Background

On 6^th August around 200 Rohingya, mostly women and children, were killed in strikes whilst attempting to escape to Bangladesh. These refugees were fleeing fresh violence in the mostly Rohingya town of Maungdaw. The perpetrators of the strikes, the Arakan Army, have in the past painted themselves as an army attempting to unify the two groups native to Arakan, the mostly Buddhist Rakhine with the mostly Muslim Rohingya. They have also promised to support Rohingya citizenship in Myanmar, despite the fact that their leader, Twan Mrat Naing, refuses to recognise their indigenous status and regurgitates the theory that the Rohingya are Bengalis, much promoted by the genocidaires.

As fighting has intensified in Arakan, the military, who led the 2017 genocide have been forcibly recruiting Rohingya out of desperation. The Arakan Army responded on May 17^th by capturing the mostly Rohingya town of Buthiduang, afterwards massacring hundreds of civilians and forcing an estimated 150,000 to flee. Even town elders who came out to negotiate with the Arakan Army were butchered. The violence by the Arakan Army in both Maungdaw and Buthiduang, in the last few months, have shown that the Arakan Army is no better than their opponents in the military and some are calling this latest period, a new wave of genocide.

ASEAN has been attempting to negotiate between the military and opposition in Myanmar, with different countries within the bloc taking different sides. The oppression of the Rohingya is nothing new, with decades of otherisation, and then an all-out genocide of them taking place, which was perpetrated with the help of the military, and covered up by the former government now in exile. Between 2017 and 2018 alone at last 25,000 Rohingya were killed, and at least 700,000 had fled Myanmar, with both numbers growing in the subsequent years. The United Nations has said that the Rohingya are the most persecuted community in the World.

Take Action

1. Write to the Office of the Secretaries of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei demanding they take action on the issue of the Rohingya Genocide.
2. Please forward any responses you might have to us at info@ihrc.org, so that we can continue to develop this campaign further.
3. Share this alert and encourage others to take part.
4. Please share verified stories and information. We need to not let this issue be forgotten.
5. Keep visiting our website (https://www.ihrc.org.uk/) to see any updates on this case
6. https://www.ihrc.org.uk/donate/rohingya-appeal/ – can you promote our appeal
7. Previous event to promote: https://www.ihrc.org.uk/author-evening-the-rohingya-crisis-a-people-facing-extinction-with-dr-muhammad-abdul-bari-2/
8. https://www.ihrc.org.uk/rohingya-photo-diary-the-most-persecuted-minority-in-the-world/ – we have a photo diary on our field work
9. https://www.ihrc.org.uk/the-most-persecuted-minority-in-the-world-the-genocide-of-the-rohingya/ – also a full report from our field work in 2017 in Bangladesh

Template Letter

To the foreign secretaries of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei:

[Your name]

[Your address]

[Date]

Dear Foreign Secretary,

Re: ASEAN and the Rohingya Genocide

Asalamu aleykum. I want to express my deep concern over the response by ASEAN towards the Rohingya Genocide and its refusal to take punitive action towards Myanmar. We have seen much rhetoric about helping the refugees fleeing, but nothing to stop the cause of these events. To hide the ugly truth, that what Myanmar is doing to its Rohingya citizens is genocide, only helps cover up the crime that is taking place. Surely you must know that the Muslim Ummah is like one body, if one part of it is hurt, the entire community bleeds. This is particularly tragic in recent months, as attacks by the Arakan Army on towns such as Maungdaw and Buthiduang have killed hundreds and forced hundreds of thousands to be displaced, whist the Myanmar military is forcefully recruiting Rohingya to fight for the same military that has been at the forefront of the genocide.

The fact that the legal mechanisms do not allow ASEAN to take punitive action is a weak excuse when genocide, the greatest of all humanitarian crimes is taking place. Right now, there are two alternative governments who are both claiming to represent Myanmar, the military government and the “National Unity Government”, whom claim to have the support of the Arakan Army. Surely when negotiating with these sides, the Muslim countries of ASEAN could demand that Rohingya Genocide be at the forefront of ASEANs negotiations. As three out of the ten countries represented in ASEAN and making up over 300 million people, the combined strength of the Muslim countries could have a real influence over ASEAN policy, otherwise it is better to leave the bloc than to be complacent in a genocide, in which tens of thousands of Muslims have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee from their homeland.

ASEAN must demand that whichever government they recognise stops the killings, protects the Rohingya community, allows them to return to Arakan and rebuilds their homes and businesses, as well as giving them full citizenship and rights equal to that of the other groups native to the land.

May Allah subhanu wa ta’ala guide you towards making the right decision.

Yours Sincerely

[Your name]

Addresses

Mohamad Hasan

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia
Wisma Putra Complex
No. 1, Jalan Wisma Putra
Precinct 2,
Federal Government Administrative Centre
62602 Putrajaya
Malaysia

Alternatively email: pro.ukk@kln.gov.my

Retno L. P. Marsudi,

Taman Pejambon no. 6,

Central Jakarta,

10110

Indonesia

Alternatively email: kontak-kami@kemlu.go.id

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

International Convention Centre

Jalan Berakas

Bandar Seri Begawan BB3910

Brunei Darussalam

Alternatively email: info@mfa.gov.bn