Clashes between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists & Rohingya Muslims, first occurring in June 2012, affected hundreds of thousands of families in Rakhine. Mr. Nambiar met with the President, Foreign Minister, other senior officials, & spoke with diplomats & members of political parties, representatives of ethnic armed groups, civil society, aid agencies, women & youth organizations.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48553#.U_u-iPBX-uY
Will the Myanmar/Burma Government follow through for Rohingya and other ethnic minorities? Actions speak louder than words. Let us pray and hope this is a step in the right direction to ending genocide.
For Myanmar Muslim Minority, No Escape from Brutality – Saturday, NY Times
No, this is not a holding pen for pigs but camp used by traffickers for Rohingya fleeing by boat – Thailand is the way station where the Rohingya, denied citizenship in Myanmar by national law, arrive on fishing boats.
Silence to a GENOCIDE: Western donors & UN say they are reluctant to antagonize government of Myanmar, which has started along path of economic & political reform. Donors have chosen quiet diplomacy over outspoken criticism of government’s policies toward Rohingya.
UN Human Rights Expert Highlights Remaining Challenges in Myanmar
“Rule of law cannot yet be said to exist in Myanmar,” expert said, adding current situation in Rakhine state – scene of waves of Buddhist-Muslim violence – still represents a particular obstacle & a threat to the reform process.
UNHCR is lead agency for shelter, camp coordination, management & protection in humanitarian response in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Current priority is to provide temporary relief for displaced during rainy season.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45614&Cr=myanmar&Cr1=#.UguXItWnapg
Rohingya Muslims are fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. They are the land’s despised minority not wanted in Myanmar and not welcomed by Southeast Asia neighbors. Many take their chances on the open sea. Many are turned away, and many drown as the world silently watches. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today appealed to Southeast Asia governments to open borders. This month, the Bay of Bengal witnessed sinking boats and more drownings are expected as an increasing number of internally displaced Rohingya Muslims flee in fear, desperation, and hope for a better future.
UN News Centre Source
“We are calling on countries in the region to strengthen burden-sharing in the face of this growing humanitarian emergency – we stand ready to support states in assisting and protecting these individuals,” the chief spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Melissa Fleming, told journalists in Geneva today.
According to UNHCR, an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 people set out into the Bay of Bengal from Myanmar during the previous sailing season, from October 2011 to March 2012. Each year, the sailing season sees a mix of asylum-seekers and irregular migrants risk their lives on fishing boats in the hope of finding safety and a better life elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
Ms. Fleming said UNHCR was “seriously concerned” at the recent boat tragedies in the Bay of Bengal, involving people fleeing insecurity and violence in Myanmar. In the last two weeks, there have been reports of two boats sinking off western Myanmar with an estimated 240 people on board – among them, Rohingya from Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
The north of Rakhine state has been the site of inter-communal violence over recent months. The violence first began in June, with clashes between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, which eventually led the Government to declare a state of emergency there. The violence reportedly left at least a dozen civilians dead and hundreds of homes destroyed, while internally displacing some 75,000 people.
Since then, at least 89 people have been killed and 35,000 displaced in the wake of a renewed upsurge in violence, beginning in late September, which also left more than 5,300 houses and religious buildings destroyed, according to UN estimates.
Ms. Fleming said the refugee agency cannot confirm any figures in relation to casualties from the reported sinkings “as we have no presence near the wreck sites, but available information is that more than 40 people have been rescued from the two boats.” She noted that there were reports of bodies seen floating in the water.
While calling on other states to keep their borders open, the UN refugee agency is also alarmed by reports of countries either pushing back boats from their shores or helping them on to another country.
“We are appealing to these governments to uphold their long tradition of providing humanitarian aid to refugees instead of shifting the responsibility to another state,” Ms. Fleming said.
The UN refugee agency is urging the Government of Myanmar to take urgent action to address some of the main factors prompting people to take to the sea, Ms. Fleming added, especially issues connected with the problem of citizenship and statelessness in relation to the Rohingyas in Rakhine state. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has previously urged the authorities in Myanmar to take action to bring an end to the lawlessness currently affecting the state.
