Approximately 10,500 Rohingya Muslims have taken shelter in India

[SarthakGanguly]

Should not be difficult to send them back to Myanmar. The numbers are still manageable.

 

[Hindustani78]

Should not be difficult to send them back to Myanmar. The numbers are still manageable.

Myanmar Establishment deny them citizenship .

 

[SarthakGanguly]

Myanmar Establishment deny them citizenship .

Should not be my concern.

 

[Nexus]

India should decide what she wants to become, a dharamsala of people around world or a Hindu Rashtra.

moves like these will make sure that India will pay high price in Future. need less to say this might cause separation movement of Gujarat or Rajashtan as our lands are nott baap ki jagir of Dilhiwalas.

last thing we need is more Tribals,Bhikaris,Bhangis / Alien people(ASEAN Muslims) from 3000 kms away.

 

[Hindustani78]

Should not be my concern.

Then what you are trying to debate ?

India should decide what she wants, a dharamsala of people around world or a Hindu Rashtra.

moves like these will make sure that India will pay high price in Future. need less to say this might cause separation movement of Gujarat or Rajashtan as our lands are nott baap ki jagir of Dilhiwalas.

last thing we need is more Tribals,Bhikaris,Bhangis / Alien people from 3000 kms away.

Not really , Hindustanis are already on alert.

 

[KRAIT]

They will be deported.

 

[GHOSTS]

Rajnath Singh is a pu$$y. Make amit shah our union home minister and see how these illegal muslims will leave India.

 

[desimorty]

India should decide what she wants to become, a dharamsala of people around world or a Hindu Rashtra.

moves like these will make sure that India will pay high price in Future. need less to say this might cause separation movement of Gujarat or Rajashtan as our lands are nott baap ki jagir of Dilhiwalas.

last thing we need is more Tribals,Bhikaris,Bhangis / Alien people(ASEAN Muslims) from 3000 kms away.

let them stay. These people who come to India, eventually realize they need to thank the home that took them in, when no one else would. Tibetans, Nepalese even Bengalis. Whats a few million compared to billion mouths India already has. These people, will eventually become an asset. Because they will see India for what it is. A land of belonging regardless of the past.

Rajnath Singh is a pu$$y. Make amit shah our union home minister and see how these illegal muslims will leave India.

WTF? Why focus on them? 200 000 people die in road side accidents every year in India. Bigger problems.

They will be deported.

How'ed they get in the first place?

Did Hindus got a new state after the atrocities and massacre in 1971?

Does India need to emulate its neighbors like Pakistan and Bangladesh? Are any of these neighbors worth truly emulating in regards to their foreign and domestic policy? India can decide what it needs to be by itself.

We have no place for them. Deport them.

We have plenty of space for them.

They do. Just not in our country.

Lets the hypocrites cry and wine. India is a land of belonging. Fucks sake, India has african immigrants, a China town older than most. Why not these bengali muslims? We have to accept the truth. India can not stop illegal immigration. We can however, curb the trafficking of drugs and flesh.

Without a major power taking the lead, Rohingya crisis will continue to be ignored by the world. Aung Sang Su Ki is a total disgrace.

She could only do so much. She doesn't have absolute authority. The question of nation identity comes up far too often in nations. Luckily India's identity is diverse.

Myanmar Establishment wants the territory but not the original owners of those territories.

Waisay that region is having oil and gas reserves .

Identity. These Rohingas are movements of a Colonial period. Like Nepalese in Bhutan.

 

[Hindustani78]

Myanmar has sent hundreds of soldiers to beef up security in northwestern Rakhine state after a recent spate of killings, military sources said on Friday, fuelling fears of yet more violence and instability in the troubled region.

Reuters| Last Updated: Friday, August 11, 2017 - 16:44

http://zeenews.india.com/world/myan...rakhine-as-tension-rises-sources-2032166.html

Yangon: Myanmar has sent hundreds of soldiers to beef up security in northwestern Rakhine state after a recent spate of killings, military sources said on Friday, fuelling fears of yet more violence and instability in the troubled region.

