By Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian

Friday, February 24, 2012

News Analysis

PHUKET: A compact between Thailand and neighboring countries is keeping treatment of Rohingya boatpeople secret as details are emerging of their continued imprisonment in India, on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

About 400 boatpeople remain in detention on the isolated islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean more than three years on from Thailand's notorious ''pushbacks,'' says a new investigation.

''Abandoned by both Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh, their fate hangs in balance, with an indecisive government policy and the sluggish pace of repatriation,'' writes journalist Zubair Ahmed in the 'Light of Andamans' online magazine.

Fishermen from Thailand, Burma and Bangladesh caught off the Andaman and Nicobar islands will be repatriated, a local police officer said. But the Rohingya are stateless so nobody wants them back, and there is nowhere for them to go.

President Obama Urged to Take Action on Burma by 22 Human Rights Organizations and One Individual in the United States

For Immediate Press Release

July 7, 2011

Media Contact: Jennifer Quigley at (202) 234 8022

(Washington, DC, July 7, 2011) The U. S. Campaign for Burma (USCB), 21 other respected human rights organizations and one individual in the United States today strongly urged U.S. President Obama to take action on Burma by implementing banking sanctions against the regime and their cronies, and by leading the push for a UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes humanity in Burma. USCB is a Washington, DC-based human rights organization campaigning to end crimes against humanity and the culture of impunity in the Southeast Asian country of Burma

This joint pressure regarding the Obama administration’s policy on Burma is an exceptional example of the necessity for increased action against Burma’s military regime. Organizations that signed on to the letter include: American Center for International Labor Solidarity, AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, American Jewish World Service, The Carter Center, Citizens for Global Solutions, Democracy Coalition Project, Enough Project, Feminist Majority Foundation, Foreign Policy Initiative, Freedom House, Genocide Intervention Network/Save Darfur Coalition, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Institute for Asian Democracy, Open Society Foundations, Orion Strategies, Perseus Strategies, Physicians for Human Rights, Project 2049 Institute, The Burma Fund-UN Office, the U.S. Campaign for Burma and Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Ms. Nancy Soderberg, who signed on the letter with her personal capacity.

The group stated in the letter to President Obama, “The Burmese government has given your administration no reason to believe that more diplomacy, absent greater internal and external pressure, will persuade it to change course. The time has come for the United States to use the levers of pressure at its disposal, and implement in full the banking sanctions authorized in the JADE ACT. The United States should also mobilize support for a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma, recommended by UN Special Rapporteur Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana and supported by Burma’s democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.”

Final Resolution on Rohingya of Arakan , Burma (Myanmar) at The Thirty-eighth Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (Session of Peace, Cooperation and Development), held in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan, from 26 to 28 Rajab 1432H, (28 - 30 June 2011),

RESOLUTION No. 4/38-MM

THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY IN MYANMAR

The Thirty-eighth Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (Session of Peace, Cooperation and Development), held in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan, from 26 to 28 Rajab 1432H, (28 - 30 June 2011),

Reaffirming Resolution No. 4/11-MM (IS) adopted by the 11th Islamic Summit Conference held in Dakar, Republic of Senegal, in March 2008; and Resolution No. 4/37 adopted by the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), Having considered the Report of the Secretary-General on the Muslim Community in Myanmar, Document No. OIC/CFM-38/2011/MM/SG.REPS,

1. Calls upon the Government of Myanmar to put an end the operations of displacement, expulsion, and exile of Arakan Muslims and to the continued attempts to eradicate their Islamic culture and identity, and urges government authorities to respect the texts of international legitimacy on human rights;

2. Calls on Member States to continue their efforts in conjunction with those of the international community and the United Nations in order to ensure the return of all Myanmar refugees displaced from their homes, particularly the Muslims of the Arakan region of Myanmar;

3. Expresses deep concern over the continued monumental violation of the rights of Rohingya Muslims in the Arakan region of the Republic of Myanmar, and requests the Secretary General to continue his efforts to end these practices in coordination with the international community together with international and regional organizations, and to continue those efforts in the context of dialogue, reconciliation and coordination among Islamic organizations in Myanmar;

4. Commends the efforts of the Secretary General which resulted in the formationof a United Rohingya Representatives abroad at the General Secretariat on 31st May, 2011 in implementation of paragraph 4 of Resolution No. 4/37-MM, with a view to coordinating amongst themselves to find a political solutions to their problems, achieve peaceful co-existence, democracy and human rights and calls on the Secretary General to continue his efforts to regain their rights in full.

5. Requests the Secretary-General to contact the Government of Myanmar to urge the latter to receive an OIC Mission to visit Myanmar in order to examine the conditions of Muslims there and persuade the Government of Myanmar to create conducive conditions for Arakan Muslims to return to their home and to report thereon to the next CFM;

6. Calls on the Member States to continue to extend all possible forms of support and assistance to Myanmar Muslims and particularly to those among them living as refugees outside their homeland;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to follow up the implementation of this resolution and report thereon to the Thirty-ninth session of the Council of Foreign Ministers.

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MM-R-38-CFM –FINAL

OIC/Myanmar-Rohingya: a Convention of Senior Rohingya Leaders

JEDDAH, 29 Jumada 2/June 1 (IINA)-The headquarters of the Organisationn of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Jeddah, hosted a convention of the Senior Rohingya Leaders in order to bring peace, prosperity, and hope for the future to the Rohingya people.

·         Based on resolution No. 4/37- MM, operative paragraph No.4, issued by the 37^th CFM session, which urged the Rohingya parties to cooperate and unite their ranks under a united coordination council and calls on them to continue their efforts to reclaim their rights. “Commends the efforts of the Secretary General aimed at coordinating the work of the Rohingya Muslim organizations and uniting their ranks under a united coordination council and calls on him to continue these efforts to reclaim their rights;”

·         With reference to the MoU signed by the Senior Rohingya Leaders on June 8^th-9^th, 2010 under the patronage of H.E the Secretary General of OIC Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, an expanded Convention was jointly convened by OIC and EBO with the participation of Eminent Rohingya Leaders on 30^th -31^st May, 2011. The ARU appeals to the OIC Secretary General to recognize the ARU as an independent organization representing the Rohingya people.

·         Mr. Talal Daous, the Director of the Muslim Minorities and Communities Department represented the OIC Secretary General Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu and Mr. Harn Yawnghwe represented the Euro-Burma Office in this Convention which was held at the Headquarters of the OIC General Secretariat. Participants agreed on the following: