Mark Farmaner

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Director of Burma Campaign UK

Mark Farmaner is Director of Burma Campaign UK. He has been involved in advocacy for human rights in Burma since 1998. Mark has worked on human rights and development issues for 28 years, including the AntiApartheid campaign, and for development agency Christian Aid.

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It's Time To Talk About Min Aung Hlaing | The Huffington Post

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It’s Time To Talk About Min Aung Hlaing  13/04/2017 15:19

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Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, head of the Burmese military, is the most powerful person in Burma. It is his soldiers and security forces who have been raping Rohingya women, shooting Rohingya civilians and burning Rohingya villages. It is his soldiers who have increased conflict in Kachin Sate and Shan State, displacing thousands of villagers already forced from their homes by Burmese army attacks. Min Aung Hlaing is the one who is threating the entire peace process by insisting on hardline conditions unacceptable to many ethnic organisations. It is Min Aung Hlaing who is blocking constitutional reform which would make Burma more democratic. Civil servants under his control are obstructing reforms and policies the NLDled government are trying to put in place. He is also starving health and education of funds by insisting on a huge budget for the military at the same time as the health service and education systems are one of the most poorly funded in the world.

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improving health and education in Burma.

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Yet somehow, he largely escapes direct criticism. Since the latest Rohingya related crisis began in October 2016 it is Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who has received most attention and criticism, not Min Aung Hlaing, whose soldiers are the ones committing the abuses.

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Last November Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had to cancel a trip to Indonesia, reportedly for fear of protests over her stance over the Rohingya. In the same month, Min Aung Hlaing was enjoying a red carpet tour in Europe after being invited to attend a meeting of European military heads. There were no protests against him in Italy or Belgium. As his soldiers raped and killed Rohingya, and increased conflict in Kachin State, he enjoyed sightseeing in Brussels and Rome, travelled the canals of Venice, and even toured factories of arms manufacturers, despite there being an EU arms embargo on Burma. The current approach of the international community towards the military has been one of soft engagement, hoping they will have a gradual epiphany and realise it is in their own self interest to agree to further reform. It amounts to a fingers crossed approach that if we are nice to the Burmese military, they will suddenly come around. This approach clearly isn’t working. The more Min Aung Hlaing is welcomed into the arms of the international community, the more sanctions are lifted, the more UN engagement on human rights is lifted, the more they are praised for reforms, the more his confidence grows that he can continue to commit human rights violations and block democratic constitutional reform with impunity, and the more human rights violations and conflict have increased. A key question now for the international community is how to influence Min Aung Hlaing. The international community needs to develop an approach towards Min Aung Hlaing with two clear goals in mind. First, how to persuade him to stop committing human rights violations, and second, how to persuade him to agree to constitutional change which will enable the peace process to succeed, and which will allow further democratic transition in the country. Min Aung Hlaing will only agree to change when he decides it is in the interests of the military to do so. At the current time, he has little incentive to reduce human rights violations or http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/markfarmaner/minaunghlaing_b_15001514.html?

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agree to further democratic reforms. The military have in place

the system they designed to protect their interests and give It’s Time To Talk About Min Aung Hlaing

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them control over areas such as security and defence. They believe only they are able to guarantee the safety and security of the nation. Yet clearly Min Aung Hlaing and his military are enjoying the embrace of the international community and want the respect of the people of Burma. This provides some leverage.

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When the EU and USA lifted sanctions they made no differentiation between sanctions which targeted the government and sanctions which targeted the military and their associates. The same applies to discontinuing the UN General Assembly Resolution on Burma. This decision was justified as being in acknowledgment and support of reforms and the new government, without differentiation between the government and the military and their actions. There are two powerbases in Burma now, and different approaches are required for each.

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It is time to identify potential points of leverage specifically targeting the military and how they can be most effectively applied to induce Min Aung Hlaing to agree to change. This could include United Nations investigations into violations of international law, economic sanctions targeted at their interests, visa bans, ending military training, and more robust diplomatic pressure. One option that cannot be considered is carrying on as before while Min Aung Hlaing systematically destroys hopes for peace, respect for human rights, and democracy in Burma.


