Genocide Emergency: Kachin State
04 April 2013
By Katelyn

Fighting in Myanmar’s Kachin state pits the Kachin Independence Army and its majority Christian population against the Burmese Buddhist government.  Ethnic Shan in Kachin State have also been displaced.

Kachin State
In 1994, the Burmese government reached a peace agreement with the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) ending large-scale conflict between the two parties in the jade-rich territory. KIO maintained effective control, and political tension remained high for the next 17 years. In June 2011, that ceasefire agreement was shattered and fighting once again broke out between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burmese government when the government attacked KIA forces near a hydropower plant. Fighting since has been non-stop.

The government says it only attacks in self-defense. However, it appears that the government is trying to capture KIA headquarters in Laiza. The line of command for attacks is ambiguous since the creation of the new democratic government, and it is unclear whether many of the attacks are directed by the central government or are occurring on the basis of local government action. Government attacks on Kachin villages have intensified since December 2012.

Human Rights Watch estimates that since the attacks have begun, over 75,000 Kachins have been forced to flee their homes looking for refuge. Attacks include raids and burnings of villages and rapes and murders.  Many Kachin have fled to China, only to be deported.

On January 19, 2013, President Thein Sein declared a ceasefire, which was immediately broken by his own army. The two groups – KIA and the government – met for peace talks in February 2013, but tensions remain and there has been no stop to the violence. Tens of thousands of Shan Buddhists have also been displaced from Kachin state since June 2011. About 300,000 of Kachin State’s 1.2 million residents are Shan. Kachin Christians also face discrimination. It is estimated that over 100,000 Kachins have been displaced as a direct result of the fighting.

Relief groups from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the World Food Program (WFP) entered remote areas of the Kachin state to provide aid – in the form of supplies and relief workers – in late February. The UN had talks with the government to ensure that aid workers would be safe.

Genocide Watch has issued an updated Genocide Emergency Alert for the Kachin State of Myanmar. Genocide Watch recommends that the following actions be taken immediately:

-Myanmar authorities should cease human rights violations and violent attacks against the Shans and Kachins;

-Myanmar authorities should abide by a ceasefire agreement with the Kachin Independence Army and ensure it is maintained by government military forces in the Kachin State;

-China should adhere to its obligations under the UN Convention on the Protection of Refugees by accepting refugees from the Kachin State, permitting them to settle in refugee camps until they can safely return without threat from Myanmar government military forces.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Genocide Emergency: Violence against the Rohingya and other Muslims in Myanmar
04 April 2013, updating Genocide Emergency by Genocide Watch 29 March 2012
By Katelyn

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority of one million people that has lived in Rakhine state for centuries.  But they face systematic religious and ethnic discrimination because under Myanmar’s constitution, they are not classified as one of 135 legally recognized ethnic minority groups with Myanmar citizenship.  Ethnic Burmese consider the Rohingya as “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh.  But Bangladesh does not recognize the Rohingya as its citizens.

Without citizenship, the Rohingya have no civil rights in Myanmar.
-The regime refuses to issue identification cards to Rohingya, which are necessary to be able to travel, as well as to obtain passports and enroll in higher education.
-They are denied land and property rights and ownership. The land on which they live can be taken away at any time.
-The Rohingya people are barred from government employment.
-Marriage restrictions are imposed on them.  They are limited to two children per couple.
-They are subject to forced labor, extortion and other coercive measures.
-Public services such as health and education are neglected. Illiteracy is 80%.
-More than 40,000 Rohingya children in western Myanmar are deprived of rights to travel,   to attend school, or to marry in the future, because their parents had an unauthorized marriage or exceeded the two-child limit the Myanmar government has imposed on the Rohingya. These blacklisted children are refused birth registration, and so are not included in family lists and must be hidden during the authorities’ population checks.
-The Rohingya are subject to curfews and other restrictions on basic freedoms.

The Rohingya are a dehumanized and persecuted minority in Myanmar.  Many attempt to flee to Bangladesh or Malaysia in rickety boats, but are not accorded the rights of refugees in those countries.  Some of these boat people drown.

Among the crimes against humanity the Myanmar military regime is committing against the Rohingya are: denial of citizenship, imprisonment in displaced persons camps, murder, denial of the right to travel, denial of education rights for children, and denial of food and medicines.

During 2012, violence increased against Rohingya and other Muslims in the Rakhine State. According to the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the Rohingyas have become one of the most oppressed ethnic groups in the world. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report on discrimination against the Rohingya.

Miss Thidar Htwe, a Buddhist woman from Rakhine, was murdered on 28 May 2012. Government officials arrested and charged three Muslim men with the attack. The Economist reported that six days later a mob of Buddhist vigilantes stopped a bus carrying Muslim pilgrims, killing ten and raping one. Violence by Buddhists against Muslims grew. Scores of Rohingya were slaughtered. Attacks against Muslims have now spread to other areas of Myanmar. Attacks by government forces followed shortly thereafter. Mass media have incited discrimination against the Rohingya and Muslims, using derogatory terms and twisted stories when reporting on incidences.

