New Mandala

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• 1 Aabid Uddin Amin // Feb 13, 2007 at 5:36 am

  Dear all,
  We are Rohigya living in Burma Arakan since 1200 years ago. The Burmesed Military cleaned & removed us day by day. In this situation Rohingya Muslim will be finisheed within some years. This unjustfy government Confiscated our properties.Toture, robbering and killing is the minor case.
  I appeal all over the world and media let to help all our people and pray for our Rohigya.

• 2 Habib Mungduwala // Mar 17, 2007 at 1:11 am

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• 3 Habib Mungduwala // Mar 17, 2007 at 1:19 am

  The Rohingya Minority:
  Fundamental Rights Denied
  I. Introduction
  The Muslim ethnic minority, generally known as the Rohingyas, who live in northern Rakhine State, western Myanmar, continue to suffer from several forms of restrictions and human rights violations. The Rohingyas’ freedom of movement is severely restricted and the vast majority of them have effectively been denied Myanmar citizenship. They are also subjected to various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation; forced eviction and house destruction; and financial restrictions on marriage. Rohingyas continue to be used as forced labourers on roads and at military camps, although the amount of forced labour in northern Rakhine State has decreased over the last decade.

  These practices, in addition to violating other basic human rights of the Rohingyas, are discriminatory towards the Rohingya population as they do not appear to be imposed in the same manner and at the same level on other ethnic nationalities in Rakhine State, or in the country as a whole. These restrictions and abuses, and the general discrimination against them, also amount to violations of the right to an adequate standard of living for many Rohingyas. As a consequence tens of thousands have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh and other countries.

  This report is based on almost 50 testimonies taken from Rohingyas which were made available to Amnesty International during the last year. These interviews were conducted in private and in confidence in accordance with the organization’s general terms of reference for primary research. Information from other reliable and credible sources is also used to corroborate these testimonies. In order to protect the safety of those interviewed, all details which could identify individuals have been deleted, but information obtained from public sources is cited where appropriate.

  Myanmar is not state party to most international human rights treaties. Amnesty International has consistently urged the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC, Myanmar’s government) to accede to these treaties. However, the fact that the SPDC has not done so does not release it from its obligation to respect fundamental human rights which, being provided for under customary international law, are binding on all states.
  II. Background
  Approximately one third of Myanmar’s population consists of ethnic minority groups; the seven ethnic minority states take their names from the Shan, Kachin, Chin, Kayin, Kayah, Mon, and Rakhine nationalities. These states surround the central plains of Myanmar, where most of the majority Bama (Burman) people live in the seven Divisions. However every State and Division comprises a mixture of ethnic nationalities; for example thousands of Kayin people live in the Ayeyarwaddy Division.

  Since 1988 Amnesty International has documented human rights violations by the military against civilian members of ethnic minorities, most commonly in the context of counter-insurgency operations. These include forced labour; forcible relocation with no compensation; torture and ill-treatment; and extrajudicial executions. The organization published reports on violations against the Rohingyas in 1992 shortly after their second mass exodus to Bangladesh; and again in 1997, as refugee flows to Bangladesh continued.(1)

  The vast majority of Rohingyas live in the Rakhine State, a geographically isolated area in western Myanmar, consisting of coastal plains; a network of streams and rivers; and a mountain range separating it from central Myanmar. The Naaf River marks part of the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

  The Rakhine State (historically known as Arakan), is one of seven ethnic minority states which were formed under the constitution of 1974. The Rohingya population is mostly concentrated in the three northern townships: Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung. The Rohingyas speak a Bengali dialect similar to what is spoken in the Chittagong region of Bangladesh, mixed primarily with words from the Urdu, Hindi and Arabic languages, but also from the Bama and English languages. The first Muslims who settled in this region were believed to be Arab mariners and traders that arrived on the Rakhine coast in the 8th and 9th centuries. Other Muslims who came to the area in later centuries include Persians, Moghuls, Turks, Pathans and Bengalis. During the British colonial period from 1824-5 until 1948(2) there was also massive migration from Chittagong to what is now the Rakhine State.(3)

  Apart from the Muslim population, the other major ethnic group is the Rakhine, who are Buddhists. They speak a related form of Bama, but claim separate political and nationality traditions from the ethnic Bama majority of Myanmar. The Rakhine people established independent kingdoms from central Myanmar; the last one was founded in the 15th century with its royal capital at Myo Haung (Mrauk-U). This kingdom was conquered by the Myanmar king Bodawpaya in 1784.(4)

  The population of Rakhine State is estimated at some three million people. Apart from the majority Rakhine population, there are between 700,000 and 1½ million Muslims, most of them Rohingyas from northern Rakhine State. (5) There are also a number of smaller ethnic minority groups, including the Mro, Daignet, Kamein, Thet, and also some Chin. The population of Northern Rakhine State (Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung) is estimated at some 800,000 people, of which 80% are Muslims.

