Reporting Political and Human Rights Issues Facing Rohingya in Burma (Myanmar)

A Monthly Publication of the Burmese Rohingya Association of North America Editor: Dr. Wakar Uddin Associate Editor: Nay San Oo

Volume 4 Number 4 April 30, 2012

DEMOGRAPHIC FACTOR IN DEMOCRATIC REFORM

Burma Agrees to a New Census

What will it mean for Rohingya population in Burma?
Rangoon (Yangon), Burma. The government of Burma reportedly agreed to conduct new census with technical assistance from the United Nations. The UN will also help mobilize financial assistance, under an agreement signed in the nations capital. The government claimed that it would be countrys first census in 31 years, referring to most recent census the Burmese military had conducted in 1983. Burma's Minister of Immigration and Population Khin Yi signed a letter confirming his government's commitment to conduct the nationwide census by 2014. The letter says the first survey in 31 years will adhere to global standards, include "all national races," and give census workers access to all areas of the country. During the signing ceremony in Naypyitaw, U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon said he hopes ongoing ceasefire talks will make the census possible, and will involve minorities and civil society. Dave Mathieson, senior Burma researcher for Human Rights Watch, reportedly said an accurate count of the population is a critical part of the governments political reforms. "Potentially, if you have a census that extends the right to vote to everyone in the country, you are going to have a far more equal and credible election in 2015," said Mathieson. "If you have actually empowered people enough that they can actually cast votes." Burmas last official census in 1983 failed to count people living in many areas. Before that, the last credible census was conducted in 1931, during British rule. Letter from Under-Secretary-General Vijay Nambiar, the Secretary Generals special Advisor on Burma, stressed that a credible census would need to adhere to several key principles: Updated laws are needed to define responsibility, set the scope and timing, secure funding, and oblige

Rohingya ethnic minority facing various human right violations, were forced to leave their native Arakan, took refuge in several countries. (Photo source: VOA/Reuters)

enumerators to report accurately and the public to cooperate. Confidentiality must be guaranteed to ensure cooperation. To ensure the census is universal and inclusive of all national races, enumerators must have unimpeded access to all regions of the country. The census will need a well-structured administration that pools resources from various national institutions. The country should create a consultative body involving local and national government agencies, NGOs, community representatives and professional associations. A national information campaign will need to inform the public about the census objectives, content and methods, and their rights and obligations. Global standards for census taking, approved by the United Nations. Statistical Commission, must be followed. The Secretary-General observed that training people to conduct the census will be challenging, given Burmas lack of recent experience. Another challenge will be to gain access to the whole country. I hope that current and future ceasefires will make this possible. The involvement of minorities and civil society will be

crucial, he added. Vice-President Sai Mauk Kham said the 2014 census is a priority for Burma and thanked the SecretaryGeneral for his support. He said the government will cooperate closely with UNFPA to oversee the quality of the census so that the result will be accurate and up to international standards. Implications for Rohingya The important question centering this proposed census is what is the rationale? Is it a genuine effort by the Burmese government to collect data on true distribution and enumeration of ethnic minorities or is it just tracking the old Burmanization scheme in ethnic minority areas initiated in 1960s? The census may have profound effects on vulnerable ethnic minorities such as Rohingya. If not conducted properly, the census could marginalize minorities such as the Rohingya or those living in one of Burma's many conflict areas. Myint Kyaing, Director General of Burma's Department of Population, an office which denies the existence of stateless people, is responsible for conducting the survey. "We have no stateless people in Myanmar and there is no Rohingya in Myanmar as well, because no Bengali people are residing in Myanmar," he said. To safeguard the Rohingya and other indigenous ethnic groups, the extent of UNFPAs involvement and close monitoring of the enumeration process by the census workers deployed by the Burmese ministry should be substantial. Deliberate exclusion of certain localities or household in remote Rohingya villages may have devastating effects on Rohingya population. This is a legitimate concern because the Burmese government has a long history of underreporting the Rohingya population as part of the Rohingya population reduction strategy and false propaganda. Secondly, the question of Rohingya identity is a major determinant in enumeration of Rohingya population. Whether the Burmese government continues to deny the legitimate historic name Rohingya or it attempts to manipulate it with the terms like Muslim, Rakhine Muslim, Bengali, Kala, or Kawtaw, it remains to be seen. As in the case of Myint Khaings recent remarks, there has been clear inconsistency among Burmese officials to Rohingya. Some Noteworthy Points 1. Burma is populated by so many races that truly we know not how many; nor who they are, nor whence they came. In no other area are the races so diverse, or the languages and dialects so numerous. (C.M. Emiquez, Races of Burma -1933).

