BANGLADESH-MYANMAR: More Rohingya boat people set to flee violence

Photo: Maher Sattar/IRIN

Mohammad Johar wants to leave for Malaysia soon

 

BANGKOK, 6 November 2012 (IRIN) - Thousands of Rohingya - whether currently in Myanmar or Bangladesh - may take to the high seas and head to Malaysia after last month’s deadly sectarian violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, activists warn.

“The risk factor is certainly there,” Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, an advocacy organization for the Rohingya, told IRIN. “Many simply feel they have no other choice. Bangladesh has closed its borders so there is no other escape.”

“More people are getting on boats to get to Malaysia,” Phil Robertson, the deputy director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, said. “This year might be one of the largest sailing seasons [of Rohingya refugees going to Malaysia from the two countries].”

According to UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are more than 24,000 Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia today.

Close to 110,000 mostly Rohingya residents are displaced in Myanmar following inter-communal violence between Muslim Rohingya and ethnic (mainly Buddhist) Rakhine residents, and need humanitarian assistance, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on 5 November.

On 21 October, more than 35,000 people were displaced across eight Rakhine townships (Kyaukpyu, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon, Pauktaw, Ramree and Rathedaung) after a wave of inter-communal violence resulted in 89 deaths and the destruction of more than 5,000 homes and buildings.

In earlier violence in June, dozens were killed and some 75,000 Rohingyas were displaced following the alleged rape of a Rakhine woman by a group of Muslim men in May. Most of the displaced are staying in nine overcrowded camps in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State.

Despite the presence of thousands of soldiers and police, security across Rakhine remains tense, while access for aid workers is increasingly proving problematic.

OCHA says more displacements are likely. "The situation is still very, very volatile, it's very tense. The government is doing its very best to keep the situation under control, but it's still very fragile,” said Jens Laerke, an OCHA spokesman.

Bangladesh responded to the June violence by enforcing its “closed door” policy more strictly, leaving the Rohingyas in Rakhine State - described by the UN as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world - in an even tighter spot.

Bangladesh is already home to more than 200,000, mostly undocumented Rohingya refugees, and Dhaka insists it is in no position to accept any more.

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh live in dire conditions

A dangerous voyage

Thousands could well seek shelter in Malaysia, an escape that requires undertaking a dangerous voyage across the Indian Ocean often in rickety, and overcrowded boats ill-equipped to make the journey, said Maung Kyaw Nu, president of the Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand.

“Whether they are able to get to Malaysia is another issue,” he said. Many of those getting on the boats are desperate enough to shell out more than US$1,500 for the passage, he added.

Many think the risk is worth it. Mohammad Johar, an undocumented Rohingya in the town of Teknaf in southeastern Bangladesh bordering Rakhine State, is already plotting his escape after saving up money for almost a year, and motivated by his longstanding fear of life back in Myanmar.

“Many things can go wrong. The boat’s motor can stop working. The authorities can try to stop you, since what we’re doing is illegal,” the 23-year-old said.

Groups of 20-30 passengers are typically picked up in the dead of night from various areas in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, and Teknaf in southeastern Bangladesh, he explained, from where they are transferred to larger boats at sea.

On 31 October, one such boat on its way to Malaysia reportedly sank. Some 130 Rohingyas on board are believed to have drowned.

“I have learned that last year perhaps as many as 50 percent of all boat refugees died,” said Maung Kyaw Nu.

Survivor of refugee boat sinking 'swam for twenty hours' before rescue

A man who survived after a refugee boat sank while fleeing Burma for Bangladesh said he swam for twenty hours before being picked up by a fishing boat. Above, a Muslim Rohingya man rest on his boat in a Burmese refugee camp. Source: AFP

 

A SURVIVOR from a boat that sank off Bangladesh while carrying Rohingya refugees to Malaysia told how he had been rescued by a passing fishing boat after swimming towards land for 20 hours.

As many as 135 passengers, mostly Muslim Rohingya refugees who had fled unrest in neighbouring Burma, are believed to have drowned on October 28 when their boat went down off the Bay of Bengal.

Only around half a dozen made it to safety.

Talking to AFP by phone from his home village of Sabrang in Bangladesh's southeastern Cox's Bazaar district, 24-year old Abu Bakar told how he had paid 20,000 taka ($250) for a place on the ramshackle vessel.

The boat had set sail after midnight in a bid to evade detection and had only been sailing for around four hours when it went down in a matter of minutes after hitting rough seas.

Mr Bakar said he found himself and five others, floating in the water in the dark, after disaster struck.

"Everyone was crying and praying to Allah as the boat was bobbing heavily in the water and it sank quickly." said Mr Bakar.

"There was no sign of the boat (after it sank) and I can't say what happened to the other passengers.

"After sunrise we tried to work out where the Bangladesh coast was and started to swim eastwards.

"We swam at least 20 hours - those hours were the longest in my life.

"It was after midnight and I was hungry, thirsty, totally exhausted and was thinking that my life was at an end, when a Bangladeshi fishing boat rescued us."

Most were Rohingyas who had fled Burma and were hoping to start a new life in relatively prosperous Malaysia. Mr Bakar himself is a Bangladeshi labourer who also wanted to earn more money abroad.

He said the middlemen whom he had paid for a berth had promised to get him on much larger vessel.

"The brokers told us that we would be taken to Malaysia by a big ship. But actually we were crammed into a relatively larger wooden fishing boat which was anchored far from the shore," Mr Bakar said.

Mr Bakar said three companions from his village were among those who drowned.

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya have fled Burma in past decades to escape persecution, often heading to neighbouring Bangladesh, and recent unrest has triggered another exodus.

Since the unrest erupted, Bangladesh has been turning away boatloads of fleeing Rohingya. The policy has been criticised by the United Nations but Bangladesh said it was already burdened with an estimated 300,000 Rohingya.

