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The Rohingya: An Unfortunate Ethnic Group of Burma

By Mohammad Sadek

It is a “tale” that gets no attention and being remained unsolved and neglected in the region of South and Southeast Asia.

Burma that is carrying and creating out this problem to hamper the region, while the neigbhoring Bangladesh is partly responsible for not raising the issue to the international forums.

It is that, which has been happening as eyewitness of the humanitarian bodies but unable to solve it properly that may be because of lack of appropriate co-operation from both governments of Burma and Bangladesh. If see, everyone can find that the ill-fated Rahingyas have gone through oppression, torture and frequent massacres in their historical homeland of Arakan for the last few decades. The Rohingyas are being expelled from their ancestral land and deprived them of properties; it has become almost a recurring phenomenon.

The uprooted Rohingyas have no way to find a better place for their safety and so they are compelled to take shelter in different countries of the world such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Thailand and others. Of them, mostly take refuge in Bangladesh, which is closed neighbor and nearest for this people. Mass expulsion was taken place from the massacre, an ethnic cleansing program of 1942, which was jointly engineered by Buddhist community of Arakan and proper Burma.

The result of which, more than 100,000 Rohingyas were massacred. Thousands of Rohingya settlements were destroyed. Majority Rohingya areas in the east of Kaladan river had turned into a minority area. Similar operations have been going on to evacuate the Rohingya settlements from their ancestral homeland.

Presently, the Burmese military regime has been deliberately increasing new Buddhist settlement on the land of Rohingya in northern part of Arakan. Forced labors are being used to build model villages. Women are being raped for the enjoyment of military forces. Cattle and properties are being seized for new settlers, while freedoms of movement, restriction on religion, banned on marriages, deprivation of rights to education, depopulation, arbitrary arrest, extra judicial killing and etc are being continued against the Rohingya.

Besides, their rights are duly not respected in the opposition groups who are fighting for the restoration of democracy and human rights. They are not invited in many programs including Constitution Affairs meeting. It believes that a group of disgraceful community is trying to dominate the movement, playing dwell role, both in opposition groups and in military regime.
Meanwhile, the Rohingya has no hope for their future, even after the establishment of democracy in Burma. So, they may need to track a new way to find their betterment. In this circumstance, they are in need of help and co-operations from the international human rights and humanitarian organizations to find a durable solution of their long-standing problems.

In this regard, role of human rights and humanitarian organizations including government of those countries, which have already endorsed the international instruments to ensure the rights of people, would be accepting the Rohingya for re-settlement to create an atmosphere of sustainable movement for them and to educate them as well. The countries which has not yet endorsed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) would maintain minimum standard for the cause of Rohingya on humanitarian ground as they are same human like everyone.·

Mohammad Sadek

[* Mohammad Sadek is the General Secretary of the Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYDF) and a Freelance Journalist.]  

Please sign the REQUEST to SPDC Regime to STOP KILLING Ethnic People. (click here)

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Comments

Naing Win Zahid said _

                                  I absolutely agree.

Kyaw U said _

Hopefully Bangladesh is a best for Bengalis' future. Because you so call Rohingya are from Bangladesh. So I would like to request to you please be silent like Chinese people. Why you are trying to demand Bangali is an ethnic of Burma?

Aung Moe Thein said _

The most importance tasks of a democracy are done by everyone. We all are brothers with different skin colours.

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If you have evidences of genocide committed by military regime please contact burmadigest@tayzathuria.org.uk