Restless Beings Project:

Stateless Rohingya

Country of origin:	Burma, Arakan
Countries of residence:	Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Malaysia, China, UAE, Saudi Arabia
Total population:	approx 1.5 million in Burma, approx 200,000 in Bangladesh
Language:	Rohingyan, Bengali, Arakanese
Religion:	Islam

Who are the Rohingyas?

The Rohingyas are one of the most persecuted communities in the world. Although, they have been living in the state of Arakan since the 8th century (which is now part of Burma), the Rohingyas have been under extreme scrutiny by the Burmese government. They haven't been recognised as citizens of The Union of Burma since the 1962 coup d'etat by General Ne Win. After decades of oppression and marginalisation, the passing of the 1982 Citizenship Law deemed them officially stateless.

Timeline

8th century: Dated Rohingya ancestry in Arakan
1799: A Comparative Vocabulary of Some of the Languages Spoken in Burma Empire published by Francis Buchanan- The first historical document mentioning the Rooinga or today’s Rohingya.
1947: Constitution of the Union of Burma is proclaimed with some of Burma’s first citizenship laws. The Rohingya vote in the 1st Constituent Assembly Elections.
1948: Independent Union of Burma is created.
1959: Rohingya recognised as race with equal rights, by Prime Minister U Ba Sue.
1962: General Ne Win overthrows U Nu government in a military coup.
1978: Operation Naga Min was launched, Rohingya targeted and massacred; 250,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh
1982: Burma Citizenship Law enacted, no longer recognized Rohingya as citizens; 800,000 Rohingya left stateless
1982 onwards: Rohingya subjected to abuse, forced labour, harassment, rape, arbitrary land seizure, destruction of property
2012: 2 waves of violence erupted between the Rohingya and Rakhine in Arakan, devastating both community resulting in mass killings and torture, 135,000 Rohingya displaced whom now live in IDP camps in the Sittwe township.

WARNING: There are distressing images in the film.

Why are they in trouble?

Human rights abuses against the Rohingya have been entrenched into the social, political and economic systems of Burma or Myanmar for decades. Pushed to the margins of society, they are:

restricted in their movement
required to attain permission to marry from the NaSaKa (Arakan border force)- failure to do so will result in arrest
denied the right to work
denied education
denied freedom to practice their religion and cultural customs

This is simply because the Rohingya- as one of the many ethnic minority groups in Burma, are different in:

race (Rohingya are darker in appearance to the majority Burmese, with different physical and facial features.
their language
their faith (Rohingya community follow religion of Islam)
their traditions and culture

As a result of these difference which many racist claims claim makes them not Burmese, but in fact Bangladeshi, the Rohingya are subjected to living as ‘non- citizens’ in their own homeland.

Situation in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the Rohingyas are faced with hardly any protection from their host country. A burden to the densely populated country, the Rohingyas are living a harsh life in refugee camps, struggling from malnourishment, isolation, illiteracy and neglect. There is one registered camp situated meters away from the unregistered camp where 90,000 refugees live. There is also another camp 15 miles away in Leda Bazaar, where approximately 25,000 Rohingya live.

Similar to the Rohingyas living in Burma, the Rohingya refugees are limited in their movement and often subject to exploitation. In refugee camps, the Rohingya women are victims of sexual violence, children are denied education and there is limited access to health and medical aid. The hostile environment for Rohingyas in Bangladesh urges the refugees in Bangladesh and Burma to seek help in other parts of Asia such as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia; however, these parts are not usually welcoming or like Bangladesh, do not have the resources to house another community. It is Burma's duty to accept the Rohingya as citizens, accept their history and ensure the safe repatriation of each and every single member of the community back into Arakan. Although safer then being persecuted and killed in Burma, the Rohingya community in Bangladesh are a stateless community who want to return to Arakan when it is safe to call it home.

Proposal

Restless Beings aims to champion the rights of the Rohingya community via an international campaign, and work towards encouraging the Burmese government to grant the Rohingya citizenship that is rightly owed to them. We also aim to help facilitate the repatriation of the Rohingya from the IDP camps back to their homes in Arakan and repatriate Rohingya refugees living in host countries back into Burma.

What have we done so far?

Since the launch of our Stateless Rohingya Project, we have been working towards making consistent change to reach our end goal.

