Burma unrest: Bangladesh turns away Rohingya refugees

[Zeeshan]

Originally Posted by Navo
But Zee, he is allowed to express his opinion as long as he does so in a manner that is compliant with forum rules. While I may not be as extreme in my opinion about Mrs. Suu Kyi, I too feel that she has to take more bold steps in her country, now that she is an MP

He has edited that post. At first glance it seemed that the headline was straight out of BBC (thus giving mouthpiece to them) ALONG with the collage that he tweaked to include Suu Kyi's picture in car beside the dead bodies was in my opinion poor taste and a propaganda ploy. Navo, surely I can counter his opinions with mine right?

[F6_Turbo]

In the end, Suu Kyi is a politician, as they say...absence makes the heart grow fonder. She is not the second coming of Buddha...Very few politicians actually have the guts to stick by their principles.

Suu Kyi can't change the situation on the ground in Burma(I think we all know that), but her silence is deafening.

And that is what disappoints me(though I doubt she is losing sleep over disappointing some random guy from the internet)

[F6_Turbo]

BBC Breaking News ‏@BBCBreaking
#Burma President Thein Sein is invited to visit UK - Burmese government "plan to discuss" invitation, learns BBC's

Rewarded for being tough on Muslim Terrorists :thumbsup:

[Alien]

Let's be fair for a bit. We have for long mistreated CTG hill tract tribes who are decendants of the very guys mistreating Rohingyas.

In Burma tables got turned.

Not saying two wrongs make a right but we should look in the mirror for a bit before accusing others of something we are guilty of as well.

[F6_Turbo]

Originally Posted by Alien
Let's be fair for a bit. We have for long mistreated CTG hill tract tribes who are decendants of the very guys mistreating Rohingyas.

In Burma tables got turned.

Not saying two wrongs make a right but we should look in the mirror for a bit before accusing others of something we are guilty of as well.

I constantly speak about the neglect and discrimination our indigenous population faces from the bengali majority.

But that doesn't mean I can't now point out someone else doing something wrong - should the Germans never open their mouths because of WWII and the holocaust?

[Alien]

Originally Posted by F6_Turbo
I constantly speak about the neglect and discrimination our indigenous population faces from the bengali majority.

But that doesn't mean I can't now point out someone else doing something wrong - should the Germans never open their mouths because of WWII and the holocaust?

I am not saying dont open mouth but rather for those crying foul on racial discrimination up there, lets keep in mind the same happening not so far away in CTG hill tracts

[zsayeed]

Originally Posted by Zeeshan
He has edited that post. At first glance it seemed that the headline was straight out of BBC (thus giving mouthpiece to them) ALONG with the collage that he tweaked to include Suu Kyi's picture in car beside the dead bodies was in my opinion poor taste and a propaganda ploy. Navo, surely I can counter his opinions with mine right?

Good Morning.

It was neither my intention nor my purpose to miscommunicate a posting with a caption and pass it off as 'news'. In fact it was a creative expression. I can see how the link and the caption could have been construed as such - I apologize for the confusion. My intent was to post the link as a source of the pictures, and I had added two more sources. In fact while I was editing the pictures, and you will see that I had done 3 edits - the audience caught me in the middle of the edits. When I noticed that not all pictures were covered by the sources, I had added more URLs as well. Prior to the posting of the last two URLs, the first URL was intended as the source for the bulk of the pictures. When I noticed you singling out the car picture, I understood that you thought it was doctored, then I posted the 2nd and third URL. However, if you had followed the first link you would have seen it links to the picture show "Burma in Unrest" where the pictures are presented in not a collage form - but sequentially. I hope the 3 links make it clear now, and I posted the links not to "cover my derriere" but to acknowledge the forum's policy of revealing sources - in this case the pictures.

I am sorry for the confusion, and the presumed "inappropriateness" that a posting had created. However, I have since understood the confusion and tried to correct it on the original posting. I may have been a bit flippant about posting and the source bibliography - but this was meant to be a quick post and the guidelines of "a research paper referencing" was not followed. As it was no research paper and more of an artistic - yet relevant and uncontrived expression based on pictures.

I hope things are clearer now. However, all in all it was "art" - some may argue that it is not, however, in my definition anything that expresses the creator's feelings is art. It is a composition - with pictures from the BBC. It is not news, albeit with sources grounded in news.

Let's try to keep level headed about what a news source would do and what a poster in BC would do. If all poster's in BC are journalists, than we should have a separate training session on what are the etiquettes of journalism - with which I am not familiar. An internet forum is far from a journalistic base.

