Thursday, September 27, 2007
Statement of NDPHR exile on Burma crisis
Ref: NDPHR(USA)34- 39 /2007Date: September 26, 2007
The NDPHR ( exile ) USA (HQ) Condemns the Barbaric Response of the SPDC
Military Junta against Peaceful and Well-behaved Protesters
We, the members of NDPHR(exile)USA(HQ) are shocked andoutraged by the Burmese SPDC military junta's brutal response
to peaceful protesters led by Revered Monks (Sanghas) against their
suffering and mismanagement of the country making the lives of all Burmese people beyond toleration.We strongly condemns the SPDC's brutal actions and demand the Burmese
military junta for immediate STOP stop of its barbaric response releasing all political prisoners.
The peaceful protest of the Burmese Monks supported by law abiding Burmese Citizens demanding an Apology for the mistreatment to the monks, the Release of prisoners, Reduce fuel prices and a initiate democratization process in the country with opposite democratic forces are legal and justified.
We are with the Burmese people in their just struggle led by Monks,We are encouraged to see the joining of students, citizens ,nuns and everyone disregarding the race and religion representing all ethnic minorities.
We also strongly support the brave Arakanese people who have been demonstrating since August 28, 2007 led by Arakanese Monks.Yesterday nearly 1000 Muslim people march the streets of Akyab along with several monks and Buddhist people by forming hand-chains with each others which is a historical break-through in the process of Arakan history.
According to the available information from Narinjara news , there were not only Muslim males, but also women participating in the demonstration that was staged by monks, despite the military authorities warning to monks not to protest any further in the streets.
The Burmese military authority on Monday warned monks not to continue their demonstrations in the streets, but many monks in Akyab led over 5000 people in staging a protest against government warnings.
It is a matter of encouragement and interest that Rakhine community welcomed the Muslim community joining in the demonstration along with the Buddhist community in order to show unity among the Arakanese people.
We appreciate the elderly Muslim's statement "We are a family and we are travelers in the same boat. We are all suffering from economic hardship during this present military government so we all Burmese citizens need to be united without regard for religion, class, or race."
We pray to God for the continuation of the unity of all Arakanese people embracing each other forgetting the past hostilities for the common good of Arakan and Burmese People.
We also see fervently appeal to the Government and people of China to cease their support for the Burmese military regime and support the popular uprising of Burmese people under the Monks on humanitarian ground.
We appeal also the UN Security Council Members Emergency Meeting today holding by the request of European members of the 15-member council( Wednesday) over the deadly clashes in Burma between anti- SPDC government Burmese protesters and the military junta to INTERVENE and Protect the Burmese Civilians from loss of lives and properties.
We repeat our heartfelt thanks to the President Bush,British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and all world leaders who came forward with strong support to the cause of Burmese people
taking the seriousness of the situation to the “illegitimate and repressive regime.” SPDC military junta against its peace-loving citizens.
We welcome and support the United States and the European Union for condemning the SPDC's attacks on peaceful protesters and calling on the military SPDC rulers to open a dialog with pro-democracy leaders, including detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a joint statement on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
We urge the Secretary-General Ban Kee Moon to immediately dispatch a special envoy to Burma for a fact finding mission.We appreciate Mr.Ban Kee Moon for urging the junta "to exercise utmost restraint toward the peaceful demonstrations taking place, as such action can only undermine the prospects for peace, prosperity and stability in Myanmar
Finally, we pray for the salvation of the souls of those monks and civilian protesting Freedom Fighter who sacrificed their lives for all Burmese people at the hands of brutal hands of SPDC regime.so far,5 monks and three civilian were reported killed, five wounded and more than 200 people were arrested.
Maung Sein @ MohiuddinPresidentNDPHR(exile) USA (HQ)PO Box-210178,WoodhavenNew York,USATel:(646) 625 9407Media ContactKyaw Soe Aung (General Secretary)Tel: (414) 736 4273
Military Junta against Peaceful and Well-behaved Protesters
We, the members of NDPHR(exile)USA(HQ) are shocked andoutraged by the Burmese SPDC military junta's brutal response
to peaceful protesters led by Revered Monks (Sanghas) against their
suffering and mismanagement of the country making the lives of all Burmese people beyond toleration.We strongly condemns the SPDC's brutal actions and demand the Burmese
military junta for immediate STOP stop of its barbaric response releasing all political prisoners.