Burma's 800,000 stateless Rohingya, described by the United Nations as among the world's most persecuted minorities, are seen by the government and many Burmese as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

'Missing' Chin Refugees Feared Dead in Malaysia

Chin refugee communities are worried that at least two Chin refugees who have been reported 'missing' in Malaysia for weeks might be dead.

A 10-year-old boy named Thang Tung Mang, who is waiting for his UNHCR refugee registration card, remains missing while another refugee called Do Khan Dal, 32, has disappeared since 27 April 2012.

 

"We have made as much effort as possible to find out about them. But we haven't got any update whatsoever until today. We are still trying our best," said one of the Chin community leaders in Malaysia.

 

 

A 'missing person' advert has been distributed online and placed several times on the newsletter published by ACR (Alliance of Chin Refugees), a community-based umbrella organization tasked with providing social services to refugees in Malaysia.

 

A letter sent to the UNHCR, ICRC (Red Cross) and Malaysian authorities indicated that Mr. Do Khan Dal, originally from Mualbem village, Tedim Township of Chin State, Burma, did not come home from his work at a restaurant in Cheras of Kuala Lumpur.

 

Mr. Khai Boih, of Mualbem village, said he was still talking with Mr. Do Khan Dal on 26 April 2012.

 

"Over the past few months, we had different situation where Chin refugees were kidnapped by some sorts of gang groups, who demanded a ransom in exchange," a Chin community leader told Chinland Guardian.

 

Late last month, 40 Chin refugees including children, held in an abandoned warehouse near the Thai-Malay border by members of human trafficking, were rescued by Malaysian police. Source: Chinland Guardian

Europe urges end to Myanmar killings, pledges aid

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called on Saturday for an end to sectarian killings in Myanmar, following talks with the president of the nation which is emerging from decades of brutal military rule.

In western Myanmar, 89 people have been killed in clashes between Buddhist Rakhines and Muslim Rohingyas, according to the latest official toll covering the last 10 days of October. Many thousands more have been displaced by the violence.

"We are deeply concerned by these events and by the consequences for the reforms and democratization of the country. We hope that all religious leaders will call for restraint," Barroso said in a speech, a copy of which was released in Brussels.

"The EU stands ready to mobilize 4 million euros ($5.14 million) for immediate humanitarian needs, provided access to the affected areas is guaranteed," Barroso added.

He was speaking in Myanmar at a newly established peace center designed to aid dialogue between all parties in Myanmar's peace process. During his visit to the country he also held talks with President Thein Sein.

The European Union, winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, has contributed 700,000 euros to starting up the peace center, to be followed by further funds.

In 2013, the bloc will contribute 30 million euros to Myanmar's ethnic peace process, a Commission statement said.
After five decades of brutal junta rule, Myanmar has stunned the world with rapid economic and democratic change, which has led to an easing of sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union to encourage further reforms. ($1 = 0.7785 euros)

(Reporting by Barbara Lewis; Editing by Stephen Powell)

In Comer, refugees apply old traditions

COMER, Ga. (AP) — Refugees living in camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border heard cock crows each morning.

Refugees living in apartments in DeKalb County hear the siren crow of cops and ambulances all night long.

Eh Kaw Htoo's family, refugees from Myanmar living now in Comer, wake to the rumble of the CSX line that rolls through town just two blocks from their front door.

"Train crow," Eh Kaw calls the locomotive horn blasts.

On a weekend morning, Eh Kaw's children watch cartoons on a 20-inch TV, slurping up rice and vegetable broth prepared by their mother, Pa Saw Paw, 31, who is washing metal bowls with her mother.

Pa Saw places a fly-deterring plastic cover over leftovers sitting on the 2-foot-tall circular table they often sup around. Although she mounds clean cookware onto a drying rack, Pa Saw offers breakfast to whomever enters her kitchen. She met Eh Kaw when she was 9, but said she didn't fall in love until 2000, the same year they married. Two of her children, the oldest boys, were born in refugee camps in Thailand. They are citizens of no country. Jessica, the youngest daughter, was born in Georgia.

If everything goes according to plan, Eh Kaw, Pa Saw and their children will become American citizens early next year.

For someone who calls himself "stateless," finally attaching a nation, a name, to his identity is life-changing. Without "United States Citizen" printed across his official papers, "they will call us refugees always," Eh Kaw said.

For Pa Saw, citizenship means earning her GED and eventually becoming a nurse. A jobless life in the camps, she said, was frustrating. But "the hardest part is that I worried for my kids," she said. How can a mother support, educate and maintain her children's health when she is waiting in line for bowls of rice? Now Eh Kaw works double shifts at Pilgrim's Pride, and Pa Saw stays home to raise the kids. Life in America eases her fears.

Students at Comer Elementary School, Jubilee, Jack and Jessica are becoming American, preferring pizza and hamburgers to the turmeric-heavy Karen diet. But Pa Saw hopes they'll keep the Karen culture close to their heart.

"I want them to be good Americans," she said, "but still remember their people."

____

A HOME RECREATED

The community that Pa Saw, her family and friends are building in Madison and Oglethorpe counties is so distinctly Karen, Pa Saw's children stand a strong chance of cementing their ethnic identity while growing up in Comer.

Pa Saw's in-laws live just a 20-minute drive from Comer deep into the unpaved parts of Oglethorpe County. There, Eh Kaw's mother, father and two brothers live in trailers separated by less than 50 yards of forest. Independent structures built from downed pine trees and deconstructed chicken coops interconnect each family's trailer. Near Eh Kaw's youngest brother's trailer, an arbor of skinny pines stands erect for squash vines to grow up and through. Handmade rabbit and squirrel traps segment a 2-foot-tall fence that runs along a clearing.

Built without power tools, save for the odd chainsaw cut, and seemingly without fasteners, the constructions employ skills the Karen people learned in their childhoods.

"Everyone knows how," Eh Kaw said.

