CRDB's Statement at the Press Conference at the National Press Club in Oslo, Norway

Press Release

Today, (Oct 19.2007), a press conference was held by "The Council for Restoration of Democracy in Burma (CRDB)", an organization of Rohingyas in exile, in collaboration with The Union of Rohingya Communities in Europe (URCE) at the National Press Club in Oslo, Norway where the Chairman of the CRDB, Mr A. Rahman Farooq read out the written statement of the organization. The conference was also addressed by the Social Welfare Secretary of The Union of Rohingya Communities in Europe (URCE), Mrs Nora Zahid. The conference was also attended among others by Mr Naing Win Zahid, Chairman of URCE, Mr Hassan Ahmed, Vice Chairman of URCE, Mr Habib Pitar, Vice Chairman of URCE, Mr Hamdan Mg Kyaw Naing, Secretary General of URCE, Mr Gafur Ahmed, Publicity & Information Secretary and Mrs Mahmuda, organizing Secretary of URCE. The full text of the Press Statement is enclosed herewith below and the photographs of the Press Conference is attached herewith below.


CRDB's Statement at the Press Conference at
the National Press Club in Oslo, Norway
Dated: Oct 19.2007

Hon'ble Journalists, Media Representatives, dignitaries, ladies & gentlemen,
At the very beginning, we, "The Council for Restoration of Democracy in Burma (CRDB)", an organization of Rohingyas in exile, would like to express our full support and gratitude on behlaf of all Rohingyas in exile, to our heroic monks who have once again took to the street to raise their voice against the Reign of Terror of the Burmese Military rulers. We would also like to express our deep appreciation to the people of Burma who have once again marched who have rendered all out support to the ongoing struggle against the military repression, risking the military repression and loss of life. We would also like to extend our compliments and sincere thanks to the peace loving people of the world for their understanding the plight of the people of Burma and for expressing strong solidarity with threir struggle.
Mentionably, since the Pro-Democracy Uprising of 1988, the whole Rohingya community of Arakan has been actively and spontaneously taking part in the pro-democracy struggle shoulder in shoulder with other pro-democracy activists of Burma and for that reason hundreds of Rohingyas have been killed and thousand of Rohingyas have been imprisoned and over and above, U Kyaw Min who has been elected a Member of Parliament in the General Election of 1990 with a landslide victory and who is respected by the whole Rohingya community as a great leader - has been put in the jail for 47-years term and at the same time, his wife, his two daughters and one son have also been imprisoned. Now they are all passing a nightmarish life in the jail in Burma. His other 3 sons have luckily fled to Malaysia and they were brought by the Norwegian government to Norway few months back. In today's conference here is present his one son Mr Hamdan Mg Kyaw Naing. Here is also present the Chairman of The Union of Rohingya Communities in Europe (URCE), Mr Naing Win Zahid whose one sister is now in the jail in Burma for 20 years term out of which she has already passed 10 years, on the charge of helping some other Rohingyas to travel to Rangoon, because Rohingyas are not totally allowed to Rangoon and also in Arakan which is a state under the Union of Burma and where the Rohingyas mainly live, the Rohingyas are not allowed to move from one township to another without the pass from the local military administration. His another sister is now on the run to Thailand after being wanted by the army on the charge of organizing recent anti-government activities. Here is also present the Vice Chairman of the URCE Mr Habib Peter and Vice Chairman of the URCE Mr Hassan Ahmed whose one brother has been brutally killed by the army 7 years back.
However, in today's press conference, we would like to highlight some points as below about Burma and Rohingyas which are not so much known to the world:
(1) Heartrending stories of crackdown during 27 years long Military Rule from 1962 to 1988:

Since 1988, the military crackdown which has been being conducted by the Burmese military rulers against the pro-democracy activists, are more or less known to the world where thousands of democracy-seeking people, including students, monks, government employees, workers, farmers, traders and even housewives, have fallen victims to the military brutalities and thousands of others have been either maimed or imprisoned without any trial. And despite the landslide victory of NLD (National League for Democracy) in the General Election of May 1990, the army has denied to hand over power to it and instead, Burma's legitimate leader Nobel Peace Prize Winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been put in house detention.

But the atrocities which were perpetrated by the military rulers during 27-years long military rule since 1962 to 1988 turning the whole country into a secret state of terror and isolating the country from the rest of the world - is not so much known to the world.

