Bangkok, 22 August, (Asiantribune.com):
Myanmar (formerly Burma) is
going through a deep crisis in dealing with ethnic conflicts, especially
in its western Rakhine (formerly Arakan) state. To find probable
solutions to the existing problems, Arakan Rohingya Organization - Japan
(JARO) and Rohingya National Organization in Thailand (RNOT) jointly
sponsored an International Rohingya Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.
The theme of the conference was “Contemplating Burma’s Rohingya People’s Future in Reconciliation and (Democratic) Reform.”
The conference was held on
August 15, 2012 at Thammasat University, Thaprachan, Bangkok. Besides
the participants coming from Japan, Canada, USA, Myanmar, Malaysia,
Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Singapore, the members from the
local/international media, NGOs, ASEAN countries, and Thai-based foreign
embassies attended this conference.
The conference was moderated by
Mrs. Chalida Tajaroensuk, Director of People’s Empowerment Foundation
and started with an opening speech from Mr. Salim Ullah, President of
JARO. I was invited as the keynote speaker. The other speakers included
Professor Abid Bahar (author of the book - Burma's Missing Dots) from
Canada and Mr. Azmi Abdul Hamid (Secretary General of MAPIM and a human
rights activist) from Malaysia.
At the end of the conference the following declaration was made.
The international conference duly notes the followings:
1. The on-going violence against
the Rohingya people of Myanmar (Burma) is part of a very sinister and
calculated national project towards ethnically cleansing them that is
orchestrated by the Myanmar government and widely supported and promoted
at the central and local levels by the ultra-racist elements within the
government and civilian population of the Rakhine (formerly Arakan)
state.
2. The latest pogrom, which
started on June 3 with the gruesome murder of ten Tablighi Burmese
Muslims by an organized Rakhine mob, has already resulted in the
estimated deaths of tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims, and
destruction of their villages, townships and schools, madrasas, mosques
and business centers. Thousands of Muslim girls and women have also been
raped by the armed members of the government security forces and local
Buddhist population within the Rakhine state. As a result, nearly a
hundred thousand Rohingyas are internally displaced, who are also denied
access to food and shelter. Tens of thousands of panicked Rohingya
population have been pushed to seek refuge or asylum in any country
willing to provide them shelter.
3. The Myanmar government and
the Rakhine state administration are guilty of practicing an apartheid
policy towards the Rohingya people. They are also guilty of committing
crimes against humanity.
4. The Muslim minority community
that identifies itself as the "Rohingya" is an indigenous people of the
Rakhine (former Arakan) state of Myanmar. They were neither implanted
by the British administration since 1826 nor did they intrude into
Arakan from Bangladesh after the Union of Burma (Myanmar) achieved her
independence in 1948.
5. The 1982 Citizenship Law of
Burma, which has effectively declared the Rohingya as "stateless", is
inconsistent with the United Nations and international laws recognizing
inherent dignity, equality and inalienable rights of ALL members of the
human family. Through its discriminatory laws and practices against the
Rohingya people, the Myanmar government is in violation of each and
every Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, making the
Rohingya an "endangered" people of the 21st century who need protection
of their human rights.
6. The 1982 Citizenship Law has
essentially made the Rohingya an endangered people, the most persecuted
on earth - as once again clearly demonstrated by the current ethnic
cleansing efforts by the Thein Sein government that is enthusiastically
aided by ultra-racist and bigoted elements within the Rakhine Buddhist
monks and populace.
7. As recently demonstrated by
the statement issued from the office of the President, the Thein Sein
Government of Myanmar appears not to be serious about resolving the
Rohingya problem in a peaceful manner that is consistent with its
international obligations.
8. The Rohingyas are victims of
neo-Nazi Racism in which they are targeted for marginalization and total
elimination from the soil of Myanmar.
9. The statements from the
so-called democratic icon Daw Suu Kyi and other leaders (including those
of the 8888 student movement) have been deceptive, hypocritical and
unacceptable revealing that none of them are serious about democracy and
human rights.
10. The Thein Sein government
has miserably failed to stop the carnage against and suffering of the
Rohingya people, and as such, is guilty of abetting crime against
humanity.
11. The Thein Sein government is
guilty of evading its responsibility for protecting the lives and
properties of the Rohingya people, who are not refugees from outside but
are internally displaced because of the government’s apartheid policy.
12. The Myanmar government’s
latest announcement of forming a 27-member commission to investigate the
current unrest in Arakan, although a welcome gesture, seems
self-defeating and inadequate for a transparent, fair and unbiased
inquiry process. It is aimed once again to ease mounting pressure on the
regime and to block or dodge a much needed UN inquiry. By including
members who not too long ago had either organized or encouraged ethnic
cleansing of the targeted Rohingya minorities, the commission’s intents
and purposes are highly questionable, and appear to produce a document
to cover up unfathomable crimes of the Rakhine community and Myanmar
government. Regrettably, while the majority Rakhaing community is
represented, not a single member of the affected minority Rohingya
community is represented in this commission of inquiry.
