Burma's Ethnic Persecution is State Policy

Official abuse threatens both the Rohingya Muslims and the country's opening to the West.

By

Matthew Smith

March 13, 2014 12:08 p.m. ET

Rangoon

Burma has enjoyed a remarkable several years of economic and political opening, but it is now also suffering a far darker development—serious ethnic violence. Coordinated arson attacks and periodic massacres in the remote Rakhine State have flattened entire villages and left hundreds of Rohingya men, women and children dead since June 2012. More than 140,000 are relegated to miserable displacement camps and tens of thousands have fled by sea.

Western governments have spent the past two years trying to reconcile a brimming optimism about political reforms with harsh realities on the ground. Can the central government in Naypyidaw really be blamed for unrest in far-flung Rakhine State? The latest developments suggest the answer is yes and paint a dark picture of state-sponsored persecution.

Rohingya families crowd a tented camp. Getty Images

Local Rohingya group seeks dialogue

Alfian ZM Tahir

 | March 4, 2014

A refugee association urges Putrajaya to play peacemaker for rival Myanmar associations.

FMT FOCUS

PETALING JAYA: A local Rohingya association has urged the Malaysian government to mediate between various groups of Myanmar refugees in the country to end the distrust among them that has sometimes led to violence.

Mohamad Sadek, programme coordinator for the Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee, suggested that Putrajaya work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to initiate dialogue between the different groups.

Southeast Asia seen failing Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslims

International rights groups are calling for neighboring countries to protect Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar, where leaked documents allegedly reveal state-sponsored persecution.

By Flora Bagenal, Correspondent / February 26, 2014

Rohingya from Myanmar, who were rescued from human traffickers, are held at a detention center near Thailand's border with Malaysia February 12, 2014. Two police raids last month freed a total of 636 people, mostly Rohingya, who were en route to Malaysia.

Damir Sagolj/Reuters

Bangkok, Thailand 

Aid Group Told to Halt Operations in Burma After Rohingya Controversy

Burma map, state of Rakhine

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•  Rohingya Protest Outside Burmese Embassy in Washington
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• Analysts Fear Burma's Reforms Stalling

VOA News

February 28, 2014

The international aid group Doctors Without Borders says it has been ordered to halt all operations in Burma, also known as Myanmar, following a controversy involving Rohingya Muslims. 

Medecins Sans Frontieres' shock at Myanmar suspension

 

The aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres has expressed its shock at the order to cease operations in Myanmar.

It said it was deeply concerned about the tens of thousands of people it was treating, particularly for HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB.

‘Rohingya innocent of Jalan Alor shooting’

Alfian ZM Tahir | February 27, 2014

 A Myanmar refugee group condemns last month's attempt to assassinate two visiting political leaders.

KUALA LUMPUR: A Myanmar refugee organisation has rejected the theory that Muslim activists were responsible in last month’s attempt to assassinate two visiting politicians from that Asean country.

Mohamad Sadek, programme coordinator for the Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee (RARC) in Malaysia, said he knew of no Rohingya (Myanmar Muslim) who was rash enough to carry out the attack and thereby endanger his relatives back home.

Furthermore, he told FMT yesterday, neither his organisation nor any individual Rohingya refugee had the resources or capacity to carry out an assassination mission.

“It would be suicide if we tried to assassinate them,” he said.

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“Thank God no one was hurt. Imagine the retaliation in Myanmar if the two top politicians had been killed. Our relatives back home would also be killed, and many more will suffer from the revenge.