2. No less than 67 separate indigenous racial groups have been identified in Burma, not including the various Indians, Chinese and Europeans who made the country their home. A survey in the late British colonial period determined that 242 separate languages and dialects were spoken in Burma. (Wilhelm Klein, Burma 1977). 3. There is no reliable census data available on Burmas ethnic minorities, although the government claims that there are 135 national races. Shan, Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Chin, Mon and Rakhine (Arakan) states take on the names of the seven minority groups who historically were able to negotiate state/territorial boundaries with the government. However, these states are not ethnically homogenous. The government classification system is flawed, because it groups ethnic groups under ethnic races by geography, rather than by linguistic or genetic similarity. (Chizom Ekeh and Martin Smith , Minorities in Burma 2007 ). 4. The last census that attempted a detailed analysis was conducted by the British in 1931, and they identified: 135 linguistic sub-groups from 13 ethnic families. The 135 figure is one that the previous military regime (SLORC-SPDC) also refers to, but minority leaders believe that new studies are long overdue among the countrys 52 million inhabitants. (M. Smith, Ethnic Groups in Burma 1994). 5. Until 1974 the total ethnic groups of Burma was listed as 144, according to the data from previous democratic government of U Nu in Burma. The Burmese dictator, Gen. Ne Win, short listed 135 groups and approved by the constitution of then military's ruling Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP) in 1974, and in that list Rohingya Muslim, Panthay Muslim, Bashu Muslim and other 6 groups were deleted. Therefore, the present list of 135 groups maintained by the military's SLORC-SPDC and present Thein Sein Govt. is not legitimate. (Courtesy: Ashraf Alam; Kaladan Press) The census must be inclusive of all national races, with every Rohingya in Northern Arakan and the rests of the country accounted for as a national race and indigenous ethnic group of Burma. UNFPA must provide adequate training to the Burmese government enumerators on ethics in data collection, and closely monitor the process. Rohingya community representatives must be included in the national consultative body and the teams of enumerators. Additionally, the census must include all Rohingya and other Burmese diaspora worldwide. Source: Our Correspondent/Arakan Project/VOA

ROHINGYA REFUGEES

Rohingya refugees in India seeks Refugee Status from the United Nations
New problem, adding to the existing ones; Situation requires international attention before it deteriorates
New Delhi, India. The persistent human right violations by Burmese NASAKA forces in Rohingya areas in Northern Arakan State is causing continuous refugee problems, spilling over to neighboring countries beyond Bangladesh. Hundreds Rohingya men, women and children from Burma, belonging to Burmese Rohingya community have made temporary sheds of polythene sheets by the rear compound wall of the UNHCR office in B-2 Block of Vasant Vihar in south Delhi since April 9, seeking refugee status, according to Mamoon Rafique, one of the protesters, originally a resident of Maungdaw in Arakan State. The UNHCR cards which were given to us were no use as we could not seek admission into any school for our children or get employment for ourselves while in India. Mamoon Rafique, an asylum seeker in India said. We are recognized as asylum seekers, while Chin, Arakanese and some other ethnic groups from Burma are recognized as refugees said Shamshul Alam, one of the protesters. We will not leave here till we are recognized as refugees, he added. I came from Maungdaw. I fled my country because of the Burmese governments human rights. We moved to India because we believed that this is a democratic country with sympathy and peace, where we can take refuge. If we cannot live here as refugees, we want to go to another country where we can live as refugees. said another protester. In India, there is no national legal framework for refugees, and because of this there are different approaches to different groups of people," Nayana Bose, associate external relations officer UNHCR stated. "We have already registered around 1,800 Rohingya as asylum seekers In India and issued identity cards to each one. The card is similar to the refugee card as it helps to protect them from harassment, arbitrary arrest, detention and expulsion, and to prevent them from being forced back to a country where their life or freedom may be in danger," Bose said. As for right to health care and education, this is available for everybody. They can access free education

at government schools. Around 10 to 15 thousand Rohingya are living in different parts of India at present where some of our people are incarcerated in Andaman jail, according to Mamoon while interview to Milli Gazette. We are on the edge of starvation due to the apathy of UNHCR towards our plight. Indias claim of different approaches to different groups of asylum seekers for providing protection sould be standardized, with or without national legal framework for refugees. The current arbitrary decision for different groups is cleary a double standard approach. The international community is well aware that government of India that often attempts to get cozy with the Burmese government for energy deals and the waterway transportation through construction of the Sittwe port. Whether the Indian government is just trying to please the Burmese is as any bodys guess. If the current status provides them the same protection as refugees (as UNHCR stated), then why not the refugee status like other ethnic groups from Burma. Explanation by the UNHCR officials in India for having a different standard for Rohingya is overdue. Source: Our Correspondent

