Tag: united nations

International Crisis Group: Rohingyas Involved In Attack On Border Guards Headed With People With Links To Pakistan And Saudi Arabia

A group of Rohingya Muslims that attacked Myanmar border guards in October is headed by people with links to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said on Thursday, citing members of the group.

The coordinated attacks on Oct. 9 killed nine policemen and sparked a crackdown by security forces in the Muslim-majority northern sector of Rakhine State in the country’s northwest.

At least 86 people have been killed, according to state media, and the United Nations has estimated 27,000 members of the largely stateless Rohingya minority have fled across the border to Bangladesh.

Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar’s government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, blamed Rohingyas supported by foreign militants for the Oct. 9 attacks, but has issued scant additional information about the assailants it called “terrorists.”

A group calling itself Harakah al-Yakin claimed responsibility for the attacks in video statements and the Brussels-based ICG said it had interviewed four members of the group in Rakhine State and two outside Myanmar, as well as individuals in contact with members via messaging apps.

The Harakah al-Yakin, or Faith Movement, was formed after communal violence in 2012 in which more than 100 people were killed and about 140,000 displaced in Rakhine State, most of them Rohingya, the group said.

Rohingya who have fought in other conflicts, as well as Pakistanis or Afghans, gave clandestine training to villagers in northern Rakhine over two years ahead of the attacks, it said.

“It included weapons use, guerrilla tactics and, HaY members and trainees report, a particular focus on explosives and IEDs,” the group said, referring to improvised explosive devices.

It identified Harakah al-Yakin’s leader, who has appeared prominently in a series of nine videos posted online, as Ata Ullah, born in Karachi, Pakistan, to a Rohingya migrant father before moving as a child to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

“Though not confirmed, there are indications he went to Pakistan and possibly elsewhere, and that he received practical training in modern guerrilla warfare,” the group said. It noted that Ata Ullah was one of 20 Rohingya from Saudi Arabia leading the group’s operations in Rakhine State.

Separately, a committee of 20 senior Rohingya emigres oversees the group, which has headquarters in Mecca, the ICG said.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a news briefing on Thursday that the United States was aware of the report and reviewing it, but declined to comment further.

Groups like Islamic State and al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent have referred to the plight of the Rohingya in their material, and the battlefield experience of at least some of the Rohingya fighters implied links to international militants, the ICG said.

However, ICG said the group has notably not engaged in attacks on the civilian Buddhist population in Rakhine. Harakah al-Yakin’s statements to date indicate its main goals are to end the persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar and secure the minority’s citizenship status.

“It is possible, however, that its objectives could evolve, given its appeals to religious legitimacy and links to international jihadist groups, so it is essential that government efforts do not focus only or primarily on military approaches, but also address underlying community grievances and suffering,” the ICG said.

Source: www.reuters.com

December 16, 2016
Myanmar Nationals: Singaporeans Don’t Understand The Rohingya Issue

The visit by Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has been widely covered by local media.

A video by Channel NewsAsia on Aung San Suu Kyi inspecting the guard of honour at the Istana generated much reponse from locals and Myanmar national alike.

Some locals pointed out that Aung San Suu Kyi was disrespectful as she did not acknowledge the state colours when she walked past them.

Others called on her to address the proverbial elephant in the Istana – the genocide of the Rohingya. They wanted Aung San Suu Kyi to learn from Singapore.

This elicited protestations from Myanmar nationals who claim that Singaporeans do not understand the Rohingya problem.

To convince Singaporeans, one even gave an impromptu lesson in Myanmar history.

This was followed by a concerted outpouring of love for Aung San Suu Kyi.

So there you have it.

Can the Rohingya genocide be resolved soon?

Source: www.facebook.com/ChannelNewsAsia

December 1, 2016
Mohamed Jufrie Mahmood: Why Is Singapore Honouring Aung San Suu Kyi?

Sementara PBB dan negara-negara serantau melalak dan mengutuk perempuan ini kerana sifat anti Muslim dan tidak berperikemanusiaan, kerana tidak bertindak terhadap kekejaman dan pembunuhan dalam negaranya, Singapura menyambut dan beri penghormatan kepadanya. Semua kerana duit. Masuk akalkah?

While the UN and regional countries condemn this woman for her anti Muslim and anti humanitarian stance, with regard to her inaction over the atrocities and killings in her country, Singapore is honouring her. All because of money. Does it make sense?

Source: Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood

November 30, 2016
United Nations: Myanmar Seeking Ethnic Cleansing Of Rohingyas

Myanmar is seeking the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority from its territory, a senior UN official has told the BBC.

Armed forces have been killing Rohingya in Rakhine state, forcing many to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, says John McKissick of the UN refugee agency.

The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been conducting counter-insurgency operations since coordinated attacks on border guards in October.

It denies reports of atrocities.

Burmese officials say Rohingyas are setting fire to their own houses in northern Rakhine state. The BBC cannot visit the area to verify what is occurring there as journalists and aid workers have been barred.

The Rohingya, who number about one million, are seen by many of Myanmar’s Buddhist majority as illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

‘Collective punishment’

Although Bangladesh’s official policy is not to allow in illegal entrants across the border, the foreign ministry has confirmed that thousands of Rohingyas have already sought refuge in Bangladesh. Thousands more are reportedly gathering on the border.

Efforts to resolve the issue must focus on “the root cause” inside Myanmar, Mr McKissick, head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR in the Bangladeshi border town of Cox’s Bazar told BBC Bengali’s Akbar Hossain.

