Discrimination against the Rohingya
See also Main Library > Refugees > Burmese Refugees in Bangladesh
Websites/Multiple Documents
| Title: | | The rights of non-citizens (set of 5 reports) |
| Date of publication: | | May 2003 |
| Description/subject: | | A set of 5 reports by David Weissbrodt to the UN Sub-Commission - Link to an OBL section. |
| Author/creator: | | David Weissbrodt |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | UN Sub-Commission via Online Burma/Myanmar Library |
| Format/size: | | pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 24 August 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Arakan Rohingya National Organization (ARNO) |
| Description/subject: | | "According to the 1947 Constitution, a group of people who entered Burma before 1825 and settled in a defined territory are also indigenous race of Burma. This clause was
especially written for Rohingya people, said Dr. Aye Maung,
one of the author of the 1947 constitution. Accordingly U Nu
government recognized Rohingya as an indigenous race of Burma..." Keywords: Islam, Muslim, stateless.
Big, flashy site with lots of content. |
| Language: | | English |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Dawn Internet edition |
| Description/subject: | | "Pakistan's most widely circulated English language newspaper". Archive from 1998. 16,600 results for a search for "Myanmar" (August 2012) |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "Dawn" (Pakistan) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Narinjara News |
| Description/subject: | | This news service covers Bangladesh-Burma relations, the Bangladesh-Burma border, events in Arakan and human rights violations against both the Buddhist and Muslim population of Arakan. Email delivery of the reports may be requested from narinjara@yahoo.com |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Narinjara News |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma’s Treatment of the Rohingya and International Law |
| Date of publication: | | 08 April 2013 |
| Description/subject: | | "This briefing paper finds that Burma’s
treatment of the Rohingya violates at least
eight international laws, treaty obligations and
international human rights guidelines. Burma’s 1982 Citizenship Law violates the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, and
international norms prohibiting discrimination
of racial and religious minorities, such as
the UN General Assembly Resolution on the
International Convention on the Elimination of all
forms of Racial Discrimination. Burma’s treatment of the Rohingya violates UN
definitions of the rule of law.
The investigation committee set up by the
government of Burma violates international
human rights guidelines.
Burma and the international community are
failing in their duty of Responsibility to Protect" |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Burma Campaign UK |
| Format/size: | | pdf (288K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 08 April 2013 |
|
| Title: | | Al Jazeera Investigates - The Hidden Genocide (video) |
| Date of publication: | | 09 December 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "Earlier this year a Buddhist woman was raped and murdered in western Myanmar. The authorities charged three Muslim men.
A week later, 10 Muslims were murdered in a revenge attack. What happened next was hidden from the outside world.
Bloodshed pitted Buddhists against minority Rohingya Muslims. Many Rohingya fled their homes, which were burned down in what they said was a deliberate attempt by the predominantly Buddhist government to drive them out of the country.
"They were shooting and we were also fighting. The fields were filled with bodies and soaked with blood," says Mohammed Islam, who fled with his family to Bangladesh.
There are 400,000 Rohingya languishing in Bangladesh. For more than three decades, waves of refugees have fled Myanmar. But the government of Bangladesh considers the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants, as does the government of Myanmar. They have no legal rights and nowhere to go.
This is a story of a people fleeing the land where they were born, of a people deprived of citizenship in their homeland. It is the story of the Rohingya of western Myanmar, whose very existence as a people is denied.
Professor William Schabas, the former president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, says: "When you see measures preventing births, trying to deny the identity of the people, hoping to see that they really are eventually, that they no longer exist; denying their history, denying the legitimacy of their right to live where they live, these are all warning signs that mean it's not frivolous to envisage the use of the term genocide." |
| Author/creator: | | Paul Rees |
| Language: | | Voice-over and sub-titles, English |
| Source/publisher: | | Al Jazeera via Youtube |
| Format/size: | | Adobe Flash (50 minutes) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeerainvestigates/2012/12/2012125122215836351.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54RzqiXLvnw&feature=youtube_gdata_player |
| Date of entry/update: | | 10 December 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Forced labour during the Arakan crisis: An overview of forced labour practices in North Arakan, Burma (June to August 2012) |
| Date of publication: | | 31 August 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "Additional Submission to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for consideration by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) – ILO Convention 29
31 August 2012.....The systemic and discriminatory practice of forced labour against the Rohingya, has continued, or even intensified, across large areas of North Arakan/Rakhine State in Burma/Myanmar, since deadly communal violence broke out in June 2012...in areas not directly affected by the June 2012 violence, ie. North Maungdaw and Buthidaung Township, forced labour remains much the same as in previous years and has even intensified in some areas.
Large contingents of army troops have been deployed after a state of emergency was declared on 10 June. As a result, there was a substantial increase in demands for porters and guides in North Maungdaw and North Buthidaung to carry additional rations or to accompany soldiers on patrol in border areas. Villagers were forced to remain 4 to 5 days at a time in the hills along with army patrols. Large groups of forced labourers have also been summoned for road clearing and emergency camp repair damaged by monsoon rains and forced cultivation in army camps and paddy fields has been reported in many parts of Buthidaung..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Arakan Project |
| Format/size: | | pdf (182K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 September 2012 |
|
| Title: | | “The Government Could Have Stopped This” - Sectarian Violence and Ensuing Abuses in Burma’s Arakan State |
| Date of publication: | | 01 August 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | Summary:
"In June 2012, deadly sectarian violence erupted in western Burma’s Arakan State between
ethnic Arakan Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims (as well as non-Rohingya Muslims). The
violence broke out after reports circulated that on May 28 an Arakan woman was raped and
killed in the town of Ramri allegedly by three Muslim men. Details of the crime were
circulated locally in an incendiary pamphlet, and on June 3, a large group of Arakan
villagers in Toungop stopped a bus and brutally killed 10 Muslims on board. Human Rights
Watch confirmed that local police and soldiers stood by and watched the killings without
intervening.
On June 8, thousands of Rohingya rioted in Maungdaw town after Friday prayers, destroying
Arakan property and killing an unknown number of Arakan residents. Sectarian violence
then quickly swept through the Arakan State capital, Sittwe, and surrounding areas.
Mobs from both communities soon stormed unsuspecting villages and neighborhoods,
killing residents and destroying homes, shops, and houses of worship. With little to no
government security present to stop the violence, people armed themselves with swords,
spears, sticks, iron rods, knives, and other basic weapons, taking the law into their own
hands. Vast stretches of property from both communities were razed. The government
claimed that 78 people were killed—an undoubtedly conservative figure—while more than
100,000 people were displaced from their homes. The hostilities were fanned by
inflammatory anti-Muslim media accounts and local propaganda.
During the period after the rape and killing was reported and before the violence broke out,
tensions had risen dramatically in Arakan State. However, local residents from each
community told Human Rights Watch that the Burmese authorities provided no protection
and did not appear to have taken any special measures to preempt the violence.
On June 10, fearing the unrest would spread beyond the borders of Arakan State, Burmese
President Thein Sein announced a state of emergency, transferring civilian power to the
Burmese army in affected areas of the state. At this point, a wave of concerted violence by
various state security forces against Rohingya communities began. For example, Rohingya
in Narzi quarter—the largest Muslim area in Sittwe, home to 10,000 Muslims—described
“THE GOVERNMENT COULD HAVE STOPPED THIS” 2
how Arakan mobs burned down their homes on June 12 while the police and paramilitary
Lon Thein forces opened fire on them with live ammunition. In northern Arakan State, the
Nasaka border guard force, the army, police, and Lon Thein committed killings, mass
arrests, and looting against Rohingya.