Violence against Muslims is not just targeted against the Rohingya; Muslims living in other states have also been targets of ethnic, racial, and religiously motivated violence. The Burmese government has committed atrocities against Muslims, including mass killings and rapes, burning of Muslim villages, arrests, forced labor, and torture. Many Muslims attempt to escape to Bangladesh for sanctuary. However, in Bangladesh the Myanmar refugees face discrimination, exploitation, and deportation. In Myanmar, the Rohingya are a stateless people.

On 28 March 2013, The New York Times reported that President Thein Sein publicly declared that he would begin using force to stop religious conflict and rioting in Myanmar. This was the president’s first public comment on the issue since 40 Muslims were killed during rioting in central Myanmar the week before. About 12,000 were forced out of their homes and into refugee shelters as a direct result of that rioting, which included burning of Muslim houses and mosques. This was the worst instance of violence against Muslims in the past year.

The release from house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and lifting of restrictions on trade have given much of the world press a false sense that the Myanmar regime is liberalizing.  In fact, the model it is following is China’s, with firm control by the military unshaken.

On 29 March 2013, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, issued a statement from Geneva in which he not only expressed the UN’s concerns about the violence between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar, but urged the government to take “bold steps” to rectify the ongoing violence. Quintana noted the violence has been occurring since June and the government has not been doing enough to stop it.

State-supported violence against Muslims not only continues a long pattern of discrimination, but is also a warning sign that genocidal violence against Muslims, Shin, Karen, and other minorities remains rampant in Myanmar.

Genocide Watch is issuing an updated Genocide Emergency Alert for the Rakhine State of Myanmar.  Genocide Watch recommends that the following actions be taken:

-Myanmar authorities should cease human rights violations against the Rohingya and other Muslims, and against other minority groups;

-The Myanmar Parliament should pass legislation that grants full citizenship to the Rohingya with all rights of citizens of Myanmar, including the right to hold land titles and travel, and other rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

-Bangladesh should adhere to its obligations under the UN Convention on the Protection of Refugees by accepting Rohingya refugees, permitting them to settle in refugee camps until they can be repatriated with full citizenship rights in Myanmar.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Genocide Emergency: Rakhine State: The Rohingya
29 March 2012 

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority living in northern Rakhine state in Western Myanmar.  They face religious and ethnic discrimination by Myanmar’s military regime, which refuses to recognize the Rohingya as Myanmar citizens.  The Rohingya people are not considered one of 135 legally recognized ethnic minority groups in Myanmar. Myanmar considers them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, but they have lived in Myanmar for centuries, and Bangladesh will not accept them as its citizens.

The first Rohingya people arrived in Myanmar as early as the seventh century, but the Myanmar military regime maintains, to this day, that the Rohingya immigrated to Myanmar from India while under British colonial rule. This disregard for earlier settlers prohibits the Rohingya from being legally recognized as a minority group in Myanmar.

The Rohingya have permanently settled in Western Myanmar and make up 1/3 of the population of the Rakhine State. There are close to 750,000 Rohingyas in Rakhine State.

Because of the Myanmar military regime’s denial of legal recognition, the Rohingya are denied fundamental human rights and freedom, and the military regime consistently perpetrates human rights violations against this vulnerable population.
-The regime refuses to issue identification cards to Rohingya, which are necessary to be able to travel, as well as to obtain passports and enroll in higher education.
-They are denied land and property rights and ownership. The land on which they live can be taken away at any time.
-The Rohingya people are barred from government employment.
-Marriage restrictions are imposed on them.  They are limited to two children per couple.
-They are subject to forced labor, extortion and other coercive measures.
-Public services such as health and education are neglected. Illiteracy is 80%.
-More than 40,000 Rohingya children in western Myanmar are deprived of rights to travel, go to school or to marry in the future, because their parents had an unauthorized marriage or exceeded the two-child limit the Myanmar government has imposed on the Rohingya. These blacklisted children are refused birth registration, and so are not included in family lists and must be hidden during the authorities’ population checks.
-The Rohingya are subject to curfews and other restrictions on basic freedoms.

The Rohingya are a dehumanized and persecuted minority in Myanmar.  Many attempt to flee to Bangladesh or Malaysia in rickety boats, but are not accorded the rights of refugees in those countries.  Some boat people drown.

Among the crimes against humanity the Myanmar military regime is committing against the Rohingya are: denial of citizenship, imprisonment in displaced persons camps, widespread murder of civilians, denial of the right to travel, denial of education rights for children, and denial of food and medicines.

Genocide Watch is issuing a Genocide Emergency Alert for the Rohingya of Myanmar. Genocide Watch recommends that:
-The Myanmar Parliament should pass legislation that grants full citizenship to the Rohingya, with all rights of citizens of Myanmar, including the right to hold land titles, travel, and other rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
-Plan measures to dissolve Rohingya displaced persons’ camps with international assistance, especially from countries in Asean;
-Myanmar authorities should cease human rights violations against the Rohingya;
-Bangladesh should adhere to its obligations under the UN Convention on the Protection of Refugees, by accepting boats of Rohingya refugees, permitting them to settle in refugee camps until they can be repatriated with full citizenship rights in Myanmar.

by

by