Revision as of 10:31, 17 September 2017

The background

Plight of the Rohingyas: Why they remain world's most unwanted, August 28, 2017: The Times of India

Who are Myanmar's Rohingya people?

Widely seen as among the world's most persecuted ethnic groups, the Rohingyas are a Muslim minority group in Myanmar. Ethnically , they are much closer to the indoAryan Indians and Bangladesh than to the Sino-Tibetans that constitute the majority population of the country. They live in Rakhine state in the country's western coast. There is a controversy over their history in Myanmar. The Rohingyas claim to have lived in the country for centuries, but other ethnic groups as well as successive governments call them foreign immigrants. Amnesty International says that LEAR Muslim people have WI been living on the THE T Rakhine coast since the 8th to 9th century . There was, however, a substantial migration of Muslims during the British colonial period from the early 19th to the 20th century where migration from what is now Ban gladesh to this region was encouraged by the British to meet the demand for labour.

How did the 1982 citizenship law affect Rohingyas?

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the 1982 citizenship law deprived the Rohingyas of Myanmar's citizenship. The law violates several fundamental principles of customary interna tional law. The government has also issued identity cards which need to be carried at all times and are required for virtually everything from buying tickets, registering children in school, staying overnight outside one's own council, applying for any professional post, buying or exchanging land and more.This has effectively resulted in deprivation of fundamental rights and persecution on the basis of ethnicity.

How bad is the situation?

In Myanmar, Rohingyas are subjected to forced labour and are required to work for the government for no pay .UNHCR and other agencies as well as news reports also note that since 1991their freedom of movement is restricted and they are not allowed to find work in the cities.Since most of them are unskilled labourers, even a few days of work without pay paralyses their livelihood.They are also subjected to arbitrary taxation and forced relocation. Between December 1991 and March 1992, over 2 lakh Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh. A similar exodus happened in 1978.These refugees live in pitiable conditions and are often forcefully repatriated. Stories of Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Thailand, Malaysia keep appearing in newspapers. In short, they have no fundamental rights at home and are often not accepted in other countries.

What is the current situation?

Since 2012, Myanmar's Rakhine state has been the site of ongoing riots between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. Thousands of homes have been torched and Amnesty International estimates that there might be between 50,000 and 90,000 people displaced. Many experts believe that there are about 40,000 Rohingyas living in India. It has been reported that there is pressure from some groups to deport them back, while human rights organisations argue against the deportation citing their persecution at home.

The Indian position

2017

Indrani Bagchi, India for multi-dimensional approach to Rohingya issue, Sep 17, 2017: The Times of India

HIGHLIGHTS

After PM Modi's Myanmar visit, India called on Myanmar to stop the violence and control the refugee outflow..

A four-pronged policy on Rohingya refugee problem is being worked on by the government.

India will assist in the development of the Rakhine province to tackle the problem at its source.

PM Narendra Modi's apparent endorsement of Myanmar's military crackdown on Rohingya extremist groups set off alarm bells in Bangladesh and India — though for different reasons — and is likely to result in a multi-dimensional approach that will include India pressing for apolitical solution.

Within hours of Modi's return, his decision to skip addressing the refugee issue had the wires between India and Bangladesh buzzing and senior officials conferred to tweak the Indian approach. After Bangladesh high commissioner Muazzem Ali met foreign secretary S Jaishankar, India made a significant course correction, calling on Myanmar to stop the violence and control the refugee outflow.

India has run daily flights with relief material for the Bangladesh government to deal with Rohingya refugees. The development comes even as the Supreme Court is hearing a petition challenging the proposed deportation of illegal Rohingya migrants and it remains a political issue for the BJP government, as articulated by minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju. But sifting through disparate statements and conversations with senior government sources, show that a four-pronged policy is being worked on. This will find articulation in the statements by foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, who will lead the Indian delegation to the UN General Assembly for the second time running.

India will continue to support Myanmar's right to go after ARSA or AMM and any other Rohingya terror group. In a statement of September 9, the MEA stated, "We had earlier condemned the terrorist attacks on Myanmar security forces in Rakhine.The two countries have since affirmed their shared determination to combat terrorism and not allow its justification under any pretext." In addition, India will assist in the development of the Rakhine province as a means of tackling the problem of deprivation at its source. India will also push Myanmar to find a political solution to the crisis.

As Swaraj told Sheikh Hasina in a phone conversation on Friday, India will oppose Myanmar's acts of pushing Rohingyas into Bangladesh or other countries. The situation can substantially increase the possibility of Pakistan-based terror groups like LeT, Al Qaeda and even ISIS exploiting displaced Rohingyas for terror activities. There is enough evidence that a number of Rohingyas have been radicalised by such agencies.

In Bangladesh, which is already battling its own terrorist problem, addition of a radicalised population could be used by opposition Jamaat and BNP for political ends. Sources said the Indian government will defend its right to evict illegal migrants. The issue is politically sensitive for BJP which campaigned against such migration in the north-east states. The presence of Rohingyas in Jammu has sparked more such fears. Others have pointed to terror leaders like Zakir Musa supporting the Rohingyas as reason to deport them.

