BURMA: Public enemy Islam and reign of fear
Once one of the last countries in the world ruled by military regimes, Burma was „free“ at last, when the junta gave up power in November 2010. Although the first elections in 20 years were sweapt by generals without their usual uniforms, half a century of Burma in isolation was history. The opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was set free after years under house arrest and international sanctions began to recede. It soon became clear to many, that this was too early. The new future of „free“ Burma has recently been overshadowed by atrocities and sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims. Today, this conflict has a good chance to lead to another genocide in world’s recent history. Moreover, the steps and behavior of Myanmar’s government in this crisis suggest, that it is an intentional agenda and Muslims were chosen as a scapegoat and tool for control.
Pogroms and humanitarian catastrophe
The clashes errupted in May 2012 in Rakhine(Arakan) state, where Arakan Buddhists live side by side one of the biggest Muslim minorities in the country. An alleged attack of Muslims on Arakan Buddhist woman led to violence and quickly evolved into deadly raids on Muslim quarters in more and more areas of the province. The main target of the attacks in Rakhine were eventually the Rohingya Muslims, a stateless minority, with history of repression and considered to be „illegal Bengalis“ among Burmese, but also rejected by neighboring Bangladesh. Massacres by Arakan Buddhists were therefore often watched from distance by military and police alike. These accounts are supported by video recordings of Myanmar’s security forces themselves, leaked to the BBC. Investigation and report(s) by Human Rights Watch resulted in a similair conclusion, that the security forces had often taken part in the atrocities. Further direct discrimination of the Rohingya in Burma has been exposed by a transnational NGO Fortify Rights, which gained access to 12 government documents. These allegedly set out a strategy to control the movement, marriage and access to health-care of the Rohingya, but also population control through the notorious „two child policy“.
After two years of violence and repression, there are currently 40 refugee camps in Rakhine state, where more than 150 000 people live in horrendous circumstances, mostly the Rohingya Muslims. Not everyone is registered as IDP – Internally Displaced Person/People, which makes it more difficult to access humanitarian aid. „The World Food Program (WFP) is providing food, but only to registered IDPs,“ says Carlos Sardiña Galache, Spanish journalist, who brought some disturbing coverage and photographs from Rakhine. „The unregistered IDPs don’t receive any food, because government doesn’t allow it. It’s quite arbitrary, who is registered and who is not. In some camps I’ve been told, that those, who are unregistered, were left out of the process, because they fought back during the attacks and violence.” Carlos’es sources in Rakhine confirm, that the authorities discriminate in aid allocation as it is often distributed almost 50-50 among displaced Muslims and Buddhists. „It doesn’t make sense, as only about 10 percent (of the displaced) are Rakhine and 90 percent are Rohingya and other Muslims. WFP goes with whatever the authorities say. There is not enough pressure on Myanmar’s government to deliver or allow more aid.“
The humanitarian situation worsened when in February Medicines sans Frontieres (MSF) had been expelled from Rakhine. The reason behind this was a claim by MSF, that it’d treated injured after an attack in town of Maungdaw, where (alledgedly) a rioting mob had massacred 40 Muslims, mainly Rohingya. The government denies this incident altogether. Moreover, MSF has been one of the main health-care providers in Burma. Debbie Stothard from ALTSEAN Burma believes this is the intention. „The push to keep out INGOs and restrict access of aid agencies in the area is calculated to insure that no one will really know the true situation.” This claim has been supported by the leaked government documents, revealing, that the Ministry of Health had denied an offer by World Health Organization (WHO) to increase funding. The government also stopped granting permissions to INGOs to enter Rakhine and valid permissions had often been recalled since.
Radical Buddhism and the new enemy
There are 60 million people living in Burma, stretching across more than 135 ethnic groups. The Rohingya are only a drop, with a population of little over a million. According to UN, Rohingya are one of the most persecuted minorities worldwide. Stateless people, they were stripped of citizenship in Myanmar back in 1982, and today have basically no rights. However, they are not the lone victims in the pogroms. It’s the whole Muslim minority of Myanmar, 4-8% of population, striving for acceptance now. The animosity against Muslims is being fuelled by radical Buddhist monks from 969 movement, who consider Islam a threat and portray Muslims as terrorists. Social media are dominated by xenophobia and Buddhist sangha is currently pushing for a ban on inter-faith marriages. The most famous persona in this wave is monk Virathu, who made it to the front page of Time magazine with a title “The Face of Buddhist Terror”. Virathu preaches, that it should be each Buddhist’s responsibility to fight against Islam. Buddhist philosophy of non-violence suddenly seems at a whole another level in Burma. One of the factors shaping this notion of radical Buddhism is the Saffron revolution in 2007, when junta cracked down against progressive Buddhist monks and pushed them out of the sangha and society. Left alone were only those ready to conform. “Muslims are not that discriminated in Burma,” explains Sai Pyae Phyo Aung, a media producer from Burma living in Bangkok. “I have Muslim friends, too. Historically, we have lived harmonically with each other.” Sai claims, that when the military regime ended, Myanmar’s government suddenly stood face to face with a nation long abused by the junta. “That’s the catch. They fuelled up people’s anger and turned it against Muslims and Rohingya. Like Hitler did (in pre-war Germany).”
