Rohingya Refugees And Thailand’s ‘Push-Back’

Written by: IPCS

By Panchali Saikia

The Rohingya refugee crisis is not a new phenomenon, and it has now grabbed the attention of the international media for all the wrong reasons. The Rohingyas, in large numbers, are now trying to escape to Malaysia via the sea route through Thailand, but are being denied entry by Thai authorities and forcibly pushed back. Earlier this year around 91 persons believed to be Rohingyas were rescued near Andaman Island by the Indian Navy and around 129 by the Indonesian Navy in Aceh. The Rohingyas have been sheltered by Bangladesh for nearly three decades. What is the reason for their escape to Malaysia? Why is Thailand forcibly pushing them back to sea? Thailand has provided shelter to hundreds and thousands of other displaced people from Myanmar, why is then expelling the Rohingyas?

Why Are The Rohingyas Escaping To Malaysia?

Burma

Rohingyas fled repression in Myanmar and lived in exile, mainly in Bangladesh. Since Myanmar’s independence in 1948, its successive governments have attempted every possible way to push them out. The Emergency Immigration Act of 1978 and later the ethnic cleansing campaign known as Naga Min, or Dragon King, prosecuted illegal entrants, primarily in Rakhine state. This drove out nearly 200,000 Rohingyas from Myanmar.

However, after providing shelter to the Rohingyas for nearly three decades, Bangladesh is now concerned about the annual increase in their numbers. Apart from being an economic burden, the Rohingyas’ involvement in insurgent activities along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border is feared by the government. Hence to reduce the influx, the government has declared that it will no more consider any asylum seeker as refugee. Also, it has now denied permits for aid agencies to assist unregistered refugees. Anti-Rohingya communities in Bangladesh have also pressurized the government to repatriate the Rohingyas. Due to the denial of protection, assistance, and fear of repatriation, the Rohingyas are now escaping to Malaysia through the sea route. Malaysia is seen as the best destination because of the religion factor. Also, the Malaysian government’s permit to access the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has attracted asylum seekers.

Rohingyas: A Threat To And Burden For Thailand

This trend has become a major concern for Thailand, as most of these migrants/refugees escaping are landing in Thailand. It is not for the first time that Thailand has pushed them back. In 2008 and 2009, the Thai authorities were condemned by the international community for pushing the Rohingyas into international waters without any assistance or protection.

The Thai authorities are apprehensive of the influx and suspect that the Rohingyas are assisting the Muslim-led insurgency in southern Thailand, which has intensified in recent times. Furthermore, nearly 1 million other migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar are estimated to already be in Thailand. The exceeding numbers of illegal migrants will add to the economic burden and pose a threat to Thai national security. Unlike the other migrants in Thailand who play a major role contributing to the Thai economy (http://bit.ly/vl6ylg), the Rohingyas are only a liability and burden; they cannot get a work permit in Thailand as this requires a nationality verification certificate which the Rohingyas do not have.

Myanmar’s Denial Of Citizenship To Rohingyas

The primary problem and responsibility should lie with Myanmar. Rohingyas are primarily a Muslim ethnic group from the northern part of Arakan province (Rakhine State) of Myanmar. The term ‘Rohingya’ is derived from the Chittagonian dialect (Bengali language), in which the Rakhaine or Arakanese people are called ‘Rohangya’. In this context Myanmar should consider them a national ethnic group. But, they are denied citizenship and not recognized among the 135 national ethnic groups under the 1982 Citizenship Law, leaving them stateless and as illegal immigrants in their own country. Even under the Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar which was passed in 2008 it is stated that ‘Citizenship, naturalization and revocation of citizenship shall be as prescribed by law’. Their condition has not improved even today; approximately 800,000 Rohingyas living in Northern Arakan state and Rangon are effectively stateless and are subjected to discrimination and exploitation.

Most of the countries are hesitant to host the Rohingyas because they are denied citizenship in Myanmar and because of this, reaching an understanding with the Myanmar government on their resettlement or repatriation is difficult. For instance, earlier in December 2011 an agreement was reached at a meeting between President Thein Sein and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to repatriate Myanmarese refugees. But the Myanmarese government made it clear that only those refugees who met the key criteria under Myanmar citizenship law would be taken back, leaving the Rohingyas out in the cold.