Even deeper into the forest, nearing a tract of land owned by a member of the Baptist church Eh Kaw's family attends, a cinderblock foundation is under way for another structure to be built using felled pines and chicken shack parts. Soon, the Karen church, currently in the basement of Vesta Baptist Church, will relocate here.

Eh Kaw said the church's construction will not cut ties to their fellow American worshippers in Vesta. He envisions a place to keep the Karen language and culture alive — on their terms.

Just 1 mile from Eh Kaw and Pa Saw's home, foods common in Karen cuisine grow at The Neighbor's Field, just off the gravel road that leads to Jubilee Partner's Christian community.

Walking through the field, Eh Kaw explains each crop planted there. Bitter melon. Chinese okra. Asian eggplant. Roselle greens. A reporter jokes that the Karen are even cultivating pokeweed, pointing to a lone plant sticking up near a gate. Eh Kaw, like any smart naturalist, knows he can cook pokeweed's young greens. He bends down, picking a micro-grass just sprouting out of the soil, one most people would've stepped on. He'd cook it, too.

Karens know how to forage, Eh Kaw said. Back in Myanmar and Thailand, the Karen people also are known to spread seed along the forest floor, leaving food for the next wave of refugees fleeing their villages.

Eh Kaw urges the Karens he knows in Clarkston, the DeKalb county city that's home to refugees from many nations, to drive to Comer to harvest fresh instead of imported food. And he hopes they'll stay.

"I try to encourage my folks to move out of the city," he said.

"In America, if you choose to live in the city, it can feel like prison. You don't own anything. You have no freedom. I prefer the countryside. It is freedom."

______

COMING TO AMERICA

Jubilee Partners, the intentional Christian community that owns the land where the refugees farm, helped give Eh Kaw his first taste of American-style freedom.

In 2008, Eh Kaw and his family spent a few months living at Jubilee before returning to Clarkston.

After living off others in rural camps, long-term Jubilee staff member Russ Dyck said refugees arrive in urban settings where they don't speak the language.

The effect is isolating.

Refugees often are settled with their own people, which is good, Dyck said, but that makes it hard to befriend North Americans and learn the culture.

Refugees come to Jubilee through the International Rescue Committee and Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta. Through Jubilee's rural pace and intensive English language education, refugees get a glimpse of America that's easier to digest, Dyck said.

"The land is a place where refugees are teachers," Dyck said, noting all the shepherding and agricultural skills he's learned from Myanmar refugees. "My hope is that this is a place of healing. It's been amazing to see how Karen and other refugees connect with this piece of land."

At Jubilee, refugees garden, raise and kill goats and practice other traditional skills. Dyck can't count how many times he's heard guests say, "This place reminds me of my village."

From Comer, the typical Jubilee graduate, after a stay of two months or so, returns to Atlanta to live in an apartment and find a job.

Atypical is how he describes Eh Kaw and his brood moving to Comer in 2009.

Eh Kaw and his brother, Eh Kae Doh, have spearheaded the Karen's integration into the Northeast Georgia community. Eh Kaw possesses strong language skills, making him a valuable go-between with English speakers. Eh Kae pioneered the Karen's employment at Pilgrim's Pride in January of this year, which has led to many jobs for Karen who live in Madison County and metro Atlanta. Eh Kaw plays cultural historian for his new bosses, teaching anyone willing to listen about a refugee's struggle.

The U.S. has everything, Eh Kaw said. You can work hard and get it. But its people lack the "fruit of the spirit," he said. They are kind, they know the world, but not their neighbors.

"We are very blessed from God," he said. "We have a lot of American friends."

http://www.necn.com

Fear, hunger stalk crowded Myanmar camps

 By MSN 

Crammed into squalid camps, thousands of people who fled communal violence in Myanmar face a deepening humanitarian crisis with critical shortages of food, water and medicine, aid workers say. 

More than 100,000 people have been displaced since June in two major spasms of violence in western Rakhine State, where renewed clashes last month between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims uprooted about 30,000 people.

Dozens were killed on both sides and thousands of homes were torched.

Even in the camps near the state capital Sittwe housing ethnic Rakhine Buddhists -- who have freedom of movement and are able to work if they can find employment -- people are going hungry.

"We don't have enough to eat," said Phyu Ma Thein, 33. "The abbot gave us a bowl of rice but we have no pots, no plates. We have nothing. We're just trying to survive."

The situation is likely to deteriorate, the UN Refugee Agency warned this week, as a new influx of refugees pushes the camps "beyond capacity in terms of space, shelter and basic supplies such as food and water".

"Food prices in the area have doubled and there are not enough doctors to treat the sick and wounded," it added.

Most of the displaced are Rohingya, described by the UN as among the world's most persecuted minorities.

Seen by the government and many Burmese as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, Myanmar's 800,000 stateless Rohingya have long faced severe discrimination, according to rights groups.

Their displacement camps are at crisis point, according to Refugees International (RI) which estimates that even before last month's flare-up nearly a quarter of children in the squalid facilities were malnourished.

"Conditions in these camps are as bad if not worse than ones in Eastern Congo or Sudan," Melanie Teff, a researcher with the charity who visited Sittwe in September, told AFP from London.

"Child malnutrition rates are startlingly high. There's an urgent need for clean water and food. If further aid does not come through there will be some unnecessary deaths," she said.

With tens of thousands of Rohingya in outlying villages struggling to make a living since security collapsed after June's unrest, Teff fears official camps could be overwhelmed by a new wave of refugees over the coming months.

Myanmar, which is opening up after decades of secretive junta rule, has said it has to accept aid from Muslim countries or face an international backlash.

That concession by President Thein Sein last month came despite a series of angry protests by Myanmar Buddhists against efforts by a world Islamic body to help Muslims affected by the violence in Rakhine.

But the flow of aid is still sluggish to the tinderbox province.