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IMPORTANT NOTICE: IF YOU ARE IN BURMA SHARING THIS ARTICLE ON SOCIAL MEDIA COULD RESULT IN ARREST. If you live in Burma please consider carefully before sharing this article on social media such as Facebook. Sharing this article could result in arrest and prosecution under article 66d of the Telecommunications Law. Several media organisations in Burma felt unable to publish this article because of concerns over this law.

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Rohingya Refugee Crisis Is a Policy Success for President Thein Sein | The Huffington Post

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Rohingya Refugee Crisis Is a Policy Success for President Thein Sein  18/05/2015 10:12 | Updated 15 May 2016

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Thousands of Rohingya refugees from Burma lie starving in boats off the coasts of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Dehydrated and desperate, they are forced to drink their own urine in sight of countries which should be offering them sanctuary. Attention is rightly focussed on these countries for refusing to accept these refugees, and on the traffickers who abandoned them there. These countries must allow the boats to land and give sanctuary to Rohingya refugees. Action also needs to be taken against traffickers and the authorities which cooperate with them.

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However, without tackling the root causes of this crisis, Burma’s persecution of the Rohingya, there will be no long term solution. The simple truth is that the government of Burma has a policy of trying to drive the Rohingya out of the country. Boat loads of trafficked Rohingya heading for other countries are exactly

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what they want to see. For President Thein Sein, this is a

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Although President Thein Sein has been praised as a courageous reformer by much of the international community, since becoming President he has significantly stepped up repression of the Rohingya. Two recent briefing papers by the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK explain the twin tracks the Burmese government uses to try to drive the Rohingya from Burma. One approach is the deliberate impoverishment of the Rohingya. Most attention now is on the appalling conditions in camps for internally displaced people who fled attacks in 2012, but for decades a policy of systematically impoverishing the Rohingya has been pursued. “Increasing poverty and blocking economic development of the Rohingya is a deliberate and integral part of the Burmese government’s Rohingya policy,” states the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK. Their report describes the many ways in which the government applies this policy; “Restrictions on Rohingya travelling from some townships to others, and even within some townships, checkpoints on roads targeting only Rohingya which include body searches and extortion of money, restrictions on marriage through a tax fee requirement, arbitrary taxation on a wide range of activities, even including death of cattle, forced labour, land confiscation, arbitrary arrests and extortion for releasing the person arrested, almost no provision of government services such as health, education or infrastructure in Rohingya areas.” This policy of deliberate impoverishment has been very successful. Fortyfour percent of the population of Rakhine State lives below the poverty line, almost 20 percent higher than the average in most parts of Burma. An irony is that the ethnic Rakhine population has also suffered greatly from the deliberate impoverishment of the Rohingya, and yet many blame the Rohingya, not the government, for their problems. The second tactic used to try to drive the Rohingya from Burma is human rights violations and repressive laws. These have escalated significantly since Thein Sein became President.


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The violence against the Rohingya in 2012, in which hundreds

died and more than 140,000 Rohingya were forced to flee Rohingya Refugee Crisis Is a Policy Success for Presi… their homes, was stoked and encouraged for more than a year beforehand. Not only did the government not take action to prevent this, there was active state involvement in the violence, which Human Rights Watch has reported meets the criteria of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

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The government and their sympathisers try to disown responsibility for many of these policies. They want them all to be viewed in isolation. Excuses used are that they are down to local authorities, the state government, local communities, corrupt officials, or badly trained police. You name it, there is an excuse for it.

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The truth is though, that all these policies are part of a deliberate and systematic policy with the goal of making life in Burma so unbearable that Rohingya people leave the country.