In the aftermath, local Arakan leaders and members of the Arakan community in Sittwe
have called for the forced displacement of the Muslim community from the city, while local
Buddhist monks have initiated a campaign of exclusion, calling on the local Buddhist
population to neither befriend nor do business with Muslims..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Watch (HRW) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (630K-original; 575K-OBL version) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs13/The_Government_Could_Have_Stopped_this-HRW-red.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 02 August 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Burma's Human Rights Blind Spot: A Compendium on Violence Against Rohingyas in June/July 2012 |
| Date of publication: | | 25 July 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | Compendium of 30 or so reports...
Introduction:
"By virtue of its geography (great river valleys, plains, plateaus and mountain chains) and history (migration and settlement along the rivers and in the uplands) Burma is a multicultural crossroads of Southeast and South Asia. Peoples, ways of life and religions from the Indian subcontinent, Himalayas, Indo-China and beyond, have intermingled in a land which became a nation under British colonization and has struggled with ethnic identities ever since. Although the vast majority of inhabitants are Buddhists, with the overwhelmingly Buddhist Burmans the largest ethnic group, nearly all other religions are represented in the population. Tolerance and cosmopolitanism were among Burma's strengths in times of peace.
Unfortunately, military rule and the promulgation of ethnic-majority nationalism have been in effect since General Ne Win's takeover in 1962, and even in the post-British democracy of U Nu, establishment of Buddhism as a state religion appeared to sideline Burma's people of other faiths. Ne Win's dictatorship favored the assimilation of Buddhist groups like the Rakhines, Mons and Shans into a Burman nationalism, discouraging those peoples' knowledge of their own languages, civilized history and cultures. Targeting Christians and Muslims, Ne Win's armed forces often burned churches and mosques, torturing and killing pastors and imams.
In western Burma's Arakan State (aka Rakhine State), military rule brought decreased rights for the Buddhist Rakhine people and absolute denial of citizenship for the Muslim Rohingya people. The mass exodus of Rohingyas fleeing repression to neighboring Bangladesh took place in 1978 and 1991, resulting in tens of thousands of refugees cordoned off in squalid camps in Bangladesh or permanently stranded overseas (Gulf States, Pakistan, Malaysia, India, Thailand.) As Rohingyas left the northern Arakan region, particularly Buthidaung and Maungdaw, out of fear of extreme repression, Burma's post-1988 junta settled Buddhist Rakhine and Burman villagers in the area -- a scenario guaranteed to make both groups resent each other. Rohingyas who remained were often preyed upon by border security forces and other military personnel, and were severely restricted in rights such as marriage and travel. Military rape and other violent victimization of Rohingyas was well-documented by respected international human rights organizations..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Project Maje |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 25 July 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Burning Homes, Sinking Lives - A situation report on violence against stateless Rohingya in Myanmar and their refoulement from Bangladesh |
| Date of publication: | | 02 July 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "...this report documents the severity of the human rights abuses suffered by Rohingya within Myanmar – including mass violence, killings and attacks, the burning and destruction of property, arbitrary arrests, detention and disappearances, the deprivation of emergency healthcare and humanitarian aid. Such human rights abuses are being carried out with impunity by civilians and agents of the state alike. The organised and widespread nature of this state sponsored violence raises serious questions of crimes against humanity being committed by Myanmar.
This report also documents the refoulement of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh and related human rights violations, including the push-back of boats carrying Rohingya into dangerous waters and the failure to provide refuge, shelter and humanitarian aid to those fleeing persecution. Historically, the Rohingya have faced acute discrimination and human rights abuse in Myanmar, and Rohingya refugees fleeing persecution to Bangladesh have faced severe hardships including the lack of humanitarian aid, shelter and security. This present crisis is a tragic reminder of the vulnerabilities of stateless people when their countries of habitual residence and the international community fail to protect them. Urgent action is required to end the violence, protect the victims and bring those responsible to justice. Of equal importance is the need for a long-term process of reinstating Myanmar nationality to Rohingya who were arbitrarily deprived of a nationality in 1982, resolving ethnic conflicts and protecting the human rights and freedoms of Rohingya within Myanmar and in other countries.
The Equal Rights Trust makes the following urgent and long-term recommendations to the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh and to the UNHCR and international community..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | The Equal Rights Trust |
| Format/size: | | pdf (1.4MB-OBL version; 2.26MB-original) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.equalrightstrust.org/ertdocumentbank/The%20Equal%20Rights%20Trust%20-%20Burning%20Homes%... |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 July 2012 |
|
| Title: | | ARAKAN REPORT |
| Date of publication: | | July 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "This report elaborates on violence that
broke out in Arakan in June 2012, the
background of the violent incidents
and rights violations against Arakanese
Muslims. The objective of this report is to
bring to the public opinion developments
in the region, inform the Islamic world and
international community, and urge decisionmaking
bodies to take necessary steps to end
escalating acts of violence in Arakan.
Incidents deemed humiliating to human
dignity have been going on in Arakan for
long years. Recent clashes have left more
than 1,000 Muslims dead and over 90,000
Muslims homeless. Most of the Arakanese
fleeing violence are seeking refuge in camps in
neighboring Bangladesh. However, faced with
unimaginably inhumane conditions at these
camps Arakanese Muslims are losing hopes for
a better future. Kala, a 75-year-old Arakanese
refugee who has been in these camps for
long years, describes refugees’ despair: “We
are waiting for death that will relieve us of
our suffering.” To make the matters more
tragic, Bangladesh not only has been denying
refugees that have been coming since June
entry into the country but also returning those
who arrived in the camps in the past years.
This report on the ongoing violence in Arakan
has been prepared using interviews with
refugees who fled Arakan and sought shelter
in different countries, information provided by
human rights organizations, and 14-year-long
experience of IHH in the region..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | insani yardim vakfi via ReliefWeb |
| Format/size: | | pdf (3.3MB) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 02 August 2012 |
|
| Title: | | UNREST IN BURMA’S ARAKAN STATE: A CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS (UPDATED) |
| Date of publication: | | 26 June 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | • The rape and murder of a 27-year-old Buddhist Rakhine woman and the murder of 10
Muslim pilgrims trigger deadly sectarian clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in
Arakan State starting on 8 June.
• According to the regime, as of 21 June, 62 people had died and over 2,000 buildings,
including seven mosques and nine Buddhist monasteries, had been destroyed as a
result of the unrest. However, various organizations say that the death toll might be
much higher as a result of escalating attacks and reprisals affecting Muslim Rohingya
and Buddhist Rakhine.
• Regime imposes a curfew and a ban on public gatherings of more than five people in
six of 17 townships in Arakan State. President Thein Sein declares an indefinite state
of emergency which allows the military to take over administrative control of Arakan
State.
• World Food Program estimates that 90,000 people have been displaced due to the
unrest. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warns of a risk of a
severe humanitarian crisis due to ongoing violence and poor conditions in IDP camps.
• Bangladeshi authorities push back more than 2,000 Rohingya fleeing violence in
Arakan State. Bangladeshi FM Dipu Moni says Bangladesh is already “overburdened”
with Rohingya refugees and cannot take any more “under any circumstances.”