Thailand has earlier attempted to repatriate refugees to Myanmar (http://bit.ly/s0OVak) but mostly only the Karen and Karenni ethnic groups. The increasing number of Rohingyas will be a serious issue, first, owing to the difficulties in cooperating with Myanmarese government, and second, because of identification. In Thailand’s nine refugee shelters, most of the refugees belong to the Karen and Karenni ethnic groups of Myanmar and only 10-12 per cent is Muslim. As the Rohingyas are not able to register themselves in Thailand, there are no official records on their numbers, because of which resettlement or repatriation becomes impossible.

The plight of the Rohingyas and the growing concern over their influx is not only confined to Myanmar, Bangladesh and Thailand. Other regional powers like India, Indonesia and Malaysia must also engage themselves considering its security implications. The forcible push-backs are a major threat to the maritime as well as border security of these countries. Left with no other option, the Rohingyas are vulnerable to being recruited by sea pirates and involved in arms and drug smuggling.

Panchali Saikia

Research Officer, IPCS

email: panchali@ipcs.org

 

December 31, 2011

Source: IPCS

Japan foreign minister heads to Myanmar

Koichiro Gemba (AFP PHOTO / KAZUHIRO NOGI)

TOKYO: Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba on Sunday left for Myanmar, in the latest high-profile diplomatic trip looking to encourage reforms in the isolated nation, Tokyo's public broadcaster reported.

Gemba's visit, the first by a Japanese foreign minister since 2002, comes as as Tokyo considers resuming official development aid as part of international efforts to engage Myanmar's new military-backed civilian government.

Gemba plans to meet with President Thein Sein and other top officials, and also democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Kyodo News reported citing an unnamed government source.

Unlike major Western nations, Japan has maintained trade ties and dialogue with Myanmar and warned that a hardline approach could push Myanmar closer to neighbouring China, its main political supporter and commercial partner.

Gemba is expected to propose negotiations on a bilateral investment accord in his meetings with officials, Kyodo said.

Japan has continued to provide humanitarian and emergency aid to the country, but halted regular economic assistance in 2003 following the arrest and subsequent detention of Suu Kyi.

Myanmar's new nominally civilian government has rolled out a series of reformist measures since it took office as the former generals who dominate it have sought to reach out to political opponents and the West.

Suu Kyi was freed in November 2010 from seven years of house arrest, and has re-registered her previously banned opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) as a political party, clearing the way for her to take part in elections.

Hillary Clinton visited Myanmar earlier this month in the first trip there by a US Secretary of State in more than 50 years.

Date: December 25, 2011

- AFP/ck

Source: Chennelnewsasia.comhttp://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1173263/1/.html

A Letter to Thein Sein

Following is a letter that sent to Thein Sein on 28/10/2011

Bangladesh cracks down on boat migrants to Malaysia

By Shafiq Alam (AFP) – 6 hours ago 

DHAKA — Bangladesh has launched a crackdown on groups smuggling economic migrants and ethnic Rohingya refugees out of the country to Malaysia, via a perilous and sometimes fatal sea crossing.

According to police, dozens of wooden boats overloaded with Rohingyas and Bangladeshi migrants, have attempted the approximately 3,200 kilometre (2,000 mile) journey since the monsoon rains ended in October.

Last week a boat carrying 120 people -- mostly ethnic Rohingyas -- capsized in the Bay of Bengal, said Colonel Zahid Hasan of the Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB).

"Some 100 people have survived, we learned from fishermen, but the rest are missing and presumed drowned," he told AFP.

Since the accident, a series of BGB raids in the southeast coastal towns of Teknaf and Sabrum, which border Myanmar and host a large population of Rohingya refugees, have prevented a number of boats from illegally setting sail.

Described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities on earth, thousands of Muslim Rohingyas -- who are not recognised as citizens in Myanmar -- stream across the border into Muslim-majority Bangladesh every year.

Bangladesh recognises 28,000 of them as registered refugees, who live in two official UN camps near the border. This figure is a fraction of the 200,000 to 300,000 "unofficial" refugees, according to government estimates.

