BBC Newsnight report on Rohingyas by Jonathan Head

The unending plight of Burma's unwanted Rohingyas

30 June 2013

BBC 

Jonathan Head 

 

  Rohingya hamlet Ah Nauk Pyin is surrounded by a ring of Buddhist villages

It has been a year since sectarian fighting broke out in Burma's westernmost state, forcing 140,000 people from their homes and casting a dark shadow over the promising start made by the new reformist government.

Ugly anti-Muslim sentiment that was evident in those first clashes between Buddhists and the Rohingya minority in Rakhine state last June and October has now spread, setting off assaults on Muslim communities in several parts of the country.
Nearly all of those displaced in Rakhine state were Rohingyas, and their plight has drawn in substantial international assistance, channelled through major NGOs and UN agencies.
The Burmese government has become conscious of the negative publicity created by the long-standing discrimination against Rohingyas. It has authorised one official inquiry into the violence, and is co-operating with the international relief effort.
But, as I discovered on a recent visit to Rakhine state, not much has changed for the Rohingyas.
In fact, their already tenuous status in Burma, also known as Myanmar, appears to be weakening.

  Inmates in Rakhine's Rohingya camps are barred from travelling freely

A combination of intense hostility from the Rakhine Buddhist majority, and an official policy of segregation which imposes restrictions on the Rohingyas alone, has forced them to the margins of this already poor region, unwanted and unrecognised.

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I want citizenship, and I want my old life back”

Rohingya camp inmate

My visit coincided with that of the UK International Development Minister Alan Duncan, who had come to see how British aid to Rakhine state totalling £6.4 million was being spent, and to assess the prospects for reconciliation between the two estranged communities.

It was a typically rushed affair, with little time in each of the camps he visited.
He was accompanied at all times by the jovial figure of Burma's Deputy Minister for Borders, Major-General Zaw Win, in full military uniform, and by squads of police and soldiers.
Nonetheless, the Rohingyas he met were unabashed in venting their frustration over their situation.
"We just want to go home," one woman shouted. "I want citizenship, and I want my old life back."
Her camp was just a few kilometres from the state capital Sittwe, but the inmates are not allowed to go there, either for supplies or to seek work.
Military checkpoints all around Sittwe block the Rohingyas from travelling, although the Buddhists are usually free to go where they want.

  Conditions in Rohingya camps can deteriorate quickly in the rain

Some improvements have been made to the camps, but they are limited.
Enough food is supplied, and the government has made a start building elevated long-houses to protect the Rohingyas from the rain.
But these primitive barracks are a far cry from the neat, solid rows of individual houses already constructed for the small number of displaced Buddhists, who have been living in settlements far better made and situated than those housing the Rohingyas.
Their camps quickly become muddy quagmires every time it rains, which it does every day now.
And the ban on travel means Rohingyas cannot go to hospital for treatment, even to have babies.
Unyielding attitudes Burmese officials justify these restrictions on grounds of security. But the way they are applied to just one group has uncomfortable echoes of apartheid in South Africa, or segregation in the southern USA.
One constant obsession is the high birth-rate.
Buddhists all over Burma believe Muslims are on track to become the majority because of the number of wives and children they have, even though official statistics put the Muslim population at around 4%.
But one exasperated international NGO worker pointed out to me that the attacks on Rohingyas and their subsequent isolation had disrupted a once-successful family planning programme.

  Foreigners are rarely allowed in Aung Mingala, the last Muslim town in Sittwe

The hostility felt by the local Buddhists to the Rohingyas is a real problem for the local and central government.

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It's not possible to live with them, and we don't want to”

Kyaw Lyaw Win Taekwondo instructor

As I was told by a spokesman for the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, now one of the largest in parliament and often accused of stirring up anti-Muslim feeling, even if the government wants Rohingyas to move back to their former homes in Sittwe, the people won't allow it.