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The former Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma has also identified this complex web of government policies being used to target the Rohingya. In a report in April 2014 he stated: “...the deprivation of health care is deliberately targeting the Rohingya population, and that the increasingly permanent segregation of that population is taking place. Furthermore, he believes that those human rights violations are connected to discriminatory and persecutory policies against the Rohingya Muslim population, which also include ongoing official and unofficial practices from both local and central authorities restricting rights to nationality, movement, marriage, family, health and privacy.”


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President Thein Sein has asked the United Nations for assistance in deporting all Rohingya. His government has refused to take action against those inciting violence against Rohingya and other Muslims in Burma, and instead defended them. He has refused to conduct a genuine investigation into the violence in 2012. He has proposed a plan to more efficiently apply the discriminatory 1982 Citizenship Law against the Rohingya, which would result in hundreds of thousands of Rohingya being placed in what are effectively giant concentration camps, awaiting deportation. Most recently, President Thein Sein took away one of the last rights that many Rohingya did have, the right to vote.

It’s a policy that is working, as the boat loads of refugees off the coasts of Asian countries give testament to. The UN estimates that at least 130,000 Rohingya have fled Burma by

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boat since 2012. This figure only documents those leaving

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from northern Rakhine State and Bangladesh, and so is likely Rohingya Refugee Crisis Is a Policy Success for Presi…Subscribe Now   to be a significant underestimate. Most estimates put the Rohingya population in Burma at around 800,000 to one million. Since Thein Sein became President, it is possible that as many of twenty percent of the Rohingya population have fled Burma. The current boat crisis is once again throwing a spotlight on the Rohingya. Those stranded at sea must be rescued and given sanctuary. So far neither local nor western governments seem willing to help do this, let alone address the root causes. President Thein Sein can rest easy. His policy of driving the Rohingya out of Burma is working, and not one country has the courage to call him out on it, let alone take action. He created this crisis, but he is not being held accountable.

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Burma's President Thein Sein in the Hague At Last | The Huffington Post

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Burma’s President Thein Sein in the Hague At Last  09/09/2014 11:40 | Updated 08 November 2014

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This week Thein Sein, President of Burma, will be visiting The Hague, in the Netherlands. As a man with a lot of blood on his hands, you might be thinking this is long overdue. But instead of being indicted at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity, Thein Sein will be receiving red carpet treatment from the Dutch government. In a few short years, the Netherlands has gone from a country that strongly supported human rights in Burma, to a country prepared to ignore the multiple violations of international law since Thein Sein became President in 2011, and the numerous violations of international law that took place during the 14 years that he was on the ruling council of the previous military dictatorship.

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A campaign poster highlights ongoing war crimes in Burma. For a country which hosts the International Criminal Court, which incidentally is just three kilometres from the Noordeinde Palace, where Thein Sein will be meeting King Willem Alexander, such an approach is immoral and indefensible. Governments in Europe have tried to justify their embrace of President Thein Sein by citing the reforms he has introduced since becoming President. They argue that we have to forget the past, and focus on the future. If Burma’s leaders face prosecution for their crimes, it will endanger the reform process, they claim. There are several reasons why this argument does not stand up to scrutiny. First, crimes have been committed and there has been no justice or reconciliation process. President Thein Sein and the rest of his government, mostly serving or former generals, have never acknowledged the human rights violations which took place and never even apologised. Thein Sein has even defended the crushing of the uprising in 1988 in which thousands were killed, saying it saved the nation. He refuses to publish his own military records for the time. Victims of those crimes deserve justice. Second, it’s an argument devoid of any morality. Imagine if the Prime Minister of the Netherlands tried to persuade Dutch http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/markfarmaner/burmatheinsein_b_5783168.html

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citizens that a serial killer should not be prosecuted for his crimes because he was now doing good charity work. It’s Burma’s President Thein Sein in the Hague At Last simply not a credible stance to take.

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Third, numerous violations of international law took place during the previous dictatorship. Although many of these took place before the Rome Statute came into force, so many took place after 2002 that they could keep ICC investigators busy for several decades. To ignore these crimes undermines the credibility of international law and encourages dictatorships and authoritarian rulers all over the world to continue to believe that they can violate international law with impunity.

