Rohingya : rising evidence of genocide

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Rohingya Trafficking Victims Endure Stress of Limbo, Stranded In Thailand
ALISA TANG
Friday, October 9, 2015


A Rohingya trafficking victim listens to questions during an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation at a temporary shelter in Hat Yai, Songkla, Thailand, September 22, 2015.
(Photo: Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters)

RATTAPHUM,Escape by Boat
Phone Home as Therapy
Trafficker Territory

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This article is part of The Diplomat for summer and fall 2015 All articles in the series can be found here.

Thailand Must End Its Own Rohingya Atrocity
Paul Chambers
October 23, 2015

Bangkok needs to address its brutal mistreatment of the persecuted minority. Reuters

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Hla Swe stokes anti-Rohingya tensions at Magwe rally
27 October 2015

USDP MP Hla Swe, pictured during a 2014 appearance on DVB Debate.
(PHOTO: DVB) kalarkalar2010 electionDVBDVB understands that Fortify Rights will call for the UN Human Rights Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry into international crimes committed against the Rohingya, including the crime of genocide.

The report is accompanied by an independent investigation by Al-Jazeera

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Thai summit to spotlight Myanmar, Bangladesh over migrant crisis
36 min ago

BANGKOK (AFP) - Myanmar and Bangladesh face renewed pressure to tackle "the root causes" of an annual migration crisis after Thailand on Thursday (Nov 26) announced a regional summit ahead of the new sailing season.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled western Myanmar in recent years, joined increasingly by Bangladeshis escaping poverty, on dangerous and often fatal sea journeys through the Bay of Bengal towards Malaysia.

Boats crammed with migrants traditionally depart following the end of the monsoon season expected in November.

It is not clear whether migrants will take to the seas in the same numbers this year after Thailand launched a crackdown on major human trafficking rings in May.

That resulted in thousands of migrants being abandoned in fetid jungle camps and at sea and the arrest of scores of people, including a Thai general and other officials for orchestrating the multi-million dollar trade.

Stories of kidnap, coercion and hunger emerged from the hundreds who staggered ashore or were belatedly rescued by Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian authorities after weeks at sea.

In a statement announcing the Dec 4 summit in Bangkok, Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the crackdown had resulted in a "substantive" reduction of the trade.

But it added that "more needs to be done to solve this problem effectively and permanently".

"Affected countries in the region and relevant partners must work together to address the root causes as well as all the contributing factors along the way," the statement said.

Thailand has invited Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and Malaysia to participate in the summit as well as representatives from the United Nations, the United States, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, the European Union and NGOs.

Bangkok's use of the phrase "root causes" is a nod to Myanmar's ongoing persecution of the Rohingya, many of whom live in apartheid-like conditions in western Rakhine state following deadly clashes with local Buddhists in 2012.

The government does not recognise the term Rohingya, arguing that the Muslim minority are in fact illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, despite many families tracing generations-long ancestry.

Myanmar has so far refused to acknowledge that the Rohingya are fleeing persecution.

Bangladesh has also been accused of not doing enough to stop its impoverished citizens leaving its south-eastern shores.

Thailand held a similar summit at the end of May during the height of the migrant crisis.

But human rights groups criticised the May summit for being little more than a talking shop in a region known for favouring consensus diplomacy ahead of direct confrontation.

With the sailing season nearing, rights groups are now closely watching for signs the smuggling gangs are still active.

straitstimes.com

[sabang]

impoverished citizens leaving its south-eastern shores.

Which includes the worlds longest beach (as I understand it) at Cox's Bazaar, and probably Bangla Desh's main tourist attraction- although mainly domestic at this point. The spotlight might indeed be shone on Bangla in this regard, as well as Burma.

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Sailing Season

World's other refugee crisis is about to begin, again
Patrick Winn
December 29, 2015


(Photo: GlobalPost)

BANGKOK,The Telegraph

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Drop in Rohingya migrants after crackdown
Saturday, 9 January 2016

BANGKOK:

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16 March 2016


File photo of Rohingya boat people in the Andaman Sea.
(Photo: Reuters) The Global New Light of Myanmarhis Facebook pageThe Global New Light of Myanmar.committing genocide

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Persecution of Rohingya not genocide, US report concludes
22 March 2016


In this file photo from 2012, Rohingya refugees from Burma gather in an unregistered refugee camp in Teknaf, southern Bangladesh.
(PHOTO: Reuters) Reuters

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Saturday, 26 March 2016


Interview: Mishal Husain (right) was interviewing Suu Kyi for Radio 4's Today program in October 2013.

A biographer claims Aung San Suu Kyi angrily complained about being interviewed by a Muslim BBC presenter who pressed her about violence against Rohingya Muslims.

"No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim," the Nobel laureate reportedly said off air after a tense exchange with British-Pakistani news presenter Mishal Husain broadcast in October 2013, according to the biographer Peter Popham, in a media report on March 25.

Mr Popham is a journalist with The Independent newspaper and author of the newly published book "The Lady and The Generals -- Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's Struggle for Freedom".

In the BBC interview, seasoned journalist Husain had pressed Suu Kyi about the plight of the persecuted Rohingya minority, who have been hardest hit by deadly bouts of communal violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar in 2012.