• Regime warns journalists that they could be charged under existing laws, including
the Emergency Provisions Act, if they publish inflammatory reports on the ongoing
violence in Arakan State.
• Daw Aung San Suu Kyi expresses concern over the handling of the situation by local
Rakhine authorities, in particular their failure to dampen anti-Muslim sentiment. Daw
Suu also calls on Buddhists to “have sympathy for minorities.”
• International reactions: UN warns that discrimination against ethnic and religious
minorities poses a threat to Burma’s democratic transition; US, UK are “deeply
concerned” over the ongoing violence; EU welcomes the regime’s “measured
response” to the crisis; OIC “condemns systematic acts of violence and intimidation
against the peaceful Rohingya population.”
• The authorities’ decades-long discriminatory policies and practices targeting
Rohingya have reinforced the racial and religious animosity between the two
communities in Arakan State. Rohingya have suffered restrictions on marriage,
freedom of movement, and religious practice. In addition, the regime has routinely
subjected Rohingya to forced labor, extortion, land confiscation, and other human
rights abuses. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | ALTSEAN-Burma |
| Format/size: | | pdf (103K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.altsean.org/Docs/PDF%20Format/Thematic%20Briefers/Unrest%20in%20Burmas%20Arakan%20State%... (13 June) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 26 June 2012 |
|
| Title: | | An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to the President of Myanmar (Burma) and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh |
| Date of publication: | | 14 June 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "...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 Myanmar 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..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (80K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 14 June 2012 |
|
| Title: | | BURMA: Critical questions about communal violence |
| Date of publication: | | 14 June 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "The Asian Human Rights Commission shares the worldwide concern about the communal violence in Arakan (Rakhine) State in Burma over the last fortnight, which has received widespread reportage in the international media, and joins in calls for its earliest cessation, and for the provision of relief to persons affected by the events that have unfolded there. It has today issued an open letter to the governments of Burma and Bangladesh, asking that they cooperate to enable the movement of persons to places of safety, rather than the closing of the two countries' shared border, and for full, protected access of international agencies to assess the situation and provide assistance (AHRC-OLT-013-2012).
These steps are obviously necessary to deal with conditions in the short term. In the longer term, deeper understanding of what has provoked the violence, and what can be done to prevent repeat occurrences, is equally necessary. Unfortunately, to date, limited evidence exists of willingness on the part of many important domestic and international actors to reflect critically on the events and ask questions openly about what has happened and why. The seeming reluctance on the part not only of people in official positions but also in political parties, international agencies and the media to ask questions about the causes of the violence and the reasons for its continuance is accompanied by a lack of reflection on events of the recent past, some of which may help to inform us of what is going on in the present..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 14 June 2012 |
|
| Title: | | "The most persecuted group in Asia" |
| Date of publication: | | 13 June 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "...Regarded by activists as the “most persecuted ethnic group in Asia”, the Rohingya inhabit the impoverished borderlands between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Much like their Buddhist-Rakhine neighbours they traverse both sides of the border. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh since Burma’s independence, fleeing racial and religious persecution not just at the hands of their Buddhist countrymen, the Buddhist Rakhines, but also the Burmese national authorities..." |
| Author/creator: | | Joseph Allchin |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Economist" |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 17 June 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Forced labour still prevails: An overview of forced labour practices in North Arakan, Burma (November 2011 to May 2012) |
| Date of publication: | | 30 May 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | Submission to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for consideration at the International Labour Conference 2012....
"...Despite the reform agenda pursued by the Government of Myanmar and the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the ILO and the Government aiming at the elimination of forced labour by 2015, there has been little progress toward this objective in North Arakan and no effective measures have been implemented there to eradicate forced labour.
Forced labour continues to be widely and systematically practiced in North Arakan and little has changed for the Rohingya population. A decrease in forced labour has been observed in certain areas, where Garrison Engineers took control of some infrastructure projects and employs paid labour. However, villagers in other areas continue to receive regular orders to work on road construction, in NaSaKa and Army camps, as sentries and porters, without remuneration and facing penalties if they do not comply, as in past years.
Myanmar has yet to take concrete steps to implement two recommendations of the 1998 ILO Commission of Inquiry and to translate formal commitments into realities on the ground in all regions of the country. In the view of the Arakan Project, it would therefore be premature for the ILO to lift the measures imposed under Article 33 of its Constitution.
It is also too early for governments in the region to consider initiating a repatriation programme of Rohingya refugees as long as forced labour remains a major cause for flight..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | The Arakan Project |
| Format/size: | | pdf (714K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 30 May 2012 |
|
| Title: | | CRC 2012: ISSUES TO BE RAISED CONCERNING THE SITUATION OF STATELESS ROHINGYA CHILDREN IN MYANMAR (BURMA) |
| Date of publication: | | 19 January 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | For the Examination of the combined 3rd and 4th periodic State Party
Reports (CRC/C/MMR/3-4)
-MYANMAR - Updated
in January 2012....."...The Muslim population of Northern Rakhine State, known as Rohingya2, constitutes
an ethnic, linguistic and religious minority group in Myanmar. Their number is
estimated at 735,000 or about 91% of the total population of that area3. They are
ethnically related to the Chittagonian Bengalis just across the border in Bangladesh.
The Rohingya are discriminated against on the basis of their ethnicity and religion,
and are subject to systematic state policies of exclusion, restrictions and arbitrary
treatment imposed on them by successive governments over the last few decades.
These policies were the root causes of two mass refugee exoduses to Bangladesh,
in 1978 and again in 1991/92. The outflow has not stopped and today Rohingyas
continue to flee from Myanmar. In addition to 29,000 registered refugees housed in
two refugee camps, Bangladesh currently hosts 200,000 or more unregistered
Rohingya refugees living among local communities. Tens of thousands have also
migrated to Malaysia and the Middle-East, including thousands of boat people.
Rohingya children, in particular, bear the full brunt of the devastating impact of these
policies, which gravely impair their physical and mental development as children and
will affect the long-term future of their community..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | The Arakan Project |
| Format/size: | | pdf (712K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 16 January 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Forced labour after the elections: An overview of forced labour practices in North Arakan, Burma (November 2010 to July 2011) |
| Date of publication: | | 22 August 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | Submission to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for consideration by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) – ILO Convention 29
22 August 2011..."This report, prepared by the Arakan Project, documents and analyses forced labour practices in North Arakan State/North Rakhine State of Burma/Myanmar over the 9-month period which followed the national elections of 7 November 2010 that brought a new ‘civilian’ government to power. It aims to provide information to the International Trade Unions Confederation (ITUC) to be incorporated in their annual submission to the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) reviewing Myanmar’s compliance with ILO Convention 29. It updates our previous report “Forced labour in times of elections” dated 24 August 2010, covering practices in the run-up to the elections in 2010.