The peaceful protest of the Burmese Monks supported by law abiding Burmese Citizens demanding an Apology for the mistreatment to the monks, the Release of prisoners, Reduce fuel prices and a initiate democratization process in the country with opposite democratic forces are legal and justified.
We are with the Burmese people in their just struggle led by Monks,We are encouraged to see the joining of students, citizens ,nuns and everyone disregarding the race and religion representing all ethnic minorities.
We also strongly support the brave Arakanese people who have been demonstrating since August 28, 2007 led by Arakanese Monks.Yesterday nearly 1000 Muslim people march the streets of Akyab along with several monks and Buddhist people by forming hand-chains with each others which is a historical break-through in the process of Arakan history.
According to the available information from Narinjara news , there were not only Muslim males, but also women participating in the demonstration that was staged by monks, despite the military authorities warning to monks not to protest any further in the streets.
The Burmese military authority on Monday warned monks not to continue their demonstrations in the streets, but many monks in Akyab led over 5000 people in staging a protest against government warnings.
It is a matter of encouragement and interest that Rakhine community welcomed the Muslim community joining in the demonstration along with the Buddhist community in order to show unity among the Arakanese people.
We appreciate the elderly Muslim's statement "We are a family and we are travelers in the same boat. We are all suffering from economic hardship during this present military government so we all Burmese citizens need to be united without regard for religion, class, or race."
We pray to God for the continuation of the unity of all Arakanese people embracing each other forgetting the past hostilities for the common good of Arakan and Burmese People.
We also see fervently appeal to the Government and people of China to cease their support for the Burmese military regime and support the popular uprising of Burmese people under the Monks on humanitarian ground.
We appeal also the UN Security Council Members Emergency Meeting today holding by the request of European members of the 15-member council( Wednesday) over the deadly clashes in Burma between anti- SPDC government Burmese protesters and the military junta to INTERVENE and Protect the Burmese Civilians from loss of lives and properties.
We repeat our heartfelt thanks to the President Bush,British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and all world leaders who came forward with strong support to the cause of Burmese people
taking the seriousness of the situation to the “illegitimate and repressive regime.” SPDC military junta against its peace-loving citizens.
We welcome and support the United States and the European Union for condemning the SPDC's attacks on peaceful protesters and calling on the military SPDC rulers to open a dialog with pro-democracy leaders, including detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a joint statement on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
We urge the Secretary-General Ban Kee Moon to immediately dispatch a special envoy to Burma for a fact finding mission.We appreciate Mr.Ban Kee Moon for urging the junta "to exercise utmost restraint toward the peaceful demonstrations taking place, as such action can only undermine the prospects for peace, prosperity and stability in Myanmar
Finally, we pray for the salvation of the souls of those monks and civilian protesting Freedom Fighter who sacrificed their lives for all Burmese people at the hands of brutal hands of SPDC regime.so far,5 monks and three civilian were reported killed, five wounded and more than 200 people were arrested.
Maung Sein @ MohiuddinPresidentNDPHR(exile) USA (HQ)PO Box-210178,WoodhavenNew York,USATel:(646) 625 9407Media ContactKyaw Soe Aung (General Secretary)Tel: (414) 736 4273
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Situation of Rohingyas and Migrants from Burma in Malaysia
Unsafe Harborby Violet Cho/Kuala Lumpur
I’ve always thought that the lives of Burmese refugees were much the same from place to place. They’re generally unwanted, have few opportunities to better their lives and in many cases suffer unconscionable abuse.
An Irrawaddy correspondent witnesses the hardships facing migrant in Malaysia
At first glance, they might seem little more than beggars, gardeners, odd-jobbers or even criminals. They’re not always immediately recognizable as Burmese.
Five-year old Rohingya refugee Mohd Ali and family demand asylum during a "sit-in" at the UNHCR compound in Kuala Lumpur [Photo: AFP]
The old man asked for any kind of work—cutting grass, weeding, cleaning up—in return for money or a meal for his family. He was only one of many. Others scrabbled for scrap iron or plastic from rubbish bins. Still others fished in open drains for their dinner.
In Ampang, I also met a 14-year-old Rohingya girl named San San Yu. She was born in Arakan State in western Burma but left with her family a few years later for Malaysia to escape the crushing poverty and relentless oppression that have come to define life there for the local Rohingya population.
“I always used to think about going to school and studying, but I know that my parents cannot afford to send me,” San San Yu said softly when asked about her dreams for the future. “Now, I just worry about the daily survival of my family.”
