Burma's Rohingya refugees find little respite in Bangladesh

Rohingya people have no home, rejected by Bangladesh and rendered stateless by Burma. The Burmese government claims Rohingya people are Bangladeshi, but Bangladesh claims they are illegal migrants.

Friday, June 29th 2012, 09:09 AM

MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/GettyImages

An emotional Rohingya Muslim woman, fleeing sectarian violence in Myanmar, is pictured on an intercepted boat trying to cross the Naf river into Bangladesh in Teknaf on June 13, 2012. 

 

Some sobbed quietly while others pleaded and raised their arms to heaven. Their children looked on with glassy stares, utterly exhausted after days at sea in an open boat. Soon they would be on the water again, escorted by a Bangladeshi coast guard vessel and pushed back into the waters of Burma where they knew violence still raged.

"The Mogh slaughtered my brothers. They will kill us all … please help us!" screamed a woman carrying a baby only a few months old, before she was hustled away by border guards.

The sectarian violence in Burma that has sent boatloads of refugees fleeing to Bangladesh in recent weeks – and being firmly pushed back – has once again turned the spotlight on the plight of Burma's Rohingya minority.

There is no place the Rohingya people can call home. Burma passed a law in 1982 – criticized as discriminatory by human rights groups – that effectively rendered them stateless. Waves of ethnic violence since 1991, some of it state-sponsored, have pushed more than 250,000 Rohingyas into Bangladesh, where they live in squalid, makeshift camps with little or no access to healthcare or education.

Nozir Hossain, 70, knows well what it means to live in limbo. Hossain, who used to be a farmer in the Maung Daw area of Burma's Arakan state, has been living in an unauthorized camp in Teknaf, on Bangladesh's southern tip, since 2001.

Sitting in the tiny shack he shares with four others, Hossain described the day his family was forcibly uprooted. "The Mogh [ethnic Rakhine] surrounded our village at dawn," he recalled. "The Nasaka [Burmese border troops] were behind them. They set fire to the houses and chopped, hacked and shot at anyone who got in their way. Two of my sons were slaughtered in front of my eyes. When I flung up my arm to protect my head, a machete nearly took my hand off. I fell and lay in a pool of my sons' blood. The killers moved on, leaving me for dead."

Despite the horrors he has witnessed, Hossain hopes to go back to Burma one day. "There is nothing for us here," he said. "We would like to go back home … back to farming our land. I hope the government will be fair and give us our rights."

Hossain was repatriated to Burma in 2005, but he came back after finding his land occupied by Rakhine. He said both the Burmese and Bangladeshi governments are falsely characterizing the position of the Rohingya.

"The Burmese government says we're Bangladeshi, but the Arakan is the only home we know. My father was born in Arakan and so was my grandfather. The Bangladesh government says we're illegal migrants. But we didn't enter Bangladesh secretly to work. We came to save ourselves and our families."

According to Bangladeshi historian Abdul Aziz, there have been Muslims in Arakan since Arab traders came to the region in the eighth century. "The poetry of 17th-century poets like Alaol clearly mentions Muslims in positions of power in the court of the Arakan king," Aziz said. "The writing of travellers like Ibn Batuta in the 14th century proves that Bengal was one of the wealthiest nations in the world while Arakan was infested with pirates. There was migration from Arakan to Bengal and not the other way round."

Despite centuries-old roots in the Arakan region, discriminatory policies have been imposed on the Rohingya since Arakan was annexed by Burma in 1784. According to the Arakan Project, an NGO, the Rohingya are subjected to severe restrictions on their movement and marriages, and to arrests, extortion, forced labor and confiscation of land.

"The Nasaka used to come and take away the men and boys," said Hossain. "They forced us to work as laborers without pay. This was only done to us, not to Rakhine or anybody else."

The Rohingya have not fared much better on the Bangladesh side of the border. The government in Dhaka has refused to allow the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to register Rohingya arrivals since 1992. This means all but 30,000 of the Rohingyas are denied refugee status. The unregistered Rohingyas – more than 200,000 by some estimates – are officially considered illegal migrants and cannot get food rations provided by the World Food Program. They are also denied access to basic healthcare and education provided by the UNHCR and its partner organizations.

The Bangladesh government is determined to keep services to a bare minimum to avoid creating a "pull factor" – conditions that will attract more refugees – an official of the ministry of food and disaster management said, on condition of anonymity.

As part of government policy, the NGO Affairs Bureau in Dhaka has not approved project proposals in health, education and other sectors in Cox's Bazar district, even if it benefits the local Bangladeshi community. Last year, Dhaka rejected a $33m UN joint initiative to develop Cox's Bazar with special focus on education and health.

The government has also put a stop to the UNHCR's resettlement program, under which 900 Rohingyas were resettled in third countries to restart their lives. Most went to Australia, the UK and Canada. In November 2010, the Bangladesh government suspended the program, pending a review.

Life is grim even for those in the authorized refugee camp. Rohingya children in the camp are permitted to study up to primary level – fifth grade – but not beyond. "Keeping them motivated is the main challenge," said Shahin Islam, director of the Education for Refugee Children project run by Save the Children. "It's very easy for them to lose hope … they don't see a future ahead."

Many experts have questioned the view that registering more Rohingya nationals in Bangladesh will bring more refugees across the border. "People do not leave their homes and go to a foreign country just because there's a basic health clinic or primary schools," said Jing Song, the UNHCR spokesperson in Dhaka. "Knowing who the refugees are and where they are is the first step to a solution to this protracted refugee situation. It's not only to the benefit of refugees, but also to the benefit of the host country."

Daily News

No relief for Rohingya in Maungdaw

Friday, 29 June 2012 14:32

Two helicopters with relief goods arrived yesterday in Maungdaw and all the relief goods are kept in Myoma monastery where the relief goods were distributed to the Rakhines who are not taking shelter as refugees. Most Rakhines have homes and foods but they receive the relief from distribution centers. The authority setup three centers in Maungdaw – Myoma monastery, Myo Oo Pagoda monastery and Ward number 5 junctions “Community hall for Buddha religious purposes.”  

The relief goods are not distributed to the Rohingya community and has no plan to distribute relief to them. Most of the Rohingya community who are living inside town and nearby town are facing foods shortage and some become starvation which will be danger for this community in the future and will die.

Still not able to pray Juma  in Maungdaw

Maungdaw authorities are still blocking Rohingya community to pray Juma in the Mosques in Maungdaw Township.


Authority extracts forced labor to build new Natala villages
The concerned authorities forcibly extract forced labor from Rohingya community to build new Natala villages where the concerned authority paid only 1000 kyat and one kilogram of rice per day where normally one labor gets more than 2000 kyat. No foods or water are provided during the working period.

