Rohingyas Visit Milwaukee Turkish Muslim Center to Discuss Human Rights Abuse in Burma

Long list includes demolishing, destroying, and burning of mosques, Muslim houses and villages, Islamic religious schools

Burmese Rohingya village in Arakan in flames

(MILWAUKEE, WI) - Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association (BRAFA) is struggling to create awareness among American Civil Societies and other partners of the world. On 29 December the BRAFA Chairman, Mr. Shaukhat offered a well received presentation at the Milwaukee Turkish Muslin Center in which he has described valuable points including crimes against the Rohingya and their present situation.

Some of the salient points on crimes against Rohingyas are:

1. Arbitrary arrests, torture, summary execution, custodial killings are rampant,
2. Confiscation of farm lands, uprooting of Muslim settlements, establishment of new Buddhist settlement on evacuated Muslim land,
3. Demolishing, destroying, and burning of mosques, Muslim houses and villages, Islamic religious schools,
4. Confiscation of Muslim owned shops and Business centers,
5. Rape and dishonoring of Muslim women and girls, banning hijab wearing of Muslim women,
6. Restriction on movement, even from one village to another within the same locality, on socio-cultural and religious activities, Islamic marriages, trade and business,
7. Revocation of citizenship depriving the Rohingya citizenship rights including the right to seek higher and professional education,
8. Unbearable taxation on all agricultural produces and even on domestic livestock like cattle and goats etc.,
9. Uprooting of villages and eviction of inmates creating internal refugees or making them to wander from place to place while causing refugee exodus off and on in to neighboring countries,
10. Issuing notification to the local Buddhist people not to do any business deals with Muslim Rohingyas in Arakan, and including,
11. Creation of artificial famine and forced starvation by blocking the distribution of humanitarian goods and medicines are also counted as crimes against humanity

The above mentioned 11 points are crimes against Muslim humanity at present day by the military government in Arakan-Burma and the extermination policies towards the Muslims including ethnic cleansing of Arakan Rohingya Muslim population have been continued effectively while world Medias and international community leaders keep continuing their role but still, there is no positive sign have reached for a concrete solution.

In order to find a permanent solution for the Arakanese Rohingya community, the international community, world leaders, ASEAN member countries, European Union, Muslim World, the US Administration including the United Nations must effectively engage with Burmese government as well as putting strong pressure to end the violence and crimes against ethnic Rohingya and other minorities in Burma.

In addition, he has pointed out some key points on the recent violence, and genocide against the Rohingyas in Arakan State as follows: The recent eruption of violence, ethnic cleansing and genocide against the ethnic Rohingya minority and Kaman Muslims in Arakan in June 2012 witnessed the brutal killings of ten Muslim pilgrims who were returning to Yangon (Rangoon) after the completion of their spiritual services at Thandwe Township.

The ten Muslim pilgrims were killed on June 03, 2012 in the presence of security police and local Burmese government officers by an armed mob of 300 ethnic Rakhine in Taung Goke Township after the rape and murder of a Rakhine lady (27 years old) called Ma Thida Htwe in Kyauk Ni Maw, Rambree Township on May 28, 2012 by three alleged local Muslim youths. The government arrested the three Muslim youths on the spot and one committed suicide whilst in police custody according to police statement.

The remaining two Muslim youths have recently been sentenced to death by military judge in the court of Kyauk Pru District. Since then, Rakhine extremist together with Buddhist monks under the leadership of Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) and Rakhine Youth Association (Wanthanu Rakhetha Group) began to burning, looting, destroying, and demolishing of Muslim villages and houses in Akyab (Sittwe), Ratheydaung, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Pauktaw, Minbra, Mrohaung, Kyauktaw, Mreybone, Kyaukpru townships in Arakan State.

This violence is directed against the Rohingyas and Kaman Muslim in Arakan. The government did nothing to prevent it. The army, police and security forces have become killer forces. The popular slogan of the Buddhist Rakhines under the leadership of RNDP (Rakhine Nationalities Development Party) is “Arakan is for Rakhine Buddhist people. Muslim Rohingya has no rights to live in Arakan and needed to be kicked out of the country.

“Dr. Aye Maung, Chairman of Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) and one of the great masterminds who create June 2012 communal violence in Arakan against the Muslims, said that Rakhine state must be established like Israel. He issued the statement describing how the Rohingya must live in separate areas and should be promptly settled in other countries within a short period.”

In fact, it is a government sponsored pre-planned massacre, and it is a state terrorism against unarmed and peaceful living ethnic Rohingya people.

Silent extermination with sporadic killings, arrest, rape, destruction and extortion continue unabated today.

Unfortunately, the news media has been quoting the highly controversial government’s statement giving the number of deaths as few hundreds whereas at least 2,500 Rohingyas were killed and thousands of people disappeared that were presumably killed.

Unknown numbers of Muslim girls and women have been raped and sexually abused by the Burmese security forces and Rakhine Buddhist youth, shops and business locations have been looted and seized by the Arakan State Government agencies, and at the present moment, more than 135,000 Rohingyas including Kaman Muslims become refugees and internally displaced persons, about 16,000 Muslim houses plus 57 mosques from 70 Muslim villages have been burned down and destroyed across 8 townships in Arakan while the number of injuries of adults and arbitrary killing of child is uncountable during the attack and ethnic cleansing since the month of June to October 2012.

Edited for Salem-News.com by Tim King

Source: The BRAFA Bulletin - Burmese Rohingya American Friendship Association