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Fourth, there can only be justice and the application of law if the international community acts. Burma’s 2008 Constitution grants immunity for acts committed by any government officer.

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Fifth, exactly what kind of reform process is the international community seeking to defend? Most people in Burma are much more sceptical about the process than the international community. They don’t see it as a genuine transition to democracy. The first step of the reform process was the introduction of a new Constitution, drafted by President Thein Sein, which gives the military power at every level of government. Burma is transitioning into an authoritarian regime, not a democracy.

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Sixth, reforms are backsliding, now that sanctions and other international pressure has been lifted. New laws are being used to arrest peaceful protestors, the number of political prisoners has doubled so far this year, repression of the ethnic Rohingya has increased, journalists are being thrown into jail again, foreign journalists are being deported and barred entry again, and repressive laws remain in place. Seventh, violations of international law in Burma are not just historical. Most are the result of new conflicts which began after Thein Sein became President. In fact, violations of international law have actually increased since Thein Sein became President. 2011 saw a sharp increase in human rights violations which could be classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity, as the Burmese Army broke ceasefires in Shan State and Kachin State. Numerous cases of rape, arbitrary execution, arbitrary detention, torture, mutilations and deliberate targeting of civilians by the Burmese Army have been documented by the United Nations and other organisations. These abuses by the Burmese Army

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have continued in Northern Shan State and Kachin State in

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Eighth, Thein Sein is directly responsible for violating international humanitarian law by obstructing humanitarian access to internally displaced civilians who have fled conflict and human rights violations in Kachin State. This is a war crime, which continues to this day. But perhaps the most urgent reason why international law needs to be applied to the situation in Burma is the treatment of the ethnic Rohingya by President Thein Sein and his government. Since the latest wave of antiRohingya violence in 2012, Human Rights Watch has collected evidence of abuses which amount to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya. They also collected evidence of state involvement. Fortify Rights has documented evidence of government policies targeting the Rohingya which also classify as crimes against humanity.

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The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma has also reported that: “The pattern of widespread and systematic human rights violations in Rakhine State may constitute crimes against humanity as defined under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” and that “Local and central authorities are not intervening to fulfil their obligations under international human rights law.” Thein Sein has personally given support and encouragement to those inciting antiRohingya hatred and violence. United to End Genocide has stated that precursors of genocide against the Rohingya now exist in Burma. There is a downward spiral of continuing attacks, human rights violations, repression and restrictions on humanitarian aid against the Rohingya. There is impunity from the villager to the President, and as long as this impunity continues, so will the repression and violations of international law. Ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity have all happened under Thein Sein’s rule. Experience with Assad and Gaddafi has shown that befriending war criminals simply doesn’t work in the long term. Any country which genuinely supports human rights and international law would be working to ensure the United Nations Security Council refer the situation in Burma to the International Criminal Court. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/markfarmaner/burmatheinsein_b_5783168.html

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UK Silent on Growing Numbers of Political Prisoners in Burma | The Huffington Post

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UK Silent on Growing Numbers of Political Prisoners in Burma  21/08/2014 17:37 | Updated 21 October 2014

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The number of political prisoners in Burma has more than doubled since the start of 2014, according to figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma. The end of 2013 came and went without President Thein Sein delivering on his promise to release all political prisoners. The promise was made during his controversial visit to the UK in the summer of 2013, and seized upon by the British government in defence of their decision to spend thousands of pounds of British taxpayer’s money giving Thein Sein red carpet treatment while he visited. At the time, the British government shamefully tried to put a positive spin on the failure, claiming that Thein Sein had ordered the release of all political prisoners, but this was simply repeating a lie by one of Thein Sein’s spokespeople. Around 30 political prisoners were left in jail, and more than