However, the ensuing debate was not about opinion, but rather the mechanism of transport of that opinion. "Art" when explained loses its charm. The post had no "nefarious" purpose as you make it out to be, rather a creative expression to which you reacted violently. The Zen saying is: "You can see ill in others when that ill is alive within you. All of Life is a Reflection. " My intent was not at all sinister.

Finally, I take responsibilty for the confusion created and not being able to read the audience. But all honesty - it was art. Next time I will exercise more prudence as to avoid confusion and alienate myself from the readers.

[BANFAN]

Originally Posted by Alien
She was a typical corrupt nepotistic politician. Just because she went to some top uni in UK doesn't make her a qualified decent politician.

She herself wasn't so corrupt ... She was probably the best amongst her contemporaries in Pak. And those are practiced by all SA politicians. Her qualification isn't limited to top class uni education only, she was also brought up in a political family. I heard her speak several times and she talks sense. She has I think the best respect in Pak as a politician. Well may not be in Punjab for reasons known to all.

Zardari, her husband has done the max damage to her by being Mr. 2% during her time as PM.

[zsayeed]

Originally Posted by BANFAN
She herself wasn't so corrupt ... She was probably the best amongst her contemporaries in Pak. And those are practiced by all SA politicians. Her qualification isn't limited to top class uni education, she was also brought up in a political family. She has I think the best respect in Pak as a politician. Well may not be ij Punjab.

Zardari, her husband has done the max damage to her by being Mr 2% during her time ad Th PM.

Source and Read more at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1524095/

[zsayeed]

Huh?! - this word is mine - zs


.
.
.


ZS's line: Life must be real good in Burma as Bangldeshis seem to be flocking there as per suki....
plus she doesn't know what the right applicability of the law...or the lack thereof is.
But from the likes of it...she doesn't seem to have time to look into the situation, or hit the books, while gallivanting the globe accepting her peace prize, oxford degree and addressing parliament, that is some other people's parliament. However, she did have time to say the following (They do say charity begins aborad - right?): [/end/ ZS]

(the above is from same dated paper, as linked below)
Source of News and Picture from Same page: http://www.burmadaily.org/

[Zeeshan]

@zsayeed bhai,

Please do not take my posts personally. My tone may have been a bit formal, but I was just expressing a disagreement. Take care. Btw, your post is tool;dar or tl;dr or whatever kids say nowadays.

[PoorFan]

We dont hear anything what west has to say to Zunta and Suchi on this regard, but HRWP & HRWB seems to be doing Mother Teresa for those hopeless refugees. All of a sudden Burma got/approved the seal of 'democracy', all the sanctions disappeared, and now everyone is happy to have business out there, not just dominated China few days back.

HRWP = Human Rights Watch Politics ... or is it ... HRWB = Human Rights Watch Business?

26 June 2012 Last updated at 07:55 GMT
China failing Burma refugees, rights group says



Thousands of Kachin refugees left their homes to escape armed conflict
Continue reading the main story Burma: Battle for Democracy

• Ethnic strife remains
• EU 'to ease sanctions'
• What now?
• Voices: Bright future

Campaign group Human Rights Watch has warned of a humanitarian crisis if China does not give aid agencies access to refugees fleeing conflict in northern Burma.
US-based HRW in a report said that as many as 10,000 Kachin refugees who had fled to China were short on supplies.
Some refugees had been refused entry or forced back to Burma, it said.
China is helping mediate peace talks between Burma's government and the Kachin rebels.

A ceasefire between the Burmese army and the Kachin Independence Army rebels broke down last year after a 17-year truce, and fighting is ongoing.
Estimates place the number of refugees from Kachin at 75,000, with the majority leaving for other parts of Burma and others fleeing across the border to China's Yunnan province.

Limited access
In its 68-page report, the New York-based HRW said Kachin refugees in China had limited access to food, shelter, sanitation and education for their children.

Major humanitarian organisations had also not been allowed access to the refugees, HRW said.

"The refugees are staying in makeshift accommodation like abandoned warehouses and in some cases, entire villages have moved," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of HRW's Asia division, at the launch of the report in Bangkok.
"They're facing a gauntlet of harassment and extortion by local officials," he added.
"The Chinese government has generally tolerated Kachin refugees staying in Yunnan, but now needs to meet its international legal obligations to ensure refugees are not returned and that their basic needs are met," Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
"China has no legitimate reason to push them back to Burma or to leave them without food and shelter."

HRW based their report on more than 100 interviews with refugees and relief workers, among others.
It said that while China had generally allowed Kachin refugees to stay since June 2011, it has documented cases of Chinese authorities ordering the return of Kachin refugees to Burma.
"Chinese authorities have also rejected Kachin asylum seekers at the border, forcing their return to the conflict zone," the report says.

[Crisis]

We have way too much people. We have to import rice , our primary food !

