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Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing - Updates & Discussions

http://www.smh.com.au/world/rohingy...nmar-of-ethnic-cleansing-20170917-gyj2i9.html
September 18 2017 - 12:04AM

Rohingya crisis: Bangladesh to accuse Myanmar of 'ethnic cleansing'
Lindsay Murdoch

Bangladesh says it will accuse Myanmar's security forces of ethnic cleansing and call for international intervention in the Rohingya crisis at the United National General Assembly this week.

On Wednesday Aung San Suu Kyi's office announced she had cancelled a visit to New York for the meeting.


The cancellation will stoke further criticism of the Myanmar State Counsellor, Noble laureate and one-time democracy icon who has strongly defended the military's crackdown on Rohingya that survivors say includes extrajudicial killings, the widespread torching of villages, gang rape and slaughter of children.

In her first address to the assembly last year, after being swept into office at historic elections, Ms Suu Kyi defended her government's treatment of Rohingya.

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But instead of going to New York this year she will make a television speech at home on Tuesday.

"She is trying to control the security situation, to have internal peace and stability and to prevent the spread of communal conflict," her spokesman said.


The General Assembly is due to meet on Wednesday to discuss what the UN describes as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing."




Relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar have collapsed after more than 400,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine over the past three weeks, creating what aid agencies say is an emerging humanitarian catastrophe in squalid border camps.

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A Rohingya Muslim man Abdul Kareem walks towards a refugee camp carrying his mother Alima Khatoon after crossing over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, at Teknaf, Bangladesh, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017. United Nations agencies say an estimated 409,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when deadly attacks by a Rohingya insurgent group on police posts prompted Myanmar's military to launch "clearance operations" in Rakhine state. Those fleeing have described indiscriminate attacks by security forces and Buddhist mobs. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin) Photo: AP
Bangladesh accuses Myanmar of flying drones and helicopters over its border, violating its air space, over the past week and warned more "provocative acts" could have "unwarranted consequences."

"Bangladesh expresses deep concern at the repetition of such acts of provocation and demands that Myanmar take immediate measures to ensure that such violation of sovereignty does not occur again," Bangladesh's foreign ministry said in a statement.


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A Rohingya Muslim man walks to shore carrying two children in Bangladesh after they arrived on a boat from Myanmar. Photo: AP
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is travelling to New York to speak at the UN General Assembly where she would call for international pressure to ensure Myanmar takes everyone back after stopping its "ethnic cleansing', her press secretary, Ihsanul Karim said.

Ms Hasina has asked Myanmar to implement recommendations of a panel led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that include restoring basic rights such as citizenship to Rohingya, who have been living in Rakhine for generations.

Poor and overcrowded Bangladesh is moving to fence off its border with Myanmar and build 14,000 shelters, each with the capacity to hold six families, after existing camps reached capacity.

Aid agencies have struggled to provide food, shelter and health care.

Aid groups worry diseases like cholera will spread through the settlements.

Myanmar's military launched the crackdown after Muslim insurgents attacked police posts and a military base on August 25.

The terror group al-Qaeda has warned the violence against Muslims will not go unpunished and urged jihadists to set out to Myanmar to "resist this oppression."

Save the Children says the unprecedented arrival of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is putting huge stress on humanitarian agencies and more than 380,000 refugees who were already living in border camps.

"Many people are arriving hungry, exhausted and with no food or water, having left their homes in fear of their lives," said Mark Pierce, Save the Children's Country Director in Bangladesh.

"I'm particularly worried that the demand for food, shelter, water and basic hygiene support is not being met due to the sheer number of people in need," he said.

"If families can't meet their basic needs, the suffering will get even worse and lives could be lost."

Mr Pierce warns the number of displaced people at the border could rise beyond one million by the end of the year if the influx continues, including about 600,000 children.

"Local communities have been extremely accommodating, often welcoming the Rohingya into their homes and sharing precious food and water," he said.

"Aid agencies are doing all they can to help, however the humanitarian response needs to be rapidly scaled up, and that can only be done if the international community steps up funding."


More than 1,100 separated or unaccompanied Rohingya children have fled Rakhine, aid agencies say.

Some became orphans when their parents were killed in the violence.

"Beneath the hardship and suffering faced by the Rohingya who've arrived in Bangladesh, there is a child protection crisis on our doorstep," Mr Pierce said.

"We're seeing a number of children arriving alone and in desperate need of help," he said.

"This is a real concern as these children are in an especially vulnerable position, being at increased risk of exploitation and abuse, as well as things like child trafficking."
 
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http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/0...ms-at-un-foreign-affairs-minister_a_23212050/

Canada Will Stand Up For Rohingya Muslims At UN: Foreign Affairs Minister
But Canada's foreign affairs minister was vague on details.
09/16/2017 23:47 EDT | Updated 3 hours ago
  • Michelle McQuigge Canadian Press

TORONTO — Canada's foreign affairs minister says the government is very concerned about the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and plans to speak up on their behalf.