While security concerns are still paramount, Myanmar faces the difficult task of a political solution to the Rohingya issue. This will be hard for state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi as it will impact her support among Buddhists, whose resurgent nationalism is one of the reasons for the Rohingyas' plight.

On the other hand, Sheikh Hasina is battling with the prospect that stateless Rohingyas can become a political tool against her. Using Kashmir as a comparison point, Suu Kyi said, "Because (there is) a large Muslim community in India and in places like Kashmir, you had this trouble of sorting out terrorists from innocent citizens".

Migration, from Myanmar to Bangladesh

The Hindu

Bangladesh seeks peaceful solution to Rohingya crisis

Haroon Habib, NOVEMBER 24, 2016

Bangladesh has expressed “great concern” over the ongoing crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine State where a military operation against “Islamist jihadists” has triggered a humanitarian emergency.

The foreign office has handed a formal letter to Myanmar asking the authorities to intervene so that the Rohingya Muslims fleeing the conflict-zone can return to their homes.

In a meeting with Myo Myint Than, Myanmar’s envoy in Dhaka, the foreign office has requested Myanmar to take immediate steps to take back the Rohingyas already entered Bangladesh recently, sources said. Additional Foreign Secretary Kamrul Ahsan later told reporters that Bangladesh is looking forward to a peaceful resolution of the ongoing crisis.

Tension has been rife on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border after militants allegedly linked to Aqa Mul Mujahidin group launched attacks on Myanmar’s border police and the army, resulting in the deaths of a dozen law enforcers early this month. The Myanmar Army has since been conducting operations in Rakhine, home for the country’s over a million Rohingya people.

Meanwhile, the local commanders of the Bangladesh Border Guard and Myanmar Border Police held a meeting in Cox’s Bazar, a border town, on Wednesday to discuss migration and security issues.

Local media reported that hundreds of Rohingyas were now floating in boats in the Naaf river, struggling to enter Bangladesh territory. Bangladesh has already tightened its border security by deploying more personnel to prevent a further influx of Rohingyas as officials say the country already hosts a large number such refugees from Myanmar.

Despite tight security, many Rohingya families have entered Bangladesh along river routes after the latest crisis broke out. In some cases, the border security guards pushed them back after giving humanitarian assistance.

The UNHCR on November 18 urged Bangladesh to keep its border with Myanmar open for the Rohingyas.

An unending crisis

The Hindu, January 2, 2017

Suvojit Bagchi

In Cox’s Bazaar, Rohingyas huddle together in shacks in a harsh winter

Describing the influx of refugees from Myanmar to southeast Bangladesh as a “forgotten crisis”, Sarat Dash, chief of mission of the International Organisation for Migration in Bangladesh, has said the crisis is worsening in the Rohingya refugee camps.

Mr. Dash visited the camps in Cox’s Bazaar district with the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia and Bangladesh and said “34,000 refugees” had moved from Myanmar to Bangladesh since the recent spate of ethnic violence in Rakhine state of Myanmar. While at least half-a-dozen international humanitarian agencies were working in the area, the situation was worsening with the advent of winter, Mr. Dash said.

Difficult times

“With severe crisis of shelter and food [as] the winter is approaching, there is a serious need of winter clothes; also an urgent need of medical assistance and psycho-social help,” Mr. Dash said. He said a “lot of the refugees are visibly depressed [as] they had traumatic experiences”.

Since the beginning of an anti-Rohingya cleansing drive in parts of Myanmar from the early 1990s, three lakh to five lakh refugees have settled in southeastern Bangladesh, according to the National Strategy on Myanmar Refugees report by the Bangladesh Government in 2013.

Besides the 32,000 officially registered refugees, there are nearly 50,000 in the makeshift settlements near the camps, says the Prime Minister’s National Strategy report.

The report also says that another three lakh to five lakh “undocumented Myanmar nationals” are living across Cox’s Bazaar. They are mainly settled in the upazilas (sub-districts) along the 62-km western bank of the Naaf river.

The Foreign Ministers and Mr. Dash visited these sub-districts and the IOM has concluded that 34,000 more refugees have arrived since early October.

Influx on

“The condition of the refugees already settled is not any good. But since they are staying over a period of time, they have managed to somewhat put together their lives. But these new people came empty-handed and without resources and thus their living condition is worse than pavement dwellers in Kolkata. Unlike the pavement dwellers, they are living in forest land or uninhabited land,” Mr. Dash said.

As the Rohingya refugees, many of whom speak Bengali, are pouring in large numbers, on an average of 500 a day, the sub-districts are getting crowded by the hour, increasing pressure on hygiene, sanitation and security.

“But do we have an option other than to give them shelter in our tiny plastic thatched boxes,” asked Mahmudulla, a schoolteacher. Mr. Mahmudulla came to Cox’s Bazaar in the early 1990s and speaks urban Bengali.

He has documented the violence on the Rohingyas in Rakhine state on the other side of the Naaf river.