The Rohingyas are driven by a sense of "utter frustration" to attempt the boat trip to Malaysia, said Mojibur Rahman, a registered refugee at the UN's Kutupalong refugee camp.

"For many, the risky sea journey is better than the squalor and near starvation in the refugee camps in Bangladesh. A lot of Rohingyas know that the trip is like suicide. But do they have any choice?," he told AFP.

Bangladesh stopped a UN-managed program to help Rohingya refugees resettle in third countries last year, said Rahman, who estimated that at least 3,000 Rohingyas had embarked on the sea crossing to Malaysia since late October.

They have been joined by a large number of impoverished Bangladeshis living in southeast coastal villages, who see Malaysia as their best -- and closest -- opportunity for carving out a new life.

The vast majority hope to secure unregistered work as manual labourers on construction sites.

"Traffickers charge only around 20,000 taka ($300) for a boat ride to Malaysia, which is at least 15 times cheaper than the migration fees being charged by recruiting agencies," said Teknaf police chief Mahbubul Haq.

Earlier this year, Malaysia announced an amnesty for more than half a million Bangladeshi illegal migrants.

The deal was only valid for two weeks in July, but still triggered a surge in the number of people willing to risk the sea crossing.

Nearly 200 people -- half of them Rohingyas -- have been arrested and some 10 boats seized since the latest wave of migration began in early November, Haq said.

"We have put undercover agents along the border. They are tipping us off to any moves by traffickers to get Rohingyas and Bangladeshis into the boats to attempt the journey.

"But I am afraid many boats may have evaded our crackdown and set sail anyway," he said.

As well as the threat of capsize and drowning, the migrants also risk arrest and imprisonment by the Thai authorities, if their boats stray into Thai waters.

In January 2009, the Thai authorities were accused of seizing boats laden with Rohingya refugees, towing them back out to sea and abandoning them.

Allegations of mistreatment surfaced after nearly 650 Rohingya were rescued off India and Indonesia, some claiming to have been beaten by Thai soldiers before being set adrift.

Source: AFP

Burma to take back 2,500 Rohingya

By AFP
 

Published: 21 December 2011

A boy eats in the Kutupalong camp in eastern Bangladesh. Only around 2,500 of an estimated 300,000 Rohingya refugees are qualified to return to Burma (Reuters)

Burma will take back some of its refugees from neighbouring Bangladesh, an official said Tuesday, adding that hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingyas will not be covered by the deal.
The agreement to repatriate Burma refugees was reached at a meeting earlier this month between President Thein Sein and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a senior immigration ministry official told AFP.

“Those refugees from Bangladesh who meet four key criteria will be allowed to come back,” the official said, adding that Burma expected around 2,500 refugees would meet the conditions, which include legally proving citizenship.

Ethnic Rohingyas will not be included in the repatriation as they are not Burma citizens but Bengalis who migrated around the time of the Second World War when both countries were under British rule, he added.

Described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities on earth, the Rohingya have no legal right to own land in Burma and are banned from marrying or travelling without permission.

Every year, thousands of Rohingya stream across the border into Muslim-majority Bangladesh from Burma’s northern Rakhine state.

Bangladesh, which views the Rohingya as economic migrants and has repeatedly called on Burma to take them back, said the latest refugee deal “was nothing new”, Dhaka’s foreign secretary Mijarul Quayes told AFP.

Some 28,000 Rohingya are recognised as registered refugees and live and receive aid at an official UN camp in Bangladesh. This figure is a fraction of the 200,000 to 300,000 unofficial refugees, according to government estimates.

UNHCR has not been officially informed of any repatriation of refugees but is seeking clarification on any new deals from both governments, Jing Song, UNHCR external officer in Bangladesh told AFP.

“Our official stance is that repatriation has to be voluntary,” she added.

Mojibar Rahman, a registered Rohingya refugee who works as a teacher in one of the UN camps in Bangladesh said most Rohingya did not want to return to Burma.

“We thought that after the election the situation would improve for Rohingya in Burma, but it hasn’t. Now, we are hearing we’ll be forced to return — but no one wants to go back,” he said.

