mosques or religious institutes are prohibited. Muslim relics, monumentsand place names have been destroyed, changed and erased. All these attempts aim at effacingthe Muslim character of Arakan. Lots of Rohingyas were arrested by the authorities formaking usual necessary repairs to their mosques.
Exodus into Bangladesh is in cyclic order:
Bangladesh has had experienced two unprecedented Rohingya refugee exoduses from Arakanin 1978 and 1991-92, each with about 300,000 refugees. Despite repatriation, the flights of refugees into Bangladesh are still continuing unabated. Given the continued persecution of Rohingya — their position of statelessness, food insecurity, denial of access to education andemployment, lack of security of life, property, dignity and honour – they have virtuallybecome a dying alive people, counting their days in a state of terror and jeopardy. Thisimpossible situation is a ‘push factor’ that the Burmese regime has created wanting theRohingyas to slowly leave their hearth and home for Bangladesh and other countries, if at allpossible, without international attention. Thus their exodus into Bangladesh is in cyclic order.
Rohingya become desperate to be drowned in the sea
Under extreme situation, the Rohingya have desperately chosen perilous voyages by racketyboats across seas and oceans; and hundreds of boat people have had drowned over the yearsto become fish feed of the hungry sharks. Some of them were rescued or detained in SriLanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. A large number people werevictimized at the hands of the greedy exploiters and human traffickers.In 3rd week of November 2011, about 140 Rohingya boat people had drowned. The floatingdead bodies in the river Naf were not allowed for funerals or burials on the Burmese side of the border. Another group of 63, who were intercepted by Burmese security forces atKawthaung, in southern Burma, were sentenced to one and half years each by a townshipcourt under Immigration Emergency Act 31(6)(2). It is absolutely an inhuman act. In anothermishap at least 5 people drowned and around 25 went missing when a Malaysia-boundtrawler carrying some 130 passengers capsized near Saint Martin Island in the Bay of Bengalon the night of 14 December.U Thein Sein government has accelerated the persecution of Rohingya. Its anarchic Nasaka
forces have wretched the whole Rohingya population. Then again, particularly after the visitof Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Burma on 5-7 December, the Rohingyarefugees in Bangladesh are in fear and frustration that they might be forcibly repatriated toArakan, where the situation of human rights has further deteriorated. According to variousreports, living in squalid condition, the refugees have had endured much harassment of theBangladesh law enforcement agencies, camp security personnel and local goons. Manyrefugees lost their lives over the years whilst resisting repatriation without their deliverance.Now again, the refugees become desperate to take to the sea in their attempts to go toMalaysia in order to avoid being repatriated to Arakan and to escape persecution andstarvation in Burma.6
The attitude of the ruling civilianized military government
The new civilianized government of U Thein Sein is talking changes in Burma. The suddenadjustment in political stratagem of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, followed by a three-day visit toBurma by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from November 30, revives people’s hope forat least amorphous changes. But there is no serene expression on the faces of the Rohingyasdue to increasing sign of regime’s harsh attitude towards them. The regime reaffirmed itsdiscriminatory racial profiling in parliament at the end of August. Immigration Minister KhinYi justified the continuation of restrictions on the basic freedoms of the Rohingya, such asfreedom of movement, marriage and education by accusing them of Bengalis having sharedcommon religion, culture, appearance and language with the people in Bangladesh. Thisdisavowal has encouraged to launch anti-Rohingya propagandas by the state patronizedracists and xenophobes inside and outside the country, under the guidance of RakhineNational Democratic Party (RNDP). Today the popular slogans of the xenophobes in Arakanare
, “Arakan and Buddhism are synonymous. Arakan is only for Rakhine. Muslims or Rohingya are illegal Bengali immigrants; they have nothing to do in Arakan”.
Why common sense is not applied in the case of Rohingya:
Burma is an ethnically diverse country. Peoples of different ethnical backgrounds are livingall around the bordering areas of the country. All of them have natural affinities with thepeople living on the other sides of the international borders; for example, Kachin in China andIndia, Chin in India and Bangladesh, Rakhine in Bangladesh, Mon and Karen in Thailand andLaos etc. While this inherent identicalness between them are accepted, the regime and vestedinterest groups reject the existence of Rohingya in Burma for having resemblance with thepeople of adjacent Chittagong region in Bangladesh, only because they are Muslims and arein South Asian appearance in contrast to Southeast Asian appearance.