In Bangladesh, Leda Bazaar is ‘temporarily’ home to 90,000 Rohingya refugees in the registered camp and another 25,000 in an unregistered camp. In 2009 and 2010 Restless Beings visited these camps and met the Rohingya refugees living in dire conditions. We monitored the lack of access to education and employment and we are continually finding ways in which they can be supported.
Restless Beings had also established relationships with the Rohingya diaspora living in the UK and other countries and learnt about the Rohingya culture, heritage and also about their own personal plight. Through this, we have worked together on many occasions to champion the rights of the Rohingya community .
In 2012, the ethnic strife in Arakan between the Rakhine and Rohingya devastated both communities after two bouts of violence broke out in June and October; Restless Beings responded to this matter in a number of ways with immediate effect from protests and petitions to facilitating updates (photos and footage) to the likes of Channel 4, BBC and Al Jazeera. We had compiled our own report from what we had received from our sources in Arakan.
Protests and Petitions:
- In response to the outbreak of violence in June and outraged by the lack of support from the international community, we had launched our own campaign to voice the Rohingya. We first held a protest outside the Bangladeshi embassy in London and handed in our petition signed and supported by 2462 people.
- During the Olympics a peaceful protest was held to raise awareness for the barbaric human rights abuses and state sponsored ethnic cleansing being inflicted upon the Rohingya communities by the Burmese government.
- After the second wave of violence in October we had launched our second campaign, ‘Global Day of Action’; A petition signed by 11,112 people from all over the globe to urge the UK government to take action and to stop defending the Burmese government for allowing the massacre to continue; this was followed by worldwide simultaneous protests, held on the same day to raise awareness injustice inflicted on the Rohingya.

Our stateless Rohingya project is predominantly about raising awareness of decades long abuse against a community that rightfully deserve citizenship in their own homeland. It is essential that the rights of the Rohingya are recognised internationally and we need your support to continue to ensure that it is. You can read the latest updates from Arakan on our website and also our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

International Pressure Mounts For Suu Kyi's Burma

Friday 25th November saw a wave of protests and political activity which is building pressure on Suu Kyi's Burmese Government to take action and cease state backed violence towards the Rohingya community.

Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand and South Africa all saw large scale protests with anger rising amongst the public at the ongoing human rights violations by the Burma...

Rakhine Militants Trained To Take Arms Against Rohingya

More than 30,000 Rohingya are now homeless and have been made refugees in their own homeland after countless hundreds of homes have been burned and razed by Burmese military over the last two weeks. The refugees are now at critical tipping point as images of whole villages destroyed by the Burmese military were released.

The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK published a report which verifies...

VIDEO: Violence Spreading, Rohingya Lives Worsening

Violence and arson has spread once again today to Kyat Yo Byin (Keyari Para) village, with arson pushing hundreds of Rohingya to flee for security. Military have ramped up their presence and many more casualties have been reported. Amongst them, an 11 year old boy was struck on the head and passed away from the injuries.

Restless Beings are urging supporters to forward the...

VIDEO: Violence and Arson Spread Across Arakan

Hundreds of Rohingya lives are once again threatened in the troubled region of Arakan in Burma, after villages of the persecuted villages were set on fire this morning (Wednesday 12^th October 2016) following trouble on the border with Bangladesh last Sunday.

WARNING: Graphic Images

Troubled flared up once again on Sunday 9^th October when it was reported that 9 Burmese police...

OP-ED: Call Me Rohingya

Almost 200 million people tuned into the dystopian world of Eurovision last Saturday where they spurred on a Ukrainian song called 1944 about the persecution of the Tartar in Crimea under Stalin. To mark up the contrast of the world that we live in, there is a population of just over a million, 1 million, a 0.005% of the viewership of the Eurovision song contest, in Burma who right now, not in...

ROHINGYA BRIEFING: Election Elation

A new era dawns for Myanmar as they elected Htin Kyaw as the country’s first non-military president, since the army took power in a 1962 coup. He, however, dedicated his victory to the leader of the NLP (National League for Democracy) as he addressed the crowd by stating: “This is Aung San Suu Kyi’s victory! I have become President because of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s goodwill and loving kindness”.

Burma's Election Promises Continuation of Abuses Against Ethnic Minorities

In a short few days, Burma will go to the polls for a parliamentary elections that have long been heralded as the symbol of change from despotic leadership to a fledging new democracy. It is widely expected that the NLD (the party of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi) will sweep to victory. But will this change anything for the millions of ethnic minorities that have long championed Suu Kyi as the saviour...

5th Nov 2015 - Public Demonstration Calling For End of Genocide Against Rohingya

PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION CALLING FOR END OF GENOCIDE AGAINST ROHINGYA IN BURMA

Whilst Burma waits and is on the cusp of a general election in early November, the world waits with baited breath to see if life improves for the many ethnic groups of Burma who have faced decades of marginalization. The Rohingya, whom the UN has long claimed to be 'one of the most persecuted...

Saira Viola Interview

With words that beam conviction, she is an acclaimed poet and novelist to whom it seems eloquence comes easily. Not only did Saira Viola pen a special piece for the Rohingya - a community we have worked for extensively, she also lent more of her time to us for an interview in which we discuss everything from her time in Africa, political art and gentrification to her latest crime novel ‘Jukebox’.

Langsa Rohingya Refugee Camp Visits by Restless Beings Directors

In the Langsa area of Aceh province in Indonesia, there are currently three main temporary camps for Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi migrants. Currently the camps are being administered by IOM (International Organisation for Migration).

In Kuala Langsa there are two sections to the camp, one for Rohingya males and one for Bangladeshi migrant males. In total this camp holds 173 people,...

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