In a grand old gym in the town I watched young men training hard.
Some have aspirations to represent their country when it hosts the South East Asian Games later this year, another milestone on Burma's journey away from its former isolation.
But they were unyielding in their attitude to the Rohingyas.
"It's not possible to live with them, and we don't want to", Kyaw Lyaw Win, a Taekwondo instructor told me.
"They invaded our country. It's not just me saying this. Ask any Rakhine Buddhist - they will say the same thing."
White ID cards There is only one Muslim neighbourhood left in Sittwe, called Aung Mingala, sealed off by checkpoints. Travelling with the British minister, we were the first foreigners allowed in for several weeks.
I bumped into Aziz, a bright young man who helped me when I was there last November. Now he is trapped in what has become a Rohingya ghetto.
He told me a small delegation was allowed out twice a week, to visit Muslim districts outside the town.
Another man who helped me before is Aung Win, one of the most outspoken and respected Rohingya leaders. I had to negotiate with a police checkpoint to meet him in the Muslim neighbourhood of Bumay, where he escaped after being arrested in February for trying to meet the visiting UN Human Rights Rapporteur.
But this means he is now separated from his wife, children and 95-year-old father, who are still at his home in Aung Mingala.
He has repeatedly asked for permission to see them, and repeatedly been turned down.
The situation of those Rohingyas who were not driven from their villages during the violence is little better.
I travelled two hours north by boat to see the little hamlet of Ah Nauk Pyin, a Rohingya community entirely ringed by Buddhist villages.

In Ah Nauk Pyin, Rohingyas are given ID cards, but no citizenship

Paths into Ah Nauk Pyin were guarded by Burmese soldiers - something the Muslims said they were grateful for.
But they can't leave. Even if they were allowed to, they fear attacks by their Buddhist neighbours, and in any case all their boats, along with their livestock, were taken during the unrest.
They told me the village dated back 200 years - we are not illegal Bengali immigrants, they said.
Yet none of them had citizenship. They pulled out the white ID cards they are issued.
"This is very important for us", said Ali Jofar, a young man who has been designated the village medical expert, although he is not a doctor. "If we try to travel outside our village with these cards, we get arrested."
So no one there can reach hospital either.

  Moryan says she has no husband, no money, and no one to care for her

18-year-old Moryan sat, pale, shaking and weeping, in her in-laws' straw house. Her house was burned down, and her husband one of 170 men from the village still imprisoned after the conflict.
She has been seriously ill since she gave birth to her son six months ago. She cannot walk, nor can she breastfeed her baby.
The remaining men in Ah Nauk Pyin walk to the little blue mosque, washing in the village pond before going in to pray.
They've been given simple tractors by an NGO, so, after a year, they can start farming again.
But where would they sell their produce, in a country so hostile it has sealed them off from the outside world?

Burma Muslim jailed for petrol attack on Buddhist woman

Parts of Lashio, such as this market, were destroyed in the unrest

June 12, 2013

BBC News

A Burmese Muslim man has been sentenced to 26 years in jail for an attack on a Buddhist woman that led to at least two days of violence in Shan State in May.

Nay Win, 48, was convicted for setting the woman alight at a petrol station.

After the attack, Buddhist youths armed with sticks roamed the streets in the town of Lashio in search of Muslims.

In recent months there have been several clashes between the two communities throughout Burma, but so far only Muslims have been jailed.

In March, at least 43 people - mostly Muslims - died in violence that erupted after an argument at a Muslim-owned shop in the central town of Meiktila.

The owner of the shop and nine other people, also Muslims, were imprisoned last month for that violence.

Ethnic violence in Rakhine state last year left nearly 200 people dead and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.

The conflict that erupted in Rakhine involved Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, who are not recognised as Burmese citizens.

Burns

Nay Win, described by state media as a drug addict, was convicted on Wednesday of intent to kill, assault and drug use by a court in Lashio.

The victim, 24, suffered burns in the attack, police say.