Now, therefore, the participants of the Bangkok International Conference calls upon --
(A) The Myanmar Government:
(1) To immediately amend or
repeal the 1982 Burma Citizenship Law thereby removing the burdensome
standard of proof for attaining citizenship. The government should grant
the Rohingya and other minority entities full citizenship and
accompanying rights. The Myanmar government should furthermore sign and
ratify the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons
and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and fulfill
its international obligation to prevent statelessness of all affected
people.
(2) To address the other
fundamental human rights problems which have caused the Rohingya and
other minority communities to flee to Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia,
India and elsewhere. Specifically, it should abolish the practice of
forced labor in compliance with the 1930 International Labor
Organization (ILO) Convention on Forced Labor, which the Burmese
government signed in 1955. Towards this end, as recommended by the ILO,
the Myanmar government should amend or repeal the sections of the
Village and Towns Acts that legally sanction the conscription of labor.
(3) To protect the rights of the
children, in accordance with the government's commitment to children's
rights through its ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child in 1991. In particular, all children born of Rohingya parents (and
other "stateless" minorities) should be granted Myanmar nationality,
including those born in refugee camps in Bangladesh, Thailand and
elsewhere. Children must not be forced to work under any circumstance,
and the government should not discriminate against Muslim (and
non-Buddhist) children in its provision of education benefits.
(4) To ensure that all refugees
are able to exercise their right to return and must guarantee their full
reintegration with full respect for their human rights.
(5) To release ALL its political prisoners, dropping all charges against them and their family members.
(6) To exclude certain members
(e.g., Dr. Aye Maung, Khin Maung Swe, Zarganar, and Ko Ko Gyi, and
others) from the currently announced Commission of Inquiry whose
statements during the crisis had been anything but neutral, and had
instead contributed to the added misery and suffering of the Rohingya
people. For the inquiry commission to be fair, it must ensure equal
participation from the affected Rohingya community. It must also ensure
absolute accuracy and neutrality of the commission so that truth is not
compromised in any way. Once the internal inquiry report identifies the
criminals, the government must prosecute and punish the culprits in an
open trial (and not make a mockery of the judicial system via a kangaroo
court).
(7) To pay due compensation for the loss of lives and properties of the victims of the current pogrom.
(8) To repatriate and rehabilitate each one of the fleeing refugees who had fled or sought refugee status outside.
(9) To allow for an independent
international inquiry at the behest of either the ASEAN or the UN to
investigate the current crisis and to honor its findings and to take
appropriate actions needed to not only punish the criminal elements but
also to ensure through reconciliation efforts so that such crimes will
never be committed in the future. (The government’s internal inquiry
commission is biased and does not guarantee the needed neutrality
required for an objective and scrupulous investigation.)
(10) To allow international NGOs and aid agencies to provide material and medical aid to the suffering people.
(11) To allow the presence of
international monitors, e.g., human rights groups and journalists, to
continuously monitor the restive region so as to provide needed and
accurate information on a timely manner.
(12) To open a dialogue with the
leaders of the Rohingya community immediately towards reconciliation,
inclusion and integrating it within Myanmar without any prejudice.
(13) To understand that
citizenship based on ethnicity or race is a feudal concept that has no
place in the 21st century, as such, it must do whatever is necessary to
amend its constitution to bring it at par with those of the civilized
world.
(14) To understand that the
protection of minorities against injustice and intolerance is not a
matter of compassion or sympathy of the majority. Human rights in a
democracy are held to be inalienable – no human being could be deprived
of those rights in a democracy by the will of the majority of the
sovereign people. As such, the government must correct its age-old
xenophobia, hatred and intolerance of the Rohingya people through all
means necessary including education and media outlets. By punishing the
culprits – both the perpetrators and promoters of hatred, it must make
it absolutely clear that there is no place for hatred and intolerance in
new Myanmar.
(15) To understand that the
failure to resolve the crisis -- by amending or removing the Citizenship
Law, which is at the heart of the Rohingya problem -- can result in its
leaders being pursued in the International Criminal Court (similar to
those faced by the likes of Slobodan Milosevic of former Yugoslavia) for
serious violations of international humanitarian laws against the
Rohingyas of Myanmar.
(B) The Rohingya brotherly Organizations:
(1) To foster unity and work in
their individual capacities at the local, regional and international
levels towards promoting the cause of the Rohingya people so that their
suffering ends and they live as equals within Myanmar. Any activity that
is detrimental to Rohingya interest and unity should be shunned at all
costs. Members and leaders should iron out their petty differences and
find common grounds to unite and cooperate like organs of a single body.
(C)The Democratic Forces of Myanmar:
(1) To promote and practice true
democratic values of inclusion and participation away from curses of
racism and xenophobia, which are crimes against humanity. They must also
ensure that they have no tolerance for all those hate provocateurs (the
likes of Aye Chan and late Aye Kyaw) that have smeared their purported
claims, goals and records about genuine democracy and human rights.