Chrystia Freeland says both she and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plan to "focus" on the issue at next week's United Nations General Assembly in New York.


She did not elaborate on the specific actions she or Trudeau plan to take.

Freeland also told a Toronto rally in support of the Rohingya that she also discussed the issue with Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General who is currently leading a commission investigating the crisis unfolding in Myanmar.



She says another key focus for Canada is getting the ambassador into the area of heaviest conflict to report first-hand on the situation.

Myanmar's powerful military is accused of torching the homes of 400,000 Rohingya Muslims, forcing them to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh as refugees. Myanmar's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has come under harsh international criticism for failing to speak out against the violence, with some arguing she should be stripped of both her Nobel Peace Prize and her honorary Canadian citizenship.


Freeland did not address those concerns, but told the rally that Trudeau expressed his "very strong condemnation" of the treatment of the Rohingya directly to Suu Kyi earlier this week.

Freeland said Trudeau also asked Suu Kyi to "raise her voice" on behalf of the Muslim minority in her country.

"I want you to know that this is an issue that matters to me very, very much," she told the crowd. "It's an issue that matters very much to the prime minister."

Watch: PM Pressed About Aung San Suu Kyi's Honorary Citizenship


Officials speaking on condition of anonymity have said Canada has been reluctant to overtly blame Suu Kyi for the violence against the Rohingya because it believes Myanmar's military is using it to undermine her global reputation.

Canada believes elements in Myanmar's powerful military see the current crisis as an opportunity to weaken Suu Kyi's ambitions to bring democracy to their country.

Officials have said Freeland recognizes that Suu Kyi is in a precarious political position because she does not control the actions of her military, which once ruled her country with impunity and placed her under house arrest before she prevailed and won power in democratic elections.

Freeland did not offer details on the substance of what she or Trudeau plan to do at the UN Assembly, but did say the issue is one that both would be "focusing on."



dims
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Rohingya girl prepare food in the side of her makeshift tent at the Thenkhali refugee camp in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh on Sept. 16, 2017.
Freeland also emphasized the importance of gaining ambassadorial access to Rakhine State, the scene of much of the violence. Officials have previously said that Myanmar has rebuffed several recent requests by Canada and other western countries to send envoys into Rakhine for a first-hand look.

"Our ambassador is seeking access to Rakhine State," Freeland told the rally. "We would like our ambassador to go there so we can have Canadians seeing first-hand what is happening."

Another rally in support of the Rohingya is planned in Ottawa for Sunday afternoon.

The 72nd session of the UN General Assembly is slated to get underway on Tuesday.
 
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‘We will kill you all’, say Rakhine, Myanmar Buddhists
Rohingyas in Myanmar beg for safe passage

Reuters . Sittwe, Myanmar
| Published: 01:01, Sep 18,2017

Thousands of Rohingya Muslims in violence-wracked northwest Myanmar are pleading with the authorities for safe passage from two remote villages that are cut off by hostile Buddhists and running short of food.
‘We’re terrified,’ Maung Maung, a Rohingya official at Ah Nauk Pyin village, said by telephone. ‘We’ll starve soon and they’re threatening to burn down our houses.’
Another Rohingya contacted by Reuters, who asked not to be named, said ethnic Rakhine Buddhists came to the same village and shouted, ‘Leave, or we will kill you all.’
Fragile relations between Ah Nauk Pyin and its Rakhine neighbours were shattered on Aug 25, when deadly attacks by Rohingya militants in Rakhine State prompted a ferocious response from Myanmar’s security forces.