However, on the evening of 7 July 1962, the army has indiscriminately massacred 135 students of Rangoon University, wounded many others and arrested about 3000 students. It was simply because the students of the Rangoon University raised protest against some rules and regulations which were imposed upon them by the regime restricting their usual movement like those in the military barracks. And a fter the shooting, the campus was cleared up, the dead and the wounded were carried away and at midnight the historic "Students Union Building" was dynamited and bulldozed.

Similar grim showbiz was perpetrated by the military regime on 11 December 1974 , where hundreds of university students were brutally killed by the army following the tug-of-war over the siege of the body of U Thant, the Ex-Secretary General of the UN. U Thant was and still is regarded by the people of Burma as a most serene and brightest son of Burma. However, the students were massacred because they wanted to put the body of U Thant to final rest in an honorable site which would stand for the people of Burma as the milestone of glory and pride. But Gen. Ne Win wanted to bury the body in a common cemetery of "Kyandaw" where the body of notorious Khine May Than (Ne Win's first legal wife) was buried. Thus, there arose a tense situation centering the siege of the body. At this critical situation, once the students seizing the body buried it in the ground of the Students Union Building of Rangoon University on 10th December 1974. But next morning at about 5 am, the army entered the campus using tanks. The Chancellor Gate was first bulldozed off. The army began arresting everybody on the way and herded them off in the military trucks. When the soldiers started digging for the body, students began to march onward to stop them. Then began indiscriminate shooting. When the body was raised, there was a tug-of-war over the body. All those students who rushed onwards to snatch the body of U Thant, were shot dead. Thus, the UN flag with which the body of U Thant was wrapped, was drenched with the blood of the students.

(2) Harrowing events of genocidal operations against Rohingyas and the events of communal violence between Rohingyas and Rakhines:

Arakan is a state under the Union of Burma. It is inhabited by many ethnic communities like Rohingyas, Rakhines, Christians, Chakmas, Hindus, Mros, Khumis, Kamens and some other hill tribes.

The Burmese military rulers have turned Arakan into a land of bloods and tears of distressed human beings through systematic persecutions and genocidal operations from one hand and on the other hand by constantly spreading the poison of communalism in Arakan as a part of its "Divide & Rule" policy with a view to permanently trample Arakan and plunder its huge natural resources and thus the military rulers have divided the people of Arakan into many hostile groups who many often point their guns against their neighbors. And since 1942 over 3 hundred thousand Rohingyas have been killed so far and over 1.5 million Rohingyas have been compelled to leave their motherland Arakan and live in different countires of the world like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia etc as undocumented refugees.

The Rohingya community of Arakan , Burma (Myanmar) is one of the most down-trodden ethnic minorities of the world. They are victim of political oppression, economic exploitation, cultural slavery and communal violence in their ancestral land Arakan where they have been living centuries after centuries. The Burmese military rulers have been constantly pursuing a policy to exterminate Rohingyas from Arakan with a popular notion -"Kill Rohingya first if a cobra and a Rohingya are found together".

Genocidal Operations against Rohingyas
The Pogrom of 1942: Biyallisher Khara Khari
Although the slavish history of the Rohingyas begins with the annexation of Arakan in 1784, but the story of their large scale persecution and oppression begins with the beginning of the 20 th century. Particularly, since 1937, when Burma was separated from British India, the soil of Arakan has been frequently drenched with the blood of the Rohingyas which caused innumerable exodus of Rohingyas in the wake of innumerable operations led against the Rohingyas out of which the Pogrom of 1942, Dragon King Operation of 1978 and the Operation of 1991/92 are the most horrific genocidal operations of the world. Being deprived of fundamental human rights and being victim of the systematic genocide, extra-judicial persecution and eviction, over 4.5 million Rohingyas have been leading a gypsy life both at home and abroad.

In 1942, there was an administrative vacuum in Arakan, during the war with Japan when Allied Forces retreated from Arakan leaving huge arms at the hands of some Rakhine communalists who turned those arms against their Rohingya Muslim neighbors, massacring tens of thousands of innocent Rohingyas mostly in eastern Arakan where the Rakhines were in majority. As a tit for tat regrettably some Rohingya Muslim extremists caused heavy casualty to the life and property of innocent civilian Rakhines in the western Arakan where the Rohingyas are majority. Unfortunately, this grim genocidal tragedy remained unnoticed and thus slipped away from the world history almost unrecorded because of the pre-occupation of the international community with the World War II.

