Overseas Rohingya Groups Urged UN Refugee Agency to Register Rohingya Refugees in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as Refugees

For Immediate Release

Date: December 10, 2010

Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia and their Plight On the occasion of International Human Rights Day 2010

Today, people in all over the world mark the 62^nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948. We, the undersigned organizations express our firm deed towards full respect and implementation of all sorts of human rights norms as declared in the UDHR with a view to pursuing the accountability of the declaration.

It is undeniable that the people of Burma have been experiencing of gross human rights abuses in the hands of Burmese military ruler since 1962, while the Rohingya people’s experiences are much earlier than that year, even in the times of Parliamentary Democracy Period. These inhumanities forced the Rohingya people to be scattered in across the neighboring countries, particularly in Bangladesh, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and etc.

Wherever, they reach, they are deprived of their basic human rights and human dignity as all these neighboring courtiers are not party the United Nations Refugee Instruments. These states of Rohingyas’ refuge are not bound to respect the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and thus install inhuman pressures over the Rohingya vulnerable.

Many quarters express very slight commitments towards temporary settlement of Rohingya refugees by believing Muslim in religion but do nothing except the development of modern salvation, which is not only promoted by the authorities but also by every local individuals.

We notices that the US officials and the international community have realized some facts of inhumanity, enforcing by the Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh but notably the issues of refugee rights violations in Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand are kept uncovered.

Among the ASEAN nations, Malaysia is found as extra ordinary and parliamentary dictatorship which never considered the appeal of Rohingya refugees in Malaysia for advocating their causes to the international community to have permanent solution rather unreliable temporary local integration or the development of effective mechanism towards ethnic cleansing or religious tension in near future.

We also found that the Malaysia is one of the key states which support the Burmese military regime to keep in power under the current agenda of the improvement of nuclear in the regions in order to strengthen ASEAN regional atomic command.

Therefore, we appeal to the international community to urgently install pressure on Burmese military regime for people elected democracy in conjunction with cheerful pressure on Muslim states, particularly Malaysia, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to stop slavery ambition over the Rohingya refugees and to ensure their basic human rights and human dignity within a time frame.

We appeal the UN Refugee Agency to immediately take step to open refugee registration and refugee status determination process in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and other Muslim countries to extend international protection for the Rohingya Refugees.

We also appeal the UNHCR to take necessary measure to refer the cases of the Rohingya refugees to the refugee resettlement countries with special provision, particularly from Malaysia.

We appeal the refugee resettlement countries to make spaces for the Rohingya refugees who are being marginalized by the concerned quarters for past few decades.

Signed by:

1-Arakan Rohingya Refugee Committee (ARRC), Malaysia

2-Arakan Rohingya Organization-Japan (JARO)

3-Arakan Rohingya Ulama Council (ARUC), Malaysia

4-Burmese Rohingya Association in UAE (BRA-UAE)

5-Canadian Burmese Rohingya Organization (CBRO), Canada

6-Human Rights Association for Rohingya (HURAR), Arakan –Burma

7-Myanmar Muslim Council (MMC), KSA

8-National Council for Rohingya (NCR), Malaysia

9-National Democratic Party for Human Rights (NDPHR-exile) USA (HQ)

10-Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYDF) Arakan-Burma

11-World Rohingya Congress (WRC), USA

For further information, please contact:

1- Mohammad Sadek (Tel: 60 16-3094599)

2- Kyaw Soe Aung (Tel: 414-7364273)