H.E. MR. ANTONIO GUTERRES
Secretary General of The United Nations
United Nations Headquarters, 405 East, 42nd Street New York,
Ny 10017, United States of America USA
H.E. MR. VOLKER TURK
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais Wilson ,52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland.
10, JUN 2024
DEAR HIS EXCELLENCY,
MERHROM URGE THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL, THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, SUPER POWER COUNTRIES, OIC, EU AND ASEAN TO SEND A UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE TO TROUBLED AREAS TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THE POPULATION IN MYANMAR AND TO IMMEDIATELY END GENOCIDAL ATTACKS AGAINST THE REMAINING MINORITY ROHINGYA IN BUTHIDAUNG AND MAUNGDAW TOWNSHIP.
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization in Malaysia (MERHROM) urges the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), super power countries, European Union (EU), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the international community and ASEAN to immediately take appropriate measures to end genocidal attacks against the remaining minority Rohingya in Buthidaung Township.
MERHROM urged the United Nations and ASEAN to hold urgent meetings to deploy humanitarian aid to Rohingya in Buthidaung and Maungdaw. We cannot imagine how they survive without food, water, treatment and shelter especially women and children.
We would like to remind that the impact of massive genocidal attacks against the Rohingya in 2012, 2016 and 2017 are permanent until now. The Rohingya in Sittwe continue their live imprisonment in IDP camps since 2012. Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh continue living in dire refugee camps without basic needs and without security and safety which forced them to flee again. The Rohingya genocide survivors died silently in refugee camps and in the ocean while saving their life. Uncounted numbers died in the hands of human traffickers. Where else the Rohingya should seek safety?
The recent genocidal attack against the Rohingya in Buthidaung Township by the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) caused uncounted deaths of Rohingya and thousands of Rohingya suffered severe injuries. The AA forced the Rohingya in Buthidaung Township out of their village and held them under their control to date. We do not know what AA plans for the stranded Rohingya. Family members were separated and without shelter, food, water and treatment. Though AA denied they conducted attacks against the Rohingya, testimonies of thousands of Rohingya affected by the recent AA attack reveal the truth.
According to the Press Briefing Notes of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 24 May 2024, “Testimonies, satellite images, and online videos and pictures indicate that Buthidaung town has been largely burned. We have received information indicating that the burning started on 17 May, two days after the military had retreated from the town and the Arakan Army claimed to have taken full control. Our Office is corroborating information received about who is responsible”.
We must emphasize that regardless of who is responsible for the recent attack, we have enough evidence that both the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) committed genocidal attacks against the Rohingya for many years. Both must be held accountable for committing genocide against the Rohingya. Both also did not accept the Rohingya as one of the ethnic in Myanmar. This puts Rohingya lives at constant risk and danger.
What is actually going on between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army which sacrifice the lives of Rohingya the most. Why did the Rohingya become the target by both parties during their war? Obviously, both the military and AA purposely expelled the Rohingya to leave their homeland. Where will they go? Living in dire situations as internally displaced persons without food, water and basic needs will force them to die soon. We are talking about more than 260,000 Rohingya who were affected by the attacks. We are worried as the rainy season is approaching soon in June. What will be the fate of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya without shelter, food, water, treatment and other basic needs?
Recognizing that AA has taken over Buthidaung Township since 19 May 2024, the United Nations, ASEAN, Human rights organization and the international community must closely monitor and thoroughly document the situation in Rakhine State for immediate intervention.
This is not conflict nor violence. This is not atrocities or ethnic cleansing but it is obviously Genocide. We urge everyone to use the correct terminology and help us to end the genocide. Both the Myanmar Military and Arakan Army committed Genocide against Rohingya and must be held accountable. We have received information from the Rohingya in Rakhine State from time to time on the situation on the ground including who is attacking them.
Thousands of Rohingya from Buthidaung Township are trying to flee to Bangladesh. While crossing a hill to Maungdaw Township. However, they were blocked by the Arakan Army (AA). We are worried as they are stranded without food, water, shelter, treatment and safety. The Arakan Army confiscated Rohingya belongings including mobile phones, gold and money on top of the killing and burning houses and other properties. We urge UN and ASEAN to invervene fast to save the lives of Rohingya genocide survivors. Delayed action only sacrifices more Rohingya lives including women and children.
The truth is that the Rohingya are targeted by both the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army. We have much evidence on how the Myanmar military and Arakan Army persecuted the Rohingya villagers constantly. This situation has forced the Rohingya to flee the country to seek refuge. Both the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army forced the Rohingya villagers to leave their villages as they wanted to fight each other. The truth is that the fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army is a genocidal strategy by the military as more Rohingya were killed compared to the fighting parties.