In Baw Du Pha relief camp, where several thousand Rohingya refugees from Sittwe live cheek-by-jowl, surviving on rations and severely short of medical care, a mother-of-four told AFP Friday of her family's desperation.

"I cannot give my baby rice when she needs it. We are suffering," said Laila, 20. "When my daughter gets sick we have no money for medicine."

Compounding the immediate need for essentials such as rice, water and oil, aid workers say refugees are facing a mounting psychological toll with terrified children bearing the brunt.

"They lost their houses in the fires. Children cannot be left alone like before. So they're depressed," said Moe Thadar, a local Red Cross worker.

With tensions still at boiling point despite beefed-up security, the relief effort is in jeopardy and the outlook for peace is grim unless the two communities can somehow reconcile, according to Teff.

"As it stands there is a total lack of hope for the Rohingya. They have been rejected by many countries. They have suffered all around," she said. "The only way out is for the international community to act on the current situation."

The UNHCR said the recent bloodshed spurred several thousand Rohingya to take to rickety boats this week in the hope of finding shelter at camps on the coast near the outskirts of Sittwe or escaping the country altogether.

But tragedy awaits even in flight, as around 130 people went missing after one boat sank off the coast near Bangladesh's border with Myanmar while carrying Rohingya refugees heading for Malaysia.

Dozens of other boats were repelled by nervous Myanmar security forces near Sittwe, leaving them with no choice but to dock on the barren shoreline, according to an AFP reporter who visited the scene this week.

"Humans need shelter, a place to sleep and eat," said Myint Oo, a displaced Muslim who has lost his house and fishing business. "If you cannot eat and sleep, it's worse than dying."

We still need to fight for human rights in Burma

By Zoya Phan

When I was just 14 years old, the Burmese Army attacked my village with mortar bombs and air strikes. There was no warning. We fled for our lives. My family ran, carrying what we could on our backs, leaving our home and everything behind. As we hid in the jungle, homeless and afraid, a British trade delegation dined in Rangoon, making business deals with the regime that had just slaughtered my people.

We escaped to Thailand, and I had my first experience of living in a refugee camp. But even the camps weren’t safe. The Burmese Army crossed into Thailand and attacked the camp. My family snuck back into Burma, and moved to a village in the mountains, where we hoped we would be safe.

Again, when I was 16 years old the Burmese Army attacked us without warning. One minute I was sitting at home doing my homework, the next minute mortar bombs were exploding around me. The air was thick with dust from people running in panic. Everyone was screaming, children and babies crying. The explosions were so powerful that they threw me off my feet as I ran for my life. I was scared of being killed and I was scared of what would happen if I was caught. Everyone knew Burmese Army soldiers raped women they caught. After fleeing through the jungle all night long, I ended up in a refugee camp in Thailand again.

If the Burmese Army had been mortar bombing an area of Rangoon, it would have made international headlines. But I lived in Karen State, eastern Burma. Our village was attacked because we were from the Karen ethnic group. The international community pays little attention to attacks against Burma’s many ethnic groups.

When I lived in Burma I didn’t know who Aung San Suu Kyi was. When I left Burma, I found everyone seemed to know who she was, but no-one seemed to know about what was happening to the Karen or other ethnic people. I wrote my autobiography, Little Daughter to try to draw more attention to what was and is still going on in Burma.

For decades the Burmese Army has been carrying out attacks where they deliberately target civilians. Thousands of villages were burned, hundreds of thousands were used as slave labour, and even human mine-sweepers. So many women have been raped and gang-raped, many mutilated or killed afterwards, farmers were shot in their fields, babies thrown into burning homes. Yet the international community took no action to stop these attacks.

I was lucky that I managed to come to the UK to study. I started working with the human rights group Burma Campaign UK, raising awareness of the war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by the Burmese Army. In early 2011 we seemed finally to be making real progress, with 16 governments, including the UK, supporting a UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. Then came the reforms introduced by Burma’s new President, Thein Sein, and suddenly the international community lost interest.

Many people now tell me how happy I must be about the changes in my country. ‘What will you do now,’ they ask?  The sad truth is, I am doing exactly the same as I did before.

Yes, there have been some welcome reforms in Burma, but not one democratic reform which genuinely gives more rights to the people. There are more civil liberties in the cities, but this isn’t happening in ethnic areas of Burma. There is one truth about Burma that no world leader who has praised Thein Sein has been prepared to say; since Thein Sein became President, human rights abuses in Burma have increased.

While in Karen State there is now a temporary ceasefire and fewer human rights abuses, further north in Kachin State the government broke a ceasefire, and the full horror of the Burmese Army has been unleashed against the people. Hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee attacks, villages destroyed, women gang-raped and killed, farmers tortured and shot, and aid is blocked. It’s a repeat of what happened to me as a child.

And history repeats itself in other ways, with the international community not only ignoring what is going on, but even dropping sanctions as Burmese Army soldiers rape and kill Kachin women. The UK re-opened its trade office on the day President Thein Sein proposed what amounts to ethnic cleansing of another ethnic group, the Rohingya, asking for international help in deporting all 800,000 of them.

A few top down and skin deep reforms have been enough to persuade the international community to drop sanctions imposed over the past decades. It is back to business as usual with the military-backed government. It is business as usual for the Burmese Army in Kachin State as well, attacking villages, raping, looting and killing. And so it is business as usual for me as well, working to raise awareness about what is going on, campaigning for action to stop Burmese Army attacks, to stop the increase in rape of ethnic women by the Burmese Army, and campaigning for the release of all political prisoners.

Zoya Phan is the Campaigns Manager at Burma Campaign UK. 

She will be speaking in Leicester on 3^rd November 2012, 1.00pm – 4.00pm at The Quaker Meeting House, 16 Queens Road, to promote her autobiography, ‘Little Daughter’, which is published by Simon and Schuster.

For more information about Burma Campaign visit www.burmacampaign.org.uk

Myanmar's neighbours urged to let in refugees

By MSM

Myanmar's neighbours should prepare to accept refugees from the country's Rohingya minority who may try to flee abroad to escape bloody communal violence, refugee organisations said Thursday.

