Rohingya suffering human rights abuses and slavery in Muslim countries!

You are going to get weary of me saying I can’t believe what I am reading.  Earlier today it was about the Russians teaching Christianity in public schools and now a Rohingya Muslim organization is condemning Muslim countries for abusing Muslim refugees and enslaving them.  Yikes!  What is happening to the religion of peace!

Here is the entire statement from the Rohingya Youth Development Forum [editor: emphasis below is mine]:

Today, the 20^{th June 2008, refugees in all over the world are celebrating the World Refugee Day in order to show their solidarity with African refugees. In this day, refugees get opportunity to express their feeling and views in order to seek sympathy from concerned quarters to have a home for them.}

There are over 50 million refugees in the world. Most of them are religiously Muslim from different Muslim countries or Muslim minority states of the world but all possible measures are taking by non-Muslim organizations, states and parties. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the main actor for the protection of refugees and doing its utmost for the betterment of refugee communities of the world. But, sometimes, we find that some of its staffs play a kind of discriminatory role in treating the refugees, which is merely based of religious on cultural background.

On the other hands, almost all of the Muslims states are not party to the UN’s 1951 refugee convention relating to the status of refugees and its additional protocol of 1967. Due to lack of their ratification, concerned refugee agencies face problem to share refugee burdens with Muslim countries.

It may be noted that most of the refugees in Muslim states are the worst victims of human rights violation and constantly facing maltreatments in the hands of authorities, as they do not recognize refugees in their legislation.

We are sure that all of the Muslim countries are the member States of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) that is considered as an alternative United Nations for Muslim population of the world. All of these states are bound to practice Islamic Obligation to respect the rights of Muslim refugees who take shelter in their countries for a time being.

Rather playing an obligatory role for the protection of refugees (Muhajireen), they deny the acknowledgement of refugee recognition. Due to their irresponsibleness, refugees from Muslim communities are facing brutal human rights abuses.

Being main body of Muslim, OIC would pave a vital role for the protection of refugees that accorded in the peaceful religion of Islam.

We find that Muslim Rohingya refugees from Burma are scattered in many different parts of the world. Most of them are now languishing in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Middle East and Malaysia. They are passing their lives under modern slavery. These refugees do not have chance to escape from the inhumanities and so seeking international supports to find durable solution.

Based on the irresponsibleness of Muslim world, UNHCR dare to marginalize some groups of Muslim refugees, particularly the Rohingyas of Burma, as OIC does not pay attention to the matter of suffering Rohingyas.

Nevertheless, the UNHCR has its mandates to find permanent solution to refugee crises through repatriation, local integration and resettlement. As both of repatriation and local integration of the Rohingya refugee becomes impossible, the only option of resettlement in a third country is left for the unfortunate Rohingya refugees.

In these circumstances, we appeal to the member states of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to take effective measures for the protection of Rohingya refugees and to end slavery, while negotiating with the UNHCR and refugee resettling countries to make paces for them. We appeal OIC to take step to ratify refugee convention and other international instruments in order to improve human rights in the countries.

We also appeal to the UNHCR and other concerned quarters, particularly the Government of United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Finland and etc. to kindly extend more assistance for the resettlement of Rohingya refugees in order to find a permanent solution to their long-standing problems and miseries of modern slavery

Central Executive Committee

Rohigya Youth Development Forum (RYDF)

I have to give this group credit for being truthful.   Of course, in light of the fact that the Rohingya are not being taken care of by their fellow Muslims (some very rich countries like Saudi Arabia could do more), they are looking to benevolent non-Muslim countries like the US, Canada, Australia etc. for resettlement.

UN Rep: Conditions improved for Rohingya, some resettled, no help for criminals

Speaking in Bangladesh on World Refugee Day, a UNHCR representative had this to say about the Rohingya Muslim refugees.   The whole article is here.

Speaking as the chief guest at the discussion, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative Pia Prytz Phiri said, “Thousands of people in Bangladesh are getting displaced due to poverty, limited arable land and river erosion.” We need to be conscious about their protection, she added.

Phiri said she was happy that the situation of around 27,500 Rohingya refugees in two camps in Cox’s Bazar is now much better in terms of education, health, housing, water and sanitation, which was in precarious condition just two years ago.

She further said some developed countries like Canada, the UK and New Zealand have agreed for resettlement of some Rohingyas, but this scheme is limited.

