"Rohingya citizenship: now or never?"

Burma Briefing 

"I don’t want the world to forget"

How photographs help bring the plight of the Rohingya refugees to light

Dhaka-born Saikat Mojumder has been a photographer for more than ten years. He was one of the first photographers to document the Rohingya emergency after the massive arrival of refugees across the Myanmar border in August 2017, and has since returned on several occasions to cover the crisis for the World Food Programme (WFP).

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"Rohingya children left stranded amid garbage and muck in Myanmar"

UN warns of ‘toxic fear’ among tens of thousands of children trapped in Rakhine state, some of whom have become separated from their parents

"Myanmar/Bangladesh: MSF surveys estimate that at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed during the attacks in Myanmar"

Surveys conducted by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in refugee settlement camps in Bangladesh estimate that at least 9,000 Rohingya died in Myanmar, in Rakhine state, between 25 August and 24 September. As 71.7% of the reported deaths were caused by violence, at least 6,700 Rohingya, in the most conservative estimations, are estimated to have been killed, including at least 730 children below the age of five years.

A detailed overview of results from the surveys is available

"Rohingya Exodus Is a “Major Global Humanitarian Emergency”

IPS Correspondent Naimul Haq interviews WILLIAM LACY SWING, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)

"'The Darkness of Humans’: Investigating Mass Rape in Burma"

The Burmese military is carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine State. Scores of people have been murdered and hundreds of villages destroyed, and more than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh. One of the military’s most feared weapons is mass sexual violence, with untold numbers of women and girls brutally gang raped by government soldiers. Human Rights Watch’s emergencies women’s rights researcher, Skye Wheeler, tells Stephanie Hancock how she was able to investigate these disturbing crimes.

"Tensions over Rohingya return highlight donor dilemmas" - Gwen Robinson

Moves to redistribute northern Rakhine land complicate refugee return plans

"Saints in politics: Aung San Suu Kyi and the dilemmas of political desire" - Judith Beyer

We delude ourselves by projecting qualities onto politicians who have no intention of embodying them.

"The Lady and the Rohingya" - David Scott Mathieson

Just days before the November 2015 general election, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was asked how she would remedy the long-running repression of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, if her party came to power. She replied: “There’s a Burmese saying: You have to make big problems small and small problems disappear.”

"Myanmar: Security forces target Rohingya during vicious Rakhine scorched-earth campaign"

The Myanmar security forces are responsible for unlawful killings, multiple rapes and the burning down of houses and entire villages in a campaign of violence against Rohingya people that may amount to crimes against humanity.

Eleições em Myanmar dão vitória a partido de Suu Kyi

• A Liga Nacional para a Democracia conquistou mais de 70 por cento dos assentos
• Nobel da Paz vence eleições em Myanmar
• Birmânia. Aung San Suu Kyi arrasa generais nas urnas

"Human Rights are called universal for a reason"

For many years in Burma, a person carrying a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights risked arrest and even jail. Underground human rights networks distributed copies and organised discussions on the articles it contained.

"Southeast Asia: Accounts from Rohingya Boat People"

Rohingya and other survivors of dangerous boat voyages from Burma and Bangladeshdescribe horrific treatment by unscrupulous smugglers and traffickers in Burma, and abuse and neglect aboard ships, Human Rights Watch said today. A regional meeting scheduled on May 29, 2015, in Bangkok must find solutions to the so-called boat people exodus.Rohingya explained to Human Rights Watch how they endured two months at sea, packed below decks in cramped conditions with limited food and water and very poor sanitation. Boats carrying approximately 100 mostly Rohingya men and women each abandoned passengers at an undisclosed location along Thailand’s coast, leaving them to fend for themselves until they were found by the Thai authorities. According to international agencies, 3,000 to 4,000 people may still be aboard ships at sea.

Escravos do século XXI

The Cookie Raid: Community Organizing Frees Teen Slaves from Bakery from Free the Slaves on Vimeo.