Muslim-majority northern Rakhine was plunged into violence last October when Rohingya Muslim insurgents killed nine police, setting off a brutal counteroffensive beset by allegations of rape, killings and torture by government troops.

Two military sources based in Rakhine told Reuters the army had sent troops to the state`s north to "help tighten security" after seven Buddhists were found hacked to death in mountains near the town of Maungdaw last week.


The army dispatched about 500 soldiers to several towns near the border with Bangladesh on Thursday, including the towns of Buthidaung and Maungdaw, according to one of the military sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

"We have to increase security operations because the security situation has worsened — some Muslims and Buddhists have been killed by the insurgents," Rakhine State police chief Colonel Sein Lwin told Reuters.

The military spokesman and a spokesman for Myanmar`s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, were not immediately available for comment.

Such a buildup raises fears of a fresh wave of violence after last year`s operation in which security forces allegedly shot villagers at random, raped Rohingya women and burned homes.

United Nations investigators who interviewed some of the nearly 75,000 people who fled to neighbouring Bangladesh said troops probably committed crimes against humanity.

The government rejects the allegations and has refused to cooperate with a UN fact-finding mission to look into abuses in Myanmar.

Despite the massive counter-offensive last year, the government has accused the militants of continuing to run training camps in the mountains and killing alleged informants in the Muslim community.

The government blamed "extremists" for the killing of the seven Buddhists who, residents of the area believe, stumbled upon a camp for Rohingya militants.

That prompted security forces to hunt for the killers in an "intensive clearance operation", a military source told Reuters last week.

This week, the army has tightened security and the police force is on high alert, Rakhine police official Sein Lwin added.

Security forces have also strengthened border guard posts in the region, said Kyaw Swar Tun, the director of the general administration department based in the state capital, Sittwe.

Regional rights body ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights voiced concern about the increased number of troops in Rakhine.

"Aung San Suu Kyi should call on all parties, including the Myanmar army, to take steps to de-escalate conflict in northern Rakhine State, rather than exacerbate it," a member of its board, Eva Kusuma Sundari, said in a statement.

About 1.1 million Rohingya live in Rakhine, but are denied citizenship and face curbs on movement and access to basic services. About 120,000 live in camps set up after deadly violence in 2012, relying on aid agencies for basic supplies.

The UN has warned aid workers against rising hostility and imminent protests by Buddhists in Rakhine, some of whom say humanitarian agencies give support to Rohingya militants.

 

[Hindustani78]

People belonging to the Rohingya Muslim community sit outside their makeshift houses near Jammu.(REUTERS File Photo)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...e-to-states/story-5tdXTBkm5XEB6IxigPrcWN.html

The Centre has said illegal immigrants like Rohingyas pose grave security challenges as they may be recruited by terror groups, and asked state governments to identify and deport them.

In a communication to all states, the Union home ministry said the rise of terrorism in last few decades has become a serious concern for most nations as illegal migrants are more vulnerable to getting recruited by terrorist organisations.

“These illegal immigrants not only infringe on the rights of Indian citizens but also pose grave security challenges,” the communication, sent last week, said.

Infiltration of (Rohingyas) from Rakhine state of Myanmar into Indian territory, especially in recent years, besides being burden on the limited resources of the country also aggravates security challenges posed to India, the home ministry said.

Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju had said in Parliament on August 9 that according to available data, more than 14,000 Rohingyas, registered with the UNHCR, are presently staying in India.

“However, some inputs indicate that around 40,000 Rohingyas are staying in India illegally and the Rohingyas are largely located in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan,” he had said.

On November 16, 2016, the government had informed the Parliament that according to available inputs, there were around 20 million (two crore) illegal Bangladeshi migrants staying in India.

The home ministry communication said India is a large country having its border with many countries. People in the subcontinent have a common history and share many similarities in physical looks.

“Due to a variety of reasons, including political and economic turmoil in neighbouring countries, people from such countries often enter India. There are cultural and ethnic similarities, on many occasions such migration goes unnoticed and they settle in Indian territory,” joint secretary in the home ministry Dilip Kumar said in the letter sent on August 8.