Referring to reported criminal activities by the Rohingyas, the UNHCR representative said, “If some refugees are criminals, we are not going to protect them. Police should take actions as per laws.”

Here is a question for those who have criticized this blog for suggesting that some Rohingya are not the sort we want to bring to America, why would anyone even mention the word “criminal” in the context of a discussion about Rohingya if there wasn’t some evidence of Rohingya criminal activity?

For additional background on this controversial subject see Rohingya Reports here.

More evidence we have already brought Rohingya to US

According to this article, Malaysia is dealing with illegal immigrants too (join the crowd) and although this is a bit confusing it appears that the Burmese Muslim Rohingyas are entering Malaysia illegally.    We’ve been wondering if we are already admitting Rohingya refugees to the US and here is a line from this news letter for a Rohingya human rights group that would suggest we are:

“Previously we discussed with the United States who accepted a few thousand Rohingya to their country,” he said, adding that Malaysia hoped to discuss with other countries to help take in the stateless people.

See our whole category called Rohingya Reports here.

Are Rohingya refugees already here?

Talks continued today between the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Gutteres, and representatives of the government of Bangladesh about how to resolve the Rohingya “crisis” according to this report in a publication from the Rohingya Youth Development Forum.

These few lines caught my eye indicating that the US has already admitted Burmese Muslims perhaps mixed in with the Burmese Christian Karen people. 

The UN high commissioner for refugees also mentioned that the UN refugee agency is in talks with several countries that are interested to allow Rohingyas into their countries for ‘resettlement’.

“We don’t think the resettlement programme is sufficiently developed and we will be advocating in relation to other countries to increase the quotas of Rohingyas in the future,” Guterres said.

Canada by far accepted the highest number of Rohingya refugees, with countries such as the United States, Britain, Australia and the Scandinavian countries also high on the list. However, the number of ‘resettled’ Rohingyas still remains low.

See our category “Rohingya Reports” here for all the background on this controversy.

A Rohingya defender speaks out (and calls us names)

See my post of April 24th that prompted this post and the belated response by temme.

We’ve been following the public relations efforts of Rohingya refugee advocates to convince the United Nations that 20,000-30,000 of these Burmese Muslims should be resettled in the West.  Canada has already taken some.   Just 10 days ago UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres visited camps in Bangladesh and urged repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland. 

Here is what Time magazine said about the Rohingya in Bangladesh a few years ago (read our whole post here): 

Today, southern Bangladesh has become a haven for hundreds of jihadis on the lam. They find natural allies in Muslim guerrillas from India hiding out across the border, and in Muslim Rohingyas, tens of thousands of whom fled the ethnic and religious suppression of the Burmese military junta in the late 1970s and 1980s. Many Rohingyas are long-term refugees, but some are trained to cause trouble back home in camps tolerated by a succession of Bangladeshi governments. The original facilities date back to 1975, making them Asia’s oldest jihadi training camps. And one former Burmese guerrilla who visits the camps regularly describes three near Ukhia, south of the town of Cox’s Bazar, as able to accommodate a force of 2,500 between them.

Here is what a blogger, temme at the rahrahparty, in Malaysia says about us in a post entitled “I need to punch someone“: 

The site, http://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/ is run by bigoted people who does not give a flying [editor: F-word deleted] for anyone but themselves. Don’t they realise that there are bigger threats to their safety running around in their own country compared to the handful of refugees resettled in the US? Don’t they realise that the biggest terrorist in the world is their own country with all its intervention activities and sanctions? Don’t they realise that refugees have bigger threats to fear if they are not resettled than the Americans have to fear of those refugees? Come on la, do you honestly think that refugees fearing for their lives have all the time in the world to plot random conspiracies against the US? All they want to do is just lead a life where they are not constantly afraid. F….ing [edited] xenophobia, it ruins the advancement of man, I tell you.

I am so angry and disturbed, I am going to punch the toilet walls. ARGH 

My question for temme (an obvious love and peace to all person) is why do so many refugees want to come to the US if we have big threats to our safety here and are one of the biggest terrorist countries in the world? 

To learn more about the campaign to admit Rohingya into Western countries read our whole category entitled “Rohingya Reports“ and make up your own mind.   

Also, I urge everyone to watch (or re-watch) the Numbers USA film linked at the top of our blog.  I viewed it again the other day and it is a reminder of how futile it is to attempt to save the world, dragging down America in the process.  

