Chandra Muzaffar: Asean must urge UN to end persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar

Dr Chandra Muzaffar. 

June 21,2013
The Star Online
RASHVINJEET SINGH BEDI

PETALING JAYA: Asean can persuade the United Nations to end the persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar, said International Movement for Just World (JUST) president Dr Chandra Muzaffar.
“Asean has a major role in persuading the five members of the Security Council if they want the UN to act on the atrocities in Myanmar.
"Their voice carries more weight as Myanmar is part of the Asean family,” he said at a recent forum 'Plight of Muslims in Burma in the 21st Century: An Initiative for Solution and the Way Forward' organised by the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia.
Dr Chandra said that the UN would be duty-bound to protect the Rohingya if the Security Council adopted a resolution that says they were victims of genocide.
He added that civil society group within Asean should pressure their governments to take a lead on these issues.
Dr Chandra said that although Myanmar appeared to be opening up to the international world, it was done within the backdrop of military rule.
“The root of the problem is the military regime which is cruel, harsh, brutal and barbaric,” he said.
The Rohingya are considered by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. They are considered to be stateless and are often subjected to arbitrary violence and forced labour.
University Malaya's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences visiting senior research fellow Dr Maung Zarni said that Asean should consider the genocide of Rohingya and the mass violence against Muslims in Myanmar as an issue of wide importance as there were regional consequences.
“Asean countries would be affected with the flow of refugees into their countries and the emergence of human trafficking gangs,” he said.
Dr Maung pointed out that eight people died in clashes between Buddhist and Muslim asylum seekers from Myanmar in a detention centre in Medan. Police also uncovered a plot to bomb the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta recently, he added.
“The Burmese government cannot say that Asean is interfering in their affairs,” he said.

As of April, there are almost 95,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia. An estimated 28,000 of them are Rohingya.

Ethnic-based clashes in Myanmar spill over to streets of Kuala Lumpur

June 11, 2013

The Star Online

Rashvinjeet S. Bedi

PETALING JAYA: For the past two weeks, Myanmar national Muhammad Sadek, 41, has not stepped out of his house for fear of losing his life. 

However, on Monday, the Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee (RARC) program co-ordinator took a chance and went back to work at a Myanmarese restaurant near Kotaraya. 

However, when he arrived there, he was pursued by two people who appeared to want to do him harm. 

These were people whom he knew personally, and both happened to be Buddhists. 

"They were once my friends, but not anymore. We used to work on political issues together but the issue has now gone back to religion," said Safiq, who is staying put at home for the time being. 

Several violent clashes between Buddhist and Muslim Myanmar nationals have occurred in the Klang Valley, resulting in the death of two and another two in critical condition. 

Mohd Sadek claims he was targeted because of his work with the Muslim Rohingya community, considered by the United Nations to be one of the world's most-persecuted minorities. 

However, mindful that sectarian violence could touch a nerve with local communities, police have been quick to clamp down on any incidents here. 

Last Friday, Malaysian police detained more than 1,000 Myanmarese workers in Sentul, Cheras, Brickfields and Dang Wangi. 

The clashes in Malaysia reportedly started in Selayang before spreading to other parts of the Klang Valley. 

The violence has been linked to recent clashes in Myanmar between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the Western state of Rakhine. 

Thousands of people, mostly Rohingyas, have been displaced by the clashes, when entire Muslim neighbourhoods were reportedly razed. 

The clashes first started in June last year, and tensions were re-ignited again last October and more clashes took place in March this year. 

"The Myanmar government is committing genocide against the Rohingya," claimed Sadek. 

There have also been a number of sectarian clashes between the Burmese majority and other minority groups such as the Karen, Shan and Chin. 

Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country, but approximately five percent of its 60 million inhabits (about three million) are Muslims. 

Selayang MP William Leong Jee Keen said that Malaysians are concerned with this issue because they are many Myanmar nationals living here, especially in Selayang. 

He added that based on the testimony of the victims, these attacks were not committed by armed and organised groups. 

"If they start chopping one another, our locals could also be wrongly targeted," he said, adding that the Myanmar nationals deserved protection. 

There are an estimated 400,000 Myanmar nationals in the country those with refugee status or working here legally or illegally. Most are working in the restaurant and construction sectors. 

As of May this year, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has registered some 28,120 Rohingya asylum-seekers and refugees in Malaysia. 

Malaysia is a favoured destination for the Rohingya, whom the Myanmar government classifies as Bangladeshi immigrants and have been denied citizenship of the country. 

Sadek pinned the blame on the infamous 969 movement in Myanmar, a radical right-leaning Buddhist organisation. 

"We are here on humanitarian grounds and don't want to trouble Malaysians," he said. 