This submission is based on field reports transmitted by sources within North Arakan and on 13 interviews with Rohingya visitors and seasonal migrants carried out along the Bangladesh-Burma border between March and July 2011. It includes an analysis of trends and practices while relevant excerpts from these 13 testimonies have been included as annexes...Conclusion: Following national elections on 7 November 2010, a new civilian government was sworn in on 30 March 2011. But, for the Rohingya villagers in North Arakan, nothing has changed. Forced labour is as pervasive as ever and there was even a spike in forced labour demands just after the elections around the end of the year. Even though a budget has been allocated to pay fair wages for work on strategic infrastructure construction projects such the border fence and certain roads, villagers at the grassroots level have hardly benefitted and the funds have disappeared in cuts by the NaSaKa and other authorities. So far, no serious measures have been implemented for the purpose of eradicating forced labour." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | The Arakan Project |
| Format/size: | | pdf (2.15MB) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 10 January 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Crimes against Humanity in Western Burma: The Situation of the Rohingyas |
| Date of publication: | | 16 June 2010 |
| Description/subject: | | "In August 2008 the Irish Centre for Human Rights received funding from Irish Aid to launch a project on the human rights situation of the Rohingyas/Muslims of Rakhine State in Western Burma/Myanmar. As part of the project a research unit was established at the Irish Centre for Human Rights to carry an open source research and take part in a fact-finding mission and the drafting of a report under the supervision of Prof. William Schabas.
In 2009, Nancie Prudhomme (project manager and researcher) and Joseph Powderly (project researcher) undertook a 4-week fact-finding mission to gather more detailed, first-hand and new information about the situation of the Rohingyas in Western Burma. As part of their mission Nancie and Joseph visited Burma and Thailand. In Thailand, they had meetings on the
situation of the Rohingya "boat people" pushed back to sea at the beginning of 2009 and on the status of the Rohingya issue within Asia generally and more specifically at the ASEAN level.
As part of the fact-finding mission the researchers also spent two weeks in Bangladesh visiting refugee camps and interviewing Rohingya refugees and human rights and humanitarian workers. The researchers were joined in Bangladesh by Mr. John Ralston, Executive Director of the International Institution for Criminal Investigation and former Chief of Investigations at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and for the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry for Darfur. The team interviewed Rohingya victims in and around refugee camps in Bangladesh. The mission in Bangladesh provided detailed information on the causes for flight to Bangladesh and the current situation in Western Burma.
The report of the Rohingya project was officially launched on June 16 th, 2010 by Micheál Martin, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, at Iveagh House"..... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
"The plight of the Rohingyas has become better known since the start of 2009, in particular because of world-wide media coverage of the case of the so-called “boat people”, consisting of hundreds of Rohingyas who attempted to reach Thailand by boat and were subsequently mistreated there. Despite this new interest in the Rohingya community, very little work has been done to examine the root causes behind their continuous suffering. The Rohingyas are a Muslim minority group residing in North Arakan State in Western Burma. It is estimated that there are approximately 800,000 Rohingyas in Arakan State, and many hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees in other countries. There are disputes over the historical records, and whether the Rohingyas are an indigenous group or whether in fact they began entering Burma in the late 19th century. Even the very name Rohingya’ has been disputed. Whatever position is taken on these questions, it is undeniable that the Rohingyas exist, and have done so for decades, as a significant minority group in North Arakan State. For many years, the Rohingyas have been enduring human rights abuses. These violations are on-going and in urgent need of attention and redress.
Irish Aid provided funding for independent research to be conducted by the Irish Centre for Human Rights on the situation of the Rohingyas. The content and views expressed in the resulting Report by the Irish Centre for Human Rights are entirely those of the authors. This Report is based on a fact-finding mission to the region, including Burma, as well as on extensive open-source research, and confidential meetings with organisations working in the region. Much of the most important information came from the many interviews conducted with Rohingya individuals in and around refugee camps in Bangladesh, where they were able to speak more freely than they can in Burma itself about the violations they had endured and which had caused them to flee their homes.
The Report examines the situation of the Rohingyas through the lens of crimes against humanity. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and international criminal law jurisprudence, especially that of the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, are used to provide detailed and clear legal foundations for the examination. As becomes evident in the individual chapters, there is a strong prima facie case for determining that crimes against humanity are being committed against the Rohingyas of North Arakan State in Burma..." |
| Author/creator: | | Nancie Prudhomme, Joseph Powderly, John Ralston...Supervised by Prof. William Schabas ( |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Irish Centre for Human Rights |
| Format/size: | | pdf (2.2MB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs09/ichr_rohingya_report_2010.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 18 June 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Rohingyas: Tears Down the Cheeks |
| Date of publication: | | 09 November 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | "The Rohingya community of Arakan, Burma (Myanmar) is one of the most down-trodden ethnic
minorities of the world. They are victims of political oppression, economic exploitation and cultural
slavery in their ancestral land - Arakan - where they have been living for centuries...Ignoring all the irrefutable historical evidences of Rohingyas’ glorious past
in Arakan, the Rohingyas have been suddenly made an illegal immigrant community in Arakan by the
Burmese military regime through an amendment to the Burma citizenship law in 1982...Rohingyas: Tears Down the Cheeks is a collection of some of my articles which have been published by
different news media. Despite my limited knowledge and linguistic limitations, I have tried to tell the
stories of agonies of the oppressed Rohingyas. I have also tried to tell the stories of agonies of the people
of Burma who have been groaning under the military rule decades after decades..."
With the loss of their legitimate right as the bonafide citizens of Burma, the Rohingyas have become
homeless in their own home. |
| Author/creator: | | Ahmedur Rahman Farooq |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Ahmedur Rahman Farooq |
| Format/size: | | pdf (2.6MB) 126 pages |
| Date of entry/update: | | 20 December 2009 |
|
| Title: | | Myanmar: Delivering Care to Isolated Rohingya |
| Date of publication: | | 24 July 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | Kaci Hickox, a nurse from Texas, worked as the primary health care manager for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) programs in northern Rakhine state, Myanmar, from May 2007 to March 2009. The majority of MSF patients in this area, on the border of Bangladesh, are part of an ethnic and Muslim group called the Rohingya. They have great difficulty receiving any health care, as travel restrictions or fees for travel permission keep them confined to their own villages. Even if they can reach health care facilities, often members of this group cannot afford to pay and are subjected to discrimination at government- run hospitals or health centers. During the two years she worked in northern Rakhine state, Hickox’s primary responsibility was managing three rural clinics that serve approximately 110,000 Rohingya people. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 05 November 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Burma's Gaza? |
| Date of publication: | | April 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | Citizenship and land rights are hot issues in Arakan State..."...One man in his late thirties claimed the state and its majority Buddhist population would fall under the influence of Muslim Rohingyas if they became Burmese citizens. "They [Rohingyas] are like a virus," he said.
Another man, in his early fifties, agreed. "Let's hope the government doesn't pay attention to international pressure," he said. "The Rohingya are not among the 150 ethnic groups of Myanmar [Burma]."
His claim, supported by most Rakhine people and reflected in regime policy, is disputed by many scholars and historians, who trace the arrival of the Rohingyas in the Arakan region back to the eighth century...For centuries, Muslim Rohingyas and the Buddhist Rakhine people of the Arakan region lived in harmony. They enjoyed the same rights, guaranteed by the 1947 constitution and the 1948 Citizenship Acts.
Rohingyas were able to participate fully in post-colonial political life. They could vote and stand for public office in local and national elections, and they were granted Burmese passports and complete freedom of employment.