Bangladesh: Rohingya can go home to Burma, but refuse

In the wake of a visit to Bangladesh last week by UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, according to this report a stalemate seems to have been broken about the repatriation of the final 27,000 Muslim Rohingyas back to their homeland in Burma (Myanmar).   However, they say they will go only when democracy is established in Burma.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, the chief editor of a Burmese news agency based in Bangladesh said that Bangladeshi authorities are asking the refugees—who are almost entirely ethnic Rohingya from Arakan State in western Burma—to return home voluntarily. However, he said, the majority would refuse due to fears of reprisals from the Burmese military regime and the worsening economic crisis in the country.

The Bangladeshi government agreed to a proposal on Monday by UNHCR to reactivate a 1992 tripartite agreement to repatriate the remaining 27,000 Burmese Rohingya refugees to their homeland, said UNHCR Commissioner António Guterres on Wednesday.

Guterres said the intention of re-establishing a trilateral mechanism involving Bangladesh, the UNHCR and Burma was “to create the conditions for voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya refugees to their homeland in safety and dignity.” 

Here is what doesn’t make sense.  If 237,000 have voluntarily returned to Burma, then what is the hold up for the final 27,000.   Only a few things seem logical.  They could be troublemakers who fear to return, or they could be enjoying the care and attention they get from the UN and humanitarian groups while begging to be resettled in the West.

Around 258,000 ethnic Rohingya people from Arakan State fled to Bangladesh in 1991, following a campaign of human rights abuses by the Burmese junta. They were registered as refugees by the government of Bangladesh, but without any proper legal status.

By 2006, around 237,000 refugees had returned to Burma. Most of the remaining refugees live in two camps in Nayapara and Kutupalong in Cox’s Bazar, where they receive assistance from the UNHCR and World Food Programme.

See our category “Rohingya Reports” for our archive on the Rohingya efforts to be resettled in first world countries.

P.S. Based on his efforts here, I like Guterres for trying to solve this problem without automatically whisking more Muslim refugees to the US and the West.

Rohingya really want to be resettled in a third country

This is additional news on the visit to Bangladesh by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that I reported on earlier this a.m.    Antonio Guterres says that he would like the Rohingya Muslims to return to Myanmar (Burma), but it looks like many are saying ‘no thanks’. 

The repatriation program for 27,000 refugees has been unsuccessful to date because the refugees are unwilling to return to Burma out of fear of persecution by the authorities, a refugee source said.

A refugee source added that many refugees in Bangladesh are willing to resettle in third countries rather than go back to Burma, but only a few refugees were given the chance to resettle in third countries such as Canada last year.

The UNHCR has also arranged for the resettlement of these remaining refugees to third countries, and currently Canada is receiving the highest number of Rohingya refugees. UNHCR is also in discussion with other countries, including some South American and Southern European countries, about resettling refugees. 

I suppose if Rohingya are going to Canada and South America they will soon be in America too whether we like it or not since our borders are wide open.    As for a southern European country, I bet it won’t be Italy with the mood they are in!

UNHCR wants Rohingyas repatriated to Myanmar (Burma), but Canada taking some

A few days ago we reported to you that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, was traveling to refugee camps in Bangladesh to try to sort out the Muslim Rohingya refugee situation.  Here is a short article (posted in its entirety) in which Guterres told the press he wants to attempt to repatriate the Rohingya, something we should all cheer about.

However, when asked about third country resettlement the UNHCR chief does say there is resettlement on-going with Canada taking the most Rohingya so far.   We still have no confirmation that they are coming to the US. 

DHAKA, May 27 (Xinhua) — Bangladesh and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Tuesday agreed to reestablish trilateral mechanism with Myanmar to repatriate remaining 27,000 Rohingya refugees here back to Myanmar.

“Our intention is to reestablish the trilateral mechanism between Bangladesh, UNHCR and Myanmar to create condition for voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya refugees to Myanmar,” visiting UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres told reporters after meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Advisor Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury.

According to the UNHCR, over 250,000 Bengali-speaking Myanmar Muslim ethnic minorities, popularly known as Rohingyas, took shelter in Bangladesh in 1991 following alleged atrocities by the Myanmar junta.

Bangladesh, UNHCR and Myanmar signed a trilateral agreement in Dhaka in 1992 to send back the refugees.

Presently some 27,000 refugees are still staying in makeshift camps in Bangladesh’s southeastern coastal district of Cox’s Bazarand hill district of Bandarban bordering Myanmar.

But the trilateral agreement is not working now.

