Burma

[fatima_43]

I just heard on Al-Jazeera that the Muslims in Burma are not being allowed to receive rice to break their fasts? What kind of oppression is this?? and what are we supposed to do about it??

[thRilNs]

Donations as well as creating international concern by spreading awareness would help. Poverty is also one of the main issues, the below may give some brief background:

http://muslimmatters.org/2008/02/09/...-you-can-help/

Through out the history of Islam in Burma, a country in between Bangladesh, India, China, and Thailand, Muslims have faced constant struggle. Today, the situation is no different, as reports from various sources indicate the oppression and abuse for our lesser-known brothers and sisters continue to come our way.

For those of us unfamiliar with Burma, it is run by military (junta) rule, and is one of the most predominantly Buddhist countries in the world. The Muslims there, for the most part, live in isolated regions in which they have their own culture, customs, languages, and of course, religion.

What the Burmese Muslims are enduring

Muslims, particularly those living in the region Rohingya, have faced much oppression in the past century. According to Amnesty International, “the Rohingya people have continued to suffer human rights violations under the Myanmar junta since 1978, and many have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh as a result.”

Thirty years later, the situation is no different. Voice of America (VOA), the official external radio and television broadcasting service of the United States federal government, recently issued an opinion about the status of oppressed Muslims in the country Burma.

Burma’s Rohingya Muslims continue to suffer at the hands of the military regime. As part of their campaign to Burmanizeâ the Rohingyas, the Burmese government restricts the practice of Islam and pressures the Rohingyas to convert to Buddhism. Burmese authorities sometimes prevent publication and distribution of the Koran and make Rohingya participation in the hajj [pilgrimage to Mecca] difficult. Mosques have been closed or even destroyed by the Burmese regime. Authorities frequently force Muslims to build Buddhist shrines and pagodas....

[Bilal Ibn Rabah]

I just heard on Al-Jazeera that the Muslims in Burma are not being allowed to receive rice to break their fasts? What kind of oppression is this?? and what are we supposed to do about it??

they also dont allow media in there...

[fatima_43]

thrilNs how do we donate if the Buddhists are taking control of the money... may Allah break their hands

[thRilNs]

There are numerous private organizations that invest in infrastructure and development in Burma just for Muslim villages and towns that lack in clean water and immunization and other basic needs, research on google for a charity organization that you think will benefit those who you think need it best. The main problem in Burma at the moment is the widespread poverty and the peoples housing needs being less than adequate (from government neglect).

[muslimaussie]

http://muslimhands.org.uk/our-work/a...r-%28burma%29/

MH began working in Myanmar with partner organisations in 2008, in response to the devastating Cyclone Nargis - the worst natural disaster to have ever hit the country. After the initial push for emergency aid, MH began working with the affected Burmese families, by building strong homes and providing water wells and sanitation for drinking and farming.

With a population of 56 million Myanmar is one of the poorest nations in South East Asia suffering from decades of stagnation, mismanagement and isolation. With very low literacy rates, poor infrastructure and a lack of resources poverty amongst the Burmese remains widespread.

MH continues to work in Myanmar with a variety of projects including food distribution, home construction, digging wells and sponsoring orphans.

[falah]

Amnesty says Rohingya Muslims hit with targeted attacks

Amnesty International says Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar are increasingly being hit with targeted attacks that have included killings, rape and physical abuse.


The group accused security forces and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists of carrying out new attacks against Rohingyas.

Rohingyas denied citizenship by the government because Myanmar considers them illegal settlers from neighboring Bangladesh.

The killing of Muslims started in late May and the clashes spread across much of Myanmar's coastal Rakhine state.

The Myanmar government declared a state of emergency on June 10, deploying troops to quell the unrest and protect both mosques and monasteries.

The worst of the violence subsided late last month, but communal violence has ground on. Amnesty said it is being directed mostly at the Rohingya population.

Attacks over the last six weeks have been “primarily one-sided, with Muslims generally and Rohingyas specifically the targets and victims,” Benjamin Zawacki, a Bangkok-based researcher for Amnesty, told AP.