The Centre also directed the state governments to set up a task force at district level to identify and deport illegally-staying foreign nationals.

 

[salimpheku]

They should be given a week to get out.
After that declare Open season.

 

[Hindustani78]

Aug 17, 2017 17:18 IST

• 
  

Officials from India said they were in talks with Bangladesh and Myanmar about the deportation plan. However, such a mass deportation is likely to be difficult, given Myanmar’s position on Rohingya which requires to be scrutinized before they can be allowed back in as citizens. (Channi Anand/AP)

Officials from India said they were in talks with Bangladesh and Myanmar about the deportation plan. However, such a mass deportation is likely to be difficult, given Myanmar’s position on Rohingya which requires to be scrutinized before they can be allowed back in as citizens. (Channi Anand/AP)

More than 40,000 Rohingya Muslims estimated to be living in India are classified as illegal immigrants even those registered with the UN refugee agency. Last week, the central government directed state authorities to identify and deport illegal immigrants who face persecution in Buddhist majority Myanmar. Despite claiming roots that go back to centuries, these marginalized communities are denied citizenship in Myanmar and classified as illegal immigrants. (Tsering Topgyal/AP)

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled from Myanmar taking refuge in Bangladesh with many crossing a porous border into India. A large number of the refuges have also migrated to South-East Asia, often on rickety boats run by people smuggling gangs. (Nitin Kanotra/HT Photo)

Majority of the Rohingya population in India are concentrated around states of Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Rajasthan.In Delhi, they live in temporary camps at Kanchan Kunj (near Kalindi Kunj) and at Shaheen Bagh in Okhla. These camps often lack basic amenities like drinking water and sanitation. However, despite these deplorable living conditions most Rohingya refugees prefer living here than the life they had in Myanmar with its draconian restrictions. (Altaf Qadri/AP)

According to the government illegal immigrants like Rohingyas pose grave security challenges as they may be recruited by terrorist groups. In a communication to all states, the Union home ministry said, ‘the rise of terrorism in last few decades has become a serious concern for most nations as illegal migrants are more vulnerable to getting recruited by terrorist organizations.’ (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)

According to the government illegal immigrants like Rohingyas pose grave security challenges as they may be recruited by terrorist groups. In a communication to all states, the Union home ministry said, ‘the rise of terrorism in last few decades has become a serious concern for most nations as illegal migrants are more vulnerable to getting recruited by terrorist organizations.’ (Altaf Qadri/AP)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has issued identity cards to about 16,500 Rohingya in India to help them prevent harassment, arbitrary arrests, detention and deportation. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)

Around 14,000 of the Rohingya living in India are registered with the UN refugee agency, making the rest illegal and liable to be sent back. India however, is not a signatory to UN conventions on refugees and no national law covers this issue. (Mukesh Gupta/REUTERS)

Concerned about India’s plans to deport Rohingya refugees, a spokesperson of UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said that refugees should not be returned to countries where they fear persecution once they are registered. (Altaf Qadri/AP)

Officials from India said they were in talks with Bangladesh and Myanmar about the deportation plan. However, such a mass deportation is likely to be difficult, given Myanmar’s position on Rohingya which requires to be scrutinized before they can be allowed back in as citizens. (Channi Anand/AP)

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lea...n-all-of-us/article19626127.ece?homepage=true

By contemplating deportation of the hapless refugees, India undermines itself
The timing could not have been more immaculately disastrous. At a time when Rohingya are being forced to flee the violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, in the Supreme Court this week the Centre refused to revise its stand on deporting Rohinya immigrants in India. It was in effect adhering to its position taken on August 9, when the Minister of State for Home Affairs informed Parliament that 40,000 Rohingya were to be deported. With that, the idea of India, the India of democracy and hospitality disappeared in a single stroke. A dream of India disappeared in a single moment. The marginal life of the Rohingya became a greater nightmare. The Government of India has returned to an idea of hard state, dropping its dreams of compassion, care and civility. Behind the tragedy of the decision will be a nit-picking bureaucracy and the security think tanks, convinced that an aspirational India does not need a defeated people like the Rohingya.