Souce: Kaladanpress

Burma: Government Formulates Rohingya Repatriation Plan: Minister

By: Democratic Voice of Burma
June 30, 2012

Burma’s Immigration and Population Minister Khin Yi  told DVB yesterday the government has promulgated a policy aimed at repatriating Rohingya refugees who recently fled violence in western Burma.

“Regarding the Bengalis who left across the border, we have policies to accept them back,” said Khin Yi, who referred to the Rohingya’s as Bengalis.

“Basically, they should [be able to prove] that they really left from Burma and that they are willing to come back. For children, they should be able to prove that both their parents went [to Bangladesh] from Burma. We are ready to repatriate anyone who meets these requirements.”

The minister said the deal had been discussed with the Bangladeshi government.

Meanwhile, the RNDP’s chairman Dr Aye Maung said that according to the 1982 citizenship law, only those who have inhabited the region prior to 1824 should be legally considered an ethnic native and that the ‘Bengalis’ are just immigrants who came in to Burma [after British colonisation].

The year 1824, when the British conquered large swathes of western Burma, including present day Arakan state, often serves as a demarcation date in the debate concerning who is native to the area.

Dr Aye Maung also said that President Thein Sein should clarify the government’s position on the Rohingya and state that the group is not from Burma during his trip to Bangladesh next month.

“Just like the Bangladeshi prime minister said – they have made clear that [Rohingyas] aren’t their citizens, so we hope our president will also make clear that they aren’t ours either,” said Dr Aye Maung.

On 26 June, the RNDP published a statement calling for the isolation and eventual expulsion of Rohingya’s from Burma.

“The Bengalis have been entering Arakan state over time through various illegal means and their population currently has reached very alarming numbers,” read the statement.

There are an estimated 800,000 Rohingyas living in Burma.

The RNDP went on to call “for all ethnic nationalities in the Union [of Burma] to join hands in preventing the Bengalis from intruding by various means into Arakan state and the whole of Burma” and asked the UN and the international community to “set up a time frame to resettle to the Bengalis who are not Burmese citizens to a third country”.

- Aye Nai contributed reporting to this article.

UN urges Bangladesh to take in people fleeing Burma violence

15 June 2012 Last updated at 16:29 GMT

 

Women and children are adrift on boats on the River Naf

Continue reading the main story

 

The United Nations has urged Bangladesh to accept refugees fleeing violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma.

Tens of thousands of refugees have fled Burma's province of Rakhine by boat. About 30,000 are already in camps in Bangladesh.

As many as 1,500 are said to have been turned back in recent days.

The UN's refugee agency in Geneva, the UNHCR, says women and children have been left adrift on boats in the river Naf without food or care.

"There are now a number of boats drifting in the mouth of the Naf River with desperate people onboard in need of water, food and medical care," the UNHCR said in a statement.

"It is vital that these people are allowed access to a safe haven and shelter."

The violence flared after the murder of a Buddhist woman last month, followed by an attack on a bus carrying Muslims which killed 10 people.

Burmese officials have said the fighting has killed 29 people and thousands of homes have been burnt down.
 

Stateless group Most of the refugees travel to Bangladesh by boat through the river Naf which marks the border with Burma.

The majority of the mainly-Muslim Rohingya refugees already in Bangladesh are staying in two camps in Cox's Bazar district.

Rakhine state is named after the ethnic Rakhine Buddhist majority, but also has a sizeable Muslim population, including the Rohingyas.

The Rohingyas are a Muslim group and are stateless, as Burma considers them to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

According to reports, rioting began on Friday last week in the town of Maung Daw, spreading to the state capital Sittwe and neighbouring villages.

Two days later, President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency there.

On Thursday Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi warned that the strife would continue without "the rule of law".

Speaking in Geneva on her first trip to Europe since 1988, she said the situation should be handled "with delicacy and sensitivity".

Source: BBC

http://www.mpacuk.org/story/260612/ethnic-cleansing-burma-and-shame-bangladesh.html

10:14 pm, Tue 26 Jun 2012

While the heroine of the West, Aung San Suu Kyi, was visiting her old home in Oxford last week, three thousand miles away a nightmare was unfolding in Burma. Her fellow Burmese were carrying out an orgy of violence against some their fellow citizens, the Rohingya. In this latest example of inter-ethnic violence, the Buddhist majority were targeting the Muslim minority for termination. Members of the Rohingay minority in Rakhine State were being dragged from their homes and being burnt alive in the streets. No one was spared; men, women and children all suffered the same fate. This wasn't just violence involving civilians. Members of the Burmese army and police also joined in the killing spree, including raping their victims. The blood-lust included babies being sliced in half by swords

Many have attempted to flee Burma by boat and have tried to seek refuge in Bangladesh. Burmese helicopter gunships have then murdered many of those attempting to get to safety by strafing boats while out at sea. The few that have made it to Bangladesh have been trying to tell the world about the horrors they have witnessed.

To give a scale of the ethnic cleansing, over 30,000 refugees have fled to Bangladesh. There, instead of being given refuge and care, the survivors are being treated with little compassion. Forced to sit on piers in the baking sun, they are barely being given enough water to survive by the Bangladeshi authorities. They are given a bottle of water and small bag of rice and being forced to return to Burma and to near certain death. Indeed many of the Bangladeshi soldiers have been taunting the refugees with the refrain “Allah will look after you”. Shockingly, these are the lucky ones. Over 1,500 survivors have simply been turned back by the Bangladeshis.

Aung San Suu Kyi is regarded by many in the West as the most poignant symbol of non-violent struggle against armed oppression and feted as the successor to Nelson Mandela or Mahtma Ghandi. Indeed she has spent over 14 years under house arrest imposed on her by the Junta that runs Burma for daring to run for election, but her halo has slipped in a way that will disappoint even her biggest supporters. When she collected an award from Amnesty International in Ireland she was asked if the Rohingya should be regarded as Burmese, she replied: “I do not know,” and refused to speak up for them.

We cannot let another massacre reminiscent of the scenes in Gujrat, India in 2002 go unanswered. British Muslims should contact the Bangladesh High Commission and demand that their government offer more assistance to the refugees fleeing the violence immediately as is their responsibility under UN conventions and listen to the UN's calls to do more.

Read more: http://www.mpacuk.org/story/260612/ethnic-cleansing-burma-and-shame-bangladesh.html#ixzz1z5EeIo4J

No way home for Myanmar’s Rohingya

June 28, 2012 | 0

Jacob Zenn

The recent inter-ethnic riots between Rakhine and Rohingya communities in Myanmar highlight some of the major human security issues the country must face as it embarks on democratisation and peace-building processes. 