“Some of this is by the security forces' own hands, some by Rakhine Buddhists with the security forces turning a blind eye in some cases,” he added.

The group also said security forces detained hundreds of Rohingyas who are being held “incommunicado.”

“While the restoration of order, security, and the protection of human rights is necessary, most arrests appear to have been arbitrary and discriminatory, violating the rights to liberty and to freedom from discrimination on grounds of religion,” Amnesty said in a statement.

Myanmar refuses to recognize Rohingyas, who it claims are not natives and classifies as illegal migrants, although Rohingyas are believed to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origin that migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07...-with-attacks/

[sourceoflight]

[Abu Layla]

[falah]

800,000 Rohingya Muslims remain deprived of citizenship

Some 800,000 Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar are deprived of their citizenship rights which have made them vulnerable to acts of violence and persecution, expulsion and displacement.


The Myanmar government has so far refused to lift the stateless Rohingyas in the western state of Rakhine from the citizenship limbo, despite international pressure to give them a legal status.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on October 9 called on Myanmar to allow Rohingya Muslims to become citizens.

Rohingya Muslims have faced torture, neglect and repression in Myanmar since it achieved independence in 1948.


Hundreds of Rohingyas are believed to have been killed and thousands displaced in recent attacks by Buddhist extremists who frequently attack Rohingyas and have set fire to their homes in several villages in the troubled region.

The Myanmar army forces allegedly provided the Buddhists with containers of petrol to set ablaze the houses of Muslim villagers and force them out of their houses.

Myanmar’s government has been accused of failing to protect the Muslim minority.

The government says the only solution to the crisis is to send the one-million-strong community to other countries willing to take them.

Rohingyas are said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origin, who migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued separate statements, calling on Myanmar to take action to protect the Rohingya Muslim population against the extremists.

The United States and the European Union have come under fire for their silence on the ongoing bloodshed.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11...f-citizenship/

[falah]

Muslim School in Rangoon Attacked

Inter-communal violence flared up in a suburb of Rangoon earlier this week as a group of several hundred Buddhists attacked a Muslim school and local businesses, Democratic Voice of Burma reports.

According to witness accounts, several outside Buddhist nationalist instigators—armed with sticks—rallied a crowd on Sunday and Monday to attack a religious school that was under repair at Thaketa Township.

A group of around 300 people raided the school building and local business and hurled stones at local Muslims.

The attack was preceded by rumors that the school would be turned into a mosque, DVB said, adding that local media had carried the unsubstantiated story.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/27463

[falah]

Gillard to reward oppressive murderer of Muslims:


Burmese president to visit Australia

Burmese president Thein Sein is to visit Australia next week, the first time a head of state from the country has visited since 1974.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the president will arrive on Sunday and stay for three days.

Mr Sein will meet with Ms Gillard in Canberra and will be the guest of honour at a state lunch at Government House.

He will also hold talks with Governor-General Quentin Bryce and business leaders.

Ms Gillard says the visit coincides with a period of far-reaching change in Burma, including political reform and social development.

"President Thein Sein's visit is an important opportunity to forge closer ties, including cooperation to support political reform, social development and trade and investment in [Burma]," Ms Gillard's office said in a statement.

Ms Gillard met with Mr Sein in November on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe summit in the Laotian capital Vientiane.

It was the first meeting between the leaders of Australian and Burma in nearly 30 years.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-1...tralia/4565932

[falah]

After being oppressed by buddhists in Burma, they then get to be oppressed by Buddhists in Thailand

Thai military accused of trafficking refugees

There are mounting allegations the Thai military is trading Rohingya refugees from Western Burma to human traffickers.

Last week PM broadcast allegations that Thai military officers shot and killed Rohingya off the Thai coast but there is also continued accusations that Thai officials are involved in selling Rohingya to brokers, who then sell them on as bonded labourers.

The ABC has also discovered that unaccompanied children, who are arriving on the boats and others who have arrived with a parent, have been left alone in shelters while their parents are locked up.
Audio: Listen to Zoe Daniel's report (PM)

Unsupervised in the shelters the children are vulnerable.

Seven children have already disappeared from a shelter and there is concern they may have fallen prey to human traffickers.

