U.N. chief urges careful handling of Myanmar Rohingyas issue

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS | Sat Sep 29, 2012 12:56pm EDT

(Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world's largest Islamic body on Saturday to "treat carefully" the issue of the stateless Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar because it could affect the reform process underway in the country, also known as Burma.
Over the past year, Myanmar has introduced the most sweeping reforms in the former British colony since a 1962 military coup. A semi-civilian government, stacked with former generals, has allowed elections, eased rules on protests and freed dissidents.
But an outbreak of violence in June between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and the Rohingyas killed 80 people and displaced thousands. At least 800,000 Rohingyas are not recognized as one of the country's many ethnic and religious groups.
Rights groups accused Myanmar security forces of killing, raping and arresting Rohingyas after the riots. Myanmar has said it exercised "maximum restraint" in quelling the riots.
Ban discussed the issue in separate meeting with Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and Myanmar President Thein Sein on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly of world leaders.
During his meeting with Ihsanoglu, Ban "indicated the importance of the situation in Rakhine being treated carefully because of the potential wider implications of the Rakhine issue on the overall reform process in Myanmar," his spokesman said.
An OIC committee set up to deal with the Rohingya issue met for the first time in New York this week and called for them to be given rights as citizens in Myanmar. Ihsanoglu said he wanted to visit Myanmar when the government was ready to "to remedy the fundamental rights issues of the Rohingya Muslims."
Myanmar's president is in a tight spot. Concessions towards the Rohingyas could prove unpopular among the general public, but perceived ill-treatment risks angering Western countries that have eased sanctions in response to human rights reforms.
Thein Sein said in June the government was only responsible for third-generation Rohingyas whose families had arrived before independence in 1948 and that it was impossible to accept those who had "illegally entered" Myanmar.
Ban and Thein Sein "discussed the recent outbreak of violence in Rakhine state and the immediate and long-term perspectives to promote inter-communal harmony and address the root causes of the tension there, including developmental efforts," Ban's spokesman said in a statement.
"The President confirmed the country would address the long-term ramifications of this question," the spokesman said.
Last week Aung Min, a minister in President Thein Sein's office and the government's top negotiator in peace talks with at least 10 ethnic minority rebel groups, said the government had set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the violence between the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingyas.
The commission would look at how further violence could be prevented, which includes examining the status of the ethnic minorities, he said. It is due to report on due November 16.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Buddhist temples, homes burned, looted in Ramu
Sun, Sep 30th, 2012 4:26 am BdST

Cox's Bazaar, Sept 30 (bdnews24.com)—A mob torched and vandalised a village of Buddhists in Cox's Bazaar's Ramu Upazila early on Sunday in one of the worst religious attacks in Bangladesh apparently triggered by a Facebook posting allegedly defaming the Quran. 

Eyewitnesses and police said the assailants set fire to at least six Buddhist temples and nearly 20 homes and looted and damaged more than a hundred others until 3am in the hate attack.

Cox's Bazaar district's Superintendent of Police Selim Mohammed Jahangir acknowledged the violence in the Buddhist-dominated locality. He said around 3am situation in the Ramu district headquarters was under control but in areas on the fringe, tension was palpable.

"Police patrols have been strengthened in the Buddhist-majority areas," SP Jahangir added. 

Paramilitary BGB personnel have been called out to restore order in the affected areas, Suresh Barua, teacher at a local school, said.

Several houses and Mithhachharhi Bonbihar, some five kilometres from Ramu Sadar Upazila, were set on fire around 3:30am, said General Secretary of Ramu Upazila Juba League Nitish Barua. 



A 100-foot high under-construction Buddha sculpture was also ravaged in Bimukti Bidarshan Babna Centre in the locality, he added. 

Gias Uddin Ziku, Office Secretary of Cox's Bazaar district unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and Chairman of Jhilangja Union, said he dispersed Jamaat-e-Islami activists who had gathered around localities of ethnic minorities. He also said he had informed the police of the incident.

Local people said followers of an Islamist party led by several leaders took out a procession around 10pm on Saturday alleging that a photo was uploaded on the Facebook to defame the holy book. 

At a subsequent rally, they claimed a youth by the name of Uttam Barua had pasted the purportedly offensive photo in the social networking website and demanded his arrest.

Another militant procession was taken out that marched down towards the Barua Parha around 11:30pm and some youths from the procession set some homes of the Buddhists on fire. 

From then on, 15 homes, three temples including 'Saada Ching' and 'Laal Ching' were burned to the ground, Dipak Barua, a local, said.

Police, local administration officials and public representatives were trying to quell the arson and destruction that continued at least until 1:30am. 

A local journalist, who was hiding with family in the neighbourhood that came under attack, told bdnews24.com the Cheranghata Barakyang Temple close to his home was set alight. He said the flames died out around 2:45am.

Also, Ramu Maitree Bihar, Saada Chinglaal, Ramy Sina Bihar and Jadiparha Bouddha Bihar were torched, ransacked and looted. 

At least 10 Buddhist villages were attacked and Purbo Merongloa locality that had around 20 houses was burned.

Chairman of Ramu Upazila Council Sohel Sarwar Kajal said efforts were on to quell the tension. 

Several Facebook users, meanwhile, said Uttam Barua, the Ramu youth being accused of Quran defamation, did not post the photo deemed to be offensive to Islam. They said Uttam was tagged in the photo from a Facebook ID called 'Insult Allah' and so he was in no way responsible.

Recently, there was much hullabaloo was created after Rohingya Muslims tried to cross the border into Bangladesh fleeing the religious riot in Myanmar's Buddhist-majority Rakhine state. A section of the civil society in Bangladesh reacted to the government refusing the refugees entry. The government believes communal forces were behind this incident. 

bdnews24.com/corr/mhp/bd/0430h