An official from an NGO working with refugees says there has not been much information regarding violence in Malaysia, but said some attacks have been indiscriminate, targeting anyone from Myanmar. 

He gave the example of a Christian refugee from Myanmar who suffered a broken hand and injuries to his eye and face. 

President of the Burma Campaign Malaysia, Tun Tun looks disparagingly on the recent clashes here. 

"We have been living and working peacefully together all this while. We are foreigners and must follow Malaysian law," he said. 

He claims that the Myanmar government is trying to create trouble ahead of the upcoming 2015 elections. 

In the 2012 Burmese by-elections, the main opposition party National League for Democracy (NLD), won 43 out of 44 seats it contested from a total of 46 seats. 

Tun Tun explained that the government wanted to put democracy icon and NLD general secretary Aung San Syu Kyi in a difficult situation. 

"Aung San Syu Kyi can't speak out for the Rohingyas because the Buddhist majority might not support her then," he said. 

Tun Tun claims that many Myanmar workers in Malaysia have posted anti- Muslim messages on social networking sites.

Cops nab 30 more illegals who jumped off boat

Myanmar people of Rohingya ethnicity who are living in Malaysia,
display placards during a rally (Photo - Reuters)

G.C. TAN

The Star Online

January 1, 2012

LANGKAWI: Another 30 illegal immigrants have been rounded up, bringing the total of detained Myanmar nationals, who attempted a mass entry into Malaysia, to 481.

The 30, including their boat's captain, were nabbed within 500m of the spot where most of them landed in Burau Bay here.

Police believe there were still more than 10 people from the group in hiding.

In the attempt at about 1.30pm on Sunday, about 500 Myanmar nationals, some as young as seven, were forced to jump off a boat and swim 500m to shore.

One was found dead and two others were very weak and were rushed to hospital. Police found 449 others stranded on the beach, worn out from the tiring swim.

Most of those rounded up were men. There were 13 women, seven boys and three girls.

A girl from the group was also sent to hospital but all three were later discharged.

Late on Sunday evening, 14 more were caught. Another eight were nabbed yesterday morning while the captain and seven other men were detained at Kuala Teriang about 4pm yesterday.

Together with the eight arrested yesterday morning, they were all handed over to the Langkawi Immigration Department and left Langkawi for the immigration detention camps or depots nationwide by 11am yesterday.

The body of the Myanmar, who was killed after he was hit by the boat's propellers when he jumped into sea, was buried at a Muslim cemetery in Langkawi yesterday.

According to a witness at the scene, the immigrants jumped from a 30m wooden boat.

“One of the Myanmar nationals said they had sailed from Myanmar for 12 days after paying the agent US$300 (RM900) per person.

“The agent did not tell them where they were heading. They were ordered to jump into the sea when the boat was near the shore. They starved for five days,” said the witness.

Resort worker Azizan Ramli said some of the survivors approached him for water, adding: “They even drank from the plant pots.”

Myanmar man drowns after jumping off boat 500m from shore

Stranded: The Myanmar nationals being gathered by police
at Teluk Burau in Langkawi after jumping
off boat they were on to enter Malaysia.

Monday December 31, 2012

The Star

LANGKAWI: In a mass attempt at entering Malaysia illegally, 500 Myanmar nationals, some as young as seven, were forced to jump off a boat and swim 500m to the beach at Teluk Burau here – with painful consequences.

One Myanmar drowned while two others are in critical condition. Police found 449 people stranded on the beach yesterday, worn out from the long swim.
About 50 others were believed to have reached shore and gone into hiding.
Langkawi OCPD Supt Harrith Kam Abdullah said the drowned man’s body was found some 200m from the beach while the two others were found not far from him.

He said the injured were sent to the Langkawi Hospital for treatment.
“The incident occurred at 1.30pm, when the immigrants aged between seven and 50 were forced to swim to shore by the captain,” he said yesterday.

Supt Harrith Kam said investigations showed that the group travelled by boat for 15 days from their country before reaching Langkawi waters.
He said each of them was believed to have paid RM1,000 for the boat trip here.
Police are now looking for the immigrants who are believed to be hiding in the forest near the beach.

Supt Harrith Kam said those detained were taken to the Langkawi police headquarters.
Meanwhile, in Kuala Nerang, police found bodies of three Myanmar workers in a rubber estate in Kampung Chebar, Tanjung Piring near here.
Their bodies were found with slash wounds on their necks and heads.
Kedah CID chief Asst Comm Zakaria Ahmad said the men, from Arakan in Myanmar, worked as rubber tappers.

He said their bodies were found after their friend lodged a report in Tanjung Piring at 1pm yesterday.

No identification was found on the men, believed to be aged between 18 and 30.
“Investigations revealed that four men were attacked by a group of men armed with parang at 11pm on Dec 28,” he said.