The ethnic minority Rohingya has suffered ongoing long decades of Genocide in the hands of the Myanmar military. The United Nations has declared the Rohingya as the most prosecuted ethnic in the world but until now we cannot get justice and the Genocide continues. Our suffering and vulnerabilities increase day by day while waiting for justice.
MERHROM again to appeal to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), World leaders, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) European Union (EU), The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), International community, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Civil Society Organizations around the world and World citizens to stop genocide and atrocities in Myanmar.
Myanmar junta carried out an air bombardment over Rohingya village in Minbya Township on 18th March 2024, about 25 ethnic Rohingya were killed and 60 of Rohingya villagers injured. We feel we have been ignored. The genocide is still ongoing, without any sign it will end. MERHROM, stand with all the Rohingya who lost family members and everything they owned. On 15th March 2024, Rohingya villagers were forced to become Myanmar military to fight with Arakan Army (AA), About 100 Rohingya were killed during the fight as the military forced the Rohingya to be human shields.
MERHROM appeal to the United Nations (UN) to take appropriate measures following the continued genocidal attacks against the Rohingya minority. We regret the genocidal attack against the Rohingya continued during the holy month of Qurban. The delayed actions by the United Nations and international community will only worsen the situation in Myanmar and definitely increase the number of refugees and internally displaced persons and definitely have a tremendous impact on regional security and stability.
MERHROM appeal to the United Nations to send a UN peacekeeping force to the troubled areas first to ensure the safety of the population. Currently, genocide against Rohingya is ongoing. On top of that, the fight between Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar Military is still ongoing in Arakan State which resulted in the constant death of Rohingyas. Therefore, we call upon the United Nations to timely intervene to stop the ongoing genocide and gross human rights violations to the people of Myanmar and to restore rule of law, genuine democracy and human rights.
We are very much frustrated to see the United Nations as the most mandated body in the world fail to stop the genocide against minority Rohingya in Myanmar. We hope for the super power countries to use their influence to increase action to Myanmar military to stop the genocide against ethnic Rohingya and people of Myanmar but our lives do not matter to them.
We urge all Myanmar military Generals to be prosecuted for genocide against the ethnic Rohingya. The International Criminal Court (ICC) and The International Court of Justice (ICJ) process must be speed up to stop the ongoing genocide and to protect the ethnic Rohingya in Myanmar. If we cannot stop the Rohingya genocide today, next we will celebrate the 100 years of Rohingya genocide.
The timely interventions and international support to the people of Myanmar is very crucial at this time and the delayed actions definitely sacrifices more lives than ever. The military must be made accountable for the Genocide and atrocities without further delay. The ICJ and ICC process must be ongoing in whatever situation in order to deliver justice to the victims of Genocide and the people of Myanmar.
The UN Security Council (UNSC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), has already been failing in its obligation to address the issue of the Burmese military ignoring the provisional measures to prevent ongoing genocide of the Rohingya, which were ordered by the International Court of Justice.
The International Court of Justice, known as the UN court, set out provisional measures in the Gambia V. Myanmar case on Burma’s breaches of the genocide convention, in January 2020. UN Security Council members, and the penholder on Burma at the UN Security Council, the UK, have once again failed to learn lessons from past mistakes. Failing to act on violations of international law perpetrated against the Rohingya creates a sense of impunity and encourages an escalation of abuses. We are witnessing a repeat of this mistake happening in Rakhine State now.
The United Nations and the superpower countries must work towards ending the war, conflict and genocide around the world rather than looking for more resources to cope with the increased numbers of refugees. Save innocent people of Myanmar.
ASEAN must protect ASEAN community from ongoing genocide and atrocities in Myanmar. ASEAN cannot ⁷failed the people of Myanmar again and again.6 We need your intervention to save our lives. The current situation in Myanmar worsening with ongoing killings, rape, torture and arrest by Myanmar junta.
How do we define the future of the ASEAN when millions of the ASEAN community have lost their future due to ongoing genocide and persecutions? The ASEAN must deal with the situation in Myanmar due to its huge impacts on the ASEAN member states. While the ASEAN practices the non-interference policy, ASEAN must intervene when the internal issues impact the ASEAN member states. ASEAN must intervene timely and strategically to resolve the Myanmar issues as there is no sign that Myanmar will return to normalcy.