At least one person was killed and a mosque and orphanage burned down in the ensuing violence, which reportedly erupted after police refused to hand over Nay Win to a crowd.

"We arrested about 60 people found by security forces with sticks and knives during the violence," police spokesman Major Moe Zaw Linn told the AFP news agency.

He said that Nay Win was the first person to be convicted in relation to the violence.

Correspondents say that various episodes of religious unrest - mostly targeting Muslims - have exposed a deep divide in the Buddhist-majority country and cast a shadow over widely acclaimed political reforms which began when military-rule ended two years ago.

Rohingya boats sink off west Burma - many missing

14 May 2013

BBC

At least 50 Rohingya Muslims are feared drowned after their boats capsized off western Burma, officials say.

The boats, said to be carrying about 100 passengers, were evacuating people ahead of powerful Cyclone Mahasen.
The vessels sank off Pauktaw township in Rakhine state late on Monday. More than 40 survivors have been found and eight bodies recovered.
Thousands of Rohingya Muslims are living in temporary camps in Rakhine after violence last year.
The UN had called for an urgent evacuation ahead of the storm, warning that many areas where displaced people are now living are in low-lying coastal areas at risk of flooding or tidal surges.
'Hit rocks' Aid agencies said that the three boats got into trouble after setting out on Monday night.Only one boat in the convoy had an engine, towing the other two smaller vessels. Reports say the vessels were overcrowded.
Local resident U Than Htun said the boat was crossing the mouth of the Sittwe River on its way to Sittwe, the state capital some 27km (17 miles) away by sea, when it sank.
"There is a refugee camp nearby and when the security heard the news, some soldiers rushed to rescue 30 people," he told the BBC Burmese service.
"One Bengali lady who came ashore was also saved by Thekone villagers and informed the authorities. The villagers also saw about four persons who landed on an island where there is an old light house."
Barbara Manzi, head of the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), told the BBC from Sittwe it appeared the boats "left the camp with the blessing of the authorities before hitting rocks".
Earlier reports suggested that up 200 people were on board, but the UN later revised the number to about 100.
Burmese officials began evacuations this week, after warnings the cyclone might hit neighbouring Bangladesh from Thursday, bringing heavy rain and flooding to western Burma.
This could hit an estimated 140,000 displaced people - mostly Rohingya - who are living in makeshift shelters in Rakhine, aid groups say.
They have been displaced since violent clashes between Rakhine's Muslim and Buddhist communities in June and October 2012.
"The government has been repeatedly warned to make appropriate arrangements for those displaced in Rakhine state," Isabelle Arradon, deputy Asia Pacific director of the rights group Amnesty International, said in a statement on Monday.
"Now thousands of lives are at stake unless targeted action is taken immediately to assist those most at risk."
Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said that if the government failed to evacuate those at risk, "any disaster that results will not be natural but man-made".
But some people have reportedly refused to leave because they fear having nowhere else to go.
"We are very worried about the cyclone... we do not have enough food to eat," a member of the Rohingya community told Agence-France Presse news agency.
"Many people are in trouble. But we have no idea what we should do."
According to Nasa, Cyclone Mahasen was north-east of Sri Lanka on Monday. It was expected to strengthen as it moved north and hit Burma late in the week, the agency said.
Five years ago, Cyclone Nargis struck Burma's Irrawaddy Delta region, killing at least 140,000 people and leaving three million in urgent need of assistance.

British MP discussed humanitarian crisis in Arakan

British MP Rushanara Ali, speaks for the opposition Labour party on international Development and Melanie Teff from the charity Refugees International.

Burma riots: Video shows police failing to stop attack

April 22, 2013

BBC News

Much of the footage was shot by the Burmese police. This report contains images of violence which you may find upsetting

The BBC has obtained police video showing officers standing by while Buddhist rioters attacked minority Muslims in the town of Meiktila. 

The footage shows a mob destroying a Muslim gold shop and then setting fire to houses. A man thought to be a Muslim is seen on fire. 