The 1962 military coup that brought Ne Win to power ended all that. Anti-Rohingya sentiments were allowed to fester. Race riots disrupted life in Arakan State..." |
| Author/creator: | | Min Khet Maung |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 2 |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 02 April 2009 |
|
| Title: | | Plain Speaking |
| Date of publication: | | April 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | "The Irrawaddy's correspondent asked Rohingya and Rakhine residents of Maungdaw, in Arakan State, and a Burmese computer expert in Rangoon for their views on the Rohingya issue. All three interview subjects are 27 years old, and while they clearly don't represent Rohingya, Rakhine and Burmese populations as a whole, their comments offer some idea of popular thinking in Burma..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 2 |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 02 April 2009 |
|
| Title: | | Unwanted Anywhere |
| Date of publication: | | April 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | The Rohingya remain one of the region's most neglected ethnic minorities...
"FOR years, the plight of the Rohingya - a Muslim ethnic minority from the Burma-Bangladesh border - had been fading from world attention.
Then, earlier this year, it abruptly reemerged in the public eye following reports that the Royal Thai Navy had towed more than a thousand Rohingya boat people out to sea in engineless boats with little food or water.
A few hundred were rescued near India's Andaman Islands and Indonesia's Aceh Province, but many others were not so lucky, and are presumed to have died at sea...In Burma, however, the ruling regime has adamantly refused to recognize the Rohingya as one of the country's indigenous peoples, adding fuel to a fire that other countries in the region are trying to contain.
Thailand has long been on the frontlines of Burma's humanitarian crises, and in this case, it is particularly concerned about the implications of the Burmese junta's policies.
Not only is Thailand host to an estimated 120,000 refugees and perhaps 2 million migrant workers from Burma, it also has an Islamic separatist insurgency raging in its southern provinces and fears that the arrival of thousands of stateless Muslims could further destabilize the situation...The Rohingya are the second-largest ethnic group living in Arakan State, after the ethnic Rakhine; in Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships, in the northern part of the state, they are in the majority. But even though they comprise nearly 30 percent of the state's population of 2.75 million people, they are often treated as if they don't exist.
Ultra-nationalist campaigns initiated by the Burmese government, often with the support of local Buddhist communities, have long portrayed the Rohingya as interlopers from neighboring Bangladesh and India, arguing that they are just another part of the negative legacy of British colonial rule.
As part of the effort to drive them out of the state, the Rohingya are routinely subjected to human rights abuses, including forced labor, land confiscation and even restrictions on marriage. They are also frequent targets of extortion and arbitrary taxation... " |
| Author/creator: | | Yeni |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 2 |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 02 April 2009 |
|
| Title: | | Burma's Rohingyas in flight and the solutions to their plight |
| Date of publication: | | 11 March 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | "...This group is currently of great interest to the international community, because they are primarily a
Muslim minority originating in theArakan (or Rakhine) state of Burma with a particularly challenging
history. Their outflow has, for a long time, been the result of a situation of great ambivalence in that country of
origin where they are, in reality, treated as outcasts.
Even though historically they have been there for many generations, their ethnicity was not adequately
recognised at the time of Burma's independence.
Even today, while the authorities there seem to be willing to recognise over one hundred ethnic groups
in the country, they do not recognise Rohingyas as a legitimate group in that list.
The past three decades have witnessed various disturbing facts which should help to inform the need
for a balanced policy, nationally, regionally and internationally, concerning the group.
They are not allowed to move freely in Burma. They are not allowed to marry without permission.
They are impeded from accessing schools and other services. They are extremely poor and are
marginalised politically and economically. They suffer from the uncertainties of being a stateless
people.
In effect, the Rohingyas are persecuted by a regime which instrumentalises Buddhism for political ends
and plays on the fear of Islam.
These factors thus provide for a scenario of explicit and implicit persecution of the group which, for
lack of national protection, requires international protection.
While they may at times fit into the category of economic migrants in their exodus, the likelihood is
that concurrently, they are also refugees ("persons with a well-founded fear of persecution," according
to the international definition of "refugee") - given the oppressive background that shapes their
existence..." |
| Author/creator: | | Vitit Muntarbhorn |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "Bangkok Post" |
| Format/size: | | pdf (110K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 March 2009 |
|
| Title: | | Obsolete ASEAN (video) |
| Date of publication: | | 12 February 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | 2-part documentary on the abuse, push-backs and deaths of Rohingya boat-people arriving in Thailand, followed by a discussion on how ASEAN could help in such regional situations. The participants in the discussion were Surin Pitsuwan (Secretary-General of ASEAN), Bunn Nagara (Associate Editor of "The Star", Malaysia) and Dr Thitinan Pongsudirak, a Thai political analyst. There were references to the human rights components of the ASEAN Charter and the "Myanmar problem" |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Aljazeera (101 EAST) |
| Format/size: | | Adobe Flash (2 parts: 22 minutes, 55 seconds, total) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMNbLmnKg38 (Part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ilotE9Wmk (Part 2) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 February 2009 |
|
| Title: | | Myanmar envoy brands boat people 'ugly as ogres' |
| Date of publication: | | 11 February 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | HONG KONG (AFP) "Myanmar's senior official in Hong Kong has described the Rohingya people as "ugly as ogres" in a letter sent to media and foreign officials after a high-profile refugee case highlighted their plight.
The country's Consul General Ye Myint Aung told heads of foreign missions in Hong Kong and local newspapers members of the Muslim ethnic group should not be described as being from Myanmar.
"In reality, Rohingya are neither Myanmar people nor Myanmar's ethnic group," he wrote, in a letter seen by AFP on Wednesday..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | AFP |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 February 2009 |
|
| Title: | | ISSUES TO BE RAISED CONCERNING THE SITUATION OF STATELESS ROHINGYA WOMEN IN MYANMAR (BURMA) |
| Date of publication: | | October 2008 |
| Description/subject: | | SUBMISSION TO THE COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW)
For the Examination of the combined 2nd and 3rd periodic State party Reports (CEDAW/C/MMR/3)
-MYANMAR-....."...Rohingya women and girls suffer from the devastating consequences of brutal government policies implemented against their minority group but also from socio-religious norms imposed on them by their community, the combined impact of which dramatically impinges on their physical and mental well-being, with long-term effects on their development.
a) State-sponsored persecution:
The 1982 Citizenship Law renders the Rohingya stateless, thereby supporting arbitrary and discriminatory measures against them. Their freedom of movement
is severely limited; they are barred from government employment; marriage restrictions are imposed on them; they are disproportionately subject to forced labour, extortion and other coercive measures. Public services such as health and education are appallingly neglected. Illiteracy is estimated at 80%. The compounded impact of these human right violations also results in household impoverishment and food insecurity, increasing the vulnerability of women and children....Rohingya women and girls are also subject to serious gender-based restrictions due to societal attitudes and conservative interpretation of religious norms in their male-dominated community. The birth of a son is always favoured. Girls’ education is not valued and they are invariably taken out of school at puberty. Women and adolescent girls are usually confined to their homes and discouraged from participating in the economic sphere. They are systematically excluded from decision-making in community matters. Divorced women and widows are looked down upon, exposed to sexual violence and abandoned with little community support..." |
| Author/creator: | | Chris Lewa |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | The Arakan Project |
| Format/size: | | pdf (179K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 30 January 2009 |
|
| Title: | | “Northern Arakan/Rakhine State: a Chronic Emergency” |
| Date of publication: | | 29 March 2006 |
| Description/subject: | | "Northern Arakan State is one of the main pockets of acute poverty and vulnerability in Burma. This region, adjacent to the border with Bangladesh, experiences what many refer to as a “chronic emergency” and there is an absolute consensus among the local population as well as humanitarian actors that international aid is, despite its limited impact, essential to avert a new mass outflow of refugees to Bangladesh..." |
| Author/creator: | | Chris Lewa |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | The Arakan Project |
| Format/size: | | pdf (102K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 27 January 2008 |
|
| Title: | | Stateless in Arakan |
| Date of publication: | | January 2006 |
| Description/subject: | | Rohingyas have struggled for decades to legitimize their presence in the country, and their fight looks to be anything but over...
