Rafiq broke into tears while narrating the graphic and gory details of torture he underwent in Myanmar.
Rafiq’s narrative gives the reader a glimpse of the plight of Rohinyas who are suffering rape, arson and murder in Myanmar’s military crackdown.
“Army men locked up my sons, wife and parents in a room and set it on fire. I lost them all in fire,” said Rafiq.
His 15-year old cousin Majeda was gang-raped by four army men and then shot dead.
He said, “They spared only 26 rich men out of 155 people in the village. The rest were beheaded.”
“Are we not human? Is it our fault to be born as a Rohingyas?” he asked. (Courtesy of en.prothom-alo.com)
January 14, 2017
January 11, 2017
Who will help Myanmar's Rohingya?
Rejected by the country they call home and unwanted by its neighbours, the Rohingya are impoverished, virtually stateless and have been fleeing Myanmar in droves and for decades.
In recent months, tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh amid a military crackdown on insurgents in Myanmar's western Rakhine state.
They have told horrifying stories of rapes, killings and house burnings, which the government of Myanmar - formerly Burma - has claimed are "false" and "distorted".
Activists have condemned the lack of a firm international response. Some have described the situation as South East Asia's Srebrenica, referring to the July 1995 massacre of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims who were meant to be under UN protection - a dark stain on Europe's human rights record. (Courtesy of bbc.com)
In recent months, tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh amid a military crackdown on insurgents in Myanmar's western Rakhine state.
They have told horrifying stories of rapes, killings and house burnings, which the government of Myanmar - formerly Burma - has claimed are "false" and "distorted".
Activists have condemned the lack of a firm international response. Some have described the situation as South East Asia's Srebrenica, referring to the July 1995 massacre of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims who were meant to be under UN protection - a dark stain on Europe's human rights record. (Courtesy of bbc.com)
Myanmar’s Shameful Denial
Last month, President Obama lifted sanctions against Myanmar, citing “substantial progress in improving human rights” following the historic election victory of the Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party in November 2015. Tragically, that praise is proving premature.
Hopes that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi would bring an end to the brutal repression of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, lie dashed by a military campaign against the Rohingya in Rakhine State that began after an attack on a police station on Oct. 9. Since then, some 34,000 people have fled over the border to Bangladesh amid allegations of murder and rape by military forces, and satellite images of burned villages. At least 86 people have been killed.
Yet, a commission appointed by Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi concluded last week that “there were no cases of genocide and religious persecution in the region.” Human rights groups rightly accuse the commission of a whitewash. In an effort to muzzle reporting, Myanmar’s government has barred independent journalists from the region, and dismissed reports of abuses as “fake news” and “fake rape.” (Courtesy of nytimes.com)
Hopes that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi would bring an end to the brutal repression of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, lie dashed by a military campaign against the Rohingya in Rakhine State that began after an attack on a police station on Oct. 9. Since then, some 34,000 people have fled over the border to Bangladesh amid allegations of murder and rape by military forces, and satellite images of burned villages. At least 86 people have been killed.
Yet, a commission appointed by Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi concluded last week that “there were no cases of genocide and religious persecution in the region.” Human rights groups rightly accuse the commission of a whitewash. In an effort to muzzle reporting, Myanmar’s government has barred independent journalists from the region, and dismissed reports of abuses as “fake news” and “fake rape.” (Courtesy of nytimes.com)
‘There Are No Homes Left’: Rohingya Tell of Rape, Fire and Death in Myanmar
When the Myanmar military closed in on the village of Pwint Phyu Chaung, everyone had a few seconds to make a choice.
Noor Ankis, 25, chose to remain in her house, where she was told to kneel to be beaten, she said, until soldiers led her to the place where women were raped. Rashida Begum, 22, chose to plunge with her three children into a deep, swift-running creek, only to watch as her baby daughter slipped from her grasp.
Sufayat Ullah, 20, also chose the creek. He stayed in the water for two days and finally emerged to find that soldiers had set his family home on fire, leaving his mother, father and two brothers to asphyxiate inside.