I agree the UN should step in. We are simply not equipped to provide shelter or assistance. We still have Pakistani refugees living and the so called 'original' Bangladeshis in the south are actually Burmese refugees IMO.

On a separate note,
This adibashi thing is BS. Humans were planted in Mesopotamia .. Iraq. From there, Aryans came and settled in Indus while rest moved farther to China. So, based on the flow pattern, we are adibashis, not them as they went to China and then came bck this way in reverse.

[PoorFan]

Myanmar President now want Rohingyas to be out of his country, and see how Clinton being so 'polite' in business[read resource] politics.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Rohingya issue tabled at Asean meeting

In the June 11 photo, BGB officials inspect a boat carrying Rohingya people who fled the sectarian violence in Myanmar and crossed the Naf River into Teknaf. Star Online Report

The Southeast Asian body vows to monitor the plight of the ethnic group unwanted both in Myanmar and Bangladesh, reports US-based online newspaper Radio Free Asia (RFA).


The head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) raised the issue of the Rohingyas with the top diplomats of Myanmar and Bangladesh on Friday, vowing to monitor the Muslim ethnic group unwanted by both countries, says RFA, a private nonprofit corporation that broadcasts news and information in nine native Asian languages.


Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan has taken “a personal interest” in the Rohingyas and had spoken directly to Myanmarese and Bangladeshi representatives during a meeting of the grouping’s foreign ministers in Cambodia’s Phnom Penh this week, according to the Asean website.


Both Myanmarese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin and his Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni agreed to cooperate and keep Asean informed on the status of the ethnic group following deadly ethnic violence between Rohingyas and Buddhist Rakhines in western Myanmar in June, report RFA, that serves listeners who do not have access to full and free news media.


"We will keep our eyes and ears on the plight of these unfortunate people," Surin said on completion of the Asean meeting and talks between Asean ministers and their foreign counterparts.


He said he appreciated the concern of the Asean people for the “sufferings” of the Rohingyas, who number around 800,000 in Myanmar and are considered to be some of the world's most persecuted minorities.

Aside from Myanmar, Rohingyas also live as migrant workers in many of the other Asean states—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.


Myanmarese President Thein Sein had requested the United Nations refugee agency this week place Rohingyas in refugee camps or send them out of the country. His request was immediately refused by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).


Many of Myanmarese Rohingyas have lived in the country for generations, but Thein Sein said that the ethnic minority is made up of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and that “we cannot accept them here.”


Bangladesh, where an estimated 300,000 Rohingyas live, has turned back boatloads of the oppressed group arriving on its shores since the outbreak of the unrest.


U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was also in Phnom Penh this week attending the Asean meeting, met with Thein Sein in Siem Reap ahead of a US-Asean business forum and raised the issue of the Rohingyas with the Myanmarese leader, officials said.


A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Clinton stressed Washington’s willingness “to be supportive of help with internally displaced people (IDP),” referring to the Muslim ethnic group.


The official said that Thein Sein had not responded directly, other than to say that the general situation with regard to the Rohingyas had been “very dangerous for the country” and that Burma “needed continued help and support with IDPs.”


“They talked about the situation … He talked about how difficult it had been. She offered that if more support was needed with IDPs that we could be supportive,” the official said.


UN Request
Violence between Rohingyas and the Rakhines that flared in June has left some 78 people dead and 90,000 displaced and living in camps, according to government statistics.


The clashes were sparked after an ethnic Rakhine woman was allegedly raped and killed by three Rohingya men in late May.


On June 3, a group of Rakhine vigilantes attacked and killed 10 Rohingyas on a bus they believed were responsible for the woman’s death.

On June 8, thousands of Rohingyas rioted in Maungdaw, destroying Rakhine property, burning homes, and causing an unknown number of deaths. In the aftermath, Rohingyas carried out similar attacks on Rakhines elsewhere around the state.


Asean foreign ministers had earlier tasked the Asean secretariat to monitor the situation of the Rohingyas and keep them updated after thousands were turned away from countries where they sought asylum.

According to the UNHCR, around one million Rohingyas are now thought to live outside Myanmar, but they have not been welcomed by a third country.

Daily Star

[Zunaid]

From the New York Times

Ethnic Cleansing in Myanmar
By MOSHAHIDA SULTANA RITU

Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

LAST spring, a flowering of democracy in Myanmar mesmerized the world. But now, three months after the democracy activist Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won a parliamentary seat, and a month after she traveled to Oslo to belatedly receive the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, an alarm bell is ringing in Myanmar. In the villages of Arakan State, near the Bangladeshi border, a pogrom against a population of Muslims called the Rohingyas began in June. It is the ugly side of Myanmar’s democratic transition — a rotting of the flower, even as it seems to bloom.