Clashes in Myanmar's Rakhine state pitting Buddhists against members of the Muslim Rohingya minority have left at least 180 dead since violence broke out in June, swamped refugee camps and forced tens of thousands to flee the bloodshed.
Rohingya have for years trickled abroad to neighbouring Bangladesh and, increasingly, Muslim-majority Malaysia by boat. The violence has sparked warnings of a potential surge in refugees opting for the dangerous sea voyage.
"We are appealing to countries to keep borders open and to ensure safe access and whatever assistance they can provide," said Vivian Tan, Asia-Pacific spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
"The main thing is that they have a safe place to land," she said.
Tan said Myanmar's neighbours also should ensure that the UNHCR is granted access to any Rohingya who have legitimate claims to refugee status.
The Muslim minority, who speak a Bengali dialect in mainly Buddhist Myanmar, claim decades of persecution.
The government views the roughly 800,000 Rohingya in Rakhine as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and denies them citizenship.
Bangladeshi police say about 130 people are missing after a boat sank Sunday while carrying Rohingya refugees heading for Malaysia.
Decades-old animosity between Buddhists and Rohingya exploded in June after the apparent rape and murder of an ethnic Rakhine woman sparked a series of revenge attacks.
Human Rights Watch warned this week of a potential "dramatic increase in the number of Rohingya taking to the sea this year" in the wake of the unrest.
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan, meanwhile, has warned the bloodshed could leave the Rohingya minority "radicalised and the entire region could be destabilised, including the Malacca Straits", the vital shipping lane between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
He declined Thursday to further elaborate to AFP.
Aid and refugee agencies said the violence does not appear to have triggered a large-scale Rohingya exodus yet, but they urged nearby countries to prepare.
"Countries need to show their generosity and compassion at this time of crisis," said Sharuna Verghis, co-founder of Malaysian refugee help organisation Health Equity Initiative.
The UNHCR in Malaysia has registered some 24,000 Rohingyas as refugees but community leaders estimate actual numbers in the country could be double that.
Malaysia largely turns a blind eye, allowing them into the country but denying them any sort of legal status that would allow access to health care, education, jobs, and other services, activists say.
That leaves many Rohingya like Nur Jahan, 54, on society's margins.
Nur Jahan arrived from Rakhine state four months ago and she and her seven children have scraped out a tough existence scouring through trashbins on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur for scrap items they can sell.
Her husband is sick and going blind.
"Life is very difficult here... We cannot work because we don't have documents. How do we survive? I don't have any hope and I cannot hope to return (to Myanmar)," she told AFP through an interpreter.
Malaysia must prepare for more arrivals and provide access to basic services, said Verghis.
"It is a humanitarian crisis. That's why a regional solution is needed, and part of the solution must be that everyone does their bit," she said.

Myanmar's refugee crisis growing

BANGKOK, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The collapse of a cease-fire agreement in Myanmar's northern state of Kachin left more than 75,000 people displaced, a U.N. agency said.

A cease-fire between the Myanmar government and the Kachin Independence Army collapsed last year, ending 17 years of peace. The United Nations' humanitarian news agency IRIN, citing U.N. reports from neighboring Thailand, said more than 75,000 people remain displaced in the wake of the truce breakdown.

More than half, IRIN reports, are in areas controlled by the Kachin army, making humanitarian assistance difficult. Most of the remaining refuges are scattered in refugee camps operated by the government.

Myanmar received praise from the international community for embracing democratic reforms, starting with general elections in 2010. The country was criticized, however, for its human rights record.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs this week said at least 76 people were killed, thousands of homes and religious sites were destroyed and tens of thousands of people were displaced as a result of fighting between Muslims and Buddhists in the region.

Mohammad Nawsim, secretary of the Rohingya Human Rights Association, a pro-Muslim group, told IRIN he was "begging" for international rights groups to visit Rakhine to get a firsthand account of the situation on the ground.

 

 http://www.upi.com

At least 130 Burmese refugees drown in shipwreck

At least 130 refugees fleeing violence in western Burma have drowned after the overcrowded fishing boat they believed was carrying them to safety capsized and sank. Six survivors were rescued by local fishermen, local activists said.

The shipwreck is the single most lethal incident linked to the ongoing clashes between the Muslim Rohingya minority and local Rakhine Buddhists in Burma's Arakan state. The death toll has reached 80 in the last 11 days, according to official estimates. Thousands of homes have also been destroyed, along with places of worship.

Exact details of the wreck are unclear. But there were fears it could fuel further communal violence, which itself threatens to jeopardise the reform process in Burma. Last week UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said that "the vigilante attacks, targeted threats and extremist rhetoric must be stopped [or] … the opening up process being currently pursued by the government is likely to be jeopardised".

The crisis has also posed a major challenge to Nobel laureate and pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticised for failing to speak out strongly enough on the issue. Her National League for Democracy party has remained silent since releasing a brief statement on 24 October.

"[Aung San Suu Kyi] has an obligation to do something about the crisis but for some time she has been silent," said Abu Tahay, a Rohingya politician in Yangon, the country's commercial and cultural capital.

A first round of violence in June led to 75,000 people, mainly Muslims, fleeing their homes. The clashes over the last 10 days have forced nearly 30,000 more from their villages, according to the United Nations. The vast majority are Rohingya, who are not recognised as citizens of Burma and suffer widespread discrimination. Ethnic Rakhine communities have also suffered.

"I am very worried about the coming weeks. The situation is very unstable. In five minutes the violence could be everywhere," Abu Tahay said.

On Wednesday a standoff continued on Ramree Island, close to the centre of recent clashes, as security forces attempted to protect Rohingya villages from crowds of local Rakhine.

About 7,000 new refugees, including many who had been living on boats for several days, landed near the port town of Sittwe on Tuesday, NGO workers said.