In reality all the Buddhists are not citizens of Burma, not all the Muslims and Christians are illegalimmigrants of Burma.
Aspect of the Rohingya Problem:
The Rohingya problem has two aspects: political and humanitarian. It is political because itconstitutes grave violations of human rights and flagrant denial of elementary liberty andfreedom, particularly the liberty to continue their living in their own homeland and in thehearth and home of their ancestors.During to Burma from 15 to 19 February, 2010, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN SpecialRapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma, “urges the regime to end theunacceptable discrimination, human rights abuses and resultant severe economic deprivationthey (Rohingya) face, including denial of citizenship, under 1982 Citizenship Act, whichcontravenes generally accepted international norms to ensure that there is no State-sanctioneddiscrimination on the basis of religion and ethnicity”. Earlier in March 2009, in his statementat the 10th session of the Human Rights Council, Mr. Quintana said, “Despite being in thisregion for generations, this population is stateless. This population is not recognized by theGovernment as one of the ethnic groups of the Union of Myanmar and is subject todiscrimination…..it should be granted all other privileges, including the citizenship, whichrecognized ethnic groups, citizens of Myanmar do enjoy in the Union.”
Rohingya dilemma From all legal stand points, the ethnic Rohingya are one of the national races of Arakan andconstitute one of the many indigenous peoples of Burma. In spite of that, the regime hastotally rejected them as Burmese nationals; the Rakhine Buddhists of Arakan also rebuff andcensure them as illegal Bengali settlers, while the forums of the Burma democracy movement
and ethnic nationalities are reluctant to accept and accommodate them in their numerousalliances, on democratic principles. Under the circumstance, the Rohingya will continue to beleft out from the country’s future political and democratic process. This is a real dilemma of the Rohingya.
lands (endowments) andgraveyards have been demolished or taken over. Extension, repairs and renovation, orconstruction of new mosques or religious institutes are prohibited. Muslim relics, monumentsand place names have been destroyed, changed and erased. All these attempts aim at effacingthe Muslim character of Arakan. Lots of Rohingyas were arrested by the authorities formaking usual necessary repairs to their mosques.
Exodus into Bangladesh is in cyclic order:
Bangladesh has had experienced two unprecedented Rohingya refugee exoduses from Arakanin 1978 and 1991-92, each with about 300,000 refugees. Despite repatriation, the flights of refugees into Bangladesh are still continuing unabated. Given the continued persecution of Rohingya — their position of statelessness, food insecurity, denial of access to education andemployment, lack of security of life, property, dignity and honour – they have virtuallybecome a dying alive people, counting their days in a state of terror and jeopardy. Thisimpossible situation is a ‘push factor’ that the Burmese regime has created wanting theRohingyas to slowly leave their hearth and home for Bangladesh and other countries, if at allpossible, without international attention. Thus their exodus into Bangladesh is in cyclic order.
Rohingya become desperate to be drowned in the sea
Under extreme situation, the Rohingya have desperately chosen perilous voyages by racketyboats across seas and oceans; and hundreds of boat people have had drowned over the yearsto become fish feed of the hungry sharks. Some of them were rescued or detained in SriLanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. A large number people werevictimized at the hands of the greedy exploiters and human traffickers.In 3rd week of November 2011, about 140 Rohingya boat people had drowned. The floatingdead bodies in the river Naf were not allowed for funerals or burials on the Burmese side of the border. Another group of 63, who were intercepted by Burmese security forces atKawthaung, in southern Burma, were sentenced to one and half years each by a townshipcourt under Immigration Emergency Act 31(6)(2). It is absolutely an inhuman act. In anothermishap at least 5 people drowned and around 25 went missing when a Malaysia-boundtrawler carrying some 130 passengers capsized near Saint Martin Island in the Bay of Bengalon the night of 14 December.U Thein Sein government has accelerated the persecution of Rohingya. Its anarchic Nasaka
forces have wretched the whole Rohingya population. Then again, particularly after the visitof Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Burma on 5-7 December, the Rohingyarefugees in Bangladesh are in fear and frustration that they might be forcibly repatriated toArakan, where the situation of human rights has further deteriorated. According to variousreports, living in squalid condition, the refugees have had endured much harassment of theBangladesh law enforcement agencies, camp security personnel and local goons. Manyrefugees lost their lives over the years whilst resisting repatriation without their deliverance.Now again, the refugees become desperate to take to the sea in their attempts to go toMalaysia in order to avoid being repatriated to Arakan and to escape persecution andstarvation in Burma.6
The attitude of the ruling civilianized military government
The new civilianized government of U Thein Sein is talking changes in Burma. The suddenadjustment in political stratagem of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, followed by a three-day visit toBurma by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from November 30, revives people’s hope forat least amorphous changes. But there is no serene expression on the faces of the Rohingyasdue to increasing sign of regime’s harsh attitude towards them. The regime reaffirmed itsdiscriminatory racial profiling in parliament at the end of August. Immigration Minister KhinYi justified the continuation of restrictions on the basic freedoms of the Rohingya, such asfreedom of movement, marriage and education by accusing them of Bengalis having sharedcommon religion, culture, appearance and language with the people in Bangladesh. Thisdisavowal has encouraged to launch anti-Rohingya propagandas by the state patronizedracists and xenophobes inside and outside the country, under the guidance of RakhineNational Democratic Party (RNDP). Today the popular slogans of the xenophobes in Arakanare
, “Arakan and Buddhism are synonymous. Arakan is only for Rakhine. Muslims or Rohingya are illegal Bengali immigrants; they have nothing to do in Arakan”.
