Rohingya: denied the right to be human

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"I struggle to comprehend the lack of international response to the sheer hell for Rohingya people whether in squalid Bangladesh camps or in Burma. President Thein Sein and other Burmese Government members, welcomed around the world, continue a well-orchestrated, well-documented plan to destroy every aspect of Rohingya men, women and children?s lives. Individuals are treated as not entitled to be recognised as fellow human beings. The old Nazi phrase ?life unworthy of life? comes to mind. On 21 May, 2014 the Burma Border Guard Police threw the bodies of two Rohingya men they had murdered across the border. The Bangladesh Guard promptly threw the bodies back into Burma. On the same day, the Burma Border Guard Police entered Bangladesh, fired on four Rohingya refugees working in a makeshift camp, killing 16 year old Mamed Shaffique. Mamed?s father has not found his son?s body which was taken by the police. Police need not fear reprisals for their actions. Rohingya are seen not as really human, not deserving to live. No police will be charged with the murder of a defenceless young boy. Mamed?s family, denied any human dignity, cannot perform a proper burial of their son. Mamed was one of 400,000 Rohingya undocumented refugees living in unofficial camps unsupported by the Bangladesh Government, the UN, or international organisations. Another 30,000 documented Rohingya live in official UNHCR camps. For the past 36 years, Rohingya have fled severe persecution in Burma, the largest mass movements in 1978, 1991-92, and 2012. In 2008, the UNHCR (High Commissioner for Refugees) launched a special initiative on ?protracted refugee situations? seeking durable solutions and improvements to lives of long-term refugees. Refugee groups identified as needing special attention included: Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan; refugees in Croatia and Serbia; Eritrean refugees in eastern Sudan; Burundian refugees in Tanzania; and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. All these situations were complex, but UNHCR focused on the most challenging to address, the protracted situation of Rohingya refugees. The States of Denial: A Review of UNHCR?s Response to the Protracted Situation of Stateless Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh concluded that Rohingya were unwanted in Bangladesh and other countries. They suffer discrimination, exploitation, and severe persecution, including but not limited to, forced labour, extortion, restriction on freedom of movement, absence of residence rights, denial of citizenship, inequitable marriage regulations, land confiscation, limited access to education and other public services in Burma. Rohingya have no place to go. UNHCR lives with the daily paradox of its mandate and earnest desire to help refugees, together with the reality of its inability to alleviate the root causes of their suffering, Burma?s continued pervasive persecution of Rohingya and denial of citizenship. The UN Special Rapporteur mandate on the situation of human rights in Myanmar was established in 1992, for three reasons, one of which was the continued human rights abuses and such severe restrictions of Rohingya, that tens of thousands were forced to flee the country. UN bodies since have acknowledged what amounts to a state policy of deportation and forcible transfer of Rohingya and the abuses that contributed to it. The UN Global Centre for Responsibility to Protect (14 February 2014) warned that ?stateless Rohingya and other Muslims continue to face a serious risk of mass atrocity crimes?. On May 24, 2014 Nurul Amin, an eight year old boy, returned home with firewood he collected in a nearby Maungdaw Township forest. An out-post army officer stopped him, as he passed by and seized the boy?s wood. When Nurul began to cry asking that his firewood be returned, the officer severely tortured him and then sent him to the Village Administration Office. The boy?s relatives collected the injured boy, who being Rohingya, was denied any medical care or treatment. ?The police or other government officials do not think the Rohingya as a human being, otherwise they will not do such things against Rohingya people?, said Anis a local businessman..."

Creator/author: 

Nancy Hudson-Rodd

Source/publisher: 

"New Mandala"

Date of Publication: 

2014-06-15

Date of entry: 

2014-07-24

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  • Individual Documents

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Language: 

English

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