"Burma’s contentious Arakan State has long been a sore spot for the country’s ruling military dictatorship. Physical brutality and draconian measures to stifle the region’s Muslim Rohingya population have produced waves of refugees over the western border to Bangladesh (formerly eastern Bengal) since the 1970s.
Some historians suggest that Muslims in northern Arakan State—predominantly ethnic Rohingya—can trace their lineage back to Muslim merchants of the 8th and 9th centuries who made their living as tradesmen in coastal ports. Never ones to let historical facts get in their way, the generals in Rangoon tell quite another story..." |
| Author/creator: | | Yeni |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 14, No. 1 |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 01 May 2006 |
|
| Title: | | Myanmar - The Rohingya Minority: Fundamental Rights Denied |
| Date of publication: | | 19 May 2004 |
| Description/subject: | | "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..." |
| Language: | | English and French |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International (ASA 16/005/2004) |
| Format/size: | | pdf |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA16/005/2004/en/aa1f6f6d-d5d5-11dd-bb24-1fb85fe8fa05/asa1...
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA16/005/2004 |
| Date of entry/update: | | 20 May 2004 |
|
| Title: | | Sikkerheds- og menneskeretsforhold for rohingyaer i Burma og Bangladesh |
| Date of publication: | | December 2003 |
| Description/subject: | | Rapport fra fact-finding mission
til Bangkok i Thailand,
Dhaka og Cox’s Bazar i Bangladesh og
Maungdaw i Burma
Oktober – november 2003
København, december 2003
Udlændingestyrelsen |
| Language: | | Dansk, Danish |
| Source/publisher: | | Udlændinge Styrelsen |
| Format/size: | | pdf (991K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.nyidanmark.dk/ |
| Date of entry/update: | | 20 December 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Conflict, discrimination and humanitarian challenges |
| Date of publication: | | 08 October 2003 |
| Description/subject: | | Delivered at the EU â“ Burma Day 2003 Conference..."In contrast to the Thai-Burma border, very little international attention has been given to conditions on the Bangladesh-Burma border. Consequently, Arakan State has remained a largely ignored region of Burma. Awareness is generally limited to the cycle of exodus and repatriation of Rohingya refugees.
But Arakan is no less than a microcosm of Burma with its ethnic conflicts and religious antagonisms, and is by far the most tense and explosive region of the country. The refugee outflow to Bangladesh does not result from counter-insurgency strategies to undermine ethnic armed resistance, as it is the case for the Shan, Karen and Karenni along the Thai-Burma border, but is the outcome of policies of exclusion against the Rohingya community..." |
| Author/creator: | | Chris Lewa |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Forum Asia |
| Format/size: | | html (100K), Word |
| Date of entry/update: | | 23 October 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Weakness in Numbers |
| Date of publication: | | 10 March 2003 |
| Description/subject: | | "Muslim minorities across Asia are under siegeand their persecution fuels fundamentalists' rage...the Burmese government has convinced many Buddhists in the Arakan region that the Rohingyas are fighting for an independent Islamic statea goal embraced by radical militant groups in exile in Bangladesh but not by the majority of Muslims living in Arakan. "It's propaganda," says Christina Fink, a cultural anthropologist at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. "It's a way for the regime to divide the Arakanese and make sure the people are less interested in the pro-democracy movement and more interested in driving the Muslims out."
The United Nations has overseen the return to Burma of more than 200,000 Rohingya refugees. But many have found their houses and land appropriated by Buddhist settlers and their basic rights still denied by the authorities. For example, to qualify for citizenship, says Fink, the Rohingyas must prove that their grandparents on both sides were born in Burma, but "there are very few who can." Many have abandoned hope and go back to Bangladesh, only to find they are no longer allowed access to the refugee camps, says French anthropologist Chris Lewa, who studies the Rohingya refugees. "Perhaps as many as 100,000 live in slums around Cox's Bazar," she says. "They are not wanted in Bangladesh or in Burma. Effectively, they are stateless people."..." |
| Author/creator: | | Andrew Perrin |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Time Asia Vol. 161 No. 9 |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Burma: Crackdown on Muslims |
| Date of publication: | | 18 July 2002 |
| Description/subject: | | "...Human Rights Watch said that various factors sparked last year's confrontations between Buddhists and
Muslims, including anger over the destruction of Buddhist images in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, in March 2001.
Military authorities confiscated pirated photos and videos of the Bamiyan statues being blown up by the Taliban,
fearful they would enflame Buddhist sentiment. But in some cities outside Rangoon, there were credible reports
of military intelligence officers stirring up anti-Muslim violence..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Watch |
| Format/size: | | PDF (28K) 12 pages |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2002/07/18/crackdown-burmese-muslims |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | "The exodus has not stopped: Why Rohingyas continue to leave Myanmar” |
| Date of publication: | | 01 April 2002 |
| Description/subject: | | Delivered at the Medecins Sans Frontieres Conference:
“10 Years for the Rohingya Refugees: Past, Present and Future”
Dhaka – 1 April 2002.
"As long as the situation in Rakhine State does not show any fundamental improvement, Rohingya people will continue to enter and seek shelter in Bangladesh. The refugees in the two remaining camps are only the visible side of an outflow that has never ceased. Indeed, the exodus of Rohingya to Bangladesh has never stopped. Every day, new Rohingya individuals and families continue to cross the border illegally and seek sanctuary in Bangladesh. It is no longer a mass exodus, but a constant trickle. This influx seems to be encouraged and at the same time strictly controlled by the Myanmar authorities, and concurrently it is rendered invisible by the Bangladesh administration. New arrivals are denied access to the refugee camps, and these undocumented Rohingya have no other option than to survive among the local population outside the camps. Their exact number is unknown. An estimate of 100,000 has regularly been cited for several years now, which does not take into account the constant increase. According to the local press, there may be as many as 200,000 living in the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf-Bandarban area and this amount appears to be more realistic. They are not referred to as refugees but labelled as “economic migrants”..." |
| Author/creator: | | Chris Lewa |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | The Rohingya: Forced Migration and Statelessness |
| Date of publication: | | 28 February 2001 |
| Description/subject: | | "Forced Migration in the South Asian Region:
Displacement, Human Rights and Conflict Resolution"
Paper submitted for publication in a book edited by Omprakash Mishra on "Forced Migration in South Asian Region", Centre for Refugee studies Jadavpur University, Calcutta and Brookings Institution Project on Internal Displacement.