It was filmed last month, when at least 43 people were killed in Meiktila. 

Meanwhile the EU is expected to decide whether to lift sanctions imposed on Burma, in response to recent reforms. 

It is thought likely that despite concerns about the treatment of minorities, Brussels will confirm that the sanctions, which were suspended a year ago, are now permanently lifted. 

The sanctions include the freezing of assets of more than 1,000 Burmese companies, travel restrictions on officials, and a ban on EU investment in many areas. However, an arms embargo is expected to remain in place. 

The move is a response to political change under President Thein Sein, who came to power after elections in November 2010. His administration has freed many political prisoners and relaxed censorship. 

Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest for many years, leads a pro-democracy opposition which has a small presence in parliament. 

Documented violence 

Some human rights groups, however, have warned that sanctions should not be lifted until the government addresses issues including recent violence against Muslims. 

The video from Meiktila, in Mandalay Region, is remarkable both for the comprehensive way it documents the violence and because much of it was shot by the Burmese police themselves, the BBC's Jonah Fisher reports from Singapore.

In the sequence where policemen look on as a man rolls on the ground having been set on fire, the watching crowd are heard to say, "No water for him - let him die". 

Another sequence shows a young man attempting to flee and getting caught, after which he is beaten by a group of men, which includes a monk. 

A savage blow with a sword strikes him and he is left on the ground, presumed dead. 

Only in one shot are the police seen escorting Muslim women and children away from their burning homes. 

The footage corroborates eyewitness testimony. A row at a Muslim-owned gold shop on 20 March was said to have started the violence, when a dispute involving a Buddhist couple escalated into a fight. 

This was followed by an attack on a Buddhist monk, who later died in hospital. News of that incident appeared to have sparked off sustained communal violence. 

The violence then spread to other towns and led to curfews being imposed. There were reports of mosques and houses being torched in at least three towns. 

The gold shop's owner, his wife and an employee were convicted of theft and assault on 12 April and jailed for 14 months. Dozens of other Muslims and Buddhists are said to be under investigation.

Deadly clashes

Violence between Buddhists and Muslims erupted in another part of Burma, Rakhine state, last year following the rape and murder of a young Buddhist woman in May. 

Clashes in June and October resulted in the deaths of about 200 people. Thousands of people, mainly members of the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, fled their homes and remain displaced. 

On Monday, the New York-based organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) presented a report containing what it said was clear evidence of government complicity in ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity against Muslims in Rakhine state. 

It said security forces stood aside or joined in when mobs attacked Muslim communities in nine townships, razing villages and killing residents. 

It said HRW also discovered four mass-grave sites in Rakhine state, which it said security forces used to destroy evidence of the crimes. 

However, the allegations were rejected by Win Myaing, a government spokesman for Rakhine state, AP news agency reported. 

HRW investigators didn't "understand the situation on the ground," he said, adding that the government had no prior knowledge of the impending attacks, and deployed forces to stop the unrest.

Burma's President Thein Sein warns 'extremists'

Mosques and houses belonging to Muslims have been destroyed in the violence

March 28, 2013

BBC News

Burmese President Thein Sein has warned that he will if necessary use force to stop "political opportunists and religious extremists" from fomenting hatred between faiths. 

It was his first public comment on the violence, which began last week. 

At least 40 people have been killed as a result of discord between Buddhists and Muslims since 20 March. 

On Tuesday curfews were imposed on three towns as attacks on Muslim communities got closer to Rangoon. 

"I would like to warn all political opportunists and religious extremists who try to exploit the noble teachings of these religions and have tried to plant hatred among people of different faiths for their own self-interest. Their efforts will not be tolerated," the president said in a national televised address. 

'Last resort' 

"In general, I do not endorse the use of force to solve problems. However, I will not hesitate to use force as a last resort to protect the lives and safeguard the property of the general public," he said. 

