Saturday, 28 July 2012
The
OIC Ambassador HE Ufuk Gokcen expressed serious concern over the
deteriorating situation in Arakan in a meeting with Prof. Dr. Wakar
Uddin, the Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) and the
Chairman of the Burmese Rohingya Association of North America (BRANA),
and Nay San Oo, the Information Secretary of BRANA and the Co-founder of
Free Rohingya Campaign, at the OIC Mission at the United Nations.
In
response to the questions by the HE Ambassador, Dr. Uddin provided
detailed accounts of the current crisis in Arakan and the most immediate
needs of the Rohingya victims in Northern Arakan State. Dr. Uddin and
Nay San Oo explained how the brutal murders of Rohingya men, women, and
children by Buddhist Rakhine vigilantes recently has transitioned to
massive arrests, torture, and cold blooded murders of innocent Rohingya
men by Burmese police, Lon Htein, and Nasaka forces in jails. They
further explained how the State of
Emergency imposed by Burmese government in Arakan is taking toll on
Rohingya as they cannot go out of their houses in search of food and
medicine even during day time as the Rakhine mobs are continuously
attacking and looting Rohingya while Burmese police forces are providing
coverage for Rakhine. “ The Rakhine are not obeying the state of
emergency law, and they are roaming the streets and looting Rohingya
houses. The imposition of state of emergency is providing leverage for
Rakhine and crippling the Rohingya. These are compelling evidences of
how the Burmese government has manipulated the situation in favor of
Rakhine through this state of emergency law to further marginalize
Rohingya” Dr. Uddin stated. “The Burmese forces are raiding Rohingya
houses and taking the male adults away to unknown destinations. There
are numerous cases of assault on Rohingya women and rapes by Burmese
forces, particularly where men of the households were taken away
by the Burmese forces” he added. Dr. Uddin has appealed to the HE
Ambassador to assist the international community in rapid mobilization
of the food aid to Rohingya as the Burmese forces are diverting the
current aid supplies to Rakhine. He has also given the accounts of
numerous mosques gutted and others shut down in Arakan by the Burmese
government - not allowing Rohingya to pray and arresting Imams in
several locations.
On
the same day, in the afternoon, Dr. Uddin and Nay San Oo were invited
to the United Nations for a closed-door briefing on the current
situation in Arakan. The briefing was conducted through audio-visual
presentation, beginning with demographic background information on
Rohingya, some highlights of the roles of
Rohingya in the multi-ethnic political process during the post-colonial
periods of Burma, how the military dictatorship have systematically
revoked the citizenship of Rohingya, the persistent human rights
violations and persecution of Rohingya by the Burmese government forces,
coordinated ethnic cleansing in Rohingya areas in Arakan, the
ultra-nationalist and racist ideology of Rakhine as a compounding
factor, implication of Burmanization schemes in ethnic minority areas in
Burma, and the current ongoing violence and genocide against Rohingya
in Arakan. Dr. Uddin stressed the serious needs of humanitarian aid
such as food, shelter, and medicine as the current aid supplies are not
reaching Rohingya people. Additionally, the Rakhine vigilantes are
robbing food from Rohingya, if there is any remnant left in Rohingya’s
possession. Further, Dr. Uddin made an urgent appeal the UN to intensify
its efforts in Arakan and to demand Burmese Government to allow
immediate deployment of UN personnel, particularly a commission of
enquiry and peacekeeping/monitoring team, in Arakan State. In
conclusion, Dr. Uddin stressed “we are running out of time, people are
dying in the open and in jails of horror - please initiate the
deployment of UN personnel in affected areas urgently”.
RB News Desk
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