Surprisingly to many, not even the dissidents, who once fought for human rights and democracy during Burma’s military regimes, have stood up for Muslims. “So many people are really concerned, but many groups in Burma, dare not speak up,” says Debbie Stothard from ALTSEAN Burma. “They have seen, that the 969 movement and other radical groups do not hesitate to use extreme forms of violence. In Rakhine even Buddhists were attacked and publicly humiliated for helping or interacting with Muslims.” Journalist Carlos Sardiña Galache confirms this atmosphere of fear. „In Sittwe with Rakhine people it’s usually tense, when foreigners are around, but this time it’s particularly intense. I don’t think it’s about the people being racist toward foreigners, but rather they don’t want to have any problems.” Numerous NGOs were forced to leave Rakhine after out-of-control attacks by Arakan Buddhists on their missions. Not even the convoy of UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana has been spared an attack by angry Buddhist mob. The Arakans have also protested en masse against the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which had repeatedly warned against the persecution of Muslims in Burma.
The silent Aung San Suu Kyi and higher interests
Probably the most controversial character in this conflict is the leader of opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. After spending almost 20 years under military junta house arrest, many have expected, that „the lady“ will be the first one to speak up for the rights of Burma’s Muslims. This didn’t happen and ASSK have made only calls for peace and non-violence. Times are obviously changing and a former disident transformed into a politician. NLD plans to win the elections next year, therefore it would be unwise to anger Burmese Buddhists. „Aung San Suu Kyi was put in the middle of the crisis. If she takes side with people, international pressure will be upon her. If she takes side with Rohingya, people will turn against her,” Sai openly admits. The unclear position of ASSK gives leverage to the 969 movement, which has called on the opposition leader to support the ban on inter-faith marriage. According to Debbie Stothard, this is again intentional. “The 969 movement does not represent the majority of Buddhists in Burma, but the country has a history of not questioning Buddhist authority or government. So their agenda is to create a situation, where traditional supporters of NLD will have to choose between Buddhism and ASSK.” It’s not clear, where the movement gets funding for its massive anti-Muslim propaganda across the country, so many believe 969 is a tool of Myanmar’s government to lower the popularity of NLD before the elections. Carlos Sardiña Galache is more critical than that. „Many members of NLD are openly xenophobic. So is ASSK really a victim of political games? When they asked her in Europe about the Rohingya, she replied, she wasn’t sure if they are citizens of Myanmar. I believe she had had the power step in at the beginning of atrocities and she chose not to.“
Violence on Muslims and Rohingya and the picture of „ethnic tensions“ play cards well for president Thein Sein. Building his image as a moderate, his politics is far from such. Many areas in Rakhine state, where violence took place, were cleared by Myanmar’s army with an obvious excuse of security. Coincidently these are also places of economic interests, where large government projects are to be constructed such as the Shwe Gas Pipeline. In this sense, it brings the essential control of the Arakan Buddhists in the areas as well, as they had previously been protesting against the development projects. „The authorities have been whipping up a sense of hysteria in Rakhine state, where the Buddhists are convinced, that they could be killed anytime by wild Muslims. This is the kind of paranoia and fear, that the authorities have been trying to cause, also to strengthen the popularity of president Thein Sein before the elections. It’s very important for the military and the ruling party to survive, so they need to redirect the resentment toward other, easy, target, such as Rohingya” adds Debbie Stothard. Before the military regimes had similarly demonized the ethnic Karen, Kachin or Shan, whose groups had led violent struggles for independence.
New freedom, but not for everyone
So how to prevent the increasingly realistic genocide of the Rohingya, who have absolutely no rights in Burma? This is where analysts and the opposition leader ASSK come to agreement – citizenship problem is a key issue to be solved. Debbie Stothard agrees: “No one in Burma has ever enjoyed protection based on citizenship. If you got your protection or social support, then by being part of an ethnic or religious group. Without citizenship law, it’s impossible to protect the rights of minorities. If you have no protection from the state, there is no equality in front of law.” After 60 years of repression, the ‘free’ Burma is a ticking bomb for president Thein Sein’s government, that needs to be contained. “We have been away from democracy for 60 years and most of us don’t really understand what it means or stands for. The regime gave up power and new government gave us a tiny piece of democracy. Junta ruled and kept order by fear. Now that the fear is gone, what keeps the order?” asks Sai and gives credit to the silent ASSK. From the start of so called ‘electoral democracy’ in November 2010, she has been calling on international community to wait with lifting sanctions until Myanmar delivers upon its democratic promises. Debbie Stothard underlines, that it is essentially the international community, who has power to prevent genocide of the Rohingya and persecution of Muslims. “The Burmese military regime has delivered some nominal reforms in the past, when they fell under the attention of UN Security Council.” Somewhat luckily after 2 years of atrocities it turns out, that not all the foreign investors flooding Burma, are willing to present themselves with pogroms on Muslims and some are reconsidering their investments. The open-arms approach to Burma has also been moderating recently on the side of the US. President Barack Obama has recalled some of the sanctions to stay in place, though just very lightly. To no-one’s surprise, as Burma has rich natural resources and a potential to become a regional gas power. Decades of international isolation granted an almost total monopoly on economic development in Burma to China. And so today, open Burma has naturally become the new playground of US-Chinese rivalry. In this geopolitical realm, some stateless ethnic minority is really a tiny drop in the ocean of much higher interests – struggle for influence and power.
Photograph(s) by Carlos Sardina Galache