"All perpetrators of violence will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." 

The president said that "conflicts and difficulties" would inevitably arise during Burma's transition to a democracy. 

He called on police to "perform their duties decisively, bravely and within the constraints of the constitution and by-laws". 

Correspondents say that police in the central town of Meiktila in Mandalay region - where the communal violence began last week - have been criticised for failing to act quickly enough to stop the rioting, in which houses, shops and mosques were burned down. The trouble broke out after a reported argument at a gold shop. 

Violence last week also broke out in the Bago region north of Rangoon, with Muslim religious buildings, shops and houses being damaged. 

At least 12,000 Muslims are thought to have fled their homes because of the unrest. 

In similar violence in Rakhine state last year, nearly 200 people were killed and tens of thousands forced from their homes. 

The conflict that erupted in Rakhine involved Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, who are not recognised as Burmese citizens and have complained of frequent persecution.

Source:Here

Burma communal riots prompt more curfews

26 March 2013
BBC

The government called for an end to "religious extremism"

Curfews have been imposed on three more Burmese towns as attacks on Muslim communities spread closer to Rangoon.

Mosques and other Muslim buildings have been attacked by crowds of Buddhists in towns on the road from Rangoon to Pyay, about 200km (125 miles) to the north.
The US has warned its citizens to avoid travel to parts of Burma due to the violence, which began a week ago.
A state of emergency is in force in the central town of Meiktila, where some 40 deaths have been reported.
Soldiers clearing debris from buildings torched by angry mobs retrieved eight more bodies in the town, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Tuesday.
In Bago region to the north of Rangoon, state television said Muslim religious buildings, shops and houses had been damaged.
Residents outside the capital said they did not feel safe.
"The situation is better than the previous day but we can't sleep well at night," one man, a Buddhist, told Reuters. "People are still afraid of buildings being set on fire because there isn't security everywhere."
A Muslim man said: "We are safe during the day, but we cannot go back to our houses because security personnel are only on the main roads. But there has been no more attacking and destroying houses. There are just thieves who steal from burnt buildings."
In a statement on Monday, the US embassy in Rangoon advised US citizens "to avoid travel to the Mandalay region because of escalating violence in that area".
Reports of other attacks on mosques and houses were reported on Monday in towns near Meiktila - Oh the Kone, Tatkone and Yamenthin.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the violence. Details of any casualties in these areas were also unclear.
Trouble broke out after a reported argument at a gold shop in Meiktila in Mandalay region last Wednesday.
At least 12,000 Muslims are thought to have fled their homes in the unrest since then.
The conflict is the worst since violence in Rakhine state last year, where nearly 200 people were killed and tens of thousands forced from their homes.
The conflict that erupted in Rakhine involved Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, who are not recognised as Burmese citizens. Scores of Rohingyas have fled what they say is persecution in Burma in recent months.

Source:Here

Burma: State of emergency imposed in Meiktila

Muslims fleeing violence in the Myanmar town of Meikhtila arrive at a stadium that the authorities have designated a safe haven. More than 20 people have been killed in Buddhist attacks on Muslims since Wednesday. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun)

March 22, 2013

BBC News

A state of emergency has been imposed in the Burmese town of Meiktila following three days of communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims. 

A statement announcing the decision on behalf of President Thein Sein was broadcast on state television. 

He said that the move would enable the military to help restore order in the riot-hit town, south of Mandalay. 

At least 20 people are reported to have been killed since the violence began, but exact figures are unclear. 

A BBC reporter who has just returned from the town said he saw about 20 Muslim bodies, which local men were trying to destroy by burning. 

Meiktila MP Win Thein told the BBC Burmese service that scores of mostly Buddhist people accused of being involved in the violence had been arrested by police. 

He said that he saw the bodies of eight people who had been killed in violence in the town on Friday morning. Many Muslims had fled gangs of Buddhist youths, he said, while other Muslims were in hiding. 