Cruelty toward the Rohingyas is not new. They have faced torture, neglect and repression in the Buddhist-majority land since it achieved independence in 1948. Its constitution closes all options for Rohingyas to be citizens, on grounds that their ancestors didn’t live there when the land, once called Burma, came under British rule in the 19th century (a contention the Rohingyas dispute). Even now, as military rulers have begun to loosen their grip, there is no sign of change for the Rohingyas. Instead, the Burmese are trying to cast them out.

read full article

[bujhee kom]

Good witing by Ms. MOSHAHIDA SULTANA RITU and thank you for reading the NYT uncleji and posting it here for all of us to know and read.

I have Zero respect for this state called Myanmar and their invalid, cripple, sick government and the so called Aung San Suu Kyi, I shouted for this woman so much, supported her so much, what a waste, now I see I might as well cheered for one of the broken thrown out, old reject mannikin of 37th street fashion district and would have been MORE worthwhile. ZSayeed mama was right.

Myanmar/Today's Burma and it's whole society and the whole nation is a DISGRACE to the BUDDHIST world, to the Buddhist society, community and to the religion, they are a DISGRACE to humanity! Where is the outrage inside Myanmar when another human being is being tortured, oppressed, prosecuted wrongfully and violated constantly in front of their very eyes, I DO NOT see any pain, sadness or compassion or empathy in their eyes, the Burmese people and the Burmese society, I hold them all resposbile for the suffering of the Rohyngas, for the fall of humanity!

[PoorFan]

Excellent write from Moshahida Sultana Ritu, many people including me would not mind shelter Rohingya people in camps for a while like we did before, ONLY IF international big mouths did justice to these people for decades. They literally did nothing to establish these peoples human rights INSIDE Mayanmar, except some fancy job for some fancy UN whatever, Human Right whatever, Non Profit whatever flying in and out Bngladesh and Myanmar, probebly with first/business class tickets, staying in five star hotels. Unfortunately my expectation to these people reached the rock bottom for long. Now this issue has become increasingly a political tool for countries with power looking for their own interest.

[akabir77]

I have a feeling that if these people were non muslim, we would hear more from other nations and BD/AL party wouldn't have any issues giving them shelter. Now they are getting killed like Cow and goats...

[Dhurr]

Originally Posted by akabir77
I have a feeling that if these people were non muslim, we would hear more from other nations and BD/AL party wouldn't have any issues giving them shelter. Now they are getting killed like Cow and goats...

Bhai, er moddhe abar Muslim/non-Muslim kotha theke ashlo?

Have you been to Cox's bazaar recently? The first time I went to Cox's Bazaar twenty-some years ago, the local people were more welcoming to Burma and Burmese people.

In the last few years, whenever I have gone there, I have heard nothing but bad things about Burmese (Rohingya) people from the locals. Criminal activities have risen sharply since the Rohingyas were allowed in. Everything is smuggled in the Burma borders, from drugs like yaba to our staple food - rice - and the Rohingyas (with the help of some Bangladeshis) are involved in every step of the smuggling process.

Cox's Bazaar is one of the most fiercely Muslim districts of Bangladesh, and if you go for prayer in any of the mosques there, the Imams and the Musullis would almost invariably tell you about their unwillingness to allow more Rohingyas into their district. Are you telling me that the Muslim people in a Muslim place of worship in one of the most religion-abiding districts don't want more Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazaar... because those refugees are Muslims? Please be aware of the situation on the ground before you say things like these.

AL/BD government is unwilling to give them shelter... not because they are Muslims, but because their presence would be a drag on our country's already-very-very-very-limited resources, and also because the local population, as a whole, is unwilling to welcome these people.

[ammark]

This image is NOT a genuine image of the Rohingyas in Burma. This photo was taken in 2004 during riots in Southern Thailand.

We should be careful when "sharing" such propaganda pics from facebook and verify its authenticity.

[PoorFan]

Originally Posted by akabir77
I have a feeling that if these people were non muslim, we would hear more from other nations and BD/AL party wouldn't have any issues giving them shelter. Now they are getting killed like Cow and goats...

Let me guess ... since we are surrounded by India other than Myanmar, and if ever any refugee situation take place in that [Inidan] border, then they would be Indians and Hindus. So, Any attempt to help them out will prove your point 100% RIGHT.

[PoorFan]

Originally Posted by ammark
This image is NOT a genuine image of the Rohingyas in Burma. This photo was taken in 2004 during riots in Southern Thailand.

We should be careful when "sharing" such propaganda pics from facebook and verify its authenticity.

This is why we need to provide/demand the source/link. Akabir77 owe us an explanation on that pic/source.