"Thailand: Protect Rohingya ‘Boat Children’"

Thailand’s government should urgently send ethnic Rohingya children from Burma and their families to safe and open family shelters. New research documents abuses by Thai authorities, who should take action against camps in southern Thailand used for trafficking Rohingya and punish officials complicit in abuse.

"Time to End Sexual Violence In Burma"

For too many people in Burma, the sound of gunfire and mortar bombs is a familiar one. For decades the Burmese army has relentlessly attacked civilians in Burma’s ethnic states. The United Nations has documented multiple possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Burmese army, which has deliberately targeted civilians. Unknown millions have fled such attacks in the six decades since Burma gained independence.

"Human Rights Abuses Since Thein Sein Became President"

President Thein Sein has been hailed by the British government and many other world leaders as a reformer. He has even been described as courageous. In their rush to embrace Thein Sein as a democratic reformer, the British government, which used to talk about justice, accountability, and ending impunity in Burma, seem prepared to ignore the fact that Thein Sein spent 14 years on the ruling council of the previous dictatorship, and was one of its most senior members.

The British government also seems prepared to stay silent about continuing human rights abuses in Burma. They no longer publicly criticise the government of Burma about human rights abuses, even when serious violations of international law are committed.

It is now more than two years since Thein Sein became President, yet Burma still has one of the worst human rights records in the world. Since Thein Sein became President, human rights abuses which violate international law have actually increased. Burma Campaign UK is receiving increased numbers of reports of rape by the Burmese Army and security forces. Hundreds of political prisoners remain in jail, and almost all repressive laws remain in place. The Economist Intelligence Unit recently ranked Burma as still being one of the worst authoritarian regimes in the world.

There has undoubtedly been an increase in ‘civil liberties’ in cities such as Rangoon and Naypyidaw, but none of these are enshrined in law, and so can be reversed at any time. At the same time, in ethnic states, human rights abuses are being committed which are so serious they could be classified as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing.

Daqui

"Burma’s Forgotten Political Prisoners"

The international community is normalising relations, praising reforms and lifting pressure on Burma despite the fact that the military-backed government keeps hundreds of political prisoners in jail.

Aung Naing

Aung Naing is an activist from Burma, and he is a son of Kyaw Min, who is a former political prisoner. In 1999, Aung Naing was arrested for his involvement in a student protest the previous year. When he was arrested, he was held in an interrogation centre for two weeks and his family only found out his whereabouts a month after his arrest. He was falsely accused of possessing drugs and charged under the Narcotics Act. He was sentenced to 26 years in prison with hard labour in Insein Prison.
In 2005, his family members, including his father, were arrested and Aung Naing was put on trial again along with his family. They all were charged with two counts including under Section 5(j) of the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act for carrying out political activities in the country.

They were also charged under Section 18 of the 1982 Citizenship Law with the accusation of obtaining Burmese citizenship and concealing their Rohingya origins. The entire family is from the Rohingya ethnic minority group. The Citizenship Law introduced by General Ne Win in 1982 is not compatible with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or with Burma’s legal obligations under international treaties. It arbitrarily stripped many people in Burma of the right to citizenship.

According to the verdict from the 2005 trial, 17 more years were added to Aung Naing’s existing 26-year prison sentence. However, due to a Presidential amnesty, Aung Naing received a reduction on his prison sentence to 17 years. His family were released in 2012 but he still remains in jail. According to his family members, he has been suffering from heart problems and he urgently needs an eye operation. His sister Wai Wai said, “He had surgery in his both eyes but not cure yet. Doctor said he would lose his eye sight unless he has another surgery.”

Please take action for the release of Aung Naing and the remaining political prisoners in Burma.

Email Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire, urging the UK government to take action to ensure the immediate release of all political prisoners.

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"An international task force is needed to help tackle growing religious violence in Burma"

The consequences of failing to address the growing religious tensions in Burma are so serious that they justify the urgent creation of a task force which helps Burma’s political and religious leaders, both in government and in opposition, learn from the past experience of the international community in addressing these problems.