Genocide 'not helpful' to Rohingya say Rohingya

From our correspondent in Singapore

‎In an email today to the Straits Times, Rohingya community leaders today expressed concern that genocide against the Rohingya is 'not helpful' to the Rohingya.

The comments come in response to independent analysts who have worked for governments, the United Nations and several international organisations with political agendas in Burma‎, who have expressed concern about people expressing concern about possible genocide against the Rohingya.

The analysts, with no legal experience and qualifications, described a legal analysis by respected organisations specialising in international law and made up of experts in international law as ‘incendiary rhetoric’ and called instead for an ‘accurate diagnosis’. They instead used the well-known accepted legally defined terms of the situation of the Rohingya being ‘extreme discrimination’ and ‘heavily marginalised’, which doesn’t sound nearly as bad and certainly won’t upset the Burmese government as much.

Another former UN official, fresh from a glorious success working on the peace process and who doesn’t sound at all bitter, argued that calling genocide, genocide makes it harder to stop genocide. He also said that the reports that genocide may be taking place, which have been widely reported around the world, were ‘distracting attention’ from broader issues.

Keep hate speech and violence on the streets, not on Facebook, says Burma President

From our correspondent in Nay Pyi Daw

The Office of President Thein Sein has pledged to work with Facebook to ban accounts spreading hate speech in the run up to nationwide elections on November the 8th.

Presidential spokesperson Zaw Htay said the government will use draconian legal powers to apply their interpretation of Facebook community standards.

Amongst the banned activities on Facebook are: threats, intimidation, hateful or disturbing speech, releasing personal information, infringing copyrights, and inciting violence.

“When Myanmar citizens use Facebook they should not be using threats, intimidation, hateful or disturbing speech, or inciting violence. That’s the government’s job,” said Zaw Htay.

The President is reportedly concerned that momentum in promoting hate against religious and ethnic minorities, which has increased dramatically since Thein Sein became President, could be lost if confined to social media sites such as Facebook.

“We haven’t driven hundreds of thousands of Bengali’s out of Myanmar by posting rude Facebook messages,” a Presidential advisor told Burma Tha Din off the record. “We need violence on the streets. If we close the accounts of people spreading hate speech they will be forced onto the streets to spread the word, which is much more effective, as most people in Burma still don’t have internet access.”

The advisor said the proposals were a win win for the President, as he would receive praise from the international community for taking action on hate speech, whilst at the same time as promoting and using hate speech on the streets to counter the popularity of the NLD.

Ma Ba Tha, the government’s official hate speech organisation, also welcomed the move. Wirathu, described by President Thein Sein as a son of Buddha, told Burma Tha Din: “Facebook can be a useful tool, but with so many parts of Burma without internet or good communication, we find preaching hate speech on the ground with the people is the best way to spread the word about the dangers of the Saudi Arabian funded NLD turning Myanmar into a Caliphate. In any case, people keep hacking my accounts.”

Explaining the thinking of the President further, the advisor told Burma Tha Din: “Look at the Tatmadaw, they are making a practical difference on the ground, raping ethnic women, bombing the Kachin, slaughtering farmers in Kokang areas. Our party, the USDP, and the NLD, have banned Muslims from being MP candidates. Ma Ba Tha is preaching hate in every township across Burma, and even in meetings Parliament. And we have passed four anti-Muslim laws in just a few months. This is why the priority is to take action to stop hate speech on the Facebook social media site.”

Burma Tha Din is now on Twitter!: @BurmaThaDin

Exclusive interview with Aung San Suu Kyi

Exclusive interview with Aung San Suu Kyi

Burma Tha Din has secured this exclusive interview with Aung San Suu Kyi

Interviewer
Dear Mother
According to the reports, Human Rights Watch are saying that ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity have been taking place against the Rohingya in Burma. What is your response to this?

DASSK
I am not going to take sides. What we have here is a question of the lack of the rule of law. To solve these problems we need the rule of law.