Replying questions, Guterres said the UNHCR has resettlement program for the remaining refugees to third countries, and presently Canada is the highest recipient of the Rohingya refugees.

“Our preferred solution is to create the possibilities for the people to be able to go back to their home in safety, in dignity on a voluntary basis and to be able to be part of construction of their own country,” he said.

See our category “Rohingya Reports” for all the information we have on this Muslim refugee group.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees visits Bangladesh to discuss Rohingya

Antonio Guterres is arriving in Bangladesh today to attempt to resolve the Rohingya Muslim refugee “crisis.”  Many Rohingya fled Burma (Myanmar) in the 1990’s and are camped in Bangladesh.   We have written many times on the Rohingya because there is political pressure on Western countries to accept the Rohingya for resettlement.

The UN’s refugee agency chief António Guterres will arrive in Dhaka Monday on a two-day visit to primarily deal with Rohingya crisis, reports bdnews24.com.

“During his two-day visit, Guterres will hold talks with government officials to find a solution to some 27,000 Rohingya refugees,” a statement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Dhaka said Sunday.

The UNHCR chief is expected to pass a day at a camp and talk to the refugees, the statement said.

The refugees have been languishing in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar for 16 years, as they are not willing to go back to homeland Myanmar, fearing persecution by the military junta.

Bangladesh is concerned since it often struggles to maintain law and order in the camps in the coastal district. But a host country cannot force the refugees for repatriation because of the UN-backed practices. They can be repatriated only if they voluntarily return to their homeland.

In the early 1990s, a huge number of refugees flooded Bangladesh as the military regime in Myanmar carried out a massive crackdown on the Muslims living in the Arakan state of the Southeast Asian country.

[...]

Currently some 27,000 Rohingyas live in Bangladesh’s camps while the rest returned to Myanmar under the UNHCR sponsorship. But there are some 10,000 unregistered Rohingya refugees without water supplies and basic sanitation facilities. They have shelter in a reserved forest in Cox’s Bazar district.

Bangladesh has refused to entertain a request by the UNHCR to give the unregistered Rohingyas a refugee status.

See our category called “Rohingya Reports” here to learn more about this issue.

Quiz: What Asian country is driving out Muslims?

There is a lot of talk these days about halting all immigration of Muslims to the West.  Here is an article at New English Review by Hugh Fitzgerald suggesting that is a measure we should consider, but the politically correct multiculturalists in the United States would have a cow.  They are agitating for more Muslims not less.

That suggestion of halting immigration and the other measures put forth by Fitzgerald are mild compared to what one country is doing.

We’ve written about the rise in Ethnic Nationalism here and here. 

Now comes one country that is taking this concept to the max.    What follows is a list of policies one government has put in place.   You guess the country!

 The government is:

1. Forcibly closing all mosques and madrassas

2. Prohibiting the construction of new mosques and not allowing repairs to old ones

3.  Jailing those who do attempt to repair mosques

4.  Making religious congregation difficult

5.  Forcing Muslims to build religious buildings for another faith

6.  Requiring Muslims to get permission to marry.  They also must shave their beard and agree to having only two children.

Have you guessed it yet? 

The government is the military junta that controls Burma (Myanmar).

The above is from testimony given by Chris Lewa (scroll down for bio) in December of last year speaking before the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (a government body we need to learn more about).  She says the policies are driving the Rohingya out of Burma and and causing radicalization: 

The resentment spread by these policies combined with sheer poverty are conducive to radicalisation. They have also lead to the continuous movements of Rohingya out of Burma to Bangladesh as well as through Bangladesh by boat to Thailand and Malaysia, thus becoming a regional problem. Therefore, U.S. policy makers should consider the unique situation of the Rohingya in formulating U.S. policy to promote human rights.

She recommends two things the US can do, the first is send more money to the United Nations for the Rohingya in Burma:

The U.S. government should provide more financial support for humanitarian action inside Burma, particularly for the UNHCR and the WFP. 

And, finally the durable solution (remember that buzz word), bring them to the United States: 

The U.S. has generously resettled a large number of Burmese refugees from Thailand and Malaysia. Unfortunately, the Rohingya have been excluded from the U.S. resettlement programs so far. Resettling Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh and Malaysia should be considered as a durable humanitarian solution promoted by the U.S.

That’s right get the Rohingya to the US, put them to work in a meatpacking plant and living in a lousy apartment in a lousy neighborhood and they will magically give up all thoughts of Islamic supremacy.  Fire up the magic melting pot.