Muslims trapped in ghetto of fear in Myanmar city

[Umm Muhammad]

Muslims trapped in ghetto of fear in Myanmar city


SITTWE: Barbed wire and armed troops guard the Muslim quarter of a  violence-wracked city in western Myanmar, a virtual prison for the  families that have inhabited its narrow streets for generations.

The security forces outside the ghetto in the Rakhine state capital  Sittwe are not there to stop its residents leaving – although few dare  to anyway – but to protect them from Buddhist mobs after an outburst of  sectarian hatred.

In the nearby city centre, life has regained some semblance of normality  since the authorities imposed a state of emergency in June in response  to Buddhist-Muslim clashes that left dozens dead and tens of thousands  homeless.

But inside the tense enclave of Aung Mingalar, hundreds of families from  the Rohingya Muslim minority group say they are living in fear for  their lives.

“Rakhines will attack us today,” one man told AFP at Friday prayers last week.

The same evening groups of Rakhine Buddhists – who have also accused the  Rohingya of attacks on their communities – gathered outside the  barriers, prompting troops to fire warning shots and sparking panic  inside.

On three separate days earlier in the week, hundreds of ethnic Rakhines –  sometimes led by Buddhist monks – had marched near the perimeter  demanding the “relocation” of Aung Mingalar.

Their shouts were clearly audible by people within the ghetto, who could only imagine what was happening outside.

“In my opinion, living in the Sahara desert in Africa would be better  than living in this situation,” said 28-year-old Mohamed Said, tears  welling in his eyes.

“We cannot suffer anymore. We have lost everything but our lives. We are human beings as well,” he said.

Between 3,000 and 8,000 people are thought to live in an area of roughly  0.5 square kilometres, where no traffic circulates and almost all shops  have been shuttered.

Supplies of food – mainly rice – are provided by the authorities and  some benevolent Buddhist locals, forced to deliver aid discreetly for  fear of fanning local resentments. But there is not enough to eat.

Some Rohingya have dared to breach the barriers – which vary from bamboo  and barbed wire to simple security cordons – hiding their faces under  hoods to prevent people identifying them.

But most people have not ventured outside in four months.

“This bamboo fence is like a psychological barrier, symbolising the fear  that separates the two worlds,” said Chris Lewa, head of the Arakan  Project, which campaigns for Rohingya rights.

Calls are growing for the Muslim quarter to be moved.

“If the Aung Mingalar quarter stays in the city centre, the problem will  get worse,” said Nya Na, a leader of a monk association.

“I don’t want the two communities to fight. It is risky for them to stay.”

The stateless Rohingya have long been considered by the United Nations  to be one of the most persecuted minorities on the planet.

Viewed as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh by the Myanmar  government and many Burmese – who call them “Bengalis” – they face  tight restrictions on their movements and limited access to employment,  education and public services.

More than 50,000 Muslims and up to 10,000 Buddhists are thought to be  displaced across Rakhine state, where people from both communities were  forced to flee as mobs torched whole villages.

Segregation, already imposed on many of the 800,000 Rohingya living in  western Myanmar, has become widespread since the unrest, with many  fearing the divide will become irreversible.

Muslims have been left particularly deprived, with thousands living in  squalid camps on the edge of Sittwe, separated from the Buddhist  population and with scant provisions.

Muslim men and women whose beards and headscarves were common sights  just six months ago have largely disappeared from sight in the city  centre.

The segregation recalls South African apartheid in the 1980s, “but  worse” because the Rohingya are unable to leave their camps, Lewa said.

“Freedom of movement was always an issue for the Rohingya, but it is an  extreme restriction now,” said Sarnata Reynolds, of aid group Refugees  International.

“Unofficially there seems to be widespread agreement that the camps will  likely be there for three years or more, and that it might be the  beginning of a permanent segregation.”...

...even if the camps are closed and the barbed wired surrounding Aung  Mingalar taken down, the fear is that the distrust will endure between  communities that once lived side-by-side as neighbours.

“As long as Bengali people are here, there is fear, disharmony and  anger. I wish they would stay away from here,” said 60-year-old Buddhist  San Win Phu, sheltering at a local monastery.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/453758/m...-myanmar-city/

[Umm Muhammad]

THE PEACE THRU JUSTICE       FOUNDATION

11006 Veirs Mill Rd, STE L-15, PMB       298

Silver Spring, MD. 20902

DHUL HIJJAH 1433       A.H.

(October 30,       2012)

Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace):

Earlier this       evening I gave a short (approximately five minute) interview to Press       TV on the genocide facing our brothers and sisters in Myanmar (aka,       Burma). Even though it was brief (or perhaps because it was       brief), I was very dissatisfied with how it went. There was a distracting       echo in the line, and I just wasn't as focused as I like to be when       I'm being interviewed on an important topic.

With       that being said, in the tradition of our beloved Prophet's       instruction (may peace be upon him) - to follow a bad deed with a       good one - I hope to follow a bad interview with a       good piece of commentary.

After receiving       the request for the interview this evening, I pulled up the       Universal Declaration of Human Rights to see       which Articles the Myanmar government, and rogue elements within the       Buddhist population, were most in violation of (in their genocidal       campaign against Myanmar's Muslim population). The Articles that are       clearly evident (in my humble opinion) are the       following:

Article 3: Right       to Life, Liberty, and Personal Security.

Article 9: Freedom       from Arbitrary Arrest and Exile.

Article 18:       Freedom of Belief and Religion.

Article 30:       Freedom from State or Personal Interference in the above       Rights.

The genocide       against Muslims in Burma/Myanmar is increasing at a rapid rate, while the       world looks the other way. The satellite images of Human Rights Watch       unquestionably document the religious and       ethnically-driven destruction taking place to Rohingya lives and       infrastructure.

Reportedly, a       source in Sittwe, a city in the Rakhine state, has sent tweets which       indicate more attacks are being planned. One tweet reads:       "According to plan, Rakhine authority and Myanmar military will       burn all villages, mosques, quarters, wards of Rohingya to make them       refugees."

The Burma Task Force USA is calling on       people to contact the U.S. Department of State to demand that       Secretary of State Clinton put pressure on the president of Myanmar.       (Please go to the Burma Task Force USA website for more       information: www.BurmaMuslims.org )

We strongly advise that       Muslims in America genuinely concerned about this growing crisis       consider organizing a national demonstration in Washington, DC (as was       done late into the Bosnian crisis) to demand an       end to the genocide!

Pressure should also be applied on the most       well known activist from that part of the world, the Nobel       laureat Aung San Suu Kyi, who appears to be       following in the footsteps of Elie       Wiesel. Mr. Wiesel has eloquently and       selectively raised the banner of human rights on a number       of fronts over the years - except where it applies to his own       brethren's heinous human rights violations of the Palestinian people! If       followed to its illogical conclusion, It is a path that will soon mar Suu       Kyi's otherwise sterling reputation.

A demonstration that draws       attention to the contradictions surrounding Buddhist behavior in       Myanmar (as regards Buddhism's non-violent image) may also       prick the conscience of prominent American Buddhists (such as Richard Gere       and other actors, singers, and well known artists) into taking some       action to address these contradictions. ALLAH knows       best.

And finally, something should       be done to SHAME (if necessary) Muslim governments into taking       action in a unified, substantive way. If a serious call is made for such       a demonstration it will have our FULL SUPPORT,       insha'Allah.

In the struggle for peace thru       justice,

El-Hajj Mauri'       Saalakhan