At least 430,000 Rohingya have since fled into neighbouring Bangladesh to evade what the United Nations has called a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’.
About a million Rohingya lived in Rakhine State until the recent violence. Most face draconian travel restrictions and are denied citizenship in a country where many Buddhists regard them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Tin Maung Swe, secretary of the Rakhine State government, said he was working closely with the Rathedaung authorities, and had received no information about the Rohingya villagers’ plea for safe passage.
‘There is nothing to be concerned about,’ he said when asked about local tensions. ‘Southern Rathedaung is completely safe.’
National police spokesman Myo Thu Soe said he also had no information about the Rohingya villages, but said he would look into the matter.
Ah Nauk Pyin sits on a mangrove-fringed peninsula in Rathedaung, one of three townships in northern Rakhine State. The villagers say they have no boats.
Until three weeks ago, there were 21 Muslim villages in Rathedaung, along with three camps for Muslims displaced by previous bouts of religious violence. Sixteen of those villages and all three camps have since been emptied and in many cases burnt, forcing an estimated 28,000 Rohingya to flee.
Rathedaung’s five surviving Rohingya villages and their 8,000 or so inhabitants are encircled by Rakhine Buddhists and acutely vulnerable, say human rights monitors.
The situation is particularly dire in Ah Nauk Pyin and nearby Naung Pin Gyi, where any escape route to Bangladesh is long, arduous, and sometimes blocked by hostile Rakhine neighbours.
Maung Maung, the Rohingya official, said the villagers are resigned to leaving, but the authorities have not responded to their requests for security. At night, he said, villagers had heard distant gunfire.
‘It’s better they go somewhere else,’ said Thein Aung, a Rathedaung official, who dismissed Rohingya claims that Rakhines were threatening them.
Only two of the Aug 25 attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army took place in Rathedaung. But the township was already a tinderbox of religious tension, with ARSA citing the mistreatment of Rohingya there as one justification for its offensive.
In late July, Rakhine residents of a large, mixed village in northern Rathedaung corralled hundreds of Rohingya inside their neighbourhood, blocking access to food and water.
A similar pattern is repeating itself in southern Rathedaung, with local Rakhine citing possible ARSA infiltration as a reason for ejecting the last remaining Rohingya.
Maung Maung said he had called the police at least 30 times to report threats against his village.
On Sept 13, he said, he got a call from a Rakhine villager he knew. ‘Leave tomorrow or we’ll come and burn down all your houses,’ said the man, according to a recording Maung Maung gave to Reuters.
When Maung Maung protested that they had no means to escape, the man replied: ‘That’s not our problem.’
On Aug 31, the police convened a roadside meeting between two villages, attended by seven Rohingya from Ah Nauk Pyin and 14 Rakhine officials from the surrounding villages.
Instead of addressing the Rohingya complaints, said Maung Maung and two other Rohingya who attended the meeting, the Rakhine officials delivered an ultimatum.
‘They said they didn’t want any Muslims in the region and we should leave immediately,’ said the Rohingya resident of Ah Nauk Pyin who requested anonymity.
The Rohingya agreed, said Maung Maung, but only if the authorities provided security.
He showed Reuters a letter that the village elders had sent to the Rathedaung authorities on Sept 7, asking to be moved to ‘another place’. They had yet to receive a response, he said.
Relations between the two communities deteriorated in 2012, when religious unrest in Rakhine State killed nearly 200 people and made 140,000 homeless, most of them Rohingya. Scores of houses in Ah Nauk Pyin were torched.
Since then, said villagers, Rohingya have been too scared to leave the village or till their land, surviving mainly on monthly deliveries from the World Food Programme. The recent violence halted those deliveries.

http://www.newagebd.net/article/24329/we-will-kill-you-all-say-rakhine-buddhists
 
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where is the UN... it was quick to get support of the world agaisnt iraqi invasion of kuwait....
just because there isn't any business benefit, there is no actions taken. same way jews have been persecuted in germany and league of nations kept silent.

shame really, everyone is a businessman or a hypocrite these days.
 
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What a tragedy for our Muslim brothers and sisters.Most of muslim countries need nuclear weapon essentially, so that the cruel world shows respect to us.
Nuclear powers backing miyanmer, so only nuke can save Muslims.
And atleast two Muslim country like Pakistan and turkey should claim veto power in UN.
 
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Certainly is a devastating tragedy faced by the Rohingya. Pakistan should open its doors fully the Rohingya as it did for the Afghans, Somalis and Bosnians.
 
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Lord please save our Muslim brothers and Sisters under aggression every where.
My friend lord will only save you when you will try your best to.save yourself.
What is the stance of Pakistan on china's decision to support miyanmer? Pakistan should try to convince China.
We expect more responsibility from China and Pakistan can use it's influence as China Pakistan are best allies!
 
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My friend lord will only save you when you will try your best to.save yourself.
What is the stance of Pakistan on china's decision to support miyanmer? Pakistan should try to convince China.
We expect more responsibility from China and Pakistan can use it's influence as China Pakistan are best allies!
Our Government has already taken initiatives to sop this religious-ethnic cleansing but we are not that powerful.
 
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Our Government has already taken initiatives to sop this religious-ethnic cleansing but we are not that powerful.
Sadly most of muslim countries are like that. Smaller countries, smaller economy, and almost no power. I see no way to get out from this bad condition in near future!
But Shia sunni alliance can bring good result. But they are busy screwing each other.
Look at Saudi Arabia and Iran.
 
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Sadly most of muslim countries are like that. Smaller countries, smaller economy, and almost no power. I see no way to get out from this bad condition in near future!
Some time i feel unlucky to be born in this era. I don't know why Bengali religious organisation were not waging jihad against them. :(
 
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Sadly most of muslim countries are like that. Smaller countries, smaller economy, and almost no power. I see no way to get out from this bad condition in near future!
On forign matters Pakitan is extreamly poor diplomatically with virtually no power. It's wasted 16 years of fighting uncle Sams war. I was previously apprehensive of Pakistanis as a nation to be armed but now I fully endorse the concept. Hundreds and thousands of rural communities in Pakistan are fully armed and prepared in the case of any foriegn invasion. The people cannot depend on their governments to defend them.
 
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