The reminiscence of the tragic stories of the most heinous Pogrom of 1942 which is popularly known as "Biyallisher Khara Khari" still shudders the hearts of those who had witnessed the tragedy. At that time, the genocidal operation in "Kyawktaw" (Township) was so fierce that the water of the " Kaladen River" got a crimson color with the blood of Rohingya victims. And for the following 2/3 years, the fish of the river could not be eaten due to the rotten corpse.

Operation Dragon King of 1978 and its aftermath
As a part of the systematic genocidal operation, this operation was led against the Rohingyas in 1978, when innumerable Rohingya men, women and children have been subjected to massacres and eviction. During this operation, which is popularly known as Dragon King (Nagaminh), about 3 hundred thousand Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh. This was, in fact, the first time when the Rohingya refugee problem drew the international attention. Later, however, the Burmese military government was forced by the international community to take back its citizens. But due to the lack of an all-out guarantee of their security in Arakan, a major portion of the refugees refused to return home and later, many of them got mixed with the local people of Bangladesh and started leading a gypsy life here and there as undocumented refugees and many of them crossed to different countries like India, Pakistan, UAE and Saudi Arabia, etc.

However, out of those 3 hundred thousand refugees, only 180,000 have returned home amidst utter despondency and grief. But since there was no international observation team inside Arakan to look after the returning refuges, those who returned have become victims of double persecutions. They were not returned to their original hearths and homes. The relief commodities given by different international organizations for these returning refugees were not distributed among them and instead were distributed elsewhere. In a punishing act, many food Go-downs of the refugees were burnt down by the army. As a result, one third of the returning refugees died of starvation and malnutrition and the rest of them began to lead a gypsy life here and there inside Arakan.

In 1979, the military rulers led two more operations against the Rohingyas which were called "Galoon" and "Shwe Hinsa". Later with the passage of "The New Citizenship Law" in 1982, the military rulers have virtually declared the Rohingyas as stateless people in their own homeland where they have been living centuries after centuries. In this way, their right to take part in the national affairs and administration has been snatched away.

In fact, during the long military rule since 1962 the army had conducted armed operations against the Rohingyas almost every year under the aegis of the notorious "Immigration Act". Moreover, as a part of its "divide & rule" policy, it has instigated many communal riots between the Rakhines and Rohingyas. Besides, the army and other law enforcing personnel often enter the Rohingya localities on the pretext of an enquiry. While searching the houses of the Rohingyas, they either assault the Rohingya womenfolk or take away those who look beautiful. The Rohingyas are often compelled to provide rice, goats, fowls, etc., free of cost for the army or the police outposts. In what is called modern-day slave labor, they are forced to provide free labour for the construction of different roads and accommodation facilities for the government forces. Sometimes, while all the males of a Rohingya village are summoned to an army camp under some pretext, including forced volunteering for the slave labor – the "kooli" - the forces indiscriminately assault and dishonor the Rohingya women. Besides, drastic restrictions are imposed on the Rohingyas on their movement from a police station to another.

Military Operation of 1991/92:

In late 1991, the world witnessed another grim showbiz of crackdown of the Burmese military regime when tens of thousands of Rohingya men, women and children streamed into neighboring Bangladesh with stories of rapes, killings, slave labor and destruction of religious sites and other acts of human rights violations. At that time, the Bangladesh government registered over 300,000 refugees. The green foliage and picturesque valleys of the southern parts of Cox's Bazar of Bangladesh which cater celestial delights to the visitors have turned into a place of exile for those hapless Rohingya refugees.

At that time, the refugees interviewed by different international organizations and the world media reported appalling atrocities at the hands of the Burmese army. Rape of women after their husbands of fathers had been taken for forced labor was common. Sometimes, the rape occurred in the homes of the victims with children and relatives left to watch. Sometimes, the women were taken to a nearby military camp where they were sorted out by beauty. In some cases, the women were killed, in other cases they were allowed to return home. For more grim stories of persecutions of Rohingyas, you are requested to go through the Report of the U.S.-based human rights organization "ASIA WATCH" – a division of Human Rights Watch - as published in its May 7, 1992 issue are provided below [ http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Northern_Arakan92.htm]:

[Ref: " BURMA: RAPE, FORCED LABOR AND RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION IN NORTHERN ARAKAN ", Asia Watch, Vol. 4, Issue 13, May 7, 1992 .]