While there are no questions asked about the citizenship of 135 officially recognised ethnic groups across Myanmar, the majority of which straddle the country’s borderlands with India, Bangladesh, China and Thailand, the Rohingya are viewed by the state as outsiders.

The Rohingya have lived in the border region between Bangladesh and Myanmar for generations, but as the aftermath of the riots shows, Myanmar citizens - elites and commoners alike - hold little sympathy for their stateless plight.

A typical post-colonial “indigene-settler” dispute exists in Rakhine state. The Buddhist Rakhines consider themselves as the original inhabitants of the land and perceive the Muslim Rohingya as “Bengali settlers”. The Rohingya make conflicting historical claims to their rights as Myanmar citizens.

The recent tensions between the two communities escalated after the alleged rape and killing of a Rakhine girl in Kyat Ni Maw on May 28. This prompted hundreds of Rakhines to rally against the crime in front of a police station and the local administrative agency of Rakhine state. Days later, on June 3, a group of Rakhines turned to vigilante justice when they reportedly killed nine Rohingya in a revenge attack on bus passengers in Taung Kote, Rakhine state.

Angered by the local media’s slanted reporting of the murder and its provocative references to the Rohingya as kala, Rohingya in Yangon staged their own protests.

Although the word kala derives from the Pali word meaning “noble”, it also means “black” in the Hindi language. The term is associated with racist connotations in the Burmese language, and is often used to refer to outsiders from the subcontinent, including Bangladeshis, Indians, Nepalis, Sri Lankans and Pakistanis.

To Rohingya, being called kala is to deny their historical connection to Rakhine state. The word “Rohingya” derives from the word “Rakhine”, evidence of their connection to the land, Rohingya claim.

The Rohingya’s protest over kala references also reflects their frustration over their official exclusion from Myanmar society. As the country’s democratic reforms move ahead, many disfranchised Rohingya hope to gain citizenship rights, but so far there are no indications this is in the cards.  Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Law established that the Rohingya, along with several other communities such as the Gurkhas (an ethnic community with historical links to Nepal), were not among the 135 officially recognised ethnic groups in Myanmar entitled to citizenship.

Myanmar’s next census is scheduled for 2013, but no changes in the Rohingya’s status are likely given that even the country’s most respected leaders are approaching the issue with caution in the wake of the recent riots. Pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi said recently that “the problem should be tackled by fair application of the law”, presumably the already standing Citizenship Law.

Ko Ko Gyi, an icon from the 1988 pro-democracy protests brutally suppressed by the military and until recently a prominent political prisoner, has openly opposed the Rohingya gaining citizenship. He also implied that sympathetic foreigners should stay out of the issue, in line with the military’s long-held view on the matter.

“Now it is time that we announce our view on the Rohingya clearly. The Rohingya are not one of the ethnic groups of Myanmar at all. We see that the riots happening currently in Buthedaung and Maungdaw of [Rakhine] state are because of the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh called Rohingya and the mischievous provocations of some international communities,” Ko Ko Gyi said.  “Therefore, such interfering efforts by some powerful nations on this issue without fully understanding the ethnic groups and other situations of Burma will be viewed as offending the sovereignty of our nation.”

Empowered by Myanmar’s recent lifting of restrictions on the Internet, citizens now freely communicate on social-media networks such as Facebook. Many have used racially charged language about the Rohingya that previously would have been banned or censored.

Their online postings have highlighted grassroots perceptions among Burmans that the Rohingya should not be considered citizens of Myanmar. Not only are the Rohingya referred to as kala on these posts, but they are also being viewed as “terrorists”.  One representative post, for example, read: “We have a right of self-defence. I hope DASSK [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] would understand that this is not bullying the minority. They are not a minority anyway. This is a sovereignty issue and this is just terrorism and they are evil enemies of freedom.”  By mid-June, the government had declared martial law and imposed a curfew in several districts of Rakhine state. More than 80 have been killed and thousands of homes torched since the clashes first erupted. Sporadic violence has continued since the imposition of emergency rule over the area.

More than 800,000 Rohingya reside in Myanmar, but the violence is pushing a new wave of refugees into Bangladesh. The United Nations estimated there were already 300,000 Rohingya living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, many of whom fled earlier rounds of state suppression against their communities in Myanmar.

Myanmar and Bangladesh will hold talks about the Rohingya situation in early July - Myanmar’s President Thein Sein is due to start a three-day visit to Bangladesh on July 15. Some hope the persecuted minority will be granted some sort of quasi-citizenship after the talks. If this should fail, then the Rohingya will remain in a legal and physical limbo hoping for refugee status somewhere abroad.                                         –Asia Times Online

British lawmakers hear testimony on Rakhine State unrest

Thursday, 28 June 2012 12:59 Mizzima News

Rohingya in Burma are being systematically persecuted by the government and denied basic human rights, the president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) told the British All Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma on Wednesday.

BROUK President Tun Khin, along with Benedict Rogers, the East Asia Team Leader of Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, described the situation of Rohingyas in Rakhine State at a meeting of British lawmakers chaired by Baroness Kinnock.

Tun Khin said the current sectarian unrest has been influenced by hardliners in the government who do not want to see reforms in Burma, and the Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP), which reject Rohingya as members of Burma's ethnic groups. In recent months, there have been an increasing number of anti-Rohingya activities, including seminars in Rangoon and in Arakan State organized by the RNDP, Tun Khin said.

According to Tun Khin, at least 650 Rohingyas have been killed in the sectarian violence, and at least 1,200 are missing. Official government figures this week said up to 80 people died in the clashes including Buddhist and Muslims.

He said 22 villages have been burned down and 14 mosques destroyed. He noted that Bangladesh has refused entry to Rohingyas at its borders, and has pushed back at least 16 boats seeking access to Bangladesh. The curfew imposed by President Thein Sein has only been applied to Rohingyas and not Rakhine, he said.

Tun Khin said: “We really need U.N. observers in Arakan (Rakhine) State. Even though the riots were stopped some Rohingya houses are still being burned down by Rakhines… We urge the British government to put effective pressure on the Burmese regime to stop the killings and violence against the Muslim Rohingyas in Arakan and to restore peace and security in the region, to allow the international community and NGOs to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to all the victims regardless of race or religion.”

He asked Britain to pressure the Burmese government to provide security to ensure Rohingya can safely return to their homes, for Bangladesh to open its borders to refugees fleeing persecution, for the government to offer citizenship to Rohingya who qualify and to fight against anti-Muslim activities and racism in the country.

“There is a solution if the regime is willing to negotiate between the two communities,” he said.