(2) To realize that the ideology
of the Myanmar regime has been "Myanmarism", which is arrogant, racist,
militaristic, feudal, exclusionary and thus, self-defeating. It is a
recipe for a 'failed' state, setting off perpetual war within itself,
and destabilizing the region. Thus, all the leaders must work towards
promoting the spirit of Republicanism.
(3) To realize that the Rohingya
rights cannot take a back seat while demands for equality, freedom,
democracy and human rights are sought from the quasi-civil-military
regime. That is hypocrisy! The dissident leaders must treat Rohingyas as
their equal partners and comrades, craving for equity and human rights.
(4) To ensure that the ENC
includes representation from the Rohingya community to address and
accommodate their legitimate grievances, especially those relating to
the 1982 Citizenship Act.
(5) To effectively engage in
correcting the old and false notions of exclusionism through education,
preaching and reconciliations (much like what has happened in South
Africa) so that the general public and government agencies understand
that racism and discrimination against any minority community (including
the Rohingya) are unacceptable and are in violation of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. If Myanmar is to survive as a Federal
Union, enough trust-building provisions must be made so that every
minority community – religious, ethnic, or otherwise - feels equal with
other dominant races and groups. The true spirit of Republicanism, in
clear distinction to 'Myanmarism', must be embraced as the only
alternative for survival of a future democratic Myanmar.
(6) To understand that there is absolutely no place for neo-Nazi Fascism, racism and bigotry in our time.
(7) To also understand that
their willful failure to arresting intolerance and genocidal urges
against the Rohingya and other persecuted minorities are tantamount to
promoting crimes against humanity for which they can face prosecution in
the international courts (much like what has happened with Julius
Streicher of the Nazi era in the Nuremburg Trial).
(D)The United Nations Member States:
(1) To press the Myanmar
government to immediately repeal its 1982 Citizenship Act that is highly
discriminatory and in violations of several international laws and
charters of the UN and its member agencies.
(2) To press the Myanmar
government to stop its inhuman and degrading treatment of all
minorities, esp. the Rohingyas of the Rakhine State.
(3) To stop the ‘push back’ of
fleeing refugees from Myanmar against their wishes. And, instead, they
should be given shelter with adequate provisions for food, education,
job and healthcare. They should not be barred from seeking asylum in a
third country.
(4) To improve, through the
offices of the UNHCR, the living conditions within the refugee camps,
and to ensure that the returning refugees are not mistreated and abused
by the Myanmar regime.
(5) To ensure, esp. through the
offices of the ASEAN countries, that the legitimate demand for full
citizenship rights of the Rohingya and other affected minorities of
Myanmar are restored within the current year (2012).
(6) To ensure that none of the
UN member states, esp. the ASEAN countries, reward the Thein Sein regime
with trade and other benefits unless the citizenship and human rights
are fully restored to the Rohingya and other affected minorities.
(7) To immediately demand an independent inquiry into the crisis through its own fact-finding mission.
(E)The United Nations Security Council:
(1) To pass UNSC Resolutions so
that the Myanmar government is forced to repeal its highly
discriminatory 1982 Citizenship Act, which has epitomized racism,
xenophobia, inequality, intolerance and discrimination against minority
communities like the Rohingya. The Act has effectively reduced the
Rohingya people to be deprived of their fundamental rights to
citizenship, movement, education, job, marriage, property and
healthcare. The Act must be recognized as challenging the very principle
and spirit of the UN. Myanmar's membership to the United Nations must,
therefore, be revoked for its monumental crimes against humanity unless
the Myanmar government fulfils its international obligations by
restoring full citizenship rights of the Rohingyas and other affected
minorities of Myanmar.
(2) To ensure that the Myanmar
government understands that as per UN Charter – Article 55 (c) and 56,
Myanmar being a member of the UN, it is legally obliged to honor the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and promote human rights and
fundamental freedom for all without distinction as to race, sex,
language and religion.
(3) To ensure that the Myanmar
government understands that its genocidal actions against the Rohingyas,
the Myanmar regime have proven itself to be guilty of crimes against
humanity, and as such, deserve serious punitive actions from the UN --
from annulling its membership in the world body to sanctions that force
the regime to change its uncivilized and brutal ways.
To ensure that unless, the
Myanmar government amends its ways to integrate the Rohingya people as
equals within the state, it can face a total ban, cutting it off from
the rest of the world, including losing its UN membership.
(4) To ensure that trade and
economic bans are not immaturely lifted from the member states without a
true change restoring the dignity and human rights of the minorities
within Myanmar.
(5) To ensure that the Myanmar
government releases all its political prisoners, and allowing them to
leave the country voluntarily, if they so choose.
(6) To stop Myanmar government’s crime against its own people.
Reported ByDr. Habib Siddiqui, Director, Arakan-Burma Research Institute, [On behalf of the
Arakan Rohingya Organization-Japan (JARO),
Rohingya National Organization in Thailand (RNOT),
People's Empowerment - Empowering People for a Strong Civil Society, and
ARAKAN-BURMA RESEARCH INSTITUTE (USA)]
Source: Asian Tribune
No comments:
Post a Comment