Source: DVB

The Regime War against Humanitarianism by Prof.kanbawza win

The international community was shock and aghast when the Burmese military regime turned down the humanitarian aid offered by the international community after the Nargis Cyclone hit the country in May 2008 killing some 200,000 people and making millions homeless. The United Nations practically had to beg to deliver assistance to hundreds of thousands flood-stricken people and according to the UN figures 80,000 people needlessly died from their regime’s arrogance This episode alone proves that the Burmese Generals and the army (Tatamadaw) have no good will (cetena) to its own people. So it came to no surprise when the Burmese regime block the humanitarian aid to the Kachin refugees running away from an all out war waged by the Tatamadaw against its own people just like what President Bashar al-Assad is doing in Syria..What cruelty and inhuman gesture can be more vivid than this and yet it is hoping for the West to lift sanctions and enter into the community of civilized nations? 

The current regime lacks the experience of independent struggles or Cold War politics. They are not able to stand on a nationalistic platform or non-alliance ideology and knaves in playing political theory games. The only lessons they have learnt is some effective ways to hold on to their power. The training and lectures given to them is somewhat: 

-We work harder than others for the sake of the country.

-We sacrifice our lives to work for the sake of the country.

-Our comrades are injured or killed by our enemies.

-The enemies who injure or killed us are supported by a part of the population.

-We must follow orders, live under the discipline of the army at all the time. 

-We are soldiers serving the country 24-hours a day. 

Hence from the soldier’s view, ordinary people and civil servants live more easy-going lives. They are undisciplined and have many leisure hours. They do business just to enrich themselves. The end result is that soldiers believe they have the sole right to hold state power due to their hard work and sacrifices. These basic opinions not only hinder the relationship between the people and the Tatmadaw, but also between the opposition groups and the Tatmadaw. 

When the army cracks down on peaceful demonstrators and monks, they viewed them as lazy opportunists who are asking for rights without working hard and sacrificing like them. The Tatmadaw, in a way, blames the people for failing to develop the country. Although the army as a whole works hard, the people and civil servants don’t work hard. Foreigners work and think smarter than lazy Burmese people, and these are the reasons developed countries are ahead of Burma seems to be the Tatmadaw’s logic and rationale. However, when ordinary people go abroad to seek job opportunity, they see them as betraying the country and opting for a foreign one The soldiers work industriously because they receive advantages from their work. They are disciplined because they are simply reaping the advantages from performing well. The regime especially the members of the ruling party who are old soldiers did not have the slightest idea that Burma could not move forward because of the army’s heavy handed control. So declaring war on humanitarian works and obstructing both the local and international NGOs is their humanitarian works is normal for them. Obviously they admire the dictum of Mao Ze Dong: 

“Crack down on the extreme minority, leave the educated to live in illusion, and label the majority of ordinary people as supporters.” 

The mentality of this Burmese quasi civilian government is such that it could not comprehend that humanitarian aid is an act of philanthropy and nothing more as helping the cyclone or a war victim. The ex brass are so evil and so engrossed in the fear of losing power that they are blocked from every reasoning power. Only brute force and punitive actions can make them understand. It becomes and international duty to make these brute to understand or otherwise it will continue to commit crime against humanity. With such kind of mentality it will be very difficult to make them comprehend that that every mortal being has the right to receive humanitarian assistance and to offer it is a fundamental humanitarian principle. 

Tatmadaw propaganda encourages a blind racist nationalism, full of references to protecting the race meaning the Myanmar. This implies that if the Myanmar do not oppress other nationalities then they find themselves be oppressed. For them national reconciliation means assimilation and preventing disintegration of the Union of Burma all the ethnic races must be assimilated into the Myanmar race including their language, culture and values. Hence if the Tatmadaw falls then everything will fall. The military construe that the international community, is constantly telling them to give up their hold on power and open up the way to become the real democracy and the Genuine Union of Burma. What right have they to tell us what to do? 

