Odhikar: ROHINGYA: THE MOST PERSECUTED MINORITY COMMUNITY IN MYANMAR

Testimonials of Rohingya Victims

Compiled by Odhikar
January– November 2017

Overview:

The name given to the Muslim minority community that resides in the western region of Myanmar's Rakhine (formally called Arakan) state is ‘Rohingya’. They have long been victims of human rights violations in the hands of the Burmese government and this has escalated to such extent that it is now seen as genocide against them. Their fundamental human rights have been denied completely to the extent of evicting them through a brutal process from their ancestral land where they have more than thousand year’s of history and tradition. However, the Myanmar government has continuously denied their citizenship. Such criminal activities of Myanmar government became even more dangerous when General Ne Win assumed power in 1962. Since then, the discrimination began to increase gradually against the Rohingya community. After 1970, recruiting members of the soldiers from Rohingya Muslims have closed. Prior to that, Rohingyas who were in the government service became the victims of widespread discrimination.1 The final st was taken by the Military junta in Myanmar to take away the citizenship of Rohingya people through passing the Citizenship Act on 15 October 1982. In that Act, there were three types of citizenship2 for Myanmar people but Rohingyas were not recognized as citizens. As a result, Rohingyas became refugee in their own land where they live for thousand years and faced severe restrictions to their movement. We continue to observe with concern how the Rohingya population has been facing genocide.

BANGLADESH Annual Human Rights Report 2017

6th AFAD Congress

Theme: Strengthening AFAD in its Second Decade of Struggle Towards
a More Effective and Enduring Response to Enforced Disappearance

Negombo, Sri Lanka
December 12-­‐17, 2017

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) recently held its 6th Congress in Negombo, Sri Lanka last December 12-­‐17, 2017. True to the theme of the Congress, the concerted efforts of the AFAD members have laid the foundation for further strengthening AFAD, and have prepared the organization to respond more effectively and consistently to enforced disappearance.

Below is a brief yet concise summary of the results of the recently concluded Congress.

AFAD 6th Congress, Three years in review

As AFAD opens it 6th Congress, let us look back and review the federation's work in the three years.