Source: Mizzima

Give refuge to Rohingya, neighbours told

CALL FOR ACTION: UN urged to establish panel of observers to monitor volatile areas in Myanmar 

By AKIL YUNUS | news@nst.com.my

Read more: Give refuge to Rohingya, neighbours told - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/give-refuge-to-rohingya-neighbours-told-1.97862#ixzz1yngBZEAk

A Rohingya woman, whose husband was allegedly killed in Myanmar, weeps as she waits to be sent back to Myanmar from a camp in Taknaf, Bangladesh, on Friday. AP pic

KUALA LUMPUR: THE Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF) has called on neighbouring countries to help stop the continued persecution of the Rohingya community in  Rakhine state of western Myanmar.

Its executive director, Dr Zulaiha Ismail, urged them to reach out to the stateless Rohingya minority, who are seeking asylum after being displaced from their homes.

"We appeal especially to the people and government of Bangladesh to allow the fleeing Rohingya to seek temporary refuge there.

"We are fully aware of the economic and social pressures of the Bangladeshi people who have already had to accommodate about 200,000 Rohingya refugees with little aid from the international community, but this is a human catastrophe that cannot be ignored," she said yesterday.

Zulaiha also called on the United Nations to speed up the process of helping the thousands of asylum seekers in neighbouring countries.

She urged the world body to establish an international panel of observers to monitor the volatile areas in Myanmar.

"Since the UN itself has recognised the Rohingya to be one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, this could be a deterrent to further persecution," she said.

The international media recently highlighted that the Rohingya minority were physically attacked and had their homes burnt. Dozens had been reported dead, although it is believed that thousands had actually perished.

The Rohingya, who were born and lived in Myanmar, have been subject to human rights violations for decades.

The most evident being the denial of citizenship rights which has left the community vulnerable to intolerance and abuse.

Zulaiha said PGPF applauded the recent democratic progress in Myanmar, but expressed fear that the Rohingya issue could be relegated to that of a "sacrificial lamb".

"Given the high political stakes in the current liberalisation process in Myanmar, the Rohingya's plight will become an issue that is easily dispensable and of little significance to the political will of the major communities there."

PGPF, founded by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2005, is a movement that is committed towards advocating international peace and putting an end to war.

Read more: Give refuge to Rohingya, neighbours told - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/give-refuge-to-rohingya-neighbours-told-1.97862#ixzz1ynfhitiw

Helicopters Fire on Rohingya Refugees

2012-06-20 Rohingya Muslim refugees from Burma who managed to sneak into neighboring Bangladesh speak of their ordeal at sea.

Saiful Huq Omi/Polaris.

One of the Rohingyas who was pushed back to sea by Bangladesh authorities, June 18, 2012.

Helicopters opened fire on boats carrying Rohingya Muslims heading to Bangladesh and fleeing sectarian violence in west Burma, according to refugees who survived the sea ordeal.

The refugees said they witnessed children drowning and starving to death during their perilous journey.

The shooting took place after Bangladesh border guards turned back six boats of refugees as they tried to enter the country from neighbouring Burma across the river Naf to Teknaf town in the southernmost part of mainland Bangladesh, the witnesses told RFA.

"We floated in the sea for four days and my younger brother starved to death," said Minara Begum, a 10-year-old girl, speaking through an interpreter.
"We had six boats. Then a helicopter came and opened fire, and three boats were lost, all of those people [in them] were killed,"  She did not specify the exact date of the incident, which occurred earlier this month, or whether the helicopters were from Burma or Bangladesh.

Minara Begum, who is from Sittwe, the capital of violence-hit Rakhine state in Burma, is among a group of refugees sheltered and hidden from the authorities by a Bangladeshi woman.

The woman said she was moved by the plight of the Rohingyas, a stateless people described by the U.N. as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.

Helicopter fire

Mohammed Islam, a young father also from Sittwe, said he was among those who left in the group of six boats, three of which he said came under helicopter fire.

"Because we couldn't endure the torture, we took six boats and left our homeland," he said, citing burning of homes and mosques and killings and other sectarian violence triggered in the first week of June in which he said two of his children and up to 25 of his relatives died.

"Three [boats] were together and three became separated from the group," he said. "These three that fell behind were set on fire by the helicopters."

"At first, we couldn’t be sure that the boats were being fired on because of the sound of our engine but then we saw the boats catch fire."

Mohammed Islam said three children died on his boat. "We threw them into the sea because they were dead."
Another 10-year-old girl, Nahida Begum, said she was the only child who managed to swim ashore after their boat was turned back. The vessel, carrying her grandmother and many other children, including a nursing infant, was very small, not seaworthy, and possibly took on water.

Third attempt

A woman, Shahra Khatun, said her boat was turned back twice and although it managed to land on its third attempt, three children on the vessel, including two of her's, died while waiting out at sea.

"My five-year-old boy died of starvation and heat on the boat," she said. "They burned all of our homes and killed my sisters and brothers. That's why I came here," she said referring to the violence in Rakhine state which has left about 60 dead with tens of thousands displaced, according to official estimates.

At least 2,000 Rohingyas have tried to enter Bangladesh following the violence between Muslims and Buddhists in Rakhine state in Burma since early June but most were either turned back or detained.

In a June 18 incident cited by witnesses who spoke to RFA, the Bangladesh authorities turned back about 130 mostly young Rohingya men.

"This is the first time I have ever done anything like this," said a Bangladesh security officer, identifying himself as Major Salif, who oversaw a feeding program for the 130 Rohingyas before they were put back on their boats and sent away.

"According to my understanding, this [turning back the refugees] will go on for sometime but God willing  it will take its natural course and settle down soon," Salif, the commanding officer at the Shapuri Dip Jetty in Teknaf, told RFA.

Strained

Bangladesh says its resources are already too strained and has refused to accept the Rohingyas despite appeals from the United Nations to grant them refugee status.

Bangladeshi officials estimate that a total of 300,000 Rohingya people live in the country, with only about a tenth of them in two official refugee camps in the southern district of Cox's Bazaar.

Burma considers the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and denies them citizenship while Bangladesh says Rohingya have been living in Burma for centuries and should be recognized there as citizens.
Reported by an RFA correspondent in Bangladesh.

Situation of Rohingya in Arakan by 19/06/2012

Below are brief report received from the Arakan State Burma Riot Scene. Burning and killing are still going on in Remote Cities of Arakan State. Eventhough Burning and killing are stopped in Sittwe and Maungdaw township, arresting for nothing, looting and lack of food, shelters and medical in need and are the most urgent requirement by displace people. Please see below details report for the past few  days

 

 

Date: 19/06/2012 (Tuesday)

1.     There are about more than 12,000 displaced Rohingyas (Confirmed) Aung Min Galar  Quarter , evacuations Camp, Sittwe .4 old man were died because of lack of food and medicine. According to our reliable source most of the people they don’t even water to drink. They need Food and medicine is urgently.