"In the eyes of the media and the general public, whether in Bangladesh or further afield, the situation of the Rohingya from Burma[ii] is usually referred to as a ?refugee problem?. Over the last two decades, Bangladesh has born the brunt of two mass exoduses, each of more then 200,000 people, placing them among the largest in Asia. Each of these massive outflows of refugees was followed by mass repatriation to Burma. Repatriation has been considered the preferred solution to the refugee crisis. However, this has not proved a durable solution, since the influx of Rohingyas over international borders has never ceased. And it is unlikely that it will stop, so long as the root causes of this unprecedented exodus are not effectively remedied. The international community has often focussed its attention on the deplorable conditions in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, rather than on the root causes of the problem, namely the denial of legal status and other basic human rights to the Rohingya in Burma. This approach doubtless stems from the practical difficulty of confronting an intractable military regime which refuses to recognise the Rohingya as citizens of Burma, and of working out solutions acceptable to all parties involved. The actual plight and continuous exodus of the Rohingya people has been rendered invisible. Though they continue to cross international borders, they are also denied the right of asylum, being labelled ?economic migrants?. The international community has preferred to ignore the extent of this massive forced migration, which has affected not only Bangladesh, but also other countries such as Pakistan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, etc..." |
| Author/creator: | | Chris Lewa |
| Language: | | English |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Religious Persecution in Myanmar (Burma) Must End |
| Date of publication: | | 09 February 2001 |
| Description/subject: | | Petition: "Dear Secretary of State Colin Powell, We, the undersigned, are disturbed by the intolerance to and systematic preaching of hatred against religions other than Buddhism, which is an established fact and policy of the ruling military junta in Burma. Most affected groups are the Muslims followed by Christians and followers of other faiths..." |
| Author/creator: | | Ghazi Khankan. |
| Language: | | English |
| Format/size: | | Petition launched, February 9, 2001. |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | International Religious Freedom Report, 2000: Burma |
| Date of publication: | | 05 September 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | Includes sections on the Chin and the Rohingyas and other non-Buddhist groups |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Malaysia/Burma: Living in Limbo |
| Date of publication: | | July 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | Burmese Rohingyas in Malaysia. Contains a good discussion of the Rohingyas' de facto statelessness under the 1982 Citizenship Law as well as background material on the Rohingyas' situation in Burma.."Burmese authorities bear responsibility for the Rohingya's flight. Burma's treatment of the Rohingya is addressed in the background section of the report, and the report offers specific recommendations to the Burmese government. The focus of this report, however, is on what happens to Rohingya when they reach Malaysia. There, they are not treated as refugees fleeing persecution who should be afforded protection, but as aliens subject to detention or deportation in violation of Malaysia's international human rights obligations..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Watch |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Burmese Refugees in Bangladesh: Still No Durable Solution |
| Date of publication: | | May 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | "Since 1991, Bangladesh has been the main country of refuge for members of the Muslim Rohingya minority in Burma's Arakan State, many thousands of whom have fled gross human rights violations perpetrated by the Burmese government. In 1991-92 alone, discrimination, violence and the imposition of forced labor practices by Burmese authorities triggered an exodus of some 250,000 Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh. Most of these refugees returned between 1993 and 1997 under a repatriation program arranged through the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The future of 22,000 Rohingya who remain in refugee camps in Bangladesh, however, remains unclear. Donor countries, frustrated by the lack of progress in finally resettling these remaining refugees, have reduced the level of support available to them. Meanwhile, continuing discrimination against, attacks upon, and other widespread violations of the rights of Rohingya in Burma have led to new refugee outflows into Bangladesh. More than 100,000 Rohingya, who have not been formally documented as refugees, now live in Bangladesh outside the refugee camps. Their situation too remains precarious..."
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
World War II, Independence, and Rohingya Flight;
Operation Nagamin and the 1970s Exodus;
Flight in the 1990s;
Continued Obstacles to Repatriation;
DISCRIMINATION IN ARAKAN:
Denial of Citizenship;
Freedom of Movement;
Education and Employment;
Arbitrary Confiscation of Property;
Forced Labor. ..
CONDITIONS IN THE CAMPS:
Registration: Withholding Essential Services as Leverage;
Physical Abuse. ..
UNDOCUMENTED ROHINGYA:
Refugee status determination. ..
THE SEARCH FOR DURABLE SOLUTIONS:
Voluntary Repatriation;
Protection and Prevention: The United Nations in Northern Arakan;
Local Integration;
Resettlement. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Watch |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Birmanie: Repression, Discrimination Et Nettoyage Ethnique En Arakan |
| Date of publication: | | April 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | Mission
Internationale
d’Enquête
Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme...
L’Arakan:
A. Présentation de l’Arakan;
B. Historique de la présence musulmane en Arakan;
C. Organisation administrative, forces répressives et résistance armée. ..
Le retour forcé et la réinstallation des Rohingyas -
hypocrisie et contraintes:
A. Les conditions du retour du Bangadesh après l’exode de 1991-92;
B. Réinstallation et réintégration.
Répression, discrimination et exclusion en Arakan:
A. La spécificité de la répression à l’égard des Rohingyas;
B. Les Arakanais : une exploitation sans issue. ..
Nouvel Exode:
A. Les années 1996 et 1997;
B. L’exode actuel. |
| Language: | | Francais, French |
| Source/publisher: | | Federation International des Droits de l'Homme |
| Format/size: | | pdf (479K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Burma: Repression, Discrimination and Ethnic Cleansing in Arakan |
| Date of publication: | | April 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | International
Mission
of Inquiry by the
International Federation of Human Rights Leagues.
I. Arakan:
A. Presentation of Arakan - A buffer State;
B. Historical background of the Muslim presence in Arakan;
C. Administration organisation, repressive forces and armed resistance...
II. The forced return and the reinstallation of the Rohingyas:
hypocrisy and constraints:
A. The conditions of return from Bangladesh after the 1991-92 exodus;
B. Resettlement and reintegration. ..
III. Repression, discrimination and exclusion in Arakan:
A. The specificity of the repression against the Rohingyas;
B. The Arakanese: an exploitation with no way out. ..
IV. A new exodus:
A. The years 1996 and 1997;
B. The current exodus. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Federation International des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (446K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Rohingyas in Bangladesh: Anmerkungen zur Flchtlingshilfe |
| Date of publication: | | 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | Rohningyas in Bangladesh: some comments about international assistance for refugees. Sociological analysis of acteurs in migrant situations, questions of space and place in and around refugee camps, migrant's identities.
Am Beispiel der Flchtlinge aus Myanmar, der Rohingyas, im Sdosten Bangladeshs, die mit internationaler Hilfe in Flchtlingslagern angesiedelt wurden, u.a. folgende Fragen untersucht: Akteure der Fluchtsituation, Rume und Schaupltze in und um Flchtlingslager, Identitt von Flchtlingen. Eine Lehrforschung des Sociology of Development Research Centre.
Gliederung: Einleitung; Methoden; Geschichte(n) des Problems; Akteure; Rume und Schaupltze; Fazit; Literatur. |
| Author/creator: | | Stephanie Hering |
| Language: | | Deutsch, German |
| Source/publisher: | | Universitats Bielefeld |
| Format/size: | | pdf (119K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 1999: Burma |
| Date of publication: | | 09 September 1999 |
| Description/subject: | | Contains sections on the Rohingyas, Chin and other non-Buddhist groups |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Dept. of State |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Report of the ILO Commission of Inquiry: customised version highlighting violence against the Rohingyas |
| Date of publication: | | 02 July 1998 |
| Description/subject: | | Extracts on the Rohingyas from the report of the ILO Commission of Inquiry into forced labour in Myanmar (Burma). ".... the situation in the northern part of Rakhine State appears to be more severe in all respects than that prevailing in most other parts of the country. Most of the witnesses questioned on this subject, who were members of the Rohingya ethnic group, and who had left the country very recently, claimed to have been subjected to systematic discrimination by the authorities..." (ILO Report, para 435).
