‘Hoe gaat het nu in Birma?’ is een vraag die ik vaak hoor. Nieuws over Birma blijft toch gebrekkig. Je hoort er weinig over, en als er wel iets over Birma in de krant staat, dan gaat het meestal over politiek. Maar hoe gaat het nu met de mensen in Birma? Dat verschilt per regio. In centraal Birma gaat het redelijk. In de gebieden Arakan, Kachin, Shan en Karen state een stuk minder. Continue reading Mensenrechten in Birma
Tag Archives: Rohingya
Verkiezingen in Birma – Rohingya
Op 8 november zijn de eerste democratische verkiezingen in Birma. Althans, volgens de Birmese overheid. Maar zijn deze verkiezingen wel helemaal democratisch? Want bijna één miljoen inwoners mogen niet stemmen. Dat zijn de Rohingya, een moslim minderheid uit westelijk Birma. Zij zagen zelfs Rohingya parlementsleden de afgelopen weken van de kieslijsten verdwijnen. De Rohingya wonen verplicht in tentenkampen, met bewaking, zonder voorzieningen. Continue reading Verkiezingen in Birma – Rohingya
Aung San Suu Kyi keert Rohingya de rug toe
De Boeddhistische leider de Dalai Lama heeft vandaag een oproep gedaan aan de Birmese oppositie leider Aung San Suu Kyi om méér te doen voor de Rohingya. Continue reading Aung San Suu Kyi keert Rohingya de rug toe
Questions about Burma to the Dutch Foreign Secretary Mr. Timmermans
On May 15th member of Parliament Désirée Bonis (PvdA) will ask the Dutch Foreign Secretary Mr. Timmermans, about the ongoing violations of human rights in Burma. Mrs. Bonis will raise this issue following an email from Human Rights Media. Continue reading Questions about Burma to the Dutch Foreign Secretary Mr. Timmermans
Vragen over Birma aan minister Timmermans
Op 15 mei zal het PvdA kamerlid Désirée Bonis de voortdurende schendingen van mensenrechten in Birma ter sprake brengen bij minister Timmermans van Buitenlandse Zaken, tijdens het algemene overleg over Godsdienstvrijheid. Dat doet zij naar aanleiding van een email van Human Rights Media, over het recente geweld in Birma tegen moslims. Continue reading Vragen over Birma aan minister Timmermans
The Rohingya need camera’s!
The Rohingya people in Burma urgently need your help! They face severe violence against them, which is about to explode. The Rohingya desperately need food, water and protection. But in this tense situation, they also need camera’s, to raise their voices! You can help! Continue reading The Rohingya need camera’s!
The Rohingyas in Burma – in 7 minutes
You have read about the Rohingya in Burma, and you want to know what is going on?
Read this 7 minutes report. Continue reading The Rohingyas in Burma – in 7 minutes
Burma ‘blacklists’ Rohingya children
While Burma’s new government has made important steps on the road to democracy, the situation of the Rohingya shows that there is still some way to go. The human rights organisation IRIN has presented a report on state discrimination against Muslim babies in Burma to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Banning children
This report reveals a discriminatory policy against the Rohingya ethnic group in Arakan State in west Burma. This includes banning Rohingya children born out of wedlock from obtaining travel permits, attending school and, in the future, marrying.
Two child policy for Rohingya
Also a strict two-child policy for the Rohingya (and only the Rohingya) is still in place in Burma, and the same treatment detailed above applies to children born above that limit. The IRIN report says that families with unregistered children face constant threat of arrest. Only with “unending extortion” by government authorities they can keep their children safe. Around 44,000 Rohingya children are unregistered and have to live a fearful life.
Massive operations
As all human rights violations against the ethnic minorities in Burma are underreported, the situation of the Rohingya hardly seems to exist. The Burma government has launched several massive operations against the Rohingya over the last decades, of which the 1991 operation had the discriminatory name ‘Operation Clean and Beautiful Nation’.
Rohingyas denied
The Rohingya are until today simply denied by the Burmese government. Since the military junta came into power in 1962, the Rohingyas were officially declared foreigners in their one native land. In 1982, with the passage of the junta’s Citizenship Law, they effectively ceased to exist legally. Thousands of Rohingya nowadays live as refugees in Bangladesh, in very difficult circumstances.
If you want to read more about the situation of the Rohingya, please read further on UNHCR