Suu Kyi insisted the violence was "not ethnic cleansing" and said: "Muslims have been targeted but also Buddhists have been subject to violence. There's fear on both sides."

Popham wrote about the outburst in an article for The Independent published online Friday, and said it was relayed to him by a "reliable" source.

A BBC spokeswoman contacted by AFP declined to comment.

Suu Kyi has faced international criticism for not taking a stronger stance on the Rohingya's plight, and for failing to field any Muslim candidates in November's polls, a move observers say was designed to placate Buddhist nationalists.

Suu Kyi looks set to oversee four ministries, including the foreign ministry, giving her formal posts despite being blocked from the presidency.

mizzima.com

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Abandoned Rohingya migrants reveal new smuggling route
27/04/2016

Police apprehended 13 illegal Rohingya migrants left on a roadside in Chumphon province Wednesday, learning that the Malaysia-bound Muslims were being smuggled on a previously unknown route.

Highway police found 10 adults and three children aged 1-2 years close to Highway 41 in tambon Khun Krathing of Muang district early today.

A Rohingya man said through a translator that they came from Mottama town in Myanmar. A man there brought them to Kanchanaburi province where a Thai driver picked them up Tuesday night to smuggle them into Malaysia.

But last night the driver told them to get out of the vehicle and hide in the woods. Fearing he would not return for them, some group members went looking for the vehicle near the highway after dawn broke.

Pol Sub Lt Wasant Trato, a deputy highway inspector, said highway patrol police first saw two Rohingya men beside the highway before they ran away.

A chase led police to the group of exhausted migrants who had no travel documents. The discovery came about a kilometre from a police checkpoint, so it was assumed the people smugglers abandoned the aliens to avoid arrest, the inspector said.

Pol Capt Panuwat Chomyong, another deputy highway inspector, said police had already identified the group of Myanmar traffickers and learned that they changed their smuggling route from Ranong to Kanchanaburi province because of serious suppression efforts in Ranong.

bangkokpost.com

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12th May 2016


A cartoon by The Irrawaddy depicting a dark-skinned individual labelled 'boat people' cutting a queue of Burmese people.
Image via TwitterAccording to Coconuts Yangon

Would love to know why my former employer @IrrawaddyNews thought this disgusting cartoon was appropriate to publish pic.twitter.com/8FxlAMtmjDMay 12, 2016

The supposedly progressive @IrrawaddyNews#Myanmar pic.twitter.com/NlRvVNCveBMay 12, 2016

May 12, 2016

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Rohingya Muslim shot dead by police in mass escape from Thai detention centre
23 May 2016

Thai police shoot dead a Rohingya Muslim from Myanmar during a dramatic mass escape of detainees from an immigration camp in southern Thailand, police say.


Tens of thousands of Rohingya migrants have fled Myanmar on boats.
(Credit: AFP)

Thai police have shot dead a Rohingya Muslim from Myanmar during a dramatic mass escape of detainees from an immigration camp in southern Thailand, police say.

Key points:

• Tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled persecution in Myanmar
• One shot dead, three arrested and 17 escape
• Police say stress and homesickness triggered the escape attempt

Police Lieutenant Colonel Noppadon Rakchart said 21 Rohingya fled the Phangnga Immigration Detention Centre at about 1:00am after sawing through an iron bar in their communal cell.

One was shot dead and three arrested after throwing stones and punches at police and immigration officers who gave chase, Mr Noppadon said. The other 17 escaped.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya asylum seekers have fled poverty and persecution in western Myanmar since religious violence erupted there in 2012.

Many headed for Malaysia but often got waylaid at human trafficking camps in the jungles of southern Thailand or arrested by the authorities.

Most Rohingya are stateless and unrecognised by the two countries, Bangladesh and Myanmar, they call home.

This complicates repatriation, which can lead to lengthy spells in overcrowded Thai detention centres, which Rohingya often try to escape.

'Stress, homesickness' triggered escape attempt: police

The latest attempt was triggered by "stress and homesickness," Mr Noppadon said. "They have been inside for almost a year."

The Rohingya was killed because "he resisted arrest and attacked the police", Police Major General Worawit Parnprung, Phangnga police chief, told Reuters.

"The police had to defend themselves," he said.

The Phangnga detention centre had held 28 Rohingya, all of whom illegally entered Thailand by boat, he said.

The number of migrants leaving Myanmar and Bangladesh by boat in the past year plunged after both countries cracked down on human smugglers and traffickers.

Thai police launched a sweeping operation against gangs in May 2015 after the bodies of 30 suspected migrants were found in jungle graves near the Malaysian border.

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi asked to be given "enough space" at the weekend to address the plight of the Rohingya population, as visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry pressed the Nobel peace laureate to promote respect for human rights.

radioaustralia.net.au

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Thai man sentenced to 34 years for trafficking Rohingya
Ekip Banghok
31.08.2016





BANGKOK

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Suu Kyi defends stance on Rohingya in UN address
22 September 2016

State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi addresses the UN General Assembly on 21 September 2016.
(Photo: United Nations)Aung San Suu KyiRohingyaArakan State chaired by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annanpeacewaves of deadly violenceSuu Kyi urged businesses to invest in Burma as a way to advance its democratic transition. US President Barack Obama also pledged to lift longstanding sanctions on the Southeast Asian country.

dvb.no