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30 have joined them since the start of 2014. Hundreds more are awaiting trial, mostly for taking part in peaceful protests. The growing number of political prisoners is just one of many signs of the backsliding of the reform process in 2014. Even the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Burma has issued a public warning. The British government’s response to this has been to try not to talk about it. No mention of the number of political prisoners doubling is made in their latest update on the human rights situation in Burma. Instead the update led on a tenuous claim of progress in legislative change. Even here, the most they could claim was that new legislation would bring Burma ‘more’ into line with international standards, which translated without the positive spin means these laws still don’t actually meet international standards. The UK, USA and rest of the international community made a tactical mistake by treating President Thein Sein’s promise to release all political prisoners as meaning the problem was solved. They relaxed pressure on this issue, rather than applying more pressure to make sure he kept his promise. Having spent the latter part of 2013 welcoming the promise, an embarrassed British government now makes no reference to it, as it is yet another example of how they have been duped. Their rosetinted glasses blinded them to what was really going on in the country. The issue of the growing number of political prisoners has fallen way down the British agenda for Burma. They are clearly prepared to accept that there will be some political prisoners, and not allow that to affect their relationship with the Burmese government in any way. Instead of a political priority, political prisoners have been relegated to just one talking point among many others when ministers visit.

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Burma Campaign UK and other European Burma campaign groups, collectively known as the European Burma Network, in consultation with organisations in Burma, have proposed that a new independent political prisoner review committee be set up in Burma. It should be independent, include international experts, and have powers through legislation in a week ago the Burmese Parliament to review the cases of anyone huffingtonpost.co.uk believed to be in prison for political reasons, or because of Huffington Post their race or religion. It should also have the legal power to International Sabina order the pardon and release of prisoners it assesses to be in Frediani Sabina Frediani UK jail for political reasons, and to award them compensation. A UK Silent on Growing Numbers of Political Prisoners …     4. Why Iraqi Food Is The


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committee of this kind would also be best placed to identify repressive laws, or the misuse of laws for political purposes, and recommend to Parliament that they be amended in line with international human rights standards or repealed altogether.

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Facing criticism from organisations such as Burma Campaign UK, the British government has now come out in support of a new review committee to ensure all political prisoners are released, stating they support: ‘a comprehensive and transparent mechanism to review cases of political prisoners in Burma.’

a day ago


However, they are not taking any practical action to ensure such a committee is established. The support appears to be in name only, to placate the thousands of campaigners who have been emailing and writing to them about this issue.

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One way to mobilise international support and to increase pressure on the Burmese government to agree to establish such a committee would have been to include a call for it in the annual United Nations General Assembly Resolution on human rights in Burma. Shamefully though, European Union members, who normally take the lead in drafting the annual resolution, are close to deciding not to go ahead with it this year. This is despite the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma reporting numerous ongoing human rights violations, many of which could constitute violations of international law. There was a time when the British government led the way in Europe pushing for countries to prioritise human rights in Burma. It no longer shows that interest in human rights and so the leadership is missing. Discontinuing the UN General Assembly Resolution on Burma at a time when the number of political prisoners is growing will give great comfort to Thein Sein, but is a betrayal of all political prisoners, whose numbers are likely to continue growing.

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Hugo Swire, Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Isn't a 'Bump in the Road' | The Huffington Post

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Hugo Swire, Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Isn’t a ‘Bump in the Road’  15/08/2014 13:46 | Updated 14 October 2014

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Four years after its reform process began, Burma still has one of the worst human rights records in the world. In fact, human rights violations which break international law have actually increased, with evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and even precursors of genocide all happening under President Thein Sein’s rule.

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These violations don’t fit easily into the ‘transition to democracy’ narrative which the British government is trying to present about Burma. So when Foreign office Minister Hugo Swire MP is confronted with the inconsistency of claims of reform, and ongoing SUGGESTED FOR YOU human rights violations on the ground, he faces a problem. The solution British diplomats, and diplomats in the USA and the rest of Europe seem to have agreed upon, is to dismiss ? these abuses as ‘bumps in the road’. ‘No transition is going to be easy’, they say. ‘Of course there will be occasional 1. Lord Mandelson Says EU setbacks’, they say. ‘Just being cynical isn’t going to change Exit Bill 'Small Change' And anything’, they say. ‘The overall direction of travel is good’, UK Should Pay As Fast As they say. Hugo Swire, Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Isn’t a ‘Bu…     Possible