Watching young Malaysian girls her own age walking on the streets or catching buses in their school uniforms fills San San Yu with envy and regret.
Malaysia, like Thailand, is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, but it has signed two other important international agreements: the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
But conventions alone are not the solution. Governments can choose to ignore them. Thailand did not sign the 1951 refugee convention, but it allows refugees from Burma to live in temporary camps along the border and provides legal registration for migrants. It also grants educational opportunities for refugees and migrants.
Recognition of refugee status by an international organization does not protect against abuse. only the most extreme circumstances would have compelled this dignified man to reveal those humiliating photos to a young Burmese woman such as myself.
Before dawn on the morning of my departure, as I waited for the bus to the airport, I received a text message informing me that two friends who had introduced me to Burmese refugees during my visit had been arrested in raids conducted just hours before, along with 150 others.
One of the detained men had been punched in the face for telling the Ikatan Relawan Rakyat Malaysia, or RELA, officers (a vigilante group used by the Malaysian immigration department) attempting to arrest him that he was a refugee and had the right to legal protection.
After I arrived at the airport, one of the detained refugees called me from the RELA temporary detention center. He was hiding in a bathroom because detainees were not allowed to make phone calls.
It is sad enough that, as Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said, Burmese people live in fear in their own country. But to live in fear in a country that they have come to for shelter from oppression is sadder still.
Irrawaddy.orghttp://www.irrawaddy.org/
September 1, 2007
Malaysia provides no protection for its refugee population
I’ve always thought that the lives of Burmese refugees were much the same from place to place. They’re generally unwanted, have few opportunities to better their lives and in many cases suffer unconscionable abuse.
An Irrawaddy correspondent witnesses the hardships facing migrant in Malaysia
Witnessing the appalling conditions endured by Burmese refugees in Malaysia, however, has brought their misery and lack of hope into greater focus.
During a visit to the Ampang suburb of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, a Rohingya community leader casually pointed to a group of young Burmese children playing near the small hut that served as their home.
“Look,” he said, pointing in their direction. “None of these children can read or write.”
None of the schools in Malaysia accepts refugee children from Burma, so these children are unlikely ever to learn while they remain in the country.
My visit to Ampang revealed the hidden desperation of Rohingya refugees who fled oppression in Burma only to find more of the same in their country of refuge. The streets teem with refugees looking for any opportunity to support their families.
At first glance, they might seem little more than beggars, gardeners, odd-jobbers or even criminals. They’re not always immediately recognizable as Burmese.
As the community leader and I walked through Ampang, we saw a father petitioning door-to-door for work as a gardener. His young children trailed behind him—one of them carrying a sharp pair of rusting shears.
Five-year old Rohingya refugee Mohd Ali and family demand asylum during a "sit-in" at the UNHCR compound in Kuala Lumpur [Photo: AFP]
The old man asked for any kind of work—cutting grass, weeding, cleaning up—in return for money or a meal for his family. He was only one of many. Others scrabbled for scrap iron or plastic from rubbish bins. Still others fished in open drains for their dinner.
In Ampang, I also met a 14-year-old Rohingya girl named San San Yu. She was born in Arakan State in western Burma but left with her family a few years later for Malaysia to escape the crushing poverty and relentless oppression that have come to define life there for the local Rohingya population.
San San Yu now lives with her family—including parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles—in a small cement building in Ampang. About 20 people share the cramped quarters.
“I always used to think about going to school and studying, but I know that my parents cannot afford to send me,” San San Yu said softly when asked about her dreams for the future. “Now, I just worry about the daily survival of my family.”
Watching young Malaysian girls her own age walking on the streets or catching buses in their school uniforms fills San San Yu with envy and regret.
More than 20,000 Rohingya refugees from Burma live in Malaysia. Most have registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, but they continue to be denied access to education and live in fear of deportation.
Malaysia, like Thailand, is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, but it has signed two other important international agreements: the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
But conventions alone are not the solution. Governments can choose to ignore them. Thailand did not sign the 1951 refugee convention, but it allows refugees from Burma to live in temporary camps along the border and provides legal registration for migrants. It also grants educational opportunities for refugees and migrants.
In contrast, Malaysia provides no protection for its refugee population, only the constant threat of arrest, abuse and deportation. Many refugees who have been deported must bribe their way back into the country, usually hiding in the trunk of a car.
An older Rohingya man recognized by the UNHCR as a refugee met me in a teashop in downtown Kuala Lumpur. During our visit, he pulled photos from a book that depicted him naked from behind and clearly showed the thick welt from the caning he received while in detention.