Mr Win said that that violence that recurred on Friday morning has now receded, although the atmosphere in Meiktila remains tense. 

Police say that at least 15 Buddhist monks on Friday burnt down a house belonging to a Muslim family on the outskirts of the town. There are no reports of any injuries.

The disturbances began on Wednesday when an argument in a gold shop escalated quickly, with mobs setting mainly Muslim buildings alight, including some mosques. 

Fighting in the streets between men from rival communities later broke out. 

Meanwhile people in the town have told the BBC of food shortages because the main market in the town has been closed for the last five days. 

Hundreds of riot police have been sent into Meiktila. They have been seen hurriedly evacuating crowds of men and women from their burning homes. 

However they have been accused of doing little to stop the razing of entire neighbourhoods and the accumulation of casualties from both communities. 

The BBC's south-east Asia correspondent Jonathan Head says that the eruption of communal anger uncomfortably echoes what happened in Rakhine state last year, where nearly 200 people were killed and tens of thousands forced from their homes. 

The conflict that erupted in Rakhine involved Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, who are not recognised as Burmese citizens. Scores of Rohingyas have fled what they say is persecution in Burma in recent months. 

The government has yet to present any long-term proposals to resolve that conflict, our correspondent says, and simmering fear and mistrust between Buddhists and the country's Muslim minorities has boiled over in the more open political climate prevailing since the first elected government in half a century took office two years ago. 

Meanwhile residents in Meiktila have complained that police have struggled to control groups of people on the streets armed with knives and sticks. 

Most of these men are Buddhists, police say, angered over the death of a Buddhist monk who suffered severe burns on Wednesday.

Source:Here

Video shows Burma military 'targeting Kachin rebels'

BBC News
January 2, 2013


The BBC's Jonah Fisher on the video, shot by aid group Free Burma Rangers

Military aircraft have been targeting rebel areas in Burma's northern Kachin state over the last five days, video obtained by the BBC shows. 

The footage, shot by the humanitarian group Free Burma Rangers, shows attack helicopters firing on the ground and jets flying close to the trenches of the rebel Kachin Independence Army. 

A government official said the army had not informed them of any air attacks. 

Fighting with the Kachin rebels resumed in 2011, after a 17-year truce. 

The presence of jets and attack helicopters in recent days was also confirmed by witnesses in the area. 

It is not clear how many casualties have been caused by five days of air attacks. Many of the people who live in the conflict areas have already fled into camps, both in Kachin and across the border in China. 

Asked to comment on the video, the director of the president's office, Zaw Htay, said the situation was complex, and that the military had told them they were only using planes to re-supply its troops. 

"The aircraft being used are K8 training aircraft not fighter jets - that is the information I got from the military," he said. 

"I have no information on the use of helicopters. There is a very difficult situation in Kachin state."

He added that they wanted to hold peace talks with the rebels as soon as possible. 

Beyond self-defence 

The aid group Free Burma Rangers provided the video footage

The witness accounts, along with the video footage, suggest that the army is going beyond Thein Sein's public instructions to only fight in self-defence, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Bangkok. 

At present, it appears that the military could be making preparations for a full-blown offensive on the rebel headquarters of Laiza, our correspondent adds. 

The Free Burma Rangers filmed the footage while in rebel trenches. 

The group describes itself as "a multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement", according to its website. The group works to provide aid in Burma's troubled border regions. 

An estimated 75,000 people have been displaced by fighting in resource-rich Kachin since the conflict re-started in 2011 after the end of a 17-year-old ceasefire between the rebels and the Burmese military. 

Despite appeals from the international aid community, the Burmese government has allowed only a handful of convoys to deliver supplies to those sheltering in rebel areas. 

Burma has seen a series of dramatic reforms since the nominally civilian government under Thein Sein came to power last year. 

But rights groups have also urged caution, pointing to violent unrest through 2012 in parts of the country like western Rakhine state, which has displaced more than a hundred thousand people.