Many had been forced to leave their homes in the town of Kyauk Ni Maw, where the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman, allegedly by Muslims, in May sparked the sectarian violence that engulfed much of the state the following month.

Hundreds have taken to boats or sought refuge on unpopulated coastal islands over recent days, refugee sources said.

Neighbouring Bangladesh, which already has an estimated 300,000 Rohingya refugees, has closed its border, an act which activists claim violates international law.

Rohingya campaigners on the Bangladeshi side of the border contacted by the Guardian said they had seen boats full of refugees offshore which were unable to land despite running low on water and food.

Thousands of Rohingya try to leave Burma by boat every year. Many vessels are unseaworthy and every year several sink.

Chris Lewa, an activist who tracks the ships, said that about 7,000 made the journey from Burma to Malaysia, often via Thailand, during the 2010-2011 sailing season.

"They are often loaded out to sea and, though some are in better condition than others, they are all packed," she said.

Refugees pay between $1,700 (£1,000) and $2,000 for a place but usually only put down a $400 deposit.

Experts say the crisis is rooted in ethnic and religious tensions that were suppressed during nearly 50 years of brutal military rule.

Hand grenades were thrown on Sunday night at two mosques in Karen state in the east of the country, causing no casualties, domestic media reported.

Some of those now fleeing their homes were Burmese Muslims from the officially recognised Kaman minority. "It's the first time that we've seen the Kaman targeted. That's very worrying," said Mabrur Ahmed, of Restless Beings, a UK-based human rights group.

The UN estimate there are 800,000 Rohingya in Burma. Although many have lived in the country for generations, they are considered illegal immigrants and face widespread hostility.

In June President Thein Sein suggested the best solution to the violence was that the UN resettle Burmese Rohingya outside the country.

http://www.guardian.co.uk

Australia will grant 30 to 50 scholarships each year to Myanmar students

Foreign Minister Bob Carr today announced 30 Australia Award
scholarships would be offered to the next generation of Myanmar
political and economic leaders to study in Australian universities in
2013.

“This is an opportunity to build Myanmar‘s skills base as it
re-emerges onto the world stage,” Senator Carr said.

“Awardees would be drawn from key government and non-government
bodies to study in courses including public health, education, public
administration and economics.

“Education is our flagship in Myanmar development assistance.

“The knowledge obtained through these scholarships would then be
put to use in building a modern and more prosperous Myanmar.

“I’m proud that Australia can make this commitment to delivering
skills and education for Myanmar‘s future leaders.”

The 30 awardees will be offered scholarships for study at Australian
universities towards an Undergraduate, Masters or PhD qualification.

Five exceptional awardees studying at Masters or PhD level would
receive prestigious Australian Leadership Awards Scholarships that
include an additional leadership development program.

Senator Carr said the number of Australia Awards for Myanmar would
increase to 50 a year from 2015 as part of Australian education aid
totalling more than $80 million over the next four years.

Other education assistance includes:

helping more than one million children get better access to education
by providing textbooks, teacher training and food aid to remote
schools

providing water and sanitation facilities at primary schools to stop
children getting sick

supporting at least 85,000 children to access early childhood
education

providing take-home meals for children who enter school and stay
there for a whole year.

Australia will also support Myanmar in undertaking a comprehensive
education sector review to guide the Government of Myanmar and
donors’ future investments in education.

Burma’s Ethnic Conflict and the Road to Democracy

By SALAI  ELAISA  VAHNIE    |

Less than a month after Burmese democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
concluded her highly decorated visit to the US, which was followed by
the US announcement to ease sanctions on imports from Burma, major
communal violence broke out in the western part of the country. It has
claimed more than 100 lives and resulted in thousands of internally
displaced Rohingyas. In the north, the Burmese military continues its
offensive against the Kachin Independence Army.

The continued ethnic conflict in Burma reflects the nature of the
political crisis in Burma—deeply rooted in and prolonged by the Burman
nationalistic claim that effectively utilized the world’s most
reclusive and successive military as a tool to accomplish its goals of
ethnic cleansing, a policy which ravaged 60 million people with fear
and poverty, killed thousands, and produced millions of refugees.

With the recent positive developments led by President Thein Sein, the
international community must continue to recognize that the ethnic
issue is at the heart of the country’s problem, and only when this
issue has been addressed fundamentally, with constitutional and
institutional arrangement, can a stable democratic state that respects
human rights and embraces peaceful co-existence in diversity be
realized. That is when Burma, in real sense and substance, can be
considered a democratic state that is capable of positively
contributing to regional and world peace, stability and economy.

Many may have observed that the opposition party leader Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi seems to have changed her tone—or perhaps, more correctly, her
approach toward Burma’s reform—from initially articulating the need
for constitutional reform as the most urgent necessary step in the
democratization process to that of maintaining the rule of law. It was
widely noted that she largely remained silent on the topic of the
continued violence in ethnic minorities areas while speaking during
her recent trip to the US.

Why would Suu Kyi stopped sort of pushing constitutional reform in
Burma? Has she now abandoned the ethnic minorities? There could be
differing observations. However, a common agreement seems to suggest
that she has shifted her traditionally held confrontational practice
to a more diplomatic solution-oriented engagement with the nominally
civilian government and the military for certain reasons. Will she
succeed? Will the military allow a fully democratic Burma state? It
all depends.

There are two things that the military will not allow to happen that
easily: 1) Amending the 2008-approved constitution which reserves 25
percent for the military in all legislature; 2) the forming of a
United Nations commission of inquiry to investigate crimes against
humanity and war crimes committed by the military.

Something must be done before these advancements can be pushed for and
achieved, otherwise the Burmese military will come and seize power.

What is that something? And why is that?