Why common sense is not applied in the case of Rohingya:
Burma is an ethnically diverse country. Peoples of different ethnical backgrounds are livingall around the bordering areas of the country. All of them have natural affinities with thepeople living on the other sides of the international borders; for example, Kachin in China andIndia, Chin in India and Bangladesh, Rakhine in Bangladesh, Mon and Karen in Thailand andLaos etc. While this inherent identicalness between them are accepted, the regime and vestedinterest groups reject the existence of Rohingya in Burma for having resemblance with thepeople of adjacent Chittagong region in Bangladesh, only because they are Muslims and arein South Asian appearance in contrast to Southeast Asian appearance.
In reality all the Buddhists are not citizens of Burma, not all the Muslims and Christians are illegalimmigrants of Burma.
Aspect of the Rohingya Problem:
The Rohingya problem has two aspects: political and humanitarian. It is political because itconstitutes grave violations of human rights and flagrant denial of elementary liberty andfreedom, particularly the liberty to continue their living in their own homeland and in thehearth and home of their ancestors.During to Burma from 15 to 19 February, 2010, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN SpecialRapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma, “urges the regime to end theunacceptable discrimination, human rights abuses and resultant severe economic deprivationthey (Rohingya) face, including denial of citizenship, under 1982 Citizenship Act, whichcontravenes generally accepted international norms to ensure that there is no State-sanctioneddiscrimination on the basis of religion and ethnicity”. Earlier in March 2009, in his statementat the 10th session of the Human Rights Council, Mr. Quintana said, “Despite being in thisregion for generations, this population is stateless. This population is not recognized by theGovernment as one of the ethnic groups of the Union of Myanmar and is subject todiscrimination…..it should be granted all other privileges, including the citizenship, whichrecognized ethnic groups, citizens of Myanmar do enjoy in the Union.”
Rohingya dilemma From all legal stand points, the ethnic Rohingya are one of the national races of Arakan andconstitute one of the many indigenous peoples of Burma. In spite of that, the regime hastotally rejected them as Burmese nationals; the Rakhine Buddhists of Arakan also rebuff andcensure them as illegal Bengali settlers, while the forums of the Burma democracy movement
The attitude of the ruling civilianized military government
The new civilianized government of U Thein Sein is talking changes in Burma. The suddenadjustment in political stratagem of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, followed by a three-day visit toBurma by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from November 30, revives people’s hope forat least amorphous changes. But there is no serene expression on the faces of the Rohingyasdue to increasing sign of regime’s harsh attitude towards them. The regime reaffirmed itsdiscriminatory racial profiling in parliament at the end of August. Immigration Minister KhinYi justified the continuation of restrictions on the basic freedoms of the Rohingya, such asfreedom of movement, marriage and education by accusing them of Bengalis having sharedcommon religion, culture, appearance and language with the people in Bangladesh. Thisdisavowal has encouraged to launch anti-Rohingya propagandas by the state patronizedracists and xenophobes inside and outside the country, under the guidance of RakhineNational Democratic Party (RNDP). Today the popular slogans of the xenophobes in Arakanare
, “Arakan and Buddhism are synonymous. Arakan is only for Rakhine. Muslims or Rohingya are illegal Bengali immigrants; they have nothing to do in Arakan”.