Most persecuted minority
In many ways, the Rohingya represent “the last man” of international society that Gandhi talked about. They are the world’s most persecuted minority. They are Muslims, belonging to the Sunni sect, scattered mainly over the Rakhine state of Myanmar. Harassed by the Myanmar Army and forced to serve as slave labour, they have also been systematically persecuted by the Buddhist majority. The persecution of the Rohingya also highlights the silence of Aung San Suu Kyi, destroying another myth of ethics and human rights. A woman whose campaign for human rights won her the Peace Nobel now stands embarrassingly silent in case her broader political strategies are affected. The dispensability of the Rohingya is clear and so is the callousness of the nation state. India can no longer criticise the West for being hostile to Syrian and Sudanese refugees.

One thing is clear. No Nehruvian state, or even regime of Indira Gandhi, would have made such a decision. Both upheld the principle of hospitality, of the openness of borders. Jawaharlal Nehru was open to Tibet and courageously invited the Dalai Lama to make a home here, and Indira Gandhi played host to refugees from the then East Pakistan, ignoring the threats of tough people such as Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon.

The Rohingya situation has been bleak for years. The turning point was the attitude of the Burmese military junta which cracked down on them in 1982, contending that Rohingya as late comers were not part of the original ancestors of Burmese society. Denied an autonomous cultural status, they lost all claims to the entitlements of citizenship. They were denied not only access to health, education but also any claim to the idea of citizenship.

A slow exodus
Persecuted by the army and the Buddhist majority, they began a slow exodus over India, Bangladesh, spreading to States such as Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, moving as far as Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Their exodus has once again a cynical side to it as agents arranged for their travel. These touts of international suffering arranged for their travel at exorbitant rates. The Rohingya became temporary boat people as Bangladesh shut its borders on them piously condemning them as drug peddlers. The Rohingya then attempted to cross into Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia only to realise that fellow Islamic nations had little sympathy for them. The no-welcome sign was clear and categorical. Each state would react piously, claiming to have fulfilled its humanitarian quota. It was also realistically clear that unlike the Syrians, the Rohingya, as a tiny speck of the refugee population would hardly be front page news for a sufficient length of time. At the most their memories would survive in a few PhD theses in international relations. The refugee has always been an enticing topic for PhDs.

In fact, Pope Francis’s statement that the “campaign of terror” against the Rohingya must cease fell on deaf ears. Sadly, India missed the leadership and compassion of a Mother Teresa. She would have stepped out and offered some care and relief to them, stirring the Indian middle class into some acts of caring.

The odd thing is that the genocide, the vulnerability of such a people is often lost in bureaucratic issues of legal and political status. It is not clear whether Rohingya are refugees or illegal migrants. As refugees they are entitled to some care; as illegal migrants they become subject to harassment and exploitation. Refugees become a target for an informal economy of bonded labour.

Union Home Minister Kiren Rijiju already sounded the warning signals in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha. He was clear that the Rohingya were illegal migrants. He was cited as claiming in an interview that the Rohingya “have no basis to live here. Anybody who is an illegal migrant will be deported.” Yet one wonders whether in terms of humanitarian law and the conventions of the UN, Mr. Rijiju is right. This is a group that is threatened with continuous persecution, whose homes are unsafe, whose livelihoods have been destroyed. To be forced to return to Myanmar would only subject them to harassment, ethnic persecution and a genocidal future.

Being human
One is grateful that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which often plays the Rip Van Winkle of human rights, responded quickly. On August 18, it issued a notice to the government over its plan to deport Rohingya staying illegally in India, asking the government to report in four weeks.

The Commission added hopefully that the Supreme Court had declared that fundamental rights are applicable to all regardless of whether they are citizens of India. Yet such appeals to rights and humanitarianism cut little ice in today’s bureaucracy which is obsessed with security issues and content to raise the bogey of terrorism and law and order when it comes to such a helpless people. The NHRC came up with a memorable line that Rohingya refugees “are no doubt foreign nationals but they are human beings.”