2.     The authorities mentioned that they will not allow Rohingyas to settle in Sittwe city.Government authorities said burned down Rohingya’s villages will be provided to Rakhine who were intentionally brought from other towns of Arakan.

3.      Rakhine burned down a Rohingya village – Anauk Pin – in Rathidaung Township today morning at about 8:30 am, where 60 Rohingya’s  houses were burned down into ash, died 8 Rakhines (unconfirmed) and 8 Rohingyas. More villagers were wounded.

4.     Another Rohingya village –Muzardiya- was also burned down today where 6 Rakhines  killed (unconfirmed) and 2 Rohingyas. Similarly Rohingya village –Tharapin- was also completely burned down and most of Rohingya villagers were slaughtered. These villagers are stranded between Rakhine villages and Mayu River.

18/06/2012 (Monday)

1.     Na Sa Ka (Border Security Forces) of No. 9 region completely destroyed a large two floor religious school building  in Taungbazar village , Buthidaung. In the beginning, Na Sa Ka themselves destroyed the building and then the local villagers were forced destroy it. The building was made of wood and the roof was of tin sheets.

2.     24  Rohingya leaders were arrested in Maungdaw Town including Dr Hla Myint, High School Teacher Hussein (Former Executive Member of NDPHR- National Democratic Party for Human Rights) , Dr Nazumuddin and U Fazzal ( NDPHR – elected member in 1990 election). They were invited for a meeting then taken to the NaSaKa headquarter.

3.     70 Rohingya villagers from Baguna, Nurulapara village Maungdaw were invited to a meeting by Government authorities (NaSaKa , Police, and Paramilitary Forces) . When the villagers arrived they were forced by authorities to hold the gun and taken video and pictures by the authorities. Some people said from the ground they were killed by NaSaKa (unconfirmed).

4.     More than 2000 Rohingyas are taking shelter in Nyaung chaung village high school  ,Buthidaung. They were escaped from Rathadaung Town while their houses were burned down by Rakhine. 3 people died as they don’t have food.

5.     Most of the Rohingyas who were found with mobile were arrested by NaSaKa.

Date: 17/06/2012 (Sunday)

Stranded Rohingya 15 boats in Naf River are disappearing with more than 2000 Rohingyas since early morning 16th June who fled because of attacks by Rakhines, Police Officers and Paramilitary Forces.

The Rohingya who were drifting in the Naf River as the authority of Bangladesh didn’t allow to enter its land, hit heavy rain and windy since Wednesday night. The stranded Rohingya boats are not seen in the Naf River and no body know where the boat gone, according to local from Shapuri Dip.

In Sittwe, Government authorities are planning to allocate Rakhine on Rohingya’s villages which were burnt by Rakhine.

Rakhines burnt  100 houses Bara Bara Village ,Kyuaktaw Town.and  killing Rohingyas in every houses. Rakhines are killing Rohigyas with the collaboration of Police and Paramilitary Forces.

Maungdaw USDP secretary Phan Phyo’s  (Quater 1) son Tun Hla Sein jointly organized with his collaborators  Mg Nyi Mg Chay@Hla Myin son of Ni Mg (Quater1), Paun pae son of Aung Gyi (Quater

4) and Kyaw Aye(Quater 3) were formed a gang to rape Rohingya women and to loot Rohingya villages. Tun Hla Sein provided his gang Police Uniform and sort of weapons according to reliable source from the ground.

Almarajan(age-20) and Shafika(age-17) from Taray kundan (Sairkumbar-hoinna fara) village,Maungdaw  are allegedly gang raped by  Burmese military at  15:00 pm  16th June, in Maungdaw.25 numbers of youth are arrested by NaSaKa camp and taken to NaSaKa Headquarter. Around 20 trucks of Rohingyas are arrested and sent to NaSaKa Head Quarter.

(1) Robis Ahmed - head of 100 house ( Ra Ayin Mu)-- Zaw Ma Thet- Salimma para shot  dead by Na Sa Ka  (17:00 pm  16th June)

(2)Sho Fiullah - 10 household head ( Say Ayin Gong) Lomba Goona village shot dead

(3) Sakina-One 11 years old girl  from Tha Yee Kon Tan village shot  dead

(4) Roshid Ahmed-  Tha Re Kon Tan Village (Shopkeeper- Tha Re Kon Tan Mar Ket ( Sair Konbor Bazar)- Strongly beaten by Na Sa Ka looted all Commodities and destroyed

(5)  Nobi Hussein- THa Re Kon Tan Village seriously beaten and dead.

Another 27 Rohingyas arrested from southern Maungdaw today 10:00 am Locatime-17.06.2012).Arrested people never comeback believed killed by NaSaKa(Border Security Forces).

NoNameFather’s Name

1          AzimullahAli Ahmed

2          Hamid HussainIsmail

3          AnzulloIsmail

4          Halo MiaShida Ali

5          Mv. Hashim UllahNazir Ahmed

6          Abu SoyedWali Ahmed

7          Abu KalamWali Ahmed

8          KalayaNazir Ahmed

9          Mohammed EliasKalaya

10         SayedulllahAbdu Mozid

11         Dil MohamedYounus

12         EliasShari Hossain

13         Anamatullah unknown

14         ZonaidNur Hossain

15         Mr. AzizullahMv. Hanifa

16         Amir HamzaMiyo Hossain

17         Ex-chairman KollimullahBodur Rahman

18         BaittaNazira

19         Mv. Noor HossainYounus

          Note: from serial no. 1 to 13 = Anauk Ywa, Udan village ,Maungdaw

          From serial no. 14 to 19 = Zumma Ywa, Udan Village Maungdaw

In other towns of Maungdaw, Nasaka called Rohingya villages and meeting and arrested. While they call the meeting the other groups of Rakhine and military groups   entered Rohingya’s houses and looting their valuable things and took Rohingya’s  girls and raped them. In Muslim evacuation center, there is no food and medicine authorities are not providing food to Rohingya.

Date: 16/06/2012 (Saturday)

Last 4 hours ago, Hamid (age-12 yr girl) was killed Rakhine Police in Kiladang Village Maungdaw .Her brother confirmed it from the ground.

Received some people name who were involved attacks on Rohingya villages in Maungdaw .Rakhine are Maung Soe Win ,Mg Mg Che,U Kaung ,Pho Tha Tu ,Ney Min Twe. Maungdaw Ward(4) Ploice officers  Hla Myint ,Tun Tun Kyaw, Maung Cha,  Tin Aye ( Who killed 10 yr Rohingya girl),Bo Latt, Aung Kyaw Thein. They killed more than 150 Rohingya people (confirmed).Dead body found 36 and other taken by Police Trucks.There are more than 100 people still missing in Maungdaw.

