Mon, Jan 27, 2014
Muslims constitute only three million of the population of 70
million of Myanmar, the largest country in the Indochina region in
Southeast Asia. However, terrible savagery is being inflicted on Muslims. The
main cause of this savagery is ethnic and religious discrimination.
The
800,000 Rohingya living in the country are not considered as citizens.
These people are regarded as “illegal
migrants” from
the neighboring country of Bangladesh. On the other hand, the Bangladeshi
regime does not admit Rohingya people living along the coastal strip on the
border into the country.
Excluded
by both countries, the Rohingya people are struggling to survive as “stateless
persons” in the region. Since the two countries reject them, the Rohingya have
no identity documents, and thus no citizenship rights. Since
their presence cannot be proved, neither can their absence.
They
are unable to benefit from education, social rights such as health and public
services, are refused admittance to hospital and cannot work in public offices.
Since they have no means to attain education, illiteracy levels stand at 80%.
They are unable to obtain birth certificates for their children and have no
permission to marry. They cannot own land or property. They have no right to
build concrete houses and can only live in ones made of timber or bamboo, and
these can easily be destroyed when attacked.
It is a known fact that the Rohingya people, regarded as “illegal
immigrants” in Myanmar since 1978, are subjected to a policy of oppression and
persecution. These policies have been
stepped up since June 2012. From that time on, 240 people have lost their
lives, mainly Muslims living in the province of Rakhine, and more than 250,000
have been displaced.
However, in recent days, there has been a new wave of attacks
against the Rohingya people. On January 14th,
the Myanmar Armed Forces, Police Forces (Hlun Hteins) and Rakhine terrorists carried
out a savage and bloody attack on the Rohingya village of Du-Chira-Dan
(Kilai-Daung). Eyewitnesses maintain that some 60 people were killed in the
attacks, many innocent villagers were detained, women and girls were raped and
that 200 women, six men and five children have gone missing.
Human
rights organizations reported that hundreds of people fled the region in terror
in an attack on the village of Du Char Yar Tan, inherited by Rohingya Muslims.
At present, 340 homes and a settlement area inhabited by 4,000 people have been
totally evacuated. Authorities have declared the village to be a ‘forbidden zone’ and external observers, journalists and
Rohingya people are banned from entering the village.
The
events are alleged to have begun with the killing of eight Rohingya by Aung Zan
Ohyu, the chief of Duchiradan village. The chief wished to conceal the crime
since it had been witnessed by villagers. Together with a group of police and
Rakhines, he sought to detain the villagers and opened fire on them. They also
raped one of the girls in the village. Tensions in the village rose because of
these events, and one of the police officers on the scene was killed by
villagers.
Officials
from the Maungdaw region, attached to Rakhine Province, ordered the security
forces to open fire on the villagers. Eyewitnesses say that the officials
subsequently tried to hide the bodies of the dead villagers. A report from
January 22nd says that
the Naypyidaw regime issued an “arrest warrant” for all male Rohingya over the
age of 10. Concerns that this foreshadows a new
wave of genocide against innocent people are growing.
However, this is not the first report of massacres of Rohingya. There are witness accounts of Rohingya being taken prisoner and
used in human trafficking, being tortured to death in various ways, of bodies
being taken out into the jungle in lorries and being cut into pieces and buried
in pits, of women being raped and having their breasts cut off before they are
killed.
The people of Rohingya are in a state of fear yet there is nothing
they can do to protect themselves. They have no organization to shelter them and
no citizenship or legal rights. They lack the slightest technological means by
which to make their voices heard to the world.
The Myanmar government, on the other hand, denied all these
reports when U.N. Human Rights Special rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana asked for
an investigation into them, and said that no Rohingya people have died, apart
from a police officer. Hla Maung Tin, Prime Minister
of the Province of Rakhine, instead accused the world media of waging a “smear
campaign.” Of course, we must not forget here that since the Rohingya are
not regarded as citizens, they have no identity documents; therefore, if they
die or disappear there are no official records to prove their existence of
otherwise. So if the allegations are true, witness statements and the presence
of corpses are the main evidence that can confirm the incidents. It is
reported, however, that officials have covered up the evidence of the slaughter
as quickly as possible, for which reason the world is unaware of that evidence
of the massacres.
Yes,
the Muslim Rohingya people are in dire straits. The United Nations needs to
go into action and the necessary steps need to be taken to guarantee all the
rights to life of the Rohingya people if they are to be saved. If the events in
the Maungdaw region are to be prevented from growing and if the truth of the
slaughters is to be determined, it is a matter of the gravest urgency for an
international investigation team to go in and conduct inquiries before the
evidence is all destroyed. After that, permanent measures need to be taken so
the people removed from the embargoed village can return to their homes and a
safe environment can be provided for them. The main steps needing to be taken
are putting a halt to the torture, rapes, looting, illegal arrests and
killings, investigations to be conducted into those involved in such illegal
practices and the appropriate legal measures to be taken, and for the
international media to be given the opportunity to examine the scene of the
events.
After
that, it is vitally important for a U.N. Peace Force to be sent to the Rakhine
region in order to guarantee the safety of the Rohingya people. The most
important step after that is for the U.N. to take the requisite steps for the
granting of citizenship rights to the Rohingya people and for the protection of
those rights. Contacts need to be established with the Myanmar government so
that they can benefit from public rights such as education, health, drugs and
treatment like all other citizens of the country and so they can enjoy all
human rights.
Every
person of good conscience of course has a responsibility to take the requisite
steps for the protection of this innocent and defenseless people trapped
between Myanmar and Bangladesh. There is no doubt that it is also of the
greatest importance for the U.N., which has assumed the mission of protecting
peace, security and basic human rights and freedoms to lead the way on this
matter without further delay.
Adnan Oktar's article on Harakah Daily:
The
writer has authored more than 300 books translated in 73 languages on politics,
religion and science. He can be followed on Twitter via @harun_yahya
Source: Harun Yahya
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