It is clear that the everydayness of Rohingya life must be miserable. They face the challenge of survival and the prospect of persecution if they return to Myanmar. One need not hide under legal excuses. What India confronts is a case of ethics, a challenge to its understanding of citizenship and freedom. If we abandon the Rohingya, we abandon the idea of India as a home of refugees and hospitality. A country which offered a home to the Parsis, the Tibetans, the Afghans and the Jews cannot turn a little minority of helpless people back. One hopes civil society protests, challenging the indifference of the state. It is not just a question of saving a beleaguered people, it is question of saving the soul of India. The idea of India is being threatened today. Should civil society remain mute and indifferent? There is a Rohingya in all of us.

Shiv Visvanathan is Professor, Jindal Global Law School and Director, Centre for Study of Knowledge Systems, O.P. Jindal Global University

****************

http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...-to-step-in/article19625995.ece?homepage=true

Malaysia summons Myanmar’s envoy to express displeasure

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi came under more pressure on Tuesday from countries with Muslim populations to halt violence against Rohingya Muslims that has sent nearly 1,25,000 of them fleeing over the border to Bangladesh in just over 10 days.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, in Dhaka to discuss aid for the fleeing Rohingya, met her Bangladeshi counterpart, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, a day after urging Ms. Suu Kyi and Myanmar Army chief Min Aung Hlaing to halt the bloodshed.

“The security authorities need to immediately stop all forms of violence there and provide humanitarian assistance and development aid for the short and long term,” Ms. Retno said after her meetings in the Myanmar capital.

The latest violence in Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine State began on Aug. 25, when Rohingya insurgents attacked dozens of police posts and an Army base. The ensuing clashes and a military counteroffensive have killed at least 400 people and triggered the exodus of villagers to Bangladesh.


Anti-terror campaign?
Myanmar says its security forces are fighting a legitimate campaign against “terrorists” responsible for a string of attacks on police posts and the Army since last October.

Myanmar officials blamed Rohingya militants for the burning of homes and civilian deaths but rights monitors and Rohingya fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh say the Myanmar Army is trying to force them out with a campaign of arson and killings.

“Indonesia is taking the lead, and ultimately there is a possibility of ASEAN countries joining in,” H.T. Imam, a political adviser to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, told Reuters.

Malaysia, another ASEAN member, summoned Myanmar’s Ambassador to express displeasure over the violence and scolded Myanmar for making “little, if any” progress on the problem.

“Malaysia believes that the matter of sustained violence and discrimination against the Rohingya should be elevated to a higher international forum,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said in a statement.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has said the violence against Rohingya Muslims constituted genocide, told Ms. Suu Kyi that the violence was of deep concern to the Muslim world, and he was sending his Foreign Minister to Bangladesh.

*******************

Outcasts everywhere: People from the Rohingya community at Shah Porir Deep, in Teknak, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Suvra Kanti Das
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/a-voice-for-rohingyas/article19620280.ece?homepage=true

Thousands of Rohingya have beenfleeing Myanmar, especially after the August 25 violence in Western Myanmar. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which places them among the “the most vulnerable groups of the forcibly displaced” has said a total of 87,000 Rohingyas have arrived in Bangladesh as of Monday, September 4, 2017.

Rohingya are an ethnic group, largely comprising Muslims, who predominantly live in the Western Myanmar province of Rakhine. They speak a dialect of Bengali, as opposed to the commonly spoken Burmese language.

Here's a lowdown on why they are among the the most vulnerable amongst forcibly displaced groups.

*******************

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/631714/rohingyas-hyderabad-dont-want-go.html

JBS Umanadh, Hyderabad, DH News Service Sep 6 2017, 15:36 IST

Rohingya Refugees at Camp 1 in Balapore of Old City in Hyderabad. DH photo

Stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, the Rohingya refugees taking shelter here prefer to stay in India. Sure of persecution by the Myanmar Army the 3500 Rohingyas who are holding the UNHCR (United Nation High Commission for Refugees) want the Indian government to shoot them than sending them back to their country where they were treated like second class citizens.

