Arakan Watch
May 15, 2017
The Burmese government has been always in relentless
effort to erase the very name of Rohingya from the soil of Arakan. For the
purpose, it has been carrying out campaigns of ethnic cleansing and
resettlement of Buddhist Maghs in Arakan from neighboring Banglaedsh time to
time.
The ‘clearance operation’ that is being carried out from
October 2016 has been another illustration for ethnic cleansing of Rohingas.
More than 5000 Buddist Magh families from Bangladesh infiltrated into Arakan
state of Burma while the Burmese government with the help of the local
administration and extremist Buddhist monk are resettling these intruders in
the forcefully evacuated lands of Rohingya Muslims who were displaced from the
land of their fore-fathers.
The resettled Buddhist Magh families who infiltrated from
nearby Bangladesh have been accused of having Dual Citizenship in both
countries. They were relocated to the area from where the Rohingya were driven
out and shaped to rename the village as model village in the name of NaTaLa
Rakhine villages.
These Buddhist resettlers were fully settled earlier in
different areas of Chowdhuri Para, Teknaf, Nhila, Kharangkhali, Ramu, Cox’s
Bazar Naikkhongchori, Jumchori, Lama,
Bandarban, Alikodom and some other from Rangamati Hill tracts area of
Bangladesh.These settlers have citizenship in Bangladesh and enjoying all the
citizens right there. But due to poverty and shortage of earnings they
infiltrated to Arakan with the hope of having better life and prosperity that
the Buddhist government in Burma has already assured them to provide with.
 |
| Bangladeshi Rakhine settlers arriving in Maungdaw township-File photo |
Resettlement of Bangladeshi Buddhist began in the period
of Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP) when it ruled the country in General Ne
Win from 1962. This resettlement increased manifold when Bomo Kyaw Maung became
chief of BSPP in Arakan state. General Khin Nyunt carried out the incomplete
task of resettling infiltrated Buddhist Maghs in Rohingya’s land after 1990s.
According to Rakhine communities, about half million Bangladeshi Rakhine
Buddhist have been resettled in Arakan state. Most of them were alleged of
having dual citizenship in both countries. Many politicians and officers in
Northern Arakan are found to have origin from Hill-tracts of Bangladesh,too. If
impartial investigation carried out in Burma by international fact-finding
body, it can be easily found that a significant numbers of government service
holders and political leaders who are working in Arakan state possess dual
citizenship.
Thousands of Rakhines were intruded into Arakan State after
the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 as they thought unsafe to live further
in Bangladesh. Since then, thousands of Rakhines and its tribes such as Marma
and Maghs were being intruded into Arakan. According Bangladeshi usage Rakhine,
Marma and Maghs are not same but in Burma the term Rakhines is used to call all
these tribes depending on similarity of languages. All three tribes are using
almost same language and same religion but Rakhines are classic and two others
are low class according to Bangladesh hill side usage.
There are about 70 Rekhaine villages resettled throughout
Arakan State since General Khin Nyunt’s resettlement program, mostly in Mayu
region where 40 large Rekhine villages, 18 NASAKA big camps have been
established. On the other hand there are small Rakhine Buddhist villages beside
each camp. The NASAKA- the border force were empowered to the ethnic cleansing
of Rohingya community. This force later has been changed to Border Guard Police
(BGP) with the same peoples and same policy of Rohingya cleansing program.
There are several evidence of arresting the Buddhist
Maghs with arms and ammunitions crossing the border of Bangladesh to Rakhine
State of Myanmar, the last occurred in October last year. Since 2012,
government back ongoing genocide, increased day by day. Before allocating those
Buddhist Maghs in Arakan, the lobbyists, mostly Buddhist monks, were assured to
provide with the vast farming lands, houses, cattle, business or jobs,
citizenship and cash money to the settlers. But now a days, the Myanmar
Military back government and Anti-Rohingya gang are apparently reluctant enough
to keep the given promise to those Buddhist Maghs.
Due to riots, the resettled Maghs were likely to be
confined in their houses even they have nothing to do except going to cut wood
from the forests or fishing from the rivers. So, some of those innocent Maghs
have been backed to their native villages into Bangladesh and most of them are
suffering in Arakan state. They are exposing themselves in social media and
compelled to unmask the facade of Buddhist monks and their masters. The
tripartite hidden policy of Wirathu, Min Aung Hlaing and Suu Kyi’s government
is now crystal clear to the locals and the international observers
According to retired government service holder the
Burmese government’s long term plans are:
1-To kill Rohingyas,
2-If remained, to drive out illegally,
3- The remaining’s are to keep confined in the camps,
4-To deport to 3rd country by the assistance of UNHCR,
and
5-Final stage is to keep the Rohingya as the slave in
their ancestral motherland Arakan.
The Rohingya researchers, rights activists and analyst
feared that if this slow genocide goes unabated, Rohingya community might face to
total annihilations within a few decades. They demand immediate blockage of
this governments designed resettlement and rehabilitate all Rohingyas in their
original place who were displaced during different operations.