Why common sense is not applied in the case of Rohingya:
Burma is an ethnically diverse country. Peoples of different ethnical backgrounds are livingall around the bordering areas of the country. All of them have natural affinities with thepeople living on the other sides of the international borders; for example, Kachin in China andIndia, Chin in India and Bangladesh, Rakhine in Bangladesh, Mon and Karen in Thailand andLaos etc. While this inherent identicalness between them are accepted, the regime and vestedinterest groups reject the existence of Rohingya in Burma for having resemblance with thepeople of adjacent Chittagong region in Bangladesh, only because they are Muslims and arein South Asian appearance in contrast to Southeast Asian appearance. In reality all the Buddhists are not citizens of Burma, not all the Muslims and Christians are illegalimmigrants of Burma.
Aspect of the Rohingya Problem:
The Rohingya problem has two aspects: political and humanitarian. It is political because itconstitutes grave violations of human rights and flagrant denial of elementary liberty andfreedom, particularly the liberty to continue their living in their own homeland and in thehearth and home of their ancestors.During to Burma from 15 to 19 February, 2010, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN SpecialRapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma, “urges the regime to end theunacceptable discrimination, human rights abuses and resultant severe economic deprivationthey (Rohingya) face, including denial of citizenship, under 1982 Citizenship Act, whichcontravenes generally accepted international norms to ensure that there is no State-sanctioneddiscrimination on the basis of religion and ethnicity”. Earlier in March 2009, in his statementat the 10th session of the Human Rights Council, Mr. Quintana said, “Despite being in thisregion for generations, this population is stateless. This population is not recognized by theGovernment as one of the ethnic groups of the Union of Myanmar and is subject todiscrimination…..it should be granted all other privileges, including the citizenship, whichrecognized ethnic groups, citizens of Myanmar do enjoy in the Union.”
Rohingya dilemma From all legal stand points, the ethnic Rohingya are one of the national races of Arakan andconstitute one of the many indigenous peoples of Burma. In spite of that, the regime hastotally rejected them as Burmese nationals; the Rakhine Buddhists of Arakan also rebuff andcensure them as illegal Bengali settlers, while the forums of the Burma democracy movement 7 and ethnic nationalities are reluctant to accept and accommodate them in their numerousalliances, on democratic principles. Under the circumstance, the Rohingya will continue to beleft out from the country’s future political and democratic process. This is a real dilemma of the Rohingya.
Conclusion
The “Rohingya problem”, with their ‘refugee issue’ and ‘boat people crisis’, is a manmadehuman tragedy deeply entrenched in the Burmese junta’s extremely discriminatory policiesand planned extermination of the Rohingya minority from their ancestral homeland of Arakan. In fact, the issue of Rohingya tangle or problem needs to be resolved first andforemost within Burma, where they are not recognized as an ethnic group and deniedcitizenship. Until these root causes are addressed by the ruling junta, as well as those allconcerned in future, the Rohingya will be in a permanent limbo; and Bangladesh, because of her geographical contiguity with Arakan, has to continue bearing the brunt of the Rohingyaproblem.There is bee-line escaping of Rohingya from Arakan into Bangladesh and onward to Middle-East, Southeast Asian and other countries using all available means of transportation. Thusthe Rohingya problem is a regional problem with international dimension. In the absence of national protection they deserve international protection, and as such international communitycan be taken as their hope. Meanwhile, a permanent solution is to be found out with theconcerted efforts of the international community with UNO, OIC and all those countries thatare caught up in the Rohingya refugee problem and boat people crisis. In this connection, thegovernment of Bangladesh is required to play a “key role”. 7
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The new civilianized government of U Thein Sein is talking changes in Burma. The suddenadjustment in political stratagem of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, followed by a three-day visit toBurma by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from November 30, revives people’s hope forat least amorphous changes. But there is no serene expression on the faces of the Rohingyasdue to increasing sign of regime’s harsh attitude towards them. The regime reaffirmed itsdiscriminatory racial profiling in parliament at the end of August. Immigration Minister KhinYi justified the continuation of restrictions on the basic freedoms of the Rohingya, such asfreedom of movement, marriage and education by accusing them of Bengalis having sharedcommon religion, culture, appearance and language with the people in Bangladesh. Thisdisavowal has encouraged to launch anti-Rohingya propagandas by the state patronizedracists and xenophobes inside and outside the country, under the guidance of RakhineNational Democratic Party (RNDP). Today the popular slogans of the xenophobes in Arakanare
, “Arakan and Buddhism are synonymous. Arakan is only for Rakhine. Muslims or Rohingya are illegal Bengali immigrants; they have nothing to do in Arakan”.