Packed into makeshift tin roofed shelters in camps in Balapore, Hafeez Baba Nagar, Kishan Bagh, Jalpalli and Shakur Nagar in Old City here, the Rohingyas who started arriving here around 2012 eke a living working as construction workers and doing petty businesses. “Most all of them are illiterate, few with religious training. If they are lucky they might get work for a week during a whole month,” Dr Mazhar Hussain, Director of Confederation of Voluntary Associations, (COVA) an NGO working with the Rohingya refugees said. According to Mr.Mazhar, there are around 500 applications pending with the UNHRC, which he hopes will be approved soon, bringing the total number of refugees here to 4000.

All the refugees that arrive here are screened by the COVA, by helping the new refugees to fill in the mandatory UNHRC AMRS (Application Mandatory for Refugee status) with the help of Ayatullah a young man from Boothi town, 300 km from Rangoon. He helps the UNHRC officials during the personal interview with the applicants. Ayatullah who arrived here way back in 2011 still has his family there in Myanmar. “Only recently Sofaram, a nearby village to my native place was annihilated by the Myanmar army,” Ayatollah said.

“None of the Rohingyas were allowed to join colleges and study. We are not allowed to do businesses; we were hunted down like wild animals. Kill us with an AK 47 than sending us back,” another young man Kareemulla Khan who spends time at a local Mosque near Camp number one of the Balapore area said. Khan crossed into Bangladesh and then into India when he was only 15 years old. His parents joined him at the camp two years ago.

Bilal Hussain of Shaknwa village came here in 2012. “Insha Allah we hope that India lets us live here. Hindus and Muslims are like brothers here, there is no discrimination,” Bilal Says. A mother of five children Parveen Akhtar is working in a nearby tailoring shop. “I have shifted two camps so far. My children are going to a small Urdu school here. They speak good Urdu,” she says. Like Bilal, she sees a future for her children here in India.

Sep 06, 2017 17:39 IST

• 
  

10/10
Rohingya Muslim refugees hold placards against human rights violations in Myanmar during a protest in New Delhi on September 5, 2017. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s state councillor and de facto leader has also drawn criticism from fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, who decried the treatment of the Rohingyas as ‘tragic and shameful’. Yousafzai also called upon Myanmar to recognize the Rohingya’s right to citizenship and called upon other nations to aid in their refuge. (Prakash Singh / AFP)

10/10
Rohingya Muslim refugees hold placards against human rights violations in Myanmar during a protest in New Delhi on September 5, 2017. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s state councillor and de facto leader has also drawn criticism from fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, who decried the treatment of the Rohingyas as ‘tragic and shameful’. Yousafzai also called upon Myanmar to recognize the Rohingya’s right to citizenship and called upon other nations to aid in their refuge. (Prakash Singh / AFP)

10/10
An army crackdown triggered by an attack on August 25, 2017 by members of the Rohingya Arakan Salvation Army on Myanmar security forces and the response of a ‘clearance operation’ launched by security forces supported by Buddhist militia has led to the killing of at least 400 people, reports of arson and violence in Rakhine villages and the exodus of nearly 146,000 Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh in the weeks since, leading to an upsurge in this long running humanitarian crisis. (Bernat Armangue / AP)

10/10
Smoke billows above what is reported to be a burning village in Myanmar's Rakhine state as members of the Rohingya Muslim minority take shelter in a no-man's land between Bangladesh and Myanmar in Ukhiya on September 4, 2017. Almost 15,000 Rohingya refugees are estimated to cross the Naf river into Bangladesh each day this week, scrambling for shelter in overcrowded camps and makeshift settlements. (K. M. Asad / AFP)

10/10
In a macabre development Myanmar has reportedly been laying landmines across a section of its border with Bangladesh, said two government sources in Dhaka, adding that the purpose may have been to prevent the return of Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence. Bangladesh will on Wednesday formally lodge a protest against the laying of land mines so close to the border, Reuters reported. (Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters)