Drugs money also makes a substantial contribution to army coffers. Official policy is to suppress opium growing. In reality, production has nearly tripled since as once can see in the UN report. Narco related companies in Rangoon pay off the army and money from this illicit trade permeates the military hierarchy. Cut off from their roots in the people and corrupted by a far more luxurious lifestyle than is available to ordinary Burmese, they became desperate. Amid the poverty, army officers maintain a privileged lifestyle, enjoying golf courses, seaside villas, Mercedes limousines and other luxuries. On retirement from the army, they are awarded lucrative jobs as directors of state-run enterprises 

In recent years humanitarian agencies have been working in conflicts in Burma where the Tatmadaw have no interest in respecting international law, and where international political action to enforce this respect has been weak or ineffective. Humanitarian action was seen by the Burmese government at best as interference, or as an unfriendly act. Humanitarian personnel and assets were neither respected nor protected at all times. Payment was demanded at checkpoints, relief items stolen and aid workers threatened because of their control of resources and assets 

. Humanitarian assistance in Burma especially in Kachin state where the government is waging an all out war to annihilate the Kachin Race is both needed. People are suffering because of armed conflict and not because of natural disaster or disease. By definition, therefore, part of the territory in which the NGO attempts to deliver assistance is outside of any government's control. The Geneva Conventions make clear that states and non-state actors involved in armed conflict have a responsibility to make sure that all "persons taking no active part in the hostilities" (and this includes humanitarian aid workers) are treated humanely. The UN Security Council has even passed a resolution urging "...States to ensure that crimes against such personnel [participating in humanitarian operations] do not remain unpunished. But the wild Tatmadaw would not respect the international law. The escalation in fighting in Kachin State, increased human-rights abuses against civilians, massive internal displacement and high levels of vulnerability all frustrated these attempts at participation. Increasing insecurity made it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to apply participatory approaches to relief programming. It was difficult for humanitarian agencies to obtain adequate planning information, such as needs assessments and problem analyses. 

Allowing government actors to decide where humanitarians can or cannot go and allowing governments to impose military escorts as a condition for protection might well protect humanitarian workers, kills the very principles of humanitarian assistance and that is what the current Burmese regime is doing. The Tatmadaw and the generals are too naive to understand that respect and non-aggression toward humanitarian assistance is needed in the conflict areas. Humanitarian aid workers are not volunteering for martyrdom. Refusing the humanitarian aid or persecuting the aid workers and looting the aid for the solders as they often do made the Burmese Tatmadaw not a warring party but criminals. When the civilized community requested the Tatmadaw protect the humanitarian assistance they are simply requesting them to live up to their commitment to create a space in which humanitarian assistance can operate. Is that such an impossible demand? 

The UN Security Council doesn't ask for that much effort on the part of states. What it does urge is that states do not allow crimes against humanitarian workers to go unpunished. Humanitarian aid organizations are not asking for so much. They are just requesting safety guarantees from Tatmadaw not to commit crimes against humanitarian assistance and workers, and if some captains do commit such crimes as they often do don't let them go unpunished. It's an essential condition to ensuring that the people needing humanitarian assistance receive it. Lynn Yoshikawa from Refugees International, an independent humanitarian advocacy organization based in Washington, DC, recently completed an assessment after visiting Myitkyina, Pa An and Moulmein said , 

“Refugees International is really worried over the security of the workers and internally displaced persons (IDPs), thousands of those are living in insufficient camps in areas where the sanctuaries are sandwiched between the Kachin freedom fighters and the Tatmadaw.” 

It seems that when confronting horrible conditions and repressive Burmese governments, humanitarian organizations in Burma are faced with the decision of observing silence in order to have continued access to populations versus publically denouncing what is going on and risking expulsion. The Burmese regime is preventing aid organizations from having access to the Internally Displaced Persons camps. There is little respect for humanitarian organizations in the eyes of the Burmese and even the International Committee of the Red Cross is heavily restricted. Ultimately the best balance is for humanitarian organizations to carefully vocalize their opposition – mainly through encouraging the international community to continue pressuring the government – without a dramatic head-on confrontation that jeopardizes the humanitarian space in the country. Or otherwise the new quasi Civilian government just like the previous Junta will continue to wage war against humanitarianism.