“The villages on the other side — at least 20 — are decimated and we could only see the smoke, hear them screaming for help. It is gut-wrenching as I had experienced similar attacks a quarter century ago,” Mr. Mahmudulla told The Hindu on the phone from Cox’s Bazaar.

The photographs — mutilated bodies, charred corpses covered with banana leaves and burning villages — that Mr. Mahmudulla received on his mobile phone, describe the trauma that the Rohingyas are experiencing. Nearly 90 people are officially killed till last week. While the killings are denied by the Myanmar government, Rohingya refugees in the camps in Bangladesh said they had now “stopped counting the bodies” of their family members.

15 to a room

“It is locally called “doubling” as the refugees are entering the semi-permanent shack of another refugee family, which perhaps arrived few years ago,” Mr. Dash said. The space shortage was acute. “Fifteen or 16 persons living in a tiny room which has only plastic on all sides.”

At night, the men take their turn to rest in the local mosque.

“The temperature is dropping and there is an immediate need to provide some basic comfort, especially to children,” Mr. Dash said. One in every three children was severely malnourished. The IOM has set up medical camps, provided drinking water and set up toilets in the camps.

Israel helps Myanmar army against Rohingyas

Shailaja Neelakantan, How Israel is helping Myanmar army against Rohingya, Sep 7, 2017: The Times of India

HIGHLIGHTS

Israel has sold Myanmar more than a 100 tanks, and weapons and boats

Notably, the US and the European Union (EU) have an arms embargo on Myanmar

The EU's embargo on Myanmar refers to the ban on sales of "equipment which might be used for internal repression"

Israel has refused to stop supplying arms to the Myanmar army, which human rights groups say is involved in the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims+ , saying, "the matter is clearly diplomatic", reported online news portal Middle East Eye (MEE).

Not just that, Israeli arms companies like TAR Ideal Concepts have even trained Myanmar's special forces in Rakhine state where most of the violence against the Rohingya has taken place, added MEE.

The weapons Israel has sold Myanmar include more than a 100 tanks, and weapons and boats used to police its border, said human rights groups and Burmese officials.

Notably, the US and the European Union (EU) have an arms embargo on Myanmar. The US cites the International Religious Freedom Act and uses the embargo on countries that have "engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom".

The EU's embargo on Myanmar refers to the ban on sales of "equipment which might be used for internal repression".

In the latest bout of violence that began August 25, and that was triggered by an attack on Myanmar police posts, at least 400 Rohingya have been killed, and as many as 146,000 have made their way, starving and terrified, to Bangladesh, reported the Associated Press. Satellite images show dozens of Rohingya villages burned to the ground by the Myanmar army, agencies reported. On Tuesday, even the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, expressed concern the violence could spiral into a "humanitarian catastrophe".

Last December, Israeli lawyers and human rights activists wrote to their country's defence ministry urging it to suspend a military shipment ordered by the Myanmar Army. They said Myanmar still commits human rights abuses against minority groups, reported The Irrawaddy, a website run by exiles from Myanmar in Thailand.

"It is surprising that the State of Israel, while struggling for continued sanctions against Iran, has no qualms about ignoring the US and EU sanctions against Burma for the most severe crimes being committed there," read the letter.

In January this year, following visits by Israeli officials to Myanmar and vice versa, to discuss arms deals, activists in Israel filed a petition urging their government to stop arms exports to Myanmar.

The petition is expected to be heard later this month, but in March, in a preliminary reply, the Israeli defence ministry said the court had no jurisdiction over the issue. The ministry said arms sales to Myanmar were "clearly diplomatic", reported MEE.

Myanmar-Israel ties

In fact, diplomatic and military ties between Israel and Myanmar flourished even during the military dictatorship in the latter, said Ofer Neiman, an Israeli human rights activist, to MEE.

In September 2015, two months before the country's first election in 25 years, one of the heads of the then Myanmar junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, who's now chief of the armed forces, visited Israel on a "shopping trip" of Israeli military manufacturers, reported Israel's Haaretz. His delegation met President Reuven Rivlin and other military officials including the army's chief of staff. Hlaing also visited military bases and defense contractors Elbit Systems and Elta Systems, added Haaretz

In June 2015, the head of Israel's defence export department Gen Michel Ben Baruch visited Burma and met with leaders of the Burma Army, reported The Irawaddy.

Israel's relationship to Myanmar is linked to Israel's ongoing occupation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank, said Neiman, Neiman, the Israeli human rights activist, to MEE.

"This policy is strongly related to Israel's oppression and dispossession of the Palestinian people. Weapons used against the Palestinians are being sold as 'field-tested' to some of the worst regimes on the planet," said Nieman to MEE.

Some analysts say they aren't surprised that Israel refuses to stop arms sales to Myanmar.

"It's not at all surprising that the latest escalation in Myanmar's genocide of the Rohingya has not moved the Israeli state to cease its supply of weapons to Myanmar's military," said Penny Green, director of the International State Crime Initiative at London's Queen Mary University, to MEE.

"Its own record of violence and terror against the Palestinian people of Gaza is clear enough evidence that the Israeli government is unmoved by ethical concerns and human rights," added Green.