Why common sense is not applied in the case of Rohingya:
Burma is an ethnically diverse country. Peoples of different ethnical backgrounds are livingall around the bordering areas of the country. All of them have natural affinities with thepeople living on the other sides of the international borders; for example, Kachin in China andIndia, Chin in India and Bangladesh, Rakhine in Bangladesh, Mon and Karen in Thailand andLaos etc. While this inherent identicalness between them are accepted, the regime and vestedinterest groups reject the existence of Rohingya in Burma for having resemblance with thepeople of adjacent Chittagong region in Bangladesh, only because they are Muslims and arein South Asian appearance in contrast to Southeast Asian appearance. In reality all the Buddhists are not citizens of Burma, not all the Muslims and Christians are illegalimmigrants of Burma.
Aspect of the Rohingya Problem:
The Rohingya problem has two aspects: political and humanitarian. It is political because itconstitutes grave violations of human rights and flagrant denial of elementary liberty andfreedom, particularly the liberty to continue their living in their own homeland and in thehearth and home of their ancestors.During to Burma from 15 to 19 February, 2010, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN SpecialRapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma, “urges the regime to end theunacceptable discrimination, human rights abuses and resultant severe economic deprivationthey (Rohingya) face, including denial of citizenship, under 1982 Citizenship Act, whichcontravenes generally accepted international norms to ensure that there is no State-sanctioneddiscrimination on the basis of religion and ethnicity”. Earlier in March 2009, in his statementat the 10th session of the Human Rights Council, Mr. Quintana said, “Despite being in thisregion for generations, this population is stateless. This population is not recognized by theGovernment as one of the ethnic groups of the Union of Myanmar and is subject todiscrimination…..it should be granted all other privileges, including the citizenship, whichrecognized ethnic groups, citizens of Myanmar do enjoy in the Union.”
Rohingya dilemma From all legal stand points, the ethnic Rohingya are one of the national races of Arakan andconstitute one of the many indigenous peoples of Burma. In spite of that, the regime hastotally rejected them as Burmese nationals; the Rakhine Buddhists of Arakan also rebuff andcensure them as illegal Bengali settlers, while the forums of the Burma democracy movement 7 and ethnic nationalities are reluctant to accept and accommodate them in their numerousalliances, on democratic principles. Under the circumstance, the Rohingya will continue to beleft out from the country’s future political and democratic process. This is a real dilemma of the Rohingya.
Conclusion
The “Rohingya problem”, with their ‘refugee issue’ and ‘boat people crisis’, is a manmadehuman tragedy deeply entrenched in the Burmese junta’s extremely discriminatory policiesand planned extermination of the Rohingya minority from their ancestral homeland of Arakan. In fact, the issue of Rohingya tangle or problem needs to be resolved first andforemost within Burma, where they are not recognized as an ethnic group and deniedcitizenship. Until these root causes are addressed by the ruling junta, as well as those allconcerned in future, the Rohingya will be in a permanent limbo; and Bangladesh, because of her geographical contiguity with Arakan, has to continue bearing the brunt of the Rohingyaproblem.There is bee-line escaping of Rohingya from Arakan into Bangladesh and onward to Middle-East, Southeast Asian and other countries using all available means of transportation. Thusthe Rohingya problem is a regional problem with international dimension. In the absence of national protection they deserve international protection, and as such international communitycan be taken as their hope. Meanwhile, a permanent solution is to be found out with theconcerted efforts of the international community with UNO, OIC and all those countries thatare caught up in the Rohingya refugee problem and boat people crisis. In this connection, thegovernment of Bangladesh is required to play a “key role”. 7
and ethnic nationalities are reluctant to accept and accommodate them in their numerousalliances, on democratic principles. Under the circumstance, the Rohingya will continue to beleft out from the country’s future political and democratic process. This is a real dilemma of the Rohingya.
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