QRC have distributed this press release over the last few days, please read and distribute amongst your own networks. There is a lot to read here, we have sent it out as an email with a more formal attachment, all posted below. Part 1: On behalf of Queensland Rohingya Community Inc I warmly invite my fellow community representatives,members, Mercy Community Services Romero Centre, BDCG,Amnesty International,Australia Red Cross, QPASTT, PEAG, Refugee Action Collective, ECCQ, MDA,Refugee Council of Australia, ACCESS Community Services, Life Without Barriers and other welfare organisations to participate in a G-20 Peaceful Assembly on Saturday 15 November 2014, 9.am for 9.30am to 12pm at King George Square in CBD Brisbane. Permission has been granted by QLD Special Police Department. Press Release: The rehabilitation of the Myanmar regime towards the G-20 goals of economic stability and sustainable growth cannot be achieved while destruction of the Rohingya minority continues. Queensland Rohingya people remind President Obama at the upcoming G-20 summit in Brisbane to follow through on his earlier public pronouncements regarding the treatment of the Rohingya muslim minority in Myanmar (Burma). Call for World Leaders, and its guest Burmese President Thein Sein to stop its persecution policies of the Rohingya people before they accept input from the Burmese government as a model developing country at the G-20 Summit. Such policies have included gender violence and rape, genocide, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest, no freedom of movement, land confiscation and to marry without government permission and forced labour. Please refer to attached press release. For further information, you can contact Representatives of the Rohingya community in Queensland. Part 2, the attached press release: Queensland Rohingya Community INC Press Release Dear G-20 World leaders, On behalf of the Queensland Rohingya Community Inc, we welcome you to the G-20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia. I am Noor Zaman, President of the Queensland Rohingya Community Inc. Today, I would like to raise the profile of the stateless Rohingya people who seek justice and practical solutions to resolve their plight NOW. Peace and prosperity is part of the world leaders principal responsibilities. World leaders have been watching the ongoing plight of the Rohingya in Myanmar and our refugees in Bangladesh, Malaysia , Thailand, India, Indonesia and even