Recognizing ASEAN is committed to the purposes and principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter, including adherence to the rule of law, good governance, the principles of democracy and constitutional government, respect for fundamental freedoms, and the promotion and protection of human rights, we hope there will be future for us and the rest of ASEAN community. As much as ASEAN and the International community wants the Rohingya to return to Myanmar, the root cause of our problem must be⁶ resolved.
The Rohingya Genocide must end and we must be granted citizenship to allow us to return home in a voluntary, safe and dignified manner. The Rohingya cannot live indefinitely in IDP camps, refugee camps or in exile. This is a gross human rights violation and unacceptable.
We request that around the world, we must stop Xenophobia, Islamophobia and hate speech that only puts people’s lives at risk and becomes danger. Immediate measures and long-term strategies must be drafted to stop abuses and human rights violations. As the most persecuted ethnic group in the world, we call upon United Nations including USA, UK, RUSSIA , CHINA, CANADA, EU, ASEAN, JAPAN, OIC, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, human rights agencies, civil society organizations, media and the international community to take necessary and practical actions against the military junta to stop genocide and atrocities in Myanmar. The people of Myanmar are suffering from time to time. They will be forced to leave the country continuously if we fail to stop the genocide and atrocity in Myanmar.
Hate speech do not affect only Rohingya Genocide survivor, but also your society and your future generation. We don’t deny their lives, faith and dignity under Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a document that acts like a global road map for freedom and equality – protecting the rights of every individual, everywhere. All human beings are born free and equal with dignity and rights. This is my personal opinion of my studies about the globe conflict, genocide, war, disinformation, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and the hate speech is a new model a use politicians’ agenda they use of the governments or opposition this world today. Please save innocent people around the world. Every UN member state has the right to protect and save innocent life.
We only ask for one thing from the United Nations, super power countries and the international community at large. Please STOP the war genocide, and conflict. Save the innocent people around the world without further delay. We suffered enough. So many people died during the first and second world war. We cannot have another war. War is not a solution. We are struggling to fight peace and justices. please end war, genocide and conflict.
We suffered enough. So many people died during the war, conflict, genocide, hate speech, xenophobia and islamophobia. So many innocent people have heart attacks and people are going to be attacked and killed.
We urge the United Nations Security Council, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations Human Rights Council for an urgent action as follows: –
1. Sending UN peacekeeping force to Rakhine State to protect the civilian and to monitor the situation on the ground
2. Sending immediate humanitarian assistance for the affected Rohingya
3. Pressure Myanmar military to restore internet connection and mobile phone network in Rakhine State to allow sharing of information on the ground for evident gathering and thorough documentation
4. Pressure Myanmar military and Arakan Army to stop forcing the Rohingya to join them
5. Prevent further genocidal attack against civilian and properties including houses, school and hospital by both parties in any part of Rakhine State
6. Thoroughly document the genocidal attack by Myanmar military and Arakan Army to speed up ICJ and ICC process including through satellite
7. Monitor and document hate speech and disinformation to prevent future genocidal attacks on Rohingya
8. Working closely with ASEAN and OIC to end Rohingya genocide and providing humanitarian support
9. Urge all UN member states to protect Rohingya Genocide Survivors as we all have the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).
Timely interventions and international response to the affected Rohingya is very crucial during this time. Delayed actions only sacrifice more lives than ever. As hate speech and disinformation escalates massively, it is even more scary to imagine its impact particularly on the Rohingya. The military and AA must be held accountable for the genocide without further delay. The ICJ and ICC process must be ongoing in whatever situation in order to deliver justice to the victims of Rohingya Genocide.
We welcome the appeal made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on 19 May 2024 to Bangladesh to once again extend protection to vulnerable people seeking safety, and for the international community to provide all necessary support.
We also want to appeal to the United Nations, ASEAN, European Union (EU), The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the international community to send humanitarian assistance to more than 1000 Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp who lost their shelters when a fire broke out in camp 13 on 24 May 2024 at 10.54am. During the incident, an NGO office, mosque and two learning centers were destroyed.
“JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED”.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani
President
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization in Malaysia (MERHROM)
Tel No: +6016-6827 287
Blog: www.merhrom.wordpress.com
Email: rights4rohingyas@gmail.com
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H.E. MR. VOLKER TURK , United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Palais Wilson ,52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland
H.E. MR. ANTONIO GUTERRES, Secretary General of The United Nations, United Nations Headquarters, 405 East, 42nd Street New York, Ny 10017, United States of America USA
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingyas Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM) 