The 1998 ILO Inquiry into forced labour in Burma covers a wide range of human rights violations in addition to forced labour. The Commission of Inquiry, which is the most senior body to have examined human rights in Burma, reported that the Rohingyas suffer a higher level of discrimination than other groups in the country. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | ILO (customised by BPF) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: the Search for a Lasting Solution |
| Date of publication: | | August 1997 |
| Description/subject: | | "Between July 20 and 22, 1997, the Bangladesh government forcibly repatriated some 400 refugees belonging to the Rohingya minority of Burma's northern Arakan state. The repatriations, which drew international protests, highlighted the dilemma facing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the international community in addressing the Rohingya situation. When the host government's patience runs out, and abuses are continuing in the country from which the refugees fled, what choices are available? ...The report describes the forced repatriations, and conditions for the new arrivals in Bangladesh. It then documents the abuses committed by the SLORC against the Rohingyas in Burma, including forced labor, arbitrary taxation, confiscation of property and restrictions on freedom of movement. These abuses are linked to the Rohingyas' status as non-citizens in Burma, a status which the Burmese government has thus far refused to alter. This policy is in clear violation of international standards on the elimination of statelessness. Human Rights Watch/Asia and Refugees International conclude that as long as individuals and families continue to flee Burma, temporary asylum in Bangladesh is critical, and the UNHCR should seek to maintain the camps there and assist the new arrivals. The longer term solution, however, lies in improving the human rights situation inside Burma, and for this, theinvolvement of the international community, and especially the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) which recently admitted Burma as a member, is crucial..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Watch |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Burma - The Rohingya Muslims: Ending a Cycle of Exodus? |
| Date of publication: | | September 1996 |
| Description/subject: | | I. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS;
II. THE 1996 INFLUX;
III. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND;
IV. THE REPATRIATION:
The first stage, September 1992-January 1994;
Mass repatriation, July 1994 - December 1995;
V. THE REINTEGRATION PROGRAM;
VI. CONTINUING DISCRIMINATION:
Citizenship Legislation and Identity Cards;
International Law and the 1982 Citizenship Act;
Current Status of Returnees;
Forced Labor;
Land Ownership and Arbitrary Taxation;
Forced Relocations;
Model Villages;
Freedom of Movement;
VII. CONCLUSIONS. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Watch/Asia |
| Format/size: | | html (391K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | 1993 Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance |
| Date of publication: | | 06 January 1993 |
| Description/subject: | | Paras 45-47 contain a substantial treatment of the persecution of the Rohingyas by the Burmese Army. The report contains the response of the Government of Myanmar. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | United Nations |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Burma: Rape, Forced Labor and Religious Intolerance in Northern Arakan |
| Date of publication: | | 07 May 1992 |
| Description/subject: | | "Muslims from Arakan State in northwestern Burma, have become the latest targets of Burmese military atrocities. Since late 1991, they have been streaming into neighboring Bangladesh at the rate of several thousand a day with stories of rapes, killings, slave labor and destruction of mosques and other acts of religious persecution. By mid-March, the Bangladesh government had registered over 200,000 refugees and the exodus was continuing. In many ways, the treatment of these Muslims, called Rohingyas, seemed to be part and parcel of the stepped up military offensive against ethnic minorities and opposition activists by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the military junta that has become one of the most abusive governments in Asia. Intensive fighting has been taking place along Burma's eastern border against the Karen and Mon people as well, with refugees pouring into Thai border camps with
similar accounts of rape and forced labor..."
INTRODUCTION;
ARAKAN AND THE ROHINGYA MUSLIMS:The 1978 Exodus;
The 1990 Election and Its Aftermath;
PATTERNS OF ABUSE 1991-92:
Rape;
Forced Labor;
Population Transfers and Religious Persecution;
Summary Executions; |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Asia Watch - A Division of Human Rights Watch |
| Format/size: | | html (167K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Union of Myanmar (Burma): Human rights violations against Muslims in the Rakhine (Arakan) State |
| Date of publication: | | May 1992 |
| Description/subject: | | "During February and March 1992 Amnesty International conducted over 100 interviews in Bangladesh with Burmese Muslim refugees from the Rakhine (Arakan) State, which is in the southwest of Myanmar (Burma)[1] bordering Bangladesh. All of those interviewed told Amnesty International that they had fled from their homes in the Maungdaw and Buthidaung township areas of the Rakhine State to escape a wide range of human rights violations at the hands of the Myanmar security forces, including ill-treatment, deliberate killings, and arrests on religious and political grounds. In their testimonies, these refugees said they were themselves victims of human rights violations, or had witnessed such violations committed against others, or were personally acquainted with the victims of such abuses.
The human rights violations documented in this report are part of a general pattern of repression by the Myanmar security forces against Muslims in the Rakhine State. Troops have entered Muslim villages in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships, occupied and closed mosques, confiscated farmers' livestock and crops, seized villagers for forced labour, and evicted them from their houses.
The repression of Muslims in the Rakhine State is part of the gross and consistent pattern of human rights violations committed by the SLORC against all forms of political opposition and dissent and against vulnerable and weak sectors of the country's population, such as ethnic minorities, who the military authorities suspect may not support its national ideology. All the available evidence indicates that Muslims are targeted for repression by the Myanmar security forces simply because they belong to a particular religious minority, some members of which seek greater autonomy from central Myanmar control.
Reports of human rights abuses against Muslims in the Rakhine State by Myanmar security forces rose sharply in early 1991, and they began to leave Myanmar in the thousands to seek asylum in Bangladesh. Those numbers increased dramatically in late 1991 and early 1992, with more than 200,000 now believed to be in Bangladesh."
KEYWORDS: RELIGIOUS GROUPS - ISLAMIC / MINORITIES / FORCED LABOUR / TORTURE/ILL-TREATMENT / DEATH IN CUSTODY / EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTION / WOMEN / SEXUAL ASSAULT / ARBITRARY ARREST / POLITICAL PRISONERS / TRIALS / MILITARY TRIBUNALS / LONG-TERM IMPRISONMENT / FARMERS / FARM WORKERS / AGED / RELIGIOUS GROUPS - HINDU / FAMILIES / CHILDREN / JUVENILES / STUDENTS / COMMUNITY LEADERS / TEACHERS / RETIRED PEOPLE / CIVIL SERVANTS / REFUGEES 1 / DISPLACED PEOPLE / MISSIONS / PRISONERS' TESTIMONIES / MILITARY / PARAMILITARIES / POLICE / POLITICAL VIOLENCE / EMERGENCY LEGISLATION / |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International USA (Al INDEX: ASA 16/06/92) |
| Format/size: | | html (123K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/myanmar_burma/document.do?id=F79CBBE0DDE22757802569A600601F12 |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | "Arakan" Magazine |
| Description/subject: | | Monthly...incomplete archive from 2009 |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) |
| Format/size: | | pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 29 July 2011 |
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