States of Denial: A Review of UNHCR's Response to the Protracted Situation of Stateless Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

Type :	Report
Title :	States of Denial: A Review of UNHCR's Response tothe Protracted Situation of Stateless Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh
Source :	United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Date Added:	15-Dec-2011
Publication Date :	15-Dec-2011
URL :	http://www.unhcr.org/4ee754c19.html
Abstract :	In December 2008, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees launched a Special Initiative on Protracted Refugee Situations, intended to promote durable solutions and improvements in living standards for the world’s growing number of long-term refugees. Several refugee situations were identified for particular attention in the context of this initiative, including Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan, refugees in Croatia and Serbia, Eritrean refugees in eastern Sudan, Burundian refugees in Tanzania and Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh. UNHCR’s Policy Development and Evaluation Service [PDES] is currently reviewing the progress that has been made in the implementation of the special initiative, focusing on the extent to which UNHCR has been able to (a)  exercise its mandate for durable solutions; (b) play a catalytic role in relation to the engagement of other actors; and (c) improve the quality of life for refugees while the search for solutions continues. While all of the protracted refugee situations under review have proven to be complex, UNHCR’s ability to address the situation of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh has proven to be particularly challenging.
Topics :	Refugees and Internally Displaced People International and Regional Organizations Governance and Security
Regions :	Asia-Pacific > South Asia > Bangladesh
Notes :	36 p.
Acronyms :	UNHCR
Author Role :
Author :	Kiragu, Ester // Rosi, Angela Li // Morris, Tim
Organization :	United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Related Document URL 1 :
Related Document URL 2 :
Related Document URL 3 :
Keywords :

Myanmar to take ‘some’ of its refugees back from Bangladesh

Tuesday, 20 December 2011

File photo

NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar will take back some of its refugees from neighbouring Bangladesh, a Myanmar official said Tuesday, adding that hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingyas will not be covered by the deal.

The agreement to repatriate Myanmar refugees was reached at a meeting earlier this month between Mayanmar President Thein Sein and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a senior immigration ministry official said.

"Those refugees from Bangladesh who meet four key criteria will be allowed to come back," the official said, adding that Myanmar expected around 2,500 refugees would meet the conditions, which include legally proving citizenship.

Ethnic Rohingyas will not be included in the repatriation as they are not Myanmar citizens but Bangalees who migrated around the time of the Second World War when both countries were under British rule, he added.

Described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities on earth, the Rohingya have no legal right to own land in Myanmar and are banned from marrying or travelling without permission.

Every year, thousands of Rohingya stream across the border into Muslim-majority Bangladesh from Myanmar's northern Rakhine state.

Bangladesh, which views the Rohingya as economic migrants and has repeatedly called on Myanmar to take them back, said the latest refugee deal "was nothing new", Dhaka's foreign secretary Mijarul Quayes said.

Some 28,000 Rohingya are recognised as registered refugees and live and receive aid at an official UN camp in Bangladesh. This figure is a fraction of the 200,000 to 300,000 unofficial refugees, according to government estimates.

UNHCR has not been officially informed of any repatriation of refugees but is seeking clarification on any new deals from both governments, Jing Song, UNHCR external officer in Bangladesh said.

"Our official stance is that repatriation has to be voluntary," she added.

Mojibar Rahman, a registered Rohingya refugee who works as a teacher in one of the UN camps in Bangladesh said most Rohingya did not want to return to Myanmar.

"We thought that after the election the situation would improve for Rohingya in Myanmar, but it hasn't. Now, we are hearing we'll be forced to return -- but no one wants to go back," he said.

Author / Source : Independent Online/AFP 

31 Myanmar nationals held in Tripura

By IANS

Published: December 17, 2011

Illegal influx of Myanmarese nationals into India through Bangladesh has continued, with 31 held for sneaking into Tripura, police said here Saturday. Among the arrested were nine children and seven women.

With this, 83 Myanmarese nationals, comprising Rohingya Muslim and Buddhist tribals, seeking jobs in India

have crossed over to Tripura state from Bangladesh since mid last year.

‘All the 31 Myanmarese nationals were arrested by the police at Bokafa, 90 km from Agartala, late Friday night,’ sub-divisional police official Amitava Paul told reporters.