It is something that is difficult to police amid continuing accusations that Thai authorities are caught up in the trafficking business.

A man in hiding, who agreed to speak to the ABC, maintains that the Thai navy intercepted the boat he was on and then facilitated a handover to a broker.

"The navy asked if we had food to eat and where we were from," he said. "They said don't tell anyone the Thai navy has seen you."

He says the navy directed the boat to land at Ranong on the Thai coast where it was met by a human trafficker who 'bought' the human cargo.

He explains he was beaten when he tried to escape.

"I was punched and my hands were tied up," he continued. "They burnt me on the back."

While his friends and family raised more than $1,000 to pay the broker for his freedom, he says dozens more remain in the camp.

"They said why don't you give us money, we bought you, why did you try to escape?"

A recent military investigation found no Thai officers were involved in human trafficking.

Fleeing by boat

Unwanted in western Burma, where violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims has seen the Rohingya attacked, they have been forced to flee by boat and are now isolated.

Dozens of women and children at shelters in Thailand are recovering from their arduous journeys and are now isolated.

"Our houses were burnt down, so there are 16 families that came from our village," Rohingya woman Rujambibi told the ABC.

Since the violence flared in Burma's Rakhine state last year, some 5,000 to 6,000 Rohingya have arrived in Thailand.

They have described scenes of fiery terror in the villages they called home as they were burnt out of town.

"When we were on the boat the food finished in two days," said Nulu, who got on a 15-day boat journey with her three children and 110 other people.

"There was raw rice but we couldn't cook it, there was no water."

Incredibly, Nulu gave birth to her fourth child on the boat; an already stateless boy, born in transit.

But at least her son has his mother; 10-year-old Anamuddin fled to the boat alone after his house was burnt and his mother and six siblings were killed.

"Rakhine people slashed her," he said. "Shot her and burnt the house."

Anamuddin says he took a boat in the hope of finding his father who left to find work in Malaysia five years ago.

"I went just like that," he continued. "I just followed others. I didn't have my mother or anyone left."

Eleven-year-old Marmoth, who lost his mother during the violence, is also looking for his dad who has been taken into detention by Thai authorities. He and his younger brother are alone.

Meanwhile, there is now concern for the safety of four Rohingya men who told the ABC last week that Thai officers had fired on refugees off the country's coast, and killed two of them.

Villagers who were sheltering the men say they went to the local mosque to watch television on Sunday night and have not been seen since.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-1...fugees/4566234

[falah]

Message here: 'kill some Muslims get some money'?

Australia boosts Myanmar aid, eases restrictions



Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a new $20 million commitment as part of the Australia's aid program for Myanmar.

The announcement came after Ms Gillard held talks with the President of Myanmar, Thein Sein, who is on a three day visit to Australia.

Ms Gillard says the extra aid funding will strengthen democratic institutions, deliver human rights training, improve economic governance and promote the rule of law.

"This program will be tailored to help meet priorities identified by the Government of Myanmar," he said.

"Initial activities will focus on helping develop the mining sector in a way that is equitable and environmentally sustainable and that maximises benefits for the people."

Australia has agreed to ease some of the restrictions on defence cooperation between the two nations and will post a resident defence attaché to Myanmar, but an arms embargo will remain.

Ms Gillard says Australia's commitment recognises the reforms already undertaken by the Myanmar Government.

"[It] recognises the unprecedented process of change underway there towards political freedom and the new opportunity this brings to help promote the prosperity of Myanmar and its people," she said.

"It also recognises President Thein Sein's leadership in driving these critical reforms."

President Thein Sein says he's thankful for all Australia has done to help his people, and relations are entering a special phase.

"My visit to Australia is one that I have looked forward to for a very long time," he said.

"This is because I know that Australia and Myanmar are destined to be good partners and more importantly the people of Myanmar and Australia are destined to be good friends."

Thein Sein says he's proud to be the first head of state to visit Australia from Myanmar since 1974.

"I hope that you appreciate that what we are undertaking has no equal in modern times," he said.

"This is not just a simple transition... but a transition from military rule to democratic rule."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-1...anmar-/4579200