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This last phrase is perhaps the most telling. What they are effectively saying is that as long as governmentled reforms continue, they won’t allow what is happening to the Rohingya to influence their policy of building closer relations with the Burmese government. Think about how the Burmese government will interpret this messaging. It is literally handing them a get out of jail free card to do what they like regarding the Rohingya. And as we have seen since 2012, they are playing that card at every opportunity. Even before the reform process began the international community was united in the opinion that the situation of the Rohingya was unacceptable. They were stateless, and suffered the most severe repression of any ethnic group in Burma. Since reforms began the situation of the Rohingya has deteriorated significantly. They have been subjected to two largescale violent attacks. Human Rights Watch has gathered evidence of human rights violations which could constitute crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. They also found evidence of state involvement in these violations. The UN Special Rapporteur on Burma has said that government policies on the Rohingya may constitute crimes against humanity. United to End Genocide has stated that precursors of genocide against the Rohingya now exist in Burma.

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These violations of international law cannot simply be dismissed as ‘bumps in the road’. Ethnic cleansing isn’t just a ‘bump’, as Hugo Swire MP calls it. The forced displacement of 140,000 Rohingya isn’t just a ‘bump’. Restrictions on humanitarian aid to displaced Rohingya, resulting in immense suffering and death, are not just a ‘bump’.

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President Thein Sein has been more vocal against the Rohingya than any Burmese ruler in a generation. He has backed those calling for all Rohingya to be expelled from Burma, asking the UN to help find third countries for Rohingya to be settled in. He has publicly defended U Wirathu, one of the leading voices against the Rohingya and Muslims generally. He has flat out rejected reforming the 1982 Citizenship Law, which is incompatible with international law and violates Burma’s UN treaty obligations.

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Huffington Post There is undoubtedly a downward spiral for the Rohingya in International Paul Waugh Burma. Already this year we have seen aid agencies in Paul Waugh Syria Rakhine State expelled or forced to flee attacks. Official and 4. LGBT People Share The unofficial restrictions on humanitarian assistance have Hugo Swire, Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Isn’t a ‘Bu…     http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/markfarmaner/hugoswirerohingyaethniccleansing_b_5678745.html


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Hugo Swire, Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Isn't a 'Bump in the Road' | The Huffington Post


increased. Hundreds of Rohingya prisoners who did not receive fair trials after being jailed following attacks in 2012 remain in jail. President Thein Sein went back on his promise to allow Rohingya to selfidentify as Rohingya in the recent census, which was funded by the British government.

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This continuing downward spiral has not prompted Hugo Swire to rethink Burma policy. The focus on promoting trade remains his priority. Unconditional training of the Burmese Army will continue.

5 days ago


In its defence the British government claims that it does raise these issues with the Burmese government, which is true. But President Thein Sein and his ministers are excellent tacticians. They have been outmanoeuvring the international community for decades. They are fully aware of where the British government’s priorities lie, and it isn’t to stop violations of international law against the Rohingya. They know the same applies to the rest of the EU, the USA, and Australia. None are willing to change their policy of partnership with the Burmese government for the sake of this Muslim minority. So the Burmese government will continue its policy of repression against the Rohingya, trying to make the situation for them so unbearable that they leave the country. Human rights violations will continue. The growing Apartheid will become entrenched. Thousands more Rohingya will drown trying to flee Burma. More Rohingya children will die because of restrictions on humanitarian aid. But for Hugo Swire those dead children and are merely inevitable bumps in the road, the overall direction of travel is good, British companies are winning electricity contracts with the Burmese government, and there is no need for a rethink on policy. Follow Mark Farmaner on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MarkFarmaner

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Is Britain’s Honeymoon With Burma’s President Over?  08/05/2014 17:09 | Updated 07 July 2014

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It’s a scenario used in endless Hollywood romantic comedies, and many of us will have had a friend in the same situation. Girl meets boy, or boy meets girl, falls hopelessly in love , but the friends say he/she isn’t what they pretend to be, and don’t approve. The friends get ignored, but their new love can’t keep up the charade for ever, and their true nature starts to reveal itself. The girl/boy tries to convince themselves nothing http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/markfarmaner/burmahumanrights_b_5280393.html

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is wrong, and put on a brave face to their friends, but deep

inside, the doubts creep in. Is Britain’s Honeymoon With Burma’s President Over?     UK Family Activities For The Easter Holidays

his is pretty much the stage the British government has T reached with President Thein Sein of Burma. Make no mistake, they are still doeeyed, but deep inside, there are doubts, especially following events of the past four months. Political prisoners were not released by the end of 2013, as Thein Sein had promised. This was a particular embarrassment for the British government, as Thein Sein made the promise during a controversial visit to the UK, and the government had seized on this promise to defend their invitation to him. A reported massacre of ethnic Rohingya took place in mid January. Exact details are still unknown, but the Burmese government expelled MSF from Rakhine State for reporting that it had treated people with injuries. MSF were the main provider of healthcare to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya. Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP visited Burma in late January, and received a double snub from the Burmese government. He was banned from making a planned speech at Rangoon University, and within hours of his visiting Kachin State and calling for peace, the Burmese Army attacked two civilian villages. The government of Burma then allowed those inciting anti Rohingya hatred to hold a new wave of protests, and took no effective action to protect aid agencies in Rakhine State when they were attacked by antiRohingya protesters, leaving 300,000 Rohingya without livesaving aid.


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At the same time journalists, including Zaw Pe from the Democratic Voice of Burma, were being arrested and jailed again, despite promises to respect media freedom. Thein Sein then went back on his promise to allow ethnic Rohingya to register as Rohingya in the census being held during April. Again this caused particular embarrassment to the British government, as they provided £10 million in funding for the census, and had been defending the census against criticism in the British Parliament. It seems this combination of events has finally caused the first hairline cracks in the rosetinted glasses foreign secretary William Hague has been wearing when he looks at Burma. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/markfarmaner/burmahumanrights_b_5280393.html

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The UK is a very long way from accepting the reality of what is happening in Burma, let alone admitting it, but in the past Is Britain’s Honeymoon With Burma’s President Over? month the first signs of unhappiness appeared in what has otherwise been a dramatic story of blind, yet unrequited, love. The British government issues a quarterly update of the human rights situation in Burma. Burma Campaign UK was so concerned about how the update published on 31st December 2013 talked up the situation in Burma, and ignored many serious violations of human rights, that it published a briefing paper Downplaying Human Rights containing a line by line analysis of how the report was deliberately misleading and even inaccurate. The latest quarterly report, covering January to March 2014, is completely different in tone and content. So much so that it was welcomed by Burma Campaign UK. The update directly addressed many of the serious setbacks in human rights in Burma that have happened in recent months, rather than trying to gloss over and downplay problems.

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Britain then requested a briefing on Burma at the United Nations Security Council, the first such discussion in a year.

With Richie Myler

None of these steps individually amount to very much, but together, they signify a small but important shift. It is not enough to influence to government of Burma yet, but it is an improvement on the obsequious approach taken in the past two years.

2 days ago

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The British government also issued a statement of concern regarding the conduct of the census, with a stronger tone than recent, and rare, expressions of concern.


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In early April Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP also summoned Burma’s ambassador to London to express concern about aid agencies helping the Rohingya being forced out of Rakhine State, and the Rohingya being excluded from the census. This was the strongest diplomatic step he has ever taken, and didn’t happen even when evidence of state involvement in ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya was published.

The British government’s honeymoon with Thein Sein isn’t over. It believes in him, and has staked its reputation on him. Trade and investment, rather than human rights, remain the top priority. But at last, there are signs of doubts. We can only hope they grow, but divorce is still a long way off.

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