Myanmar Policy’s Message to Muslims: Get Out

[Peter1469]

Will the West follow suit- at least to some degree?

Myanmar wants Muslims gone.

The Myanmar government has given the estimated one million Rohingya people in this coastal region of the country a dispiriting choice: Prove your family has lived here for more than 60 years and qualify for second-class citizenship, or be placed in camps and face deportation.

I wouldn't be surprised if some nations in Europe take this up.

[Alyosha]

Sixty years? That's a bit extreme. I can see dispelling new immigrants if you are a socialized economy and cannot afford them but to allow them to live and work and raise kids and kick them out is terrible indeed.

[Peter1469]

Hungry?

[CAPUSAFcadet23]

Kick them out? Why deny people the chance to live in a free society?

[waltky]

Ethnic tensions lead to massacre in Myanmar...

Myanmar soldiers admit to killing villagers: witnesses
Fri, Aug 12, 2016 - Seven army soldiers on trial for murder have admitted their involvement in the killing of five villagers in northern Shan State, witnesses at an unprecedented court martial said.

In a highly unusual move, the army invited 15 residents from the remote village of Mong Yaw, where the killings took place, to witness the court martial at a nearby military base on Tuesday. Four of them have described the proceedings to reporters. “The judge read the murder case reports and asked for confessions from the soldiers, who admitted they were responsible,” said Sai Kaung Kham, a Mong Yaw villager who has been helping the families attending the military trial. Military representatives contacted in the capital, Naypyitaw, and at the Northeast Command in Lashio did not respond to requests for comment about the trial.

Last month, in a rare public admission of wrongdoing by the still-powerful military, intelligence chief Mya Tun Oo told reporters the army was responsible for killing five men from Mong Yaw and said the culprits would be prosecuted. Witnesses had previously said that soldiers rounded up dozens of men from the village, in an area riven by a long-running ethnic insurgency, on June 25 and led five away. Their bodies were found in a shallow grave a few days later. Both the news conference by one of the nation’s most senior generals and the invitation to villagers to attend the military trial were unprecedented. The army has occasionally acknowledged troops have been at fault in previous incidents, but has usually done so in vaguely worded official statements.

Three officers and three lower-ranking soldiers have admitted murdering the villagers, witnesses present at the court martial said. The seventh serviceman, the highest-ranking of those on trial, said he did not order the soldiers to “kill” the villagers, but to “clear them out.” The soldiers said they had arrested and interrogated five men and found two of them were related to a local ethnic armed group. They said they asked their superiors for further instructions, villager Sai Kaung Kham said.

The low-ranking soldiers then proceeded to kill the villagers, acting on orders, the witnesses at the trial said. “They were worried that if they let the three villagers go back, they would tell others they had been tortured,” the soldiers told the court martial, according to Sai Kaung Kham. Before killing them, the soldiers dressed some of the men in camouflage trousers, Sai Kaung Kham and other witnesses said. It was not clear when the court martial would end. Aye Lu, the wife of Aik Sai who was one of the men killed, said that at the court martial one of the soldiers admitted knifing her husband to death. “I want to see those who killed my husband sent to jail,” she said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worl.../12/2003652980

[waltky]

Myanmar understands how to discourage Muslim immigration...

Mosques, Madrasas to be Razed in Myanmar’s Rakhine State
21 Sept.`16 - A high-level government official in Myanmar’s Rakhine State is set on demolishing hundreds of buildings, including mosques and Islamic religious schools, in the state's Muslim-majority townships of Maungdaw and Buthidaung.

"We are working to bring down the mosques and other buildings constructed without permission in accordance with the law,” Col. Htein Linn, Rakhine’s security and border affairs minister, told local media on Wednesday. One of his staff members told VOA's Burmese Service that Minister Linn, recently appointed by Myanmar's de factor leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is leading a campaign to review and raze an unknown number of structures. Myanmar officials say an estimated 2,270 illegally-built buildings, including nine mosques and 24 Muslim religious schools, are currently standing in Maungdaw, while some 1,056 illegal buildings, including three mosques and 11 madrasas, stand in Buthidaung. Rakhine State, one of Burma's poorest regions, is home to an estimated 125,000 stateless Rohingya Muslims, the majority of whom remain confined to temporary camps following waves of deadly violence in 2012 between Buddhists and Muslims.