  The total Muslim population in Myanmar, the majority of whom live in urban areas throughout the country, is estimated at between 4 – 5% of the total population. The word Rohingya refers to the Muslim population in northern Rakhine State, who have developed a distinct culture and dialect. There are also other Muslim communities in Rakhine State, who prefer to identify themselves as ‘Arakanese Muslims’.

  After Myanmar gained independence from Britain in 1948 civil war broke out when many ethnic nationalities and the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) took up arms against the central government headed by U Nu. In Rakhine State both Rakhine and Muslim groups formed armed opposition groups who fought against the government. It was only by the early 1960s that the tatmadaw, or Myanmar army, captured the main positions of these groups, and reached cease-fire agreements with the Muslim organisations.

  The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) rejects the existence of a separate ethnic group called “Rohingya”. The vast majority of Rohingyas are not believed to possess Myanmar citizenship. Moreover they are not recognised as one of the 135 ‘national races’ by the Myanmar government:

  “In actual fact, although there are (135) national races living in Myanmar today, the so-called Rohingya people is not one of them. Historically, there has never been a ‘Rohingya’ race in Myanmar. The very name Rohingya is a creation of a group of insurgents in the Rakhine State. Since the First Anglo-Myanmar War in 1824, people of Muslim Faith from the adjacent country illegally entered Myanmar Ngain-Ngan, particularly Rakhine State. Being illegal immigrants they do not hold immigration papers like other nationals of the country.”(6)

  More recently in April 2004 in a response to questions by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, (7) the SPDC stated:

  “The Government renders full and equal treatment to these people, as with other races, in matters relating to birth and death registration, education, health and social affairs.
  In the official records, they are listed as a Bengali racial group of the Bengali race and are recognized as permanent residents within Myanmar.”(8)

  However in practice the rights of the Rohingya population of northern Rakhine State are greatly restricted.
  Rohingya armed opposition groups
  Several Rohingya armed groups have been established during the last decades. These include the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), and the Arakan Rohingya Islamic Front (ARIF), both of which in 1996 jointly formed the Rohingya National Alliance (RNA).(9) In 1998 two RSO factions and the ARIF merged into the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO).(10) After the arrival of Rohingya Muslim refugees during 1991-92 in Bangladesh, some of the Rohingya armed groups became active in the refugee camps there, where they reportedly attempted to recruit people. Since then these groups have split into several small factions. They are reportedly operating from small bases in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border area, and do not appear to have a large number of troops, mostly a few dozen each.

  There are also a number of other armed groups which remain active in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border areas. These include the National Unity Party of Arakan (NUPA) and the Arakan Army, both of which are mostly based among the Buddhist Rakhine population. Another force, the Communist Party of Burma (Arakan), has signed a cease-fire agreement with the SPDC and in some cases its followers have been resettled in “model villages” established by the Myanmar authorities. All of these groups, however, have a very limited number of troops and the conflict with the Myanmar army in the northern Rakhine State is believed to be extremely limited in scope.
  Local security forces
  The NaSaKa are the security forces most frequently cited by the Rohingyas as committing human rights violations against them. NaSaKa is the Bama acronym for “Nay-Sat Kut-kwey Ye”.(11) It is a border task force, consisting of the police, Military Intelligence (MI), the Lon Htein (internal security or riot police), customs officials, and the Immigration and Manpower Department (IMPD).(12) The NaSaKa was established in 1992, initially only in Northern Rakhine State, and is believed to be under the direct command of the SPDC, in this case the Western Military Command with its headquarters in Sittwe.

  According to credible sources, there are nine NaSaKa Sectors, eight in Maungdaw Township and one in Buthidaung Township, starting with Sector 1 in northern Maungdaw, to the south all along the border to Sector 9 in Buthidaung. The latter sector also covers parts of Rathedaung Township. There are several NaSaKa camps within each sector.

  Rohingyas have testified that the restriction on the freedom of movement and other abuses such as arbitrary taxation increased

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