He said the Myanmar military and Border Guard Police had “engaged in collective punishment of the Rohingya minority” after the murders of nine border guards on 9 October which some politicians blamed on a Rohingya militant group.

Security forces have been “killing men, shooting them, slaughtering children, raping women, burning and looting houses, forcing these people to cross the river” into Bangladesh, Mr McKissick said.

“Now it’s very difficult for the Bangladeshi government to say the border is open because this would further encourage the government of Myanmar to continue the atrocities and push them out until they have achieved their ultimate goal of ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority in Myanmar,” he said.

On Wednesday, the Bangladesh foreign ministry summoned Myanmar’s ambassador to express “deep concern” over the military operation in northern Rakhine state.

It said “desperate people” were crossing the border seeking safety and shelter and asked Myanmar to “ensure the integrity of its border”.

Authorities in Bangladesh have been detaining and repatriating hundreds of fleeing Rohingya.

© BBC Map showing Maungdaw’s location in Rakhine State

Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch released satellite images which it said showed that more than 1,000 homes had been razed in Rohingya villages over the past six weeks.

What is happening in Rakhine state?

A massive security operation was launched last month after nine police officers were killed in co-ordinated attacks on border posts in Maungdaw.

Some government officials blamed a militant Rohingya group for the attacks. Security forces then sealed off access to Maungdaw district and launched a counter-insurgency operation.

Rohingya activists say more than 100 people have been killed and hundreds arrested amid the crackdown.

Soldiers have also been accused of serious human rights abuses, including torture, rape and executions, which the government has flatly denied.

It says militants have attacked helicopter gunships providing air support to troops.

Who are the Rohingya?

The estimated one million Muslim Rohingya are seen by many in mainly Buddhist Myanmar as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. They are denied citizenship by the government despite many having lived there for generations.

Communal violence in Rakhine state in 2012 left scores dead and displaced more than 100,000 people, with many Rohingya still remaining in decrepit camps.

They face widespread discrimination and mistreatment.

Is the government to blame?

Myanmar held its first openly contested election in 25 years last November, with Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy winning a landslide victory.

Though she is barred from the presidency due to a constitutional rule, Ms Suu Kyi, who serves as State Counsellor, is seen as de-facto leader.

But her government, led as it is by a former human rights icon, has faced international criticism over the dire situation in Rakhine state.

Rights groups have questioned why journalists and aid workers are not being allowed to enter northern Rakhine.

Presidential spokesman Zaw Htay says the international media is misreporting what is going on.

Source: www.msn.com

November 27, 2016
Israeli Anger At UNESCO Motion Condemning Aggressions at Al-Aqsa Mosque

The United Nations cultural and heritage body, Unesco, has condemned Israel’s “escalating aggressions” regarding the holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, prompting a furious reaction from Israeli politicians.

A resolution passed on Thursday denied the importance of the site to the Jewish faith by referring to it and the al-Aqsa mosque only by their Muslim names, the politicians said.

The site has been a flashpoint between Muslims and rightwing Jews over the past two years in particular, although tensions in the vicinity stretch back decades.

The resolution was backed by 24 countries, with six opposing it and 26 abstaining. The US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Estonia voted against the resolution; Russia and China were among those backing it.

While affirming the importance of the Old City to all three monotheistic faiths – Judaism, Islam and Christianity – the resolution failed to acknowledge Jewish connections to Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif, Israel said.

The al-Aqsa mosque – the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina – and the iconic Dome of the Rock stand on a plaza on the eastern edge of the Old City, and are under the control of an Islamic trust called the Waqf.

The Western Wall, below the concourse, is regarded as the holiest spot in Judaism as the last remnant of the temple that once stood there. Jews can visit the plaza above the wall, but are forbidden by law from praying, reciting religious texts or entering Muslim holy sites there.

The resolution said Muslims’ freedom of worship was being curtailed by “escalating aggressions and illegal measures”. It deplored the “continuous storming of al-Aqsa mosque and al-Haram al-Sharif by the Israeli rightwing extremists and uniformed forces … [and] forceful entering by so-called ‘Israeli Antiquities’ officials”.

In March 2015, a leaked EU report said tensions over al-Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount were partly to blame for a spike in violence, including shootings and stabbings, over the previous six months.

Uri Ariel, a rightwing minister in the Israeli coalition government, called on Israel to respond to the Unesco motion by stepping up activities at the site.

“Especially now, it’s on us as a government to act in defiance of these decisions and to strengthen the Temple Mount and the Jewish presence on the site holiest to the Jewish people – the Temple Mount,” he said in a letter to the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu.

The Labour party leader, Isaac Herzog, wrote on Facebook: “Unesco betray their mission, and give a bad name to diplomacy and the international institutions. Whoever wants to rewrite history, to distort fact, and to completely invent the fantasy that the Western Wall and Temple Mount have no connection to the Jewish people, is telling a terrible lie that only serves to increase hatred.”

Before the vote, the British Jewish organisation Yachad, which campaigns for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and for a two-state solution, condemned the resolution as “an inflammatory denial of Jewish history” which “serves only to set back the cause of peace in the region by playing into the hands of those on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who see it as a holy war”.

The motion was submitted by the Palestinians supported by Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and Sudan.

A similar resolution in April passed with 33 votes to six, and was supported by a number of European countries led by France. This time France abstained amid a heavy lobbying campaign by Israel.

Source: www.theguardian.com

October 14, 2016