In Myanmar, also known as Burma, the long-persecuted ethnic minority is largely viewed as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, though many have lived in the country for generations. Increased freedom of speech since the military stepped back from direct rule in 2011 has allowed for the unleashing of long-held anti-Muslim sentiment. Construction of mosques and religious schools in the region was banned in 1962, when military rule was first established in the country. The apparently sudden decision to implement the ban on religious structures coincides with Aung San Suu Kyi's address to the United Nation's General Assembly, which punctuated her first visit to the United States as state counselor and foreign minister.

A man stands in front of a mosque as it burns in Meikhtila, Myanmar, March 21, 2013. A high-level government official in Myanmar’s Rakhine State is set on demolishing hundreds of buildings, including mosques and Islamic religious schools.

During her visit, President Barack Obama agreed to lift economic sanctions on the Southeast Asian country, citing its “remarkable social and political transformation.” Obama's decision to lift sanctions rankled some human rights activists who say the government has yet to do enough to address the Rohingya's longstanding persecution. Muslim community leader U Aye Lwin, a member of a Rohingya conflict investigatory commission led by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, tells VOA that local Muslims are deeply concerned and have already reached out to other Myanmar officials. “Muslim religious leaders did attempt to meet with the Union Minister for Religious Affairs," he said. "There is freedom of religion according to law, and so religious sites should be in place or should be renovated.”

According to a report by the Democratic Voice of Burma, the plan to destroy the facilities "has led to concern among residents, with Muslim leaders indicating that such moves could create unnecessary tensions between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in the western state." The publication also said Linn confirmed that an upcoming official announcement will include a scheduled timeline for demolition. While visiting with President Obama last week, Aung San Suu Kyi addressed ongoing tensions among Myanmar's 135 ethnic groups, calling her administration especially focused on the situation in Rakhine state, where she said "communal strife is not something we can ignore." According to wire news reports, at least eight people were killed and thousands displaced earlier this week by clashes in southeast Myanmar, where renewed violence is threatening to undercut the new government's push for peace. Fighting also broke out this month between government troops and an ethnic rebel splinter group known as the DKBA in Karen state, near the border with Thailand.

http://www.voanews.com/a/mosques-mad...e/3520279.html

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - tell `em to renounce radical, extremist Islam...

Bangladesh Keeps Border Shut for Myanmar Rohingyas
November 22, 2016 - Ignoring international appeals, Bangladesh is holding to its decision to bar Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing Myanmar by boat after new sectarian violence broke out in the Buddhist-majority country.

As a military lockdown in northwestern Myanmar's Rakhine state stretches into a second month, hundreds of Rohingya people have sought to illegally cross over to neighboring Bangladesh. The United Nations last week said 30,000 people, mostly Muslim Rohingya, have been displaced and rights groups estaimate more than 80 have been killed during the crackdown. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urged Myanmar to take all measures to protect civilians in Rakhine. “We are also appealing to the government of Bangladesh to keep its border with Myanmar open and allow safe passage to any civilians from Myanmar fleeing violence,” UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said in Geneva last week.

Children recycle goods from the ruins of a market which was set on fire at a Rohingya village outside Maugndaw in Rakhine state, Myanmar

However, Bangladesh border guards said they have been ordered bar any Rohingya from entering Bangladesh. “In the past six weeks we have pushed back dozens of Rohingya-laden boats before they could reach Bangladeshi territory. We have been intercepting two or three such boats every day. They all are being sent back toward Myanmar,” Lt Col Abuzar Al Zahid, commanding officer of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in southeastern Bangladesh, told VOA.