‘They told the interrogators that they are planning to leave for elsewhere in India via Guwahati in search of jobs,’ he said.

‘All the foreign nationals are Rohingya Muslims who entered Tripura illegally through Sabroom border from Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of southeast Bangladesh,’ he added.

On Saturday, the Myanmarese nationals were presented before a local court, which sent them to 14 days’ judicial custody. The illegal entrants would be sent to Bangladesh after completion of legal formalities, the police official said.

They told the police officials that authorities in Myanmar were indifferent to the problems of the people living in the hilly areas bordering India and Bangladesh.

‘Intermittently, the Myanmarese Army has unleashed atrocities on a section of nationals, especially Rohingya Muslim and Buddhist communities,’ the official said after interrogating the Myanmarese nationals.

Over 50,000 Myanmarese have been living in different parts of neighbouring Mizoram, bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh, and working at various shops and factories after obtaining work permits.

Since the mid-1990s, over 225,000 Myanmar nationals, mostly Rohingya Muslims, have been sheltering in the Teknaf region in Cox’s Bazar district of southeastern Bangladesh.

Four Indian northeastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam share an 1,880-km border with Bangladesh, while Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh share a 1,640-km unfenced border with Myanmar.

The mountainous terrain, dense forests and other hindrances make the unfenced borders porous and vulnerable, enabling illegal immigrants and intruders cross over without any hurdle.

Source: Hamaraphotos

Fears for Rohingya Asylum Seekers

 

BANGKOK: Refugee advocates expect a new wave of "stateless" Rohingya asylum seekers to attempt perilous sea voyages in rickety boats from ports in Bangladesh, raising concerns about how they will be treated if they land in Thailand.

A boatload of 92 Rohingya fleeing persecution in Burma's border regions has been handed over to the Thai 

 army near a fishing port north of Phuket.

Three years ago the Thai army was behind a then secret policy of casting Rohingya adrift, causing hundreds of deaths. One group of almost 100 was pushed back out to sea in an engineless boat with little food or water.

 

The policy was exposed after photographs of some of the asylum seekers in distressed conditions on boats and beaches were published worldwide.

Following international condemnation of the policy, earlier this year immigration officials began to handle groups of Rohingya who landed in Thailand. But the handing over of the latest asylum seekers to the army indicates a reversal of the policy.

The whereabouts of the boys and men who waded ashore last Thursday after apparently scuttling their boat is unknown.

A photograph published in Phuket Wan Tourist News showed them crammed into the back of an army truck.

The Rohingya, a Muslim minority group, usually attempt the voyages during the "sailing season" between November April and when conditions on the monsoon-prone Andaman Sea are tranquil.

They are trying to reach Malaysia, where an estimated 50,000 Rohingya are living. Some are also expected to chance their luck with people smugglers to try to reach Australia.

Human Rights Watch says that for more than 30 years the Rohingya have faced extrajudicial killings, forced labor, religious persecution and restrictions of movement by Burmese authorities. As many as 300,000 have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they live in primitive and squalid conditions in makeshift refugee camps.

Bangladesh does not give them official resident status or work papers.

An estimated 800,000 Rohingya remain in Burma, primarily in western Arakan State and Rangoon, where their citizenship is not formally recognised.

The Rohingya are descended from a mix of Arakanese Buddhists, Chittagonian Bengalis and Arabic sea traders.

Their leaders have not been included in preliminary peace talks with other ethnic groups in Burma's border areas, some of whom have small armies which have been fighting the Burmese for decades.

Hillary Clinton is due to travel to Burma later this week, the first visit to the isolated and impoverished country by a US secretary of state for 50 years.

US envoys have told Burma's military-dominated government that economic sanctions would not be lifted until the Burmese army ends its repression of ethnic groups, despite it appearing to have embarked on a path of economic and political reform.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/fears-for-rohingya-asylum-seekers-after-new-wave-sets-sail-20111127-1o1kn.html#ixzz1ghDOGn00

http://www.smh.com.au/world/fears-for-rohingya-asylum-seekers-after-new-wave-sets-sail-20111127-1o1kn.html