Special

Edi+on: Arakan Rohingya Union

Reporting Political and Human Rights Issues Facing Rohingya in Burma (Myanmar)

Arakan Rohingya Union Receives Registration in the United States as an NGO

The Organization Constitutes Twentyfive Rohingya Organizations Worldwide
University Park, PA, USA. The Secretariat of Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) in Pennsylvania, USA, recently announced the achievement of registration from the Of?ice of the Secretary of State in Pennsylvania. ARU, now as a legitimate NGO in the United States, is fully functional, and advancing towards its goals in cooperation with government agencies and NGOs worldwide for restoration of the basic human rights and political rights of the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma (Myanmar). ARU was formed at the Rohingya Convention in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation based in Jeddah Saudi Arabia and the Euro-Burma Of?ice in Brussels, Belgium. The convention issued a joint statement on the formation of the ARU to seek a political solution to the problems faced by the Rohingya people. The union is currently composed of twenty-?ive organizations, was formed on the agreed principles of an indivisible Arakan State in Burma, peaceful co-existence, democracy, human rights, and federalism. The Missions of ARU: ! Restoration of citizenship and ethnic rights of the indigenous Rohingya minority in the Union of Myanmar. ! Improving living conditions for Rohingya people in Arakan and in Rohingya refugee communities in other countries. ! Seeking better protection for Rohingya and Muslim communities at large in Myanmar. The Strategies to Accomplish the Missions: ! To engage in dialogue with the Government of Myanmar through peaceful means. ! To acquire material and moral support from international agencies to improve living conditions of Rohingya people in Myanmar and oversea. ! To maintain dialogue with Rohingya and Myanmar Muslim population inside and outside Myanmar. ! To build the capacity of Rohingya society in education, economy, culture, and social infrastructures in Myanmar and overseas.

September 30, 2011

Formation of ARU at the Rohingya Convention at OIC Headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Mr. Harn Yawnghwe, Director of Euro-Burma OfHice, Belgium, Dr. Wakar Uddin, Director General of ARU, and prominent senior Rohingya leader, Dr. Mohammed Yunus, discuss the peaceful means of ARUs engagement with Government of Myanmar.

The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Coperation (OIC), Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, called for unity among Rohingya and all Muslims. The call highlighted the importance of the Meeting of Senior Leaders of Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) and the Euro-Burma Of?ice (EBO), according to Talal Daous, the Director of the Department of Muslim Minorities in OIC. The call stems from a resolution adopted by the Thirty Seventh Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan, in May 2011. [The Council] commends the efforts of the Secretary General aimed at coordinating the work of the Rohingya Muslim organizations and uniting their ranks under a united coordination

council, and calls on him to continue these efforts to reclaim their rights. Mr. Talal Daous, Director of the Muslim Minorities and Communities Department, represented the OIC Secretary General Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, and Mr. Harn Yawnghwe represented the Euro-Burma Of?ice, Brussels, Belgium, during the convention. Additionally, Ms. Dina Madani and Dr. Hassan Abedin, Political Of?icers at the OIC, presided the sessions at the Headquarters of the OIC General Secretariat. Source: Media Department, ARU

Burmese Junta Minister Makes Manufactured Anti-Rohingya Statements at Parliament Sessions

Arakan Rohingya Union Refutes the Ministers Manufactured Statements with Facts
University Park, PA, USA. The Arakan Rohingya Union denounced the false and fabricated statements made by the Burmese Militarys Minister of ImmigraDon and PopulaDon Aair, U Khin Yi (the former Police Chief) in the parliament sessions held in Naypyitaw, Burma, on August 31 and September 1, 2011. The followings are highlights of the false statements by the minister that are challenged by ARU with facts: Statement 1: The popula<on (referring to the Rohingya) in Maungdaw in Rakhine State is assumed to be Bengalis (the Bangladeshis) because they share common physical appearance, culture, religion, and language dialect with those in Bangladesh. Fact: The Minister contradicted the historical facts that the Rohingya popula+on pre-existed Bri+sh colonial rule in their na+ve Arakan several hundred years prior to the arbitrary demarca+on of Burma-Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) by the Bri+sh in 1948. Statement 2: The Bengali illegal immigrants entered Burma due to rich natural resources in Arakan State. Fact: Northern Arakan, has always been the least developed and economically most depressed region in Burma with limited natural resources. Statement 3: In a mass migra<on of Bengalis to Arakan State, 180,000 Bengalis were scru<nized in 1978, and 230,000 in 2005, and they were given refuge for stability in the border region and na<onalism through the opera<ons such as Nagamin (King Dragon of Flames) and Hintha (a Burmese