Rohingya people pass their time in a damaged shelter in Rohingya IDP camp outside Sittwe, Rakhine state

Still, local people in the Bangladesh border town of Teknaf told VOA that a few hundred Rohingya have managed to sneak across the border. The latest round of tension broke out in Rakhine, where most Rohingya live in Myanmar, after armed men attacked border guard posts and killed nine policemen on October 9.

Army accused of abuses

Blaming the attack on Rohingya militants, the Myanmar army locked down Rohingya villages. Since then, the army has been accused of human rights abuses against the Rohingya, including extrajudicial killings, rapes and arson. During the crackdown the army used helicopter gunships, reportedly leaving dozens of Rohingya killed. Different independent groups have put the death toll at 150 to 300, but there are no means to verify these claims. The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch group said Monday that by using satellite imagery it had identified 1,250 houses or buildings that had been destroyed in Rakhine.

MORE

[waltky]

Uh-oh, what if dey call in dey's buddies from the middle-east?... US Fears Heavy Myanmar Hand Could Radicalize Minority Muslims December 03, 2016 | WASHINGTON — It’s a scene straight out of Myanmar’s dark past: a military offensive waged beyond world view that forces ethnic minority villagers from the smoldering ruins of their homes.

The U.S. government, a key sponsor of Myanmar’s democratic transition, says a security crackdown that has displaced tens of thousands Rohingya Muslims and left an unknown number dead risks radicalizing a downtrodden people and stoking religious tensions in Southeast Asia. The military moved in after armed attacks by unknown assailants on police posts along the border with Bangladesh in October. The attacks in Rakhine State were a possible sign that a small number of Rohingya were starting to fight back against persecution by majority Buddhists who view them as illegal immigrants although many have lived in Myanmar for generations. U.S. urges less violence The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Russel, is critical of the military’s heavy-handed approach and says the escalation of violence risks inciting jihadist extremism in the country also known as Burma. He is also calling on neighboring countries, such as Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia, to resist the urge to stage protests that could further stir religious passions. “If mishandled, Rakhine State could be infected and infested by jihadism, which already plagues neighboring Bangladesh and other countries,” Russel said.

The plight of the Rohingya, once characterized by the U.N. as the world’s most friendless people, has attracted the attention of Muslim extremists since a spike in intercommunal violence in Rakhine in 2012 that left hundreds dead and forced more than 100,000 into squalid camps. The Somali-born student who launched a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University this week reportedly protested on his Facebook page about the killing of minority Muslims in Myanmar. And last weekend, Indonesian authorities arrested two militants who were allegedly planning to attack the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta. It has also raised hackles in the political mainstream. Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak, facing domestic pressure over an investment fund scandal, is reportedly planning to attend a protest in his religiously moderate country this weekend condemning the military operation in Myanmar. Rohingya people fleeing

[MisterVeritis]

Let the Muslims openly, publicly convert from Islam to any westernized religion. Record their conversion and publish their conversion on YouTube. Raze every Mosque, reading room, and so-called Islamic holy place in each western country. Deport every Imam or other Islamist religious leader.

Never let them back into the country.

[waltky]

Muslims stirrin' up the pot in Myanmar...

US: Aid in Myanmar Must Reach Those in Need
September 08, 2017 - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is reminding Myanmar, also known as Burma, that while Washington supports the fight against violence in northwestern Rakhine state, humanitarian aid must reach those in need.

Haley released a statement Friday saying, "We welcome the Burmese government committing humanitarian assistance to all displaced by violence. However, we will continue to urge them to make sure this aid actually reaches those in need, as quickly as possible, and that it is delivered in a manner that protects their rights and dignity," she said. Earlier Friday, the State Department said it is "very focused" on restoring humanitarian assistance to Myanmar's northern Rakhine state and is "very concerned about sustained allegations of abuses" in that area.