U.S. SANCTION & BURMA

Rohingya minority group presses US on Burmese sanctions

By Jane O'Brien, BBC News, Washington
A prominent member of Burma's persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority has urged the US to limit any plan to lift sanctions against the country until the group's human rights can be guaranteed. This week Dr Wakar Uddin, chairman of the Burmese Rohingya Association of North America (BRANA), met officials of the US state department, members of the Senate foreign relations committee and members of the House of Representatives human rights commission to urge caution. His plea comes in the wake of the election to parliament of dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, and as the US reconsiders some of its two-decades-old suite of sanctions against the South-East Asian country. In the meetings, Dr Uddin also called for the release of Rohingya leaders imprisoned since the 2010 election that brought President Thein Sein to power. If somehow the Burmese government manages to get

Dr. Wakar Uddin, Chairman, BRANA, and Director General, Arakan Rohingya Union

sanctions lifted and the Rohingya issue is not resolved, we are finished," Dr Uddin told the BBC. "There is no hope because they will not revisit this. Whatever needs to be done about the Rohingya, it has to be done before the sanctions are lifted." Some positive steps In response, the US state department says it is concerned about human rights violations in ethnic minority areas, including restrictions and discrimination imposed against the Rohingya. Dr Wakar Uddin is one of only a few hundred Rohingya in the US. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised the issue during her meeting with Mr. Thein in December. In a statement, the US state department called on the Burmese government to take "concrete steps" to formalise the Rohingyas' legal status and to "immediately end human rights abuses" directed at them. The United Nations describes the Rohingya as an ethnic, religious and linguistic minority from western Burma. But the Burmese government says they are relatively recent migrants from the Indian sub- continent. As a result, the country's constitution does not include them among indigenous groups qualifying for citizenship. The UN and other advocacy groups say their lack of legal status has led to systematic human rights abuses including rape, torture, abduction, forced labour, land confiscation. They are also forbidden to marry and to travel outside their villages without official permission. The BBC approached the Burmese embassy in Washington DC for comment, but has received no response. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh in 1978 and the early 1990s. Twenty-eight thousand are sheltered in UN refugee camps, but the majority live in informal camps where they suffer from

malnutrition and have little access to healthcare and education. The United Nations Refugee Agency describes their plight as one of the world's most enduring refugee crises. Carrot and stick Jennifer Quigley, of the US Campaign for Burma, an advocacy group, says: "The US and the international community need to make citizenship and the treatment of the Rohingya a benchmark for lifting sanctions. "The US is giving too much too fast. It doesn't give any incentive to keep the reform process going."While evidence of abuse is anecdotal and hard to verify because of restricted access to the region, Dr Uddin, a biologist at Pennsylvania State University, says his sources tell him that the Burmese government has stepped up oppressive action." The Rohingya situation - the human rights situation - has gotten worse since the election," he says. But the state department says it has no "substantive evidence" the Burmese government has launched a co-ordinated crackdown against the Rohingya. According to a spokesman, some aid groups say conditions have even eased, with Rohingyas being granted more freedom of movement inside townships. However, Dr. Uddin fears the West is being distracted by apparent reforms elsewhere in Burma and wants an independent team of international observers to monitor the situation in Arakan State where the Rohingya live. In January the government signed a ceasefire deal with Karen rebels who had waged a battle for greater autonomy for more than six decades. Western governments demand an end to the conflict before they will lift sanctions. "The government is trying to show the West that they are dealing with the Karen and other groups by giving rights and making a truce," he said. "But they are showing the carrot in one hand and the stick for us [the Rohingya] in the other. It's a distraction and a diversionary tactic." Source: Jane O. Brien, BBC News Editors note: Although human right abuses have reportedly increased during past several months, particularly extortions and arbitrary arrests, hard data are not available to the international community to substantiate the reports due to inaccessibility of international media to northern Arakan. The Rohingya Human Rights Alert The Burmese Rohingya Association of North America