Burma’s ethnic conflict began during the struggle for independence in
the 1940s when violence between the Burma Independence Army (BIA),
a.k.a the 30 comrades, and the Karen ethnic group broke out. It is
important to note that BIA members were immortalized in Burman or Bama
nationalist mythology. The Karen ethnic Christian soldiers who had
been part of the British army were disarmed by the BIA as the British
retreated to India. The violence against the Karen ethnic minorities
continued and the Karen National Union (KNU) was eventually forced
into existence.

U Nu, the first prime minister of independent Burma, followed by Gen.
Ne Win, and then Snr-Gen. Than Shwe, all embraced and fostered the
Burman chauvinistic agenda—the ethnic cleansing program that became a
state policy. In the process of implementing this policy, they
committed atrocities and grave human rights violations. What happened
then?

Than Shwe and his colleagues clearly understood that a pure military
grip on power will not be sustainable in the 21st century for many
reasons: they knew the power of the people; that a 8888-style uprising
could reignite soon; that the wave of the Arab Spring could hit them;
and that the public now understand the power of technology and media.

That’s why they outsourced some smart brains to design the
Constitution approved in 2008, in which the executive branch will
impress the international community with its nominally civilian
movement while the military holds all key positions, including the
power of the commander-in-chief which can override the president any
time he feels the need to.

In other words, this constitution serves as a foundation and grants
the military absolute power. With such a likable personality,
President Thein Sein has been rather successful in his effort to ease
pressure from both the international community and from the opposition
parties. In fact, he has got US and European sanctions lifted, while
Ms. Suu Kyi has joined the parliament.

Now with 25 percent of the seats constitutionally taken by the
military in all legislatures, Daw Suu and the democratic forces will
have to do two things to overcome the military’s “red line.”

With a clear understanding that the ethnic conflict and political
crisis in Burma is a man-made crisis and is deeply rooted in the
Burman nationalistic claim and the chauvinistic political culture, the
majority Burmans have to realize and be convinced that for them to
continue to manipulate the military for their political and racial
purposes will be counterproductive.

Secondly, the Burman chauvinistic political culture has to change to
reach a negotiated constitutional agreement and a consolidated
political settlement in a federalist democracy. The young generation
must abandon the old way of racism and embrace a new way of thinking
and a democratic political culture, actively playing an important role
in the democratization process. This may desirably require organizing
a conference in the form of a second Panglong where all eight major
ethnic groups can start engaging openly to eventually reach a
negotiated agreement. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi supported this idea that
her late father Aung San started.

Something that is even more important is that all Burma stakeholders
work together to create conditions and a political environment where
the Burmese generals’ future security is guaranteed. This may include
creatively providing leeway. For this very reason, the military must
take part in Burma’s democratization process.

But all this will require a sincere and open engagement, an inclusive
process, a serious intention to create a win-win situation—that is, to
establish a federalism-based democratic country, conducive to a
long-lasting peace, where Burman, non-Burman, and all the stakeholders
together can say they have won collectively.

Executive Director of the Burmese American Community Institute based
in the US, Salai Elaisa Vahnie is a long-time political and student
activist for change in his native country Burma. He holds an MPA
degree in Policy Analysis and Comparative International Affairs. The
opinions stated in this article are the author’s and do not reflect

The Irrawaddy editorial policy.

UNHCR's Refugee Welfare Fund

UNHCR's Refugee Welfare Fund

UNHCR/C.Ferstad

 

Nearly 100,000 refugee men, women and children struggle each day to survive in Malaysia. There is an absence of a legal framework in managing the refugee issue in Malaysia, and this creates great unpredictability in refugees’ lives. There are no refugee camps, and therefore refugees live in towns and cities across Malaysia, and find their own ways of coping and making a living.

While refugees work and support each other in order to survive in Malaysia, the fact that they are unable work legally and unable to earn regular income means that for most of them, making ends meet remains a daily struggle.

It is not an easy environment for refugees, but there are many opportunities for Malaysian individuals and corporations to help refugees in Malaysia as they strive to rebuild their lives in safety and dignity. 

Every month, UNHCR receives over 350 new applications from refugees for financial, health and other welfare assistance, translating to over 4,200 requests every year. With our very limited budget, only a fraction of these requests can be met.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: UNHCR REFUGEE WELFARE FUND

The Refugee Welfare Fund prioritises refugees with health emergencies in Malaysia. The Fund is managed by UNHCR's NGO partner, the Buddhist Tzu Chi to provide life-saving medical assistance to those in greatest need. Each donation goes directly to the Refugee Welfare Fund to help the most vulnerable individuals under our protection.  

A donation can be made by cheque, addressed to "Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia”, with the words “Refugee Welfare Fund” written at the back. This can be mailed to UNHCR at:

Refugee Welfare Fund

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

570, Jalan Bukit Petaling

50460 Kuala Lumpur

Alternatively, to bank in an amount via Bank transfer, our account number is: Maybank 512491125872. We ask that a notification is sent to infomalaysia@unhcr.org with a name and contact details for our records, so that we can issue a receipt.

To learn more about the Refugee Welfare Fund, please contact UNHCR Malaysia.

 

http://www.unhcr.org.my

RSS Text Size Print Share This Refugee numbers swell, and Tampa area is a hot spot

TAMPA --

A year into his new life in the Tampa area, Reuben Hrang already has put 35,000 miles on his used Honda CR-V.

Hrang, 51, ministers to the region's small but growing population of refugees from Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma. His congregants are scattered from St. Petersburg to Brandon to western Pasco County.

"No need for GPS," Hrang said in heavily accented English. "After six months, I know all of Tampa Bay."

Florida has the nation's largest refugee population, and Tampa is second in the state only to Miami as a refugee relocation site. Since 2007, the state has absorbed more than 137,000 foreign residents from Cuba, Somalia and 95 other countries, according to the Florida Department of Children & Families.

In Tampa, those refugees add to an international population fed by foreign students enrolled at the University of South Florida, foreign workers meeting demand for jobs in technical fields and even members of foreign militaries serving at MacDill Air Force Base.