Looking back several years ago, Myanmar’s Ambassador to Singapore was quoted as describing the Rohingya as “ugly as ogres,” that they didn’t look anything like Burmese, being darker. In casting out these internally displaced refugees only to drown at sea, are Rohinya Muslims facing ethnic cleansing?
By, Susan Sacirbey
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With US Presidential Election results dominating the headlines and information of displaced and suffering from Hurricane Sandy in mainstream US media, it was refreshing to see that another internally displaced group, Myanmar’s Rohingya, was featured in today’s New York Times article, “Charity Says Threats Foil Medical Aid in Myanmar.”
This past week has been a difficult one for many of us in New York and New Jersey as we battle out from the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Personally, I know friends from both Staten Island and New Jersey who have lost their homes and all their possessions. I cannot imagine the displaced in another world where their fellow countrymen and government officials find distaste in the color of their skin.
Rakhine State, which borders Bangladesh, is an impoverished area of Myanmar, that is home to the ethnic Muslim Rohingya minority who are reviled by many in Myanmar and by the majority in Rakine State. In June, a Buddhist girl was raped and murdered, resulting in now over 100,000 Muslims fleeing their homes to refugee camps. Another ethnic group, the Kaman Muslims, have also been forced from their homes. There is severe malnutrition in these camps, and malaria is widespread. Other groups not displaced are still cut off from healthcare, and there is fear violence could escalate to other areas of Myanmar.
Unfortunately, today’s news for the Rohingya worsens. Doctors Without Borders has been thwarted from delivering relief assistance to the Muslim Rohingya by radical Buddhist groups. Intense sectarian violence is pervading Rakhine State, and people are in urgent need of medical assistance from wounds sustained in the violence. Doctors Without Borders personnel fear for their own personal safety and have received direct threats for treating the Muslims.
“I’ve never experienced this degree of intolerance,” Joe Belliveau, the operations manager for Doctors Without Borders, said by telephone. “What we really need is for people to understand that giving medical aid is not a political act.”
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, there has been widespread deployment of Myanmar security forces to Rakhine State. The displaced fear the vacuum when troops leave the unstable area.
In yesterday’s news from UN News Centre, the United Nations food relief agency World Food Programme (WFP) distributed food to more than 27,000 in Rakhine State. Said its spokesperson, Elisabeth Byrs, food will be delivered directly to refugee camp communities, dispatched primarily by boat for logistics practicality.
At least 89 people have been killed and 35,000 displaced since the upsurge of inter-communal violence a fortnight ago. More than 5,300 houses and religious buildings have been destroyed, according to UN estimates.
At the news briefing, Ms. Byrs also noted that WFP urgently requires $11 million to cover the food needs of 100,000 displaced people for the next six months, as well as to ensure food can be purchased now and delivered in time.
Without a strong, immediate donor response, WFP would be forced to start cutting rations to the displaced by December, she stressed, adding that the agency will continue to work closely with the Myanmar authorities and local governments to ensure access to the most vulnerable populations.
President Thein Sein faces many challenges, leading a country out of military dictatorship and a repressive grip on its minorities, including both Muslim and Christian ethnic groups. Several years ago, Myanmar’s Ambassador to Singapore was quoted as describing the Rohingya as “ugly as ogres,” that they didn’t look anything like Burmese, being darker. I ask you to take a look at the picture of children in the Thea Chaung IDP Camp in Rakhine State provided by OCHA. All I see are incredibly beautiful children that should capture the world’s attention, respect, and love.
Susan Sacirbey
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Blog Report: MYANMAR SECURITY FORCES: “INSTIGATION OF INVOLVEMENT IN CLASHES,” By, Ambassador Mo
A day after we wondered why no more resolute response from UN to what appears an accelerated pace of ethnic cleansing directed at historically marginalized Rohingya minority in Burma, Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner, reacted: “We have been receiving a stream of reports from independent sources alleging discriminatory & arbitrary responses by security forces, & even their instigation of & involvement in clashes.” –MORE–
http://diplomaticallyincorrect.org/blog_post/myanmar-security-forces-instigation-of-involement-in-clashes/55177
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