Recognition of refugee status by an international organization does not protect against abuse. only the most extreme circumstances would have compelled this dignified man to reveal those humiliating photos to a young Burmese woman such as myself.
Before dawn on the morning of my departure, as I waited for the bus to the airport, I received a text message informing me that two friends who had introduced me to Burmese refugees during my visit had been arrested in raids conducted just hours before, along with 150 others.
One of the detained men had been punched in the face for telling the Ikatan Relawan Rakyat Malaysia, or RELA, officers (a vigilante group used by the Malaysian immigration department) attempting to arrest him that he was a refugee and had the right to legal protection.
Maybe in other places that would be true, but not in Malaysia.
After I arrived at the airport, one of the detained refugees called me from the RELA temporary detention center. He was hiding in a bathroom because detainees were not allowed to make phone calls.
He told me that he was not concerned for himself. As an activist, he has grown accustomed to being arrested and deported. He speaks Bahasa Malaysia and a little Thai and can handle himself, he told me over the phone. But he was worried about the others, some of them pregnant women and children. What will happen to them? he asked.
It is sad enough that, as Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said, Burmese people live in fear in their own country. But to live in fear in a country that they have come to for shelter from oppression is sadder still.
Irrawaddy.orghttp://www.irrawaddy.org/
Rohingya 6-Party Alliance Call to Stop Voilence and Human Rights abuses in Burma
Joint Statement of Six-party Alliance (BRDA) on 88’ Students and current situation in Burma
Date:: 30-August-2007
We, the Six -party alliance of the Rohingyas in exile, the National Democratic Party for Human Rights (NDPHR-exile), HQ, USA, Arakan Rohingya Organization in Japan (JARO), Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYDF), Arakan-Burma, World Rohingya Congress (WRC), Burmese Rohingya Association in UAE (BRA-UAE), and National Council for Rohingya (NCR), Malaysia, strongly condemn the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) regime and demand to set free all peaceful protesters and 88-generation leaders currently detained for demonstrating against the regime’s sudden decision to increase fuel prices and express our deep concern over the treatment and whereabouts of those detained.
Of the detained, some of whom were prominent pro-democracy activists during the 1988 uprising, including Ko Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Ko Pyone Cho, Ko Min Zay Yar, Ma Aye Aye Than, Ma Sandar Minn, Ko Mya Aye, and Ko Aung Kyaw Oo. We are concerned that future protesters will fall victim to such treatment as demonstrations against the fuel price increases spread throughout the country.
We support the peaceful protest of Burmese people as the protests are the legitimate expression of dissatisfaction over the widely suffered effects of the regime economic mismanagement and bad governance. These peaceful protests, triggered by the junta's steep increases in fuel prices, are the logical consequences of many years of political repression and irresponsible administration.
Mentioned may be made that Burma is ruled by one of the world worst violators of human rights, a military regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) that took power in a coup in September 1988. Over 1,200 political prisoners are in jail, subjected to some of the worst forms of torture. The military regime is committing crimes against humanity against Burma people, including the widespread and systematic use of rape as a weapon of war, the forcible conscription of child soldiers, forced labor, the use of human minesweepers, and the forcible displacement of over a million people.
In this connection, we urge upon the regime to:
(1) Immediately annul the fuel price increases in order to bring a sustainable economy and to alleviate poverty in the country;
(2) Stop using violence against peaceful demonstrators.
(3) Immediately release all political prisoners and cease military hostilities against non-Burman ethnic communities like Rohingyas, Karen, Karenni, Shan, Chin, Mon, Kachin, Pao, Palong and etc.
(4) Begin meaningful dialogue with leaders of the democracy movement and ethnic nationalities in Burma in order to achieve the goal of genuine federal democracy and economic reforms that will help all parties.
We call upon all peace-loving people of the world, USA, EU, ASEAN and UN security Council to continue to work and intervene in Burma before it is too late .
Dr.Than Aung
President-BRDA
For media Contact, please contact at:
Ko Salim Ullah (Japan): +81-276-73-8079
Ko Kyaw Soe Aung (USA) + 414 -736- 4273
Ko Mohammed Sadek (Malaysia) + 6(0) 163094599
We, the Six -party alliance of the Rohingyas in exile, the National Democratic Party for Human Rights (NDPHR-exile), HQ, USA, Arakan Rohingya Organization in Japan (JARO), Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYDF), Arakan-Burma, World Rohingya Congress (WRC), Burmese Rohingya Association in UAE (BRA-UAE), and National Council for Rohingya (NCR), Malaysia, strongly condemn the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) regime and demand to set free all peaceful protesters and 88-generation leaders currently detained for demonstrating against the regime’s sudden decision to increase fuel prices and express our deep concern over the treatment and whereabouts of those detained.