Rakhine people burnt in Haindapara Village, Maungdaw ,Arakan State.The attacks taken place in  Arpauk Warr village Kyauktaw Town ,Arakan State and clashed with Rohingyas. 1 Rohingya died (confirmed)  and Rakhine burnt 21 houses.

Rakhines rounded up by  Aung Dine village and Sakyar village in Min Bya Town, Rakhine State. Rohingya people from Min Bya town are worrying and do not know what time Rakhine will set fire their villages. This information is confirmed and received it  it our contact in Rangoon just now.

Rohingya people are seriously and painfully suffering from food shortage as authorities are not at all helping Rohingya with food while Rakhines has been enjoying all sorts of cares from authorities. Moreover, Rakhines public is not selling food to Rohingya making things extremely difficult for Rohingya's survival.

They need immediate supply of food, clothes and medicine. People are dying of hunger and lack of medical care, shelters and clothing. We need immediate UN and international help to save the Rohingya people. It is clearly understood that Military government is not doing any to help save lives of Rohingya people in the most effected areas such as Akyab, Maungdaw, Rathidaung, Buthidaung and other cities.

In Santoli of Akyab Rohingyas Muslims are being circled by Rakhine mobs and  most of the Rohingyas didn’t have food one week now.

The authority is not allowing the general public to bring supply of food from other areas to the effected areas. Therefore it is seriously important to give international pressures to the military junta to immediately allow the public supply necessary food, medicine and clothing as well as sheltering equipment

Open letter to Burma & Bangladesh: AHRC

Thursday, 14 June 2012

Dear President and Prime Minister:

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is taking the unusual step of writing to you jointly with regards to the ongoing communal violence in the Rakhine State of Burma, which borders Bangladesh and the violence that has been the subject of growing international concern in recent days.

Reports from a wide range of sources indicate that a large number of people have been victims of this violence, although to date the information suffers from a lack of reliable details on the numbers of casualties, scale of damage and its precise circumstances.

Nonetheless, it is clear that many people have been killed, and many more have been sexually or otherwise physically assaulted, while houses, shops and religious premises have been damaged or destroyed by fire or other forms of destruction.

Thousands of people are presently in need of shelter, medical assistance and food.

We note with concern that in response to these events your two countries have sealed your shared border. In the opinion of the AHRC, by sealing the border you have needlessly put the victims of violence seeking shelter in further danger.

Presently, according to information available to the AHRC, many people, including large numbers of women and children, are floating on boats in the Bay of Bengal in search of shelter, fearing to land on
the shoreline of Burma lest they become victims of attacks, but also facing the prospect of gunfire from the border security forces of Bangladesh if they try to cross over into the neighbouring territory.

Similar movements of people out of the violence-affected areas have occurred in recent decades, and unfortunately in the past your governments have not demonstrated either a strong or shared commitment
to the humanitarian needs of these persons, but rather have at times shown a flagrant disregard for them. The current events present you with an opportunity to distinguish yourselves by first and foremost taking a cooperative and humanitarian approach to the violence, rather than leading with a militarized, security-oriented mindset.

Accordingly, the AHRC strongly urges you to communicate with one another so as to open the border immediately to allow for the movement of people seeking shelter from the violence, and to make appropriate arrangements for the temporary settlement of persons fleeing the parts of Burma affected by violence.

Furthermore, in order to enable the provision of adequate food and health services to the affected populations, both of your governments are requested to cooperate with one another so as to provide complete, unimpeded, secure access to international agencies at the earliest possible opportunity, in order that these agencies can assess the situation and make arrangements for the necessary provision of
emergency relief supplies.

The process of redress and recovery from the violence of the last two weeks will be a long one; however, it must begin with cooperative actions aimed at meeting the immediate humanitarian needs of all persons affected. We look forward to your prompt collaborative interventions to this end.

Yours sincerely,

Wong Kai Shing
Executive Director
Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong

U.S. praises Myanmar's response to sectarian clashes

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

By a Reuters Staff Reporter

YANGON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday praised Myanmar's response to recent deadly sectarian fighting, despite criticism by rights group Amnesty International that Muslim Rohingyas are still fleeing arbitrary arrest by border forces.

The comments come a day after a district court sentenced two men to death for the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman whose killing triggered nearly a week of communal mob violence that threatened to derail Myanmar's fragile year-old democracy.

Washington's vote of confidence has given a boost to reformist President Thein Sein, a former general whose quasi-civilian government faced intense international pressure to contain the violence after a year of startling democratic reforms convinced the United States and European Union to suspend sanctions.

After two days of clashes between Muslim Rohingyas and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, the president on June 10 declared a state of emergency in Rakhine state, sent security reinforcements, imposed a curfew and made a televised address.

"This is something we would not have seen in the past. The government is trying to help everybody who needs it whether that is Rakhine Buddhists or Muslims," Michael Thurston, the U.S. embassy's charge d'affaires in Myanmar, told Reuters in his office in Yangon.

Despite the upbeat U.S. assessment, much of northern Rakhine state remains a no-go area from which journalists and independent observers are banned, making it impossible to verify the government's version of events.

The World Food Programme said on Tuesday the recent violence had displaced 90,000 people, or three times more than the government's estimate. This has raised fears that the official death toll of 50 could also rise dramatically.

There has also been no mention in state media of hundreds of Rohingyas attempting to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh, a point London-based Amnesty International highlighted in a report on Tuesday.

"The basic humanitarian needs of these people must be met immediately, as many still lack adequate food, water, shelter, and medical attention," Amnesty said, urging the government to allow local and international aid agencies "full and unhindered access" to all displaced people.

Amnesty said an estimated 1,500 people had been illegally denied refuge across the border last week by Bangladesh. Bangladesh border guards detained at least 150 Rohingya men on Monday trying to enter in small boats.

"They were fleeing a wave of mostly arbitrary arrests by Myanmar border forces."

SLOW RELIEF

The clashes follow a year of dramatic political change, including the freeing of hundreds of political prisoners, the signing of peace deals with ethnic minority rebel groups and the holding of by-elections dominated by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party.

Three Rohingyas were arrested after the 27-year-old Buddhist woman was killed on May 28 but one hanged himself while in custody. The New Light of Myanmar said the two others were sentenced to death in a court in Rakhine Kyaukphyu district.

Following the woman's murder, about 300 ethnic Rakhine Buddhists beat to death 10 Muslims they wrongly believed were connected to the rape, according to witnesses. Those killings sparked Rohingya riots that descended into mob violence by both sides. No one has been held accountable for the Muslim killings.

Thurston said the government had been quick to ask for international help, in sharp contrast to the sluggish request for assistance by the then-ruling generals following Cyclone Nargis, which killed at least 138,000 people in 2008.