Houses are on fire in Gawdu Zara village, northern Rakhine state, Myanmar

Patrick Murphy, deputy assistant secretary of state for Southeast Asia, told reporters by phone Friday that the United States is urging all parties to take steps to calm tensions in the area. He said that since August, "probably well over" 200,000 refugees have crossed over the border into Bangladesh to escape the violence. The U.N. puts the number at over 270,000. He said the number of internally displaced persons — those who have left their homes but not left Myanmar — is unknown. But he said those displaced include members of the Rohingya ethnic group and non-Rohingya in the area. Discussions with the Myanmar government are "ongoing," he said, through the U.S. ambassador to the country.

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi talks during a news conference with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Naypyitaw, Myanmar

On Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters that the United States has "deep concerns" about the situation. She said the State Department is in close contact with Myanmar's government on the situation in Rakhine state. "We are deeply concerned by the troubling situation in Burma's northern Rakhine state," she said. "There has been a significant displacement of local populations following serious allegations of human rights abuses, including mass burnings of Rohingya villages and violence conducted by security forces and also armed civilians. "We again condemn deadly attacks on Burmese security forces, but join the international community in calling on those forces to prevent further violence and protect local populations in ways that are consistent with the rule of law and with full respect for human rights," she continued. "We urge all in Burma, including in the Rakhine state, to avoid actions that exacerbate tensions there."

Shamsun Nahar, 60, a Rohingya widow who fled from Kha Maung Seik village of Myanmar to Bangladesh alone, whose 30-year-old son is missing, tells her story at Kutupalang Makeshift Camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Nauert also said the U.S. welcomes acknowledgement by the Myanmar government of the need to protect all communities, and its pledge to implement recommendations of the advisory commission on the Rakhine state aimed at addressing long-standing challenges that predate the country's democratic transition. Asked if the U.S. has confidence at this point in the desire of the government of Myanmar to protect the Rohingya community, Nauert said the U.S. would certainly like to call on Myanmar to allow better access, both to reporters to enter the country and to humanitarian aid groups to reach those in need.

Fleeing violence

See also:

Rohingya Crisis Viewed as Possible Tool for Extremists
September 08, 2017 - As tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state have escaped across the border to neighboring Bangladesh, analysts warn that the situation could become a lightning rod and a recruiting tool for foreign militants if it remains unaddressed.

"There are a few militant groups active in the region, and they are based in Bangladesh. So far, no concrete evidence has been produced that al-Qaida or Islamic State has a presence in Myanmar, although we saw a sympathy statement on Rohingya by the latter," Hassan Askari, a Pakistan-based South Asia security analyst, told VOA. "But if this chaotic situation continues or gets worse, one cannot reject the possibility of militant groups and terror movements getting active and paving their way into Myanmar," Askari said.

The Rohingya fled following the destruction of their homes and villages, allegedly by extremist Buddhists and the country's security forces. An estimated 270,000 Rohingya have sought refuge in neighboring Bangladesh in the last two weeks, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said Friday. "UNHCR is gravely concerned about the continuing conflict in Myanmar and by reports that civilians have died trying to reach safety," Duniya Aslam Khan, UNHCR spokesperson for Asia and the Pacific, said at a news briefing in Geneva this week. "It is of utmost urgency to address the root causes of the recent surge in violence so that people are no longer compelled to flee and can eventually return home in safety and dignity."

Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against what the demonstrators say are killings of Rohingya people in Myanmar, in Chennai, India

The latest violence began August 25 when Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts and an army base in what they said was an effort to protect their ethnic minority from persecution. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's state counselor and the country's de facto leader, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a two-day visit to Myanmar, have both blamed the Rohingya violence on extremist groups.

Suu Kyi has been under pressure for not speaking up against the violence. When she recently termed the problem as "a huge iceberg of misinformation," it was met with worldwide criticism. Suu Kyi's characterization of a situation that caused throngs of Rohingya Muslims to flee across the border "cannot be true," Imtiaz Ahmed, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University, told VOA.

Fears of extremism