Of the detained, some of whom were prominent pro-democracy activists during the 1988 uprising, including Ko Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Ko Pyone Cho, Ko Min Zay Yar, Ma Aye Aye Than, Ma Sandar Minn, Ko Mya Aye, and Ko Aung Kyaw Oo. We are concerned that future protesters will fall victim to such treatment as demonstrations against the fuel price increases spread throughout the country.
We support the peaceful protest of Burmese people as the protests are the legitimate expression of dissatisfaction over the widely suffered effects of the regime economic mismanagement and bad governance. These peaceful protests, triggered by the junta's steep increases in fuel prices, are the logical consequences of many years of political repression and irresponsible administration.
Mentioned may be made that Burma is ruled by one of the world worst violators of human rights, a military regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) that took power in a coup in September 1988. Over 1,200 political prisoners are in jail, subjected to some of the worst forms of torture. The military regime is committing crimes against humanity against Burma people, including the widespread and systematic use of rape as a weapon of war, the forcible conscription of child soldiers, forced labor, the use of human minesweepers, and the forcible displacement of over a million people.
In this connection, we urge upon the regime to:
(1) Immediately annul the fuel price increases in order to bring a sustainable economy and to alleviate poverty in the country;
(2) Stop using violence against peaceful demonstrators.
(3) Immediately release all political prisoners and cease military hostilities against non-Burman ethnic communities like Rohingyas, Karen, Karenni, Shan, Chin, Mon, Kachin, Pao, Palong and etc.
(4) Begin meaningful dialogue with leaders of the democracy movement and ethnic nationalities in Burma in order to achieve the goal of genuine federal democracy and economic reforms that will help all parties.
We call upon all peace-loving people of the world, USA, EU, ASEAN and UN security Council to continue to work and intervene in Burma before it is too late .
Dr.Than Aung
President-BRDA
For media Contact, please contact at:
Ko Salim Ullah (Japan): +81-276-73-8079
Ko Kyaw Soe Aung (USA) + 414 -736- 4273
Ko Mohammed Sadek (Malaysia) + 6(0) 163094599
UN HHUMAN RIGHTS EXPERtS ON THE ROHINGYAS OF ARAKAN
UN HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS CALL ON MYANMAR TO ADDRESS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MEMBERS OF MUSLIM MINORITY IN NORTH RAKHINE STATE
2 April 2007
The following statement was issued today by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro; the Independent Expert on minority issues, Gay McDougall; the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Doudou Diène; the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Miloon Kothari; the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler; and the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Paul Hunt:
"Under the 1982 Citizenship Law, the members of the Muslim minority in North Rakhine State, generally known as the Rohingyas, have been denied Myanmar citizenship, which has seriously curtailed the full exercise of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and led to various discriminatory practices. This includes severe restrictions on freedom of movement; various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation and forced evictions; restricted access to medical care, food and adequate housing; forced labour; and restrictions on marriages. As a consequence, thousands have fled to neighbouring countries, in turn creating complex humanitarian situations in the region.
We call on the Government of Myanmar to take urgent measures to eliminate discriminatory practices against the Muslim minority in North Rakhine State, and to ensure that no further discrimination is carried out against persons belonging to this community. We remind the Government of its obligation to protect all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction from any form of discrimination.
We reiterate the important role of minority rights in promoting equitable development, peace and stability, as enshrined in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.
We urge the Government of Myanmar to repeal or amend the 1982 Citizenship Law to ensure compliance of its legislation with the country’s international human rights obligations, including article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and article 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and to guarantee that the right to nationality as enunciated in article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination finds meaningful expression within Myanmar's borders.
__________
For use of the information media; not an official recordHR07056E
http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:s7e3hT3uCrAJ:www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/C66EEDAC0C757AA5C12572B10054B0B4%3FOpenDocument+Rohingya+in+September+2007&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=40&gl=my
__________
For use of the information media; not an official recordHR07056E
http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:s7e3hT3uCrAJ:www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/C66EEDAC0C757AA5C12572B10054B0B4%3FOpenDocument+Rohingya+in+September+2007&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=40&gl=my
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