mythological bird of guardianship based on ultra- na<onalist ideology). Fact: The naDonalist and xenophobic Burmese junta never allows Bengali or any other foreigners to seSle in Burma. A so-called gesture of goodwill naDonalism to nearly half-a-million alleged illegal Bengali immigrants by the Junta to seSle in Arakan State for border stability is tantamount to a mockery of its own policy of intolerance of Rohingya and ethnic cleansing. The Rohingya were repatriated to their naDve land as the military could not present one iota of evidence to the internaDonal community that they were Bengalis. The Nagamin and Hintha operaDons that drove half-a- million of Rohingya out of Arakan were a miscalculated ethnic cleansing projects. Statement 4. There are no travel bans on this Bengali popula<on. Because some of these Bengali had penetrated deep into the country, the Travel Form-4 is required to be approved by the authority to travel to other des<na<ons. A total of 360 persons were allowed to travel, and 23 students were allowed to go to college. Facts: Of over millions of Rohingya in Arakan State, 360 individuals were allowed to travel with a 30-day stay- permit, cos+ng each person in excess of Kyat 200,000 (extor+on, not fees), plus addi+onal Kyat 100,000 for each extra 30 days, for up to 90 days. A small group of students were granted admission to a college in SiTwe, but they were denied travel permits a Catch-22 Statement 5. From 2005 to 2011 (in 6 years), a total of 278 Bangladeshis were apprehended for illegally entering Burma. Fact: Each year Nasaka (Burmese Border Security) Force apprehends several Bangladeshi shermen from the Bay of Bengal, oYen by crossing over to Bangladesh territorial water or at high seas at interna+onal water. These apprehension strategies are devised by Nasaka to use as false sta+s+cs for branding Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Statement 6. Bangladeshis illegally enter Arakan State and get married with local women (implying Rohingya women) before they head o to Rangoon and deep into the country; therefore, marriage permits are required. Fact: ARU challenges Burmese Junta to produce a shred of evidence of a Bangladeshi man ge[ng married to a Rohingya woman anywhere in Arakan State. The non- issuance of marriage permit is essen+ally a ban on marriages among Rohingya couples, targe+ng at popula+on reduc+on and eventual elimina+on of Rohingya ethnic minority through a no-new-baby strategy. Page 2

 ARU had called on the Rohingya people worldwide, its fellow ciDzens in Burma and overseas, and the internaDonal community to denounce these false allegaDons and fabricaDons made by the Burmese Military Juntas minister in the parliamentary sessions against Rohingya ethnic minority. ARU had demanded that the parliament and the Burmese Military Junta must take immediate steps to retract the false statements made by its minister at the parliament sessions, and uncondiDonally reinstate all the poliDcal and human rights to the Rohingya ethnic minority. Source: The Secretariat, ARU

OIC Adopts Resolution on Muslim Community in Myanmar in its Session of Council of Foreign Ministers
Arakan Rohingya Union Welcomes the Resolution with Enthusiasm and Hope
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) expressed its graDtude to the OrganizaDon of Islamic CooperaDon (OIC) ResoluDon No. 4/38-MM on the situaDon of Muslim community in Myanmar during the 38th Session of Council of Foreign Ministers (Session of Peace, CooperaDon, and development) held in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan, June 28-30, 2011. ARU uncondiDonally supports the enDre resoluDon, which is as follows: 1. Calls upon the Government of Myanmar to put an end the operaDons of displacement, expulsion, and exile of Arakan Muslims and to the conDnued aSempts to eradicate their Islamic culture and idenDty, and urges government authoriDes to respect the texts of internaDonal legiDmacy on human rights. 2. Calls on Member States to conDnue their eorts in conjuncDon with those of the internaDonal community and the United NaDons in order to ensure the return of all Myanmar refugees displaced from their homes, parDcularly the Muslims of the Arakan region of Myanmar. 3.Expresses deep concern over the conDnued monumental violaDon of the rights of Rohingya Muslims in the Arakan region of the Republic of Myanmar, and requests the Secretary General to conDnue his eorts to end these pracDces in

coordinaDon with the internaDonal community together with internaDonal and regional organizaDons, and to conDnue those eorts in the context of dialogue, reconciliaDon and coordinaDon among Islamic organizaDons in Myanmar. 4. Commends the eorts of the Secretary General which resulted in the formaDon of a United Rohingya RepresentaDves abroad at the General Secretariat on 31st May, 2011 in implementaDon of paragraph 4 of ResoluDon No. 4/37-MM, with a view to coordinaDng amongst themselves to nd a poliDcal soluDons to their problems, achieve peaceful co-existence, democracy and human rights and calls on the Secretary General to conDnue his eorts to regain their rights in full. 5. Requests the Secretary-General to contact the Government of Myanmar to urge the laSer to receive an OIC Mission to visit Myanmar in order to examine the condiDons of Muslims there and persuade the Government of Myanmar to create conducive condiDons for Arakan Muslims to return to their home and to report thereon to the next CFM. 6. Calls on the Member States to conDnue to extend all possible forms of support and assistance to Myanmar Muslims and parDcularly to those among them living as refugees outside their homeland. 7. Requests the Secretary-General to follow up the implementaDon of this resoluDon and report thereon to the Thirty-ninth session of the Council of Foreign Ministers. ARU extended its deepest appreciaDon to the OrganizaDon of Islamic CooperaDon Members of the Council of Foreign Ministers for this historic resoluDon concerning the Muslims in Myanmar, parDcularly the human rights and poliDcal issues facing the Rohingya ethnic minority. ARU strongly urged the OIC Secretary- General, His Excellency Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to immediately iniDate the process for implementaDon of the resoluDon and report to the 39th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers. Source: Educa+on and Culture Department, ARU A monthly publicaDon of:

The Rohingya Human Rights Alert/The Burmese Rohingya Associa9on of North America

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