Together, more than 15,000 people moved to Hillsborough County from other countries in 2011, according to statistics released this month by the U.S. Census Bureau. The number also includes service members who are U.S. citizens returning from overseas deployment and American citizens moving to the mainland from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and other overseas territories.

Also in 2011, Hillsborough County recorded nearly 200,000 foreign-born residents, up nearly 20 percent from the previous five years. Less than half of those immigrants were naturalized citizens. About two-thirds were from Latin America.

Since Vicente Martinez-Ybor founded Ybor City as a cigar-making center more than a century ago, Tampa has been a magnet for immigrants. Immigrants today are young, and they come from around the globe, but that historic trend shows no signs of abating.

What gives it a modern twist, though, is the growing proportion of white retirees in the overall population. Against these shifts, one question is whether diverse cultures will thrive independent of one another, clash or find ways to blend at the edges.

"We're at this unique period in history where we have all these baby boomers that are retiring and all the high levels of immigration that we've had for decades have increased diversity among young families," said Mark Mather, a demographer with the Washington, D.C.-based Population Reference Bureau.

"Florida's kind of a test case as to whether or not these groups can actually make it work."

* * * * *

Hrang lives at the cutting edge of that change.

He arrived with his wife and five children last year in Town 'N' Country after spending four years in refugee camps in Malaysia. He joined a growing population of people fleeing religious and ethnic persecution in their home country.

Many have found a spiritual home at the First Baptist Church of Temple Terrace, where Hrang is a part-time minister. During the week, the church also offers English lessons to a mix of students from around the world.

"Our goal is to do what we can to make life better for the people that come here," said Pastor Joe Germain, who emigrated from the Caribbean island of Dominica in 1990.

Aside from its regular English-language services, the church also has services in Chinese for students from USF. Hrang leads services in Burmese for 150 parishioners, representing the kaleidoscope of ethnic groups fleeing Myanmar.

On Sunday nights, Hrang serves a second congregation, this one composed of about 100 members of his own Chin ethnic group. That group meets wherever it can find space in Town 'N' Country. Hrang dreams of finding a piece of property the group can call its own.

Christianity came to Burma in the 1880s when the country was part of the British Empire.

Hrang grew up a Baptist. His parents gave their children biblical names rather than traditional Burmese ones to reflect their faith, he said.

After working as a minister in Myanmar for 17 years, Hrang fled with his family in 2007 when the military junta ruling the country began pressing the country's tribes to conform to the language and religion of the majority Burmese group, Hrang said.

Four years later, the family landed in Hillsborough County, where Clearwater-based Gulf Coast Jewish and Community Services helped them settle in.

"Refugees are incredibly resilient," said Ann Marie Winter, the nonprofit center's program director. "Their focus is on getting their kids in school and building credit and getting a car."

 

 

Hrang has done all those things in the past year. He also has obtained a green card, allowing him to work in the United States. It was one of nearly 9,000 green cards issued every year in the Tampa area. In five years, he and his wife can join the 7,000 or so Tampa-area residents who become naturalized citizens each year.

In the meantime, Hrang travels hundreds of miles a month across Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, ministering to his fellow immigrants from Myanmar.

"I'm translator and driver and pastor and chaplain," Hrang said. The police call him to interpret when necessary. Once he helped translate during the birth of a baby.

As political repression recedes in Myanmar, Hrang faces a dilemma that he shares with many refugees: Return to his old homeland or embrace his new one.

"It depends on God," Hrang said.

Hrang's sisters still live in Myanmar, but the rest of his family — including his brother David — lives here. He and his wife Mary, a Publix sushi chef, have green cards. His children, like so many young immigrants, have increasingly Americanized.

Then there are his congregants.

"I'm the only Myanmar pastor in Tampa," Hrang said. "I prefer to stay here and go back to Burma on a mission."

Help from afar brings a degree of inspiration

Burmese refugee and Melburnian Thein Naing teaches refugee students on the Thai-Burma border.

A TOWN on the Thai-Burma border populated with thousands of refugees from nearby camps might seem an unlikely place for a university graduation ceremony.

But for Thein Naing it was among the most remarkable moments of his career in education.

Mr Naing, himself a Burmese refugee, watched as four students received their degrees in Mae Sot earlier this year. ''It was very emotional,'' he says.

The students were the first Burmese refugees to complete degrees through a project by Open Universities Australia, which is offering online courses from Australian universities to residents of refugee camps.

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Mr Naing is now helping dozens more refugees to earn Australian university degrees in fields such as community development, healthcare and media studies.

He now jets between his home in Melbourne and the Thai-Burma border, where he works as an academic support co-ordinator for Open Universities' Burma project.

''When the [university] graduates received their degree certificates, many people were encouraged that there is hope and even in this refugee environment they do have supporters,'' he says. ''It's hard work. I'm quite proud they've completed these Australian tertiary degrees.''

Mr Naing was a student activist in Rangoon protesting for democracy during mass rallies in 1988. On September 18 that year the Burmese military reportedly killed thousands of people.

Mr Naing fled to the jungle with fellow students where they continued their political activism while living in bamboo huts and suffering bouts of malaria.

''We tried to survive on whatever food we could find. We had very limited support from the international community then.''

Soon after arriving on the border, Mr Naing began teaching at a school for fellow refugees, putting to use the training he had received from a British non-government organisation.

In 1995 he came to Australia on an AusAID scholarship. Mr Naing settled in Melbourne and studied biology before going on to complete a master's degree in education.

He lives in Surrey Hills with his wife and son, who is studying graphic design at Swinburne University. But Mr Naing still spends much of the year on the Thailand border.

He says the online degree program offers a rare opportunity for Burmese refugees to gain a university education.

Some of the students work for community-based organisations, which provide them with access to the internet so they can study, Mr Naing says.

''I'm quite optimistic with international support we can push forward for … human rights,'' he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au