"The response this time is far and away better than Cyclone Nargis," Thurston said. "It's not just myself that thinks this. Most of my colleagues agree that this has been a very different and better response."

If there are human rights abuses, the United States wants to see them fully investigated, a U.S. embassy spokesman added.

Aid workers in Rakhine, however, say thousands of displaced Rakhines and Rohingyas remained in dire conditions more than a week after the violence.

"The response of government is still so slow and the help of the government has been weak since June 10," said Khaing Kaung San, a member of local relief group Wan Latt Foundation, which is running some camps for displaced people in Rakhine state.

News coverage of the relief effort in the state-run New Light of Myanmar, which consists mainly of photos of senior military officers donating supplies, also strongly resembles the junta's post-cyclone response.

Security fears and poor infrastructure have hindered relief efforts, keeping many aid groups on the sidelines.

Rakhine state officials say eight aid groups, including the Red Cross and World Food Programme, were providing assistance.

Tensions stem from an entrenched distrust of around 800,000 Rohingyas, who are recognised by neither Myanmar nor Bangladesh, and are largely considered illegal immigrants.

The government had yet to address the underlying problem, Amnesty said. "Restoring the pre-violence status quo is not sufficient," it said, "as systemic discrimination against the Rohingyas characterises decades of state policy in Myanmar."

(Additional reporting by Andrew R.C. Marshall; Editing by Jason Szep and Jeremy Laurence)

Source: here

Open fired on Gawdusara village, Maungdaw south

Army open fired on Gawdusara village Toady noon and the villagers – young and elder male- run away from village to escape fear of arrest.  The village become unrest and only female are staying in their houses. The female are also fear for rape and harassment.

Arrest and beat

Balwin a private tuition teacher from Ward number 1 was arrested today morning. Yesterday night, Zaw Zaw Let a private tuition teacher from Ward number 2 ( Fayazee para) was arrested .

Nur Kamal son of Syed Amin from Shwezarr was arrested yesterday night.

Fayas – nail shop owner- and his son  from Ward number 5was arrested by police yesterday night after beating in the house.

Kaisar son of Bashar from Asheeka para ( Paungzarr)  yesterday night.

Syed Alam ( ex-village chairman) with other 16 villagers from Labawzarr were arrested yesterday night.

Osman son Syedul Rahaman  from Sarforddin bill was arrested yesterday night.

Rakhine from Ward number 4 beat Alam  45 year old a staff of Maungdaw court who fell down on the road unconsciousness and no security force protected the old men from Rakhine.

Looting and robbery

Police personnel from Maungdaw police station entered to the house of Fayas (nail shop owner) robbed   816.5 gram of gold and 1o million kyats. The police officers also loot the household item.

Army is looting the village of Gawdusara today after open firing to the village.

Collaborators making difficulty the village situation

Molana Jamal son of Moonsur  (ex-police) and son in law of Abul ( ex- clerk  of Cooperative shop) of Shwezarr village  is informing to authority against Rohingya from Shwezarr. Yesterday authority 10 Rohingya elders from Shwezarr where   Nur Kamal son of Syed Amin was arrested by authority and others flee for fear of arrest. Jamal is informing to the local Burma border security force (Nasaka)  since last 7 year  to harass the villagers, according to an elder from Maungdaw. “we don’t know  many people are in the list which  Jamal gave to authority.”

The Burmese authority is using a new tactic which made Maungdaw town upside down – younger male and leading  village elders  were arrested   with lists where they authority said they have photo who create the problem. But, acutely the photos were from family photograph which Nasaka yearly took as a family list checking project and the collaborators also supporting the authority to harass the Rohingya people. So, the Rohingya again start to flee to Bangladesh by small boats – only able to board 10-13 people-  as the Rohingya are fleeing for fear of arrest as Burmese armies are picking up Rohingya young people village by village with their so called list, according to a young Rohingya from Maungdaw. “The authority now picked up those who is like smart or worked before any organization, educated person.”

Source: Kaladan

Massive rapes against the Rohingya innocent women in Maungdaw

Massive rapes against the Rohingya innocent women in Maungdaw Township of Arakan State, are committed by Nasaka forces in the recent days.

Source from Maungdaw Township confirmed that today (20/06/2012) at 5:30am, a group of Nasaka forces entered to 3 Rohingya houses, informing to check illegal residents. Upon entering in the houses, the forces routinely raped 13 women aged between 13 years to 65 years.

The names remain disclosed to protect the dignity of the women.

The source also confirmed that Nasaka forces involved in massive extortion, torture, rape and killing.

Rohingyas Should Be Given Protection, Says ABIM

KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (ABIM) has raised concerns over Bangladesh closing its borders to the Muslim minority Rohingyas fleeing ethnic violence in Myanmar.

ABIM secretary-general Mohamad Raimi Ab Rahim said the Rohingyas should be given protection in line with Article 1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights on equal rights for all and Article 33(1) of the 1951 Convention on the status of refugees.

"A memorandum of protest will be sent to the Bangladesh High Commissioner to urge the government to open its borders and provide them protection," he said at the ABIM office, here Friday.

Ethnic Rohingyas and Rakhines in the western state of Rakhine, Myanmar have been experiencing ongoing conflicts. Another spate of violence against the Rohingya community reportedly erupted several days ago.

The Rohingya Ulama Council president Jaber Mohd Subahan, who was present at the press conference, alleged that on June 8 the Buddhist, Rakhine community supported by the police and army attacked the minority Rohingyas in Maungdaw and Sittwe towns.

Jaber appealed to the United Nations, European Union and Asean to urgently deal with the ethnic conflict and violence.

-- BERNAMA

United States of America on Recent Violance in Arakan

CHIEF DEPUTY WHIP JOSEPH CROWLEY

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                          Contact: Courtney Gidner 202-225-3965

June 15, 2012                                                                                       courtney.gidner@mail.house.gov

Congressman Crowley on Violence in Burma’s Arakan State

(Queens, N.Y.) – Today, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), a leader in the House on Burma, released the following statement in response to increased violence in Burma’s Arakan State and the Government of Bangladesh’s refusal of refugees from the violence. Communal tensions, long simmering in Arakan State, have erupted this month into violence marked by the burning of homes, killings, and other physical attacks. Both Buddhists and Muslims have been the victims of this recent violence. Some Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority group that has long been persecuted in both Burma and Bangladesh, have fled the violence in Burma to seek safety in Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh has openly refused to offer sanctuary, even to the wounded, and has reportedly sent many individuals back to Burma.

