ARU Testimony to US House TLHRC on Rohingya Crisis

ARAKAN ROHINGYA UNION 210 West Hamilton Ave, #320, State College, PA 16801, USA (814)777-4498; [email protected]

Testimony of Wakar Uddin, Ph.D. Director General

Arakan Rohingya Union May 21, 2015

Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Briefing: A People Adrift -‐ Combating Warning Signs of Genocide in Burma

Chairmen McGovern and Pitts, Representatives Crowley, Chabot, and Franks, and members of this commission-‐-‐ Within this testimony, I will present evidence that supports the claim that the Burmese government is committing genocide against the Rohingya people. Under the definition of genocide found in the UN Conventions on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide means “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”1 The persecution of the Rohingya people by the Burmese Buddhist majority and the Burmese government itself falls under numerous elements of this definition, and as such, should be treated as an ongoing genocide. In Burmese Citizenship Law, the Central Body, consisting of the Burmese Minister Chairman Ministry of Home Affairs, the Minister Member Ministry of Defense, and the Minister Member Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have complete autonomy to: “(a) to decide if a person is a citizen, or an associate citizen or a naturalized citizen; (b) to decide upon an application for associate citizenship or naturalized citizenship; (c) to terminate citizenship or associate citizenship or naturalized citizenship; (d) to revoke citizenship or associate citizenship or naturalized citizenship; and (e) to decide upon an application regarding failure as to registration or affirmation.” Further, in section 4, the Burma Citizenship Law states that, “The Council of State may decide whether any ethnic group is national or not.”2 1 United Nations. (1948). Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2202669 2 Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma. (1982). Burma Citizenship Law of 1982. Retrieved from 2 Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma. (1982). Burma Citizenship Law of 1982. Retrieved from http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Citizenship%20Law.htm


Presently, the Burmese government does not recognize the ethnic group of Rohingya people as citizens, and through the aforementioned laws, it does not provide an opportunity to apply for citizenship. Rohingya are therefore classified as stateless Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh on grounds of insufficient evidence asserting their historical ties with the neighboring country. By withholding citizenship, the Burmese government denies the Rohingya not only the recognition and respect offered other peoples living in Burma, but also access to public goods available through citizenship, including security, health, education, and economic opportunity—all of which severely damage the livelihood and opportunity for current and future generations of Rohingya in Burma. It is clear from the Burmese government’s explicit and targeted denial of citizenship—and the public goods associated with legal status in Burma—that the government views the Rohingya as an alien ethnic group living within the borders of the country, specifically in the Rakhine State. There is undeniable evidence that the Burmese government has taken steps to rid its country of this allegedly alien population. In the northern Rakhine townships of Maungdaw and Buthidaung, Rohingya—and only Rohingya—are subject to a two-‐child policy as a method of ‘population control’ supported by politicians on both the state and national level3. This is a clear attempt to limit the size of the Rohingya population and restrict reproductive rights based solely on ethnicity. As the aforementioned UN Convention declares, explicitly imposing measures intended to prevent births within a particular ethnic group is a defining characteristic of genocide. There have also been numerous reports of Burmese doctors treating Rohingya improperly, in some cases leading to their death.4 Furthermore, according to an investigation by the Simon-‐Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, a partner of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, tens of thousands of Rohingya remain in forced internment camps outside the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe, prevented from accessing what might be left of their former homes and jobs. Across the Rakhine State as a whole, it is estimated that over 140,000 Rohingya have been displaced in

3 Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide. (2015). “They Want Us All To Go Away”: Early Warning Signs of Genocide in Burma. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved from http://www.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/20150505-Burma-Report.pdf 4 Htusan, E. (2014, May 8). Lack of health care deadly for Burma’s Rohingya. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/lack-of-health-care-deadly-for-burmas-rohingya/2014/05/08/ac5a9ae8-d6e6-11e3-8a78-8fe50322a72c_story.html


such internment camps5. These camps have been described by UN officials as the most dismal and under-‐served Internationally Displaced Persons camps in the world, and by journalist Nicholas Kristof as “21st Century Concentration Camps.” One UN spokesperson, describing Nget Chaung, a camp that houses 6,000 displaced Rohingya, said, “No-‐one should have to live in the conditions that we see [here].”6 Lacking access to electricity, food, or sufficient medical care, and forced to reside in dilapidated and overcrowded structures, the Rohingya are left to succumb to disease and starvation. Thousands of Rohingya are forced to live in camps such as Nget Chaung “to prevent further clashes and (ensure) their safety,” as Burma’s Minister of Information told CNN in 2014. The deliberate physical and mental harm induced by these conditions will lead to the group’s destruction over time. The discovery of four mass grave sites by Human Rights Watch, two of which were located outside the Ba Du Baw IDP camp, is of particular alarm. On June 14th, 2012, following waves of violence, witnesses report Burmese armed forces digging mass graves along the road to Thackabyin outside the Ba Du Baw IDP camp, just west of Sittwe. The day before, a Burmese government truck was seen dumping 18 naked and half-‐clothed bodies outside the camp, the bodies appearing to have been bound and shot execution style. During the Rakhine Buddhists’ attack on Rohingya in Yan Thei village on October 23, 2012, over 60 Rohingya were killed, an estimated 30 of whom are believed to have been children. Afterward, police and army officials ordered Rohingya villagers to bury the dead in a mass grave instead of individual graves, in the interest of time. One eyewitness reported, “We dug the graves. We buried 11 men, 20 women, and nearly 30 children. At that time the children couldn’t escape with their parents. All the children were killed by the assailants using swords, machetes, and knives, and then they threw them into the fire. They had burns. I brought some of the burned, dead bodies here to bury them. We buried the dead bodies after getting permission from the army. When we were burying the bodies, the security forces were standing nearby.”7 This overt devaluation of human life based on the Rohingya ethnic identity is inexcusable. When considering the magnitude to which the government commits and permits these murders, alongside the utter disregard for traditional Muslim burial rites, the Burmese government is undoubtedly accountable for these human rights violations. 5 U.S. Campaign for Burma. (2014). Rohingya: Ethnic Cleansing. Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://uscampaignforburma.org/about-burma/conflict-and-human-rights/rohingya-ethnic-cleansing.html 6 Hume, T. (2014, October 30). Myanmar Rohingya camps: “Between a hammer and an anvil.” Retrieved May 20, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/29/world/asia/myanmar-rohingya-action-plan/index.html 7 Human Rights Watch. (2013, April 22). All You Can Do is Pray. Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://www.hrw.org/reports/2013/04/22/all-you-can-do-pray


On November 19, 2012, President Obama gave a speech at University of Yangon in Myanmar. He said, “Today, we look at the recent violence in Rakhine State that has caused so much suffering, and we see the danger of continued tensions there. For too long, the people of this state, including ethnic Rakhine, have faced crushing poverty and persecution. But there is no excuse for violence against innocent people. And the Rohingya hold themselves -‐-‐ hold within themselves the same dignity as you do, and I do.”8 This remains true today. The right to religious freedom and the persecution felt by Rohingyas based on ethnic identity has only worsened. Over three years, the “danger of continued tensions” has resulted in what is now clearly defined by the UN Declaration of Human Rights as genocide, and it is time that the international community clearly supports the assertion that what the Burmese government is doing is just that. Thank you.

8 The White House. (2012, November 19). Remarks by President Obama at the University of Yangon. Retrieved May 21, 2015, from https://www.whitehouse.gov/node/185751

ARU Testimony to US House TLHRC on Rohingya Crisis

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