Over and above, the extreme communal frenzy is one the cruel companions of the Arakanese society. The riots between the army backed majority community "Rakhines" and the minority community "Rohingyas" are common phenomena in Arakan where the communal enmity and hatred has reached at a scale that the Rohingyas can hardly pass through the Rakhine localities. Even the Rohingya Ulemas (theologians) are not spared from the torture. The Rakhine youths either slap down their Tupi (religious caps) or amuse with their beards and scornfully remark – "Khuaysa Kalla" (alien puppies).

The movement of Rohingyas from one place to another by buses, launches or steamers is always full of risks and hazards. Thousands of highly Rohingya educated personalities have fallen victims of assassination at the hands of a section of the Rakhine communalists.

In fact, it is the Burmese military regime which has turned the land "Arakan" into an earthly hell where tens of thousands of innocent human beings are being offered as the requiem of the communal conflagration that the military regime has lit up by constantly fuelling the communal fire.

(3) Dropping 7 hundred thousand Rohingyas from the voter list in Bangladesh will cause a big Human Tragedy across the whole South Asian region and Middle East:

It is true that Bangladesh is a small country of only 147,570 square km with an overwhelming population of 134.6 million people out of which 70 million people live below the poverty level and out of them 45 million people live on below a dollar a day. Despite these so many limitations and limited resources, Bangladesh has given shelter to over 7 hundred thousand Rohingya undocumented refugees over the last 3 decades and for this, we express our deep gratitude to the government and people of Bangladesh. But the ongoing process of the Election Commission of Bangladesh to drop over 7 hundred thousand Rohingyas from the voter list barring them subsequently from getting the National ID Card will be a question of life and death for those undocumented Rohingya refugees who took refuge in Bangladesh particularly since 1978 after being uprooted from their motherland "Arakan" of Burma by its military rulers through a series of genocidal operations, inhuman persecutions and in denial of their citizenships in thier own motherland where they have been living centuries after centuries.

It may be mentined here that after the finalization of the voter list in Bangladesh and after the completion of the National ID Card Issuance Programme by the Bangladesh government by next year, the survival of Rohingyas in Bangladesh without ID Card will be quite impossible, because the ID Card will be essential in all walks of life and without ID Card, it will be impossible to even buy a medicine or get treatment in a hospital.

At present over 4 hundred thousand Rohingyas live in Bangladesh as undocumented refugees and over 3 hundred thousand Rohingyas have been living in different countries of the world particularly in Middle East with Bangladesh passports.

However, due to the loss of Bangladehs passport, if over 3 hundred thousand Rohingyas become illegal immigrants and lose their jobs abroad and similarly if the survival of over 4 hundred thousand Rohingyas become impossible inside Bangladesh due to the lack of National ID Card - it will cause a BIG HUMAN TRAGEDY.
Appeal
So, we fervently appeal to the international humnitarian community, the United Nations, the European Union and other international and regional bodies to apply more force and to take effective steps to restore democracy in Burma, to restore human rights of Rohingyas with the recognition of their citizenship in Burma, to release all political prisoners including the Nobel Peace Prize Winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the great Rohingya leader U Kyaw Min and his family. We also fervently appeal for restoration of communal harmony between the two ethnic communities of Arakan - the Rohingyas and Rakhines and to bycott all the communalist groups of both the Rohingyas and Rakhines who have pushed the lives of thousands of men, women and children towards disaster. We also appeal to Bangladesh government not to drop the Rohingyas from the voter list and to let them live in Bangladesh until a durable solution has been found out to their problem with the restoration of democracy in Burma.
Finally, we would like to thank you all for attending the conference and your valuable time that you have given to it. We hope that you would kindly highlight our plight and predicament to the world through your esteemed media.

Thanking you in advance for your all out cooperation.

A. Rahman Farooq
Chairman
The Council for Restoration of Democracy in Burma (CRDB)
Address: 2975 Vang i Valdres, Norway
Media Contact: +4797413036