“I strongly urge the Government of Bangladesh to adhere to its international obligations not to turn away those trying to escape attacks in Burma and allow those individuals to have access to essential services. I also urge the Government of Burma to protect human rights throughout the country, and respond to this outbreak of violence in a manner that respects the rule of law and fundamental freedoms. The attacks highlight the challenges facing Burma’s government; its country’s leaders should protect the rights of all ethnic minorities, promote dialogue among ethnic groups, and hold perpetrators of crimes accountable under a fair and transparent legal system. The government should follow the calls of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and firmly establish the rule of law in order to bring an end to strife.”

Congressman Crowley is the seven-term representative from the 7th Congressional District of New York, which includes sections of Queens and the Bronx. He is a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and serves as a Chief Deputy Whip in the House of Representatives.

###

Rohingya situation on 16 June 2012

Last 4 hours ago, Hamid (age-12 yr girl) was killed Rakhine Police in Kiladang ,Maungdaw Township. Her brother confirmed it from the ground.

Received some people name who were involved attacks on Rohingya villages in Maungdaw .Rakhine are Maung Soe Win ,Mg Mg Che,U Kaung ,Pho Tha Tu ,Ney Min Twe. Maungdaw Ward(4) Ploice officers  Hla Myint ,Tun Tun Kyaw, Maung Cha,  Tin Aye ( Who killed 10 yr Rohingya girl),Bo Latt, Aung Kyaw Thein. They killed more than 150 Rohingya people (confirmed).Dead body found 36 and other taken by Police Trucks.There are more than 100 people still missing in Maungdaw.

Rakhine people burnt in Haindapara  Village, Maungdaw ,Arakan State.The attacks taken place in  Arpauk Warr village Kyauktaw Town ,Arakan State and clashed with Rohingyas. 1 Rohingya died (confirmed)  and Rakhine burnt 21 houses.

Rakhines rounded up by  Aung Dine village and Sakyar village in Min Bya Town, Rakhine State. Rohingya people from Min Bya town are worrying and do not know what time Rakhine will set fire their villages. This  information is confirmed and received it  it our contact in Rangoon just now.

Rohingya people are seriously and painfully suffering from food shortage as authorities are not at all helping Rohingya with food while Rakhines has been enjoying all sorts of cares from authorities. Moreover, Rakhines public is not selling food to Rohingya making things extremely difficult for Rohingya's survival. 

They need immediate supply of food, clothes and medicine. People are dying of hunger and lack of medical care, shelters and clothing. We need immediate UN and international help to save the Rohingya people. It is clearly understood that Military government is not doing any to help save lives of Rohingya people in the most effected areas such as Akyab, Maungdaw, Rathidaung, Buthidaung and other cities. 

In Santoli of Akyab Rohingyas Muslims are being circled by Rakhine mobs and  most of the Rohingyas didn’t have food one week now.

The authority is not allowing the general public to bring supply of food from other areas to the effected areas. Therefore it is seriously important to give international pressures to the military junta to immediately allow the public supply necessary food, medicine and clothing as well as sheltering equipment

Rohingya situation Report on 17 June 2012

Stranded Rohingya 15 boats in Naf River are disappearing with more than 2000 Rohingyas since early morning 16^th June who fled because of attacks by Rakhines, Police Officers and Paramilitary Forces.

The Rohingya who were drifting in the Naf River as the authority of Bangladesh didn’t allow to enter its land, hit heavy rain and windy since Wednesday night. The stranded Rohingya boats are not seen in the Naf River and no body know where the boat gone, according to local from Shapuri Dip.

In Sittwe, Government authorities are planning to allocate Rakhine on Rohingya’s villages which were burnt by Rakhine.

Rakhines burnt  100 houses Bara Bara Village ,Kyuaktaw Town.and  killing Rohingyas in every houses. Rakhines are killing Rohigyas with the collaboration of Police and Paramilitary Forces

Maungdaw USDP secretary Phan Phyo’s  (Quater 1) son Tun Hla Sein jointly organized with his collaborators  Mg Nyi Mg Chay@Hla Myin son of Ni Mg (Quater1),Paun pae son of Aung Gyi (Quater 4) and Kyaw Aye(Quater 3) were formed a gang to rape Rohingya women and to loot Rohingya villages. Tun Hla Sein provided his gang Police Uniform and sort of weapons according to reliable source from the ground.

Almarajan(age-20) and Shafika(age-17) from Taray kundan (Sairkumbar-hoinna fara) village,Maungdaw  are allegedly gang raped by  Burmese military at  15:00 pm  16^th June, in Maungdaw.25 numbers of youth are arrested by NaSaKa camp and taken to NaSaKa Headquarter. Around 20 trucks of Rohingyas are arrested and sent to NaSaKa Head Quarter.

(1) Robis Ahmed - head of 100 house ( Ra Ayin Mu)-- Zaw Ma Thet- Salimma para shot  dead by Na Sa Ka  (17:00 pm  16^th June)

(2)Sho Fiullah - 10 household head ( Say Ayin Gong) Lomba Goona village shot dead

(3) Sakina-One 11 years old girl  from Tha Yee Kon Tan village shot  dead

(4) Roshid Ahmed-  Tha Re Kon Tan Village (Shopkeeper- Tha Re Kon Tan Mar Ket ( Sair Konbor Bazar)- Strongly beaten by Na Sa Ka looted all Commodities and destroyed

(5)  Nobi Hussein- THa Re Kon Tan Village seriously beaten and dead.

Another 27 Rohingyas arrested from southern Maungdaw today 10:00 am Locatime-17.06.2012).Arrested people never comeback believed killed by NaSaKa(Border Security Forces).

No	Name	Father’s Name
1	Azimullah	Ali Ahmed
2	Hamid Hussain	Ismail
3	Anzullo	Ismail
4	Halo Mia	Shida Ali
5	Mv. Hashim Ullah	Nazir Ahmed
6	Abu Soyed	Wali Ahmed
7	Abu Kalam	Wali Ahmed
8	Kalaya	Nazir Ahmed
9	Mohammed Elias	Kalaya
10	Sayedulllah	Abdu Mozid
11	Dil Mohamed	Younus
12	Elias	Shari Hossain
13	Anamatullah	unknown
14	Zonaid	Nur Hossain
15	Mr. Azizullah	Mv. Hanifa
16	Amir Hamza	Miyo Hossain
17	Ex-chairman Kollimullah	Bodur Rahman
18	Baitta	Nazira
19	Mv. Noor Hossain	Younus

          Note: from serial no. 1 to 13 = Anauk Ywa, Udan village ,Maungdaw

          From serial no. 14 to 19 = Zumma Ywa, Udan Village Maungdaw

In other towns of Maungdaw, Nasaka called Rohingya villages and meeting and arrested. While they call the meeting the other groups of Rakhine and military groups   entered Rohingya’s houses and looting their valuable things and took Rohingya’s  girls and raped them. In Muslim evacuation center, there is no food and medicine authorities are not providing food to Rohingya.