10/10
On Tuesday the UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, said it was ‘gravely concerned’ about the continuing conflict and reports that civilians had died seeking safety. The UN on Monday also said that its aid agencies had been blocked from supplying life-saving supplies such as food, water and medicine to civilians in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state. (Mushfiqul Alam / AP)

10/10
Rohingya refugees walk to the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Teknaf, Bangladesh, September 5, 2017. At least five children were killed when several boats carrying Rohingya refugees from Myanmar sank early Wednesday, Bangladesh border guards told AFP. Deaths among refugees resulting from boats capsizing were also reported earlier this week killing 26. (Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters)

10/10
Myanmar’s nearly 1 million Rohingya, settled mostly in the Rakhine state have been reviled by many in Myanmar as illegal immigrants, suffering from systematic discrimination and the government’s denial of citizenship, rendering them stateless. Stringent restrictions have been placed on Rohingya people’s freedom of movement, access to medical assistance, education and other basic services which UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has also condemned. (Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters)

10/10
An Indonesian protester tears a picture of Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi during a rally in front of Myanmar embassy in Jakarta on September 2, 2017 to condemn Myanmar's army and the government of Aung San Suu Kyi. UN chief Guterres warned on September 1 of a looming humanitarian catastrophe in western Myanmar. Similar protests in support of the Rohingya were also observed in Australia, Russia, Chechnya, Pakistan and Malaysia. (Bay Ismoyo / AFP)

10/10
Bangladeshi villagers gather around bodies of Rohingya women and children at Shah Porir Deep, in Teknak, Bangladesh, after a capsizing accident. Refugees have been fleeing, aided by smugglers charging about 10,000 Myanmar kyat (approx ₹500) for each person in the family to be ferried across the rivers adjoining Bangladesh and Myanmar in rickety wooden boats. (Suvra Kanti Das / AP)

10/10
Ethnic Rohingya carry an elderly man as they walk through rice fields after crossing over to the Bangladesh side of the border near Cox's Bazar's Teknaf area on September 1, 2017. Most refugees have fled leaving behind all apart from what they could immediately carry. In most cases these have been a essentials such as food, some utensils or protective tarp or mattresses. (Bernat Armangue / AP)

10/10
Rohingya Muslim refugees hold placards against human rights violations in Myanmar during a protest in New Delhi on September 5, 2017. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s state councillor and de facto leader has also drawn criticism from fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, who decried the treatment of the Rohingyas as ‘tragic and shameful’. Yousafzai also called upon Myanmar to recognize the Rohingya’s right to citizenship and called upon other nations to aid in their refuge. (Prakash Singh / AFP)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...e-rohingyas/story-PgNwZ4URpdpMpZXNryw88I.html

Thousands of starving Rohingya refugees are fleeing the latest round of violence in Myanmar, with many being stranded at the Bangaldesh border without access to food or medicine.

The United Nations on Sunday said that more than 75,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine region since August 25. Satellite imagery shows entire Rohingya villages burnt to the ground in a clash between government forces and armed militants.

The Rohingyas, Myanmar’s Muslim minority, are counted among the world’s most persecuted communities. Human rights organizations describe their systematic targeting by the Myanmar government and Buddhist nationalists as ‘ethnic cleansing’, which the country denies.

As the international community once again confronts a looming Rohingya refugee crisis, an explainer on the historical and political reasons that have left the community stateless:

Who are the Rohingya?

The Rohingya are Burma’s Muslim minority who reside in the northern parts of the Rakhine region(historically known as Arakan), a geographically isolated area in western Burma, bordering Bangladesh.

The Rohingya are ethnically, linguistically, and religiously different from Myanmar’s dominant Buddhist community. The Rakhine region is Myanmar’s least developed region, with more than 78 per cent of households living below the poverty line.

About 1.1 million Rohingyas are said to live in Myanmar’s Rakhine region.

Updated map of northern Rakhine state in Myanmar showing areas where fires were detected from satellite imagery. Nearly 125,000 refugees, mostly Rohingya Muslims, have entered Bangladesh since August 25, the United Nations said Tuesday. (AFP)
Why does Myanmar not recognise the Rohingya?