Interviewer
The European Union lifted the sanctions, saying it is a reward for remarkable change in Burma. But many are saying it is too soon to lift sanctions, because many human rights problems remain. What is your opinion? Is lifting sanctions a good way to promote human rights?

DASSK
These kind of problems happen because there is a problem of the lack of the rule of law. To solve these problems we need the rule of law.

Interviewer
Mother Suu, it is now almost two years since the ceasefire in Kachin State was broken, and since then there have been reports of rape and many other human rights abuses, and tens of thousands of people displaced and suffering because of aid being blocked. Despite promises from the President and military to observe a ceasefire, the Kachin Independence Army says they are still being attacked by the Burmese Army. What do you think should be done to end this conflict?

DASSK
I am not going to take sides. What we have here is a question of the lack of the rule of law. To solve these problems we need the rule of law.

Interviewer
It is learned that more political prisoners are being released this week. How do you say about this?

DASSK
The question of political prisoners arises due to the lack of the rule of law. To solve these problems we need the rule of law.

Interviewer
It is now a year since the EU suspended and then the USA lifted many sanctions, but there has still not been much investment in Burma, why do you think this is?

DASSK
I think that investors are concerned by the lack of the rule of law. To solve these problems we need the rule of law.

Interviewer
What is your opinion on reports that the army and security forces have been raping many women in Rakhine and Kachin State?

DASSK
I am not going to take sides. What we have here is a question of the lack of the rule of law. To solve these problems we need the rule of law.

Interviewer
There is a growing problem of land confiscation across the country, as your have seen yourself at Letpadaung. What do you think should be done about this?

DASSK
What we have here is a question of the lack of the rule of law. To solve these problems we need the rule of law.

Interviewer
Dear Mother, thank you very much for answering my questions today, it has been a great honour.

Rohingya’s To Blame for Climate Change - Report

By our correspondent in Cox’s Bizarre

Burma Tha Din Network has obtained a confidential draft of a report on recent violence in Rakhine State, Burma, which links the ethnic Rohingya to global climate change.

The leaking of the report coincides with the Rohingya also being blamed for violence in Bangladesh.

The draft report, prepared for Myanmar’s Border Affairs Ministry by journalists from the Weekly Eleven Media Group, claims that Na Sa Ka agents found evidence in the abandoned homes of Rohingya linking them with a conspiracy to create global climate change.

Despite the extensive 1,982 page report going on to provide great detail on the ‘conspiracy’, no evidence is cited to back the claims. The reports devotes several chapters to reasons why the ‘Bengali’s’ want to ‘invade’ Burma. It claims the ‘Bangali’s’ were attracted to move from Bangladesh to Burma by Burma’s lower GDP, lower access to health services (33% of population in Burma had access compared to 45% in Bangladesh), lower access to safe water (27% Burma, 46% Bangladesh, and higher levels of children stunted by malnutrition (75% Burma, 59% Bangladesh). (Statistics all date from 1980s).

The ‘illegal Bengali’s’ were also attracted to move to Burma by Burma’s terrible record on human rights and lack of democracy, and by the discrimination they constantly faced. Living in Burma also enabled them to be closer to the mass graves where their ancestors are buried. The report states that what it calls ‘illegal Bengali Muslim immigrants’ first hatched a new conspiracy to continue their takeover of Rakhine State and then the whole of Burma as long ago as 1990. They were inspired by the first report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which speculated that over the following century it was possible that 60 percent of Bangladesh could be flooded by rising sea levels. The report claims: ‘The Bengali’s hatched a conspiracy to make climate change worse, calculating that if Bangladesh was flooded it would be impossible for them to be sent back there.’ The report doesn’t specify how the Rohingya carried out this plot, despite claiming it was successful.

The report also speculates on Rohingya involvement in several other global conspiracies, including the sinking of the Costa Concordia Cruise ship off the coast of Italy in July this year, recent earthquakes in New Zealand, and the alleged kidnapping of Elvis, believed to be being held in a safe house near Sittwe. Officials from the Ministry of Border Affairs were not available for comment owing to attending a conference on peacebuilding at the luxury Regina Hotel and Golf Course in eastern Shan State.