These accounts and others, given over the last few days by refugees who fled Myanmar and are now living in Bangladesh, shed light on the violence that has unfolded in Myanmar in recent months as security forces there carry out a brutal counterinsurgency campaign. (Courtesy of nytimes.com)
Noor Ankis, 25, chose to remain in her house, where she was told to kneel to be beaten, she said, until soldiers led her to the place where women were raped. Rashida Begum, 22, chose to plunge with her three children into a deep, swift-running creek, only to watch as her baby daughter slipped from her grasp.
Sufayat Ullah, 20, also chose the creek. He stayed in the water for two days and finally emerged to find that soldiers had set his family home on fire, leaving his mother, father and two brothers to asphyxiate inside.
These accounts and others, given over the last few days by refugees who fled Myanmar and are now living in Bangladesh, shed light on the violence that has unfolded in Myanmar in recent months as security forces there carry out a brutal counterinsurgency campaign. (Courtesy of nytimes.com)
January 10, 2017
U.N. rights envoy visits Myanmar amid border violence, report of abuse
U.N. human rights envoy Yanghee Lee has arrived in Myanmar on a 12-day visit amid growing concern about reports of abuse of members of the Rohingya Muslim minority in a government security crackdown.
Attackers killed nine police officers on Oct. 9 in a coordinated assault on posts near Myanmar's border with Bangladesh. Authorities say members of the Rohingya minority carried out the attacks and launched a security sweep.
Since then, at least 86 people have been killed and the United Nations says about 34,000 civilians have fled across the border to Bangladesh.
Residents and refugees accuse the military of killing, raping and arbitrarily detaining civilians while burning villages in northwestern Rakhine State.
The government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi denies the accusations and insists a lawful counter-insurgency operation is underway. (Courtesy of reuters.com)
Attackers killed nine police officers on Oct. 9 in a coordinated assault on posts near Myanmar's border with Bangladesh. Authorities say members of the Rohingya minority carried out the attacks and launched a security sweep.
Since then, at least 86 people have been killed and the United Nations says about 34,000 civilians have fled across the border to Bangladesh.
Residents and refugees accuse the military of killing, raping and arbitrarily detaining civilians while burning villages in northwestern Rakhine State.
The government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi denies the accusations and insists a lawful counter-insurgency operation is underway. (Courtesy of reuters.com)
Malaysia’s ‘Food Flotilla’ Plans to go Ahead Despite Burma Govt Plea
A Malaysian organization plans to proceed with its controversial Arakan State “food flotilla” later this month despite a plea from Burma’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Malaysian Embassy to block the shipment, organizers confirmed on Monday.
“There is no question about cancelation, no issue at all,” Malaysia Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations (MAPIM) spokesperson Wan Nordin told The Irrawaddy, adding that the group had communicated with the Malaysian authorities but was waiting a reply.
The food flotilla is scheduled to leave Malaysia on Jan. 31. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
“There is no question about cancelation, no issue at all,” Malaysia Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations (MAPIM) spokesperson Wan Nordin told The Irrawaddy, adding that the group had communicated with the Malaysian authorities but was waiting a reply.
The food flotilla is scheduled to leave Malaysia on Jan. 31. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
January 9, 2017
Buddhist hardliners stop Myanmar Muslim ceremony
Hardline Buddhist nationalists stopped a Muslim religious ceremony in Yangon on Sunday, witnesses and organisers said, as Islamophobic tensions boil over amid a bloody military campaign against Rohingya in northern Rakhine state.
Dozens of people, led by a handful of maroon-robed monks, marched to the YMCA in Myanmar's commercial capital to shut down a service marking the Prophet Mohammed's birthday.
"We have celebrated this festival for my whole life. Now this seems like an attack on freedom of religion," Kyaw Nyein, secretary of the Ulama Islam organisation, told AFP. (Courtesy of channelnewsasia.com)
Dozens of people, led by a handful of maroon-robed monks, marched to the YMCA in Myanmar's commercial capital to shut down a service marking the Prophet Mohammed's birthday.
"We have celebrated this festival for my whole life. Now this seems like an attack on freedom of religion," Kyaw Nyein, secretary of the Ulama Islam organisation, told AFP. (Courtesy of channelnewsasia.com)
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