According to the International Observatory of the Stateless, after the British annexed the Rakhine region in 1824-26, they encouraged migration from India. Successive Burmese governments have maintained that the Rohingyas are illegal migrants from India and Bangladesh and have refused to recognize them as one of the country’s 135 ethnic groups.

The Myanmar government’s refusal to grant Rohingya citizenship status or any legal documentation has effectively made them stateless, reports Council for Foreign Relations.

In 1962, after General Ne Win’s Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) seized power, the military government dissolved Rohingya social and political organisations.

In 1982, a citizenship law by the military junta effectively stripped Rohingyas of their Burmese nationality and basic rights, rendering them stateless. Along with the Rohingyas, an unknown number of Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) who reside in Burma are also stateless, though they have lived in the country for generations. According to the Indian government’s estimates, as many as 2.5 million PIOs could be living in Burma.

In the 1990s, the Rohingya Muslims were issued identity cards, known as ‘white cards’, categorizing them as temporary citizens.

In 2014, the government held its first census in 30 years, backed by the United Nations. It initially permitted the Muslim minority group to identify as ‘Rohingya’, but backtracked in the face of opposition by Buddhist nationalists.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world...desh-border/story-jPeeU02h2cQTQunkEcwZeL.html

Myanmar has been laying landmines across a section of its border with Bangladesh for the past three days, said two government sources in Dhaka, adding that the purpose may have been to prevent the return of Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence.

Bangladesh will on Wednesday formally lodge a protest against the laying of land mines so close to the border, said the sources who had direct knowledge of the situation but asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

An army crackdown triggered by an attack on August 25 by Rohingya insurgents on Myanmar security forces has led to the killing of at least 400 people and the exodus of nearly 125,000 Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh, leading to a major humanitarian crisis.

“They are putting the landmines in their territory along the barbed-wire fence” between a series of border pillars, said one of the sources. Both sources said Bangladesh learned about the landmines mainly through photographic evidence and informers.

“Our forces have also seen three to four groups working near the barbed wire fence, putting something into the ground,” one of the sources said. “We then confirmed with our informers that they were laying land mines.”

The sources did not clarify if the groups were in uniform, but added that they were sure they were not Rohingya insurgents.

Manzurul Hassan Khan, a Bangladesh border guard officer, told Reuters earlier that two blasts were heard on Tuesday on the Myanmar side, after two on Monday fuelled speculation that Myanmar forces had laid land mines.

One boy had his left leg blown off on Tuesday near a border crossing before being brought to Bangladesh for treatment, while another boy suffered minor injuries, Khan said, adding that the blast could have been a mine explosion.

A Rohingya refugee who went to the site of the blast on Monday -- on a footpath near where civilians fleeing violence are huddled in a no man’s land on the border -- filmed what appeared to be a mine: a metal disc about 10cm in diameter partially buried in the mud. He said he believed there were two more such devices buried in the ground.

Two refugees also told Reuters they saw members of the Myanmar army around the site in the immediate period preceding the Monday blasts, which occurred around 2.25pm.

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http://www.hindustantimes.com/world...-s-rohingya/story-6Zt9HHP7GU5WB18zolVORM.html
Turkey will provide 10,000 tonnes of aid to help Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence in Myanmar, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

“I spoke with (Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi) yesterday. They opened the doors after our call,” Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling AK Party in Ankara.

He said Turkish aid agency TIKA was already delivering 1,000 tonnes of aid to camps for the displaced. “The second stage is 10,000 tonnes. Aid will be distributed,” Erdogan said.

Around 150,000 Rohingyas have fled northwest Myanmar to Bangladesh since violence broke out on August 25, when Rohingya insurgents attacked dozens of police posts and an army base. The ensuing clashes and a military counter-offensive have killed at least 400 people.

 

[Hindustani78]

UN says 123,600 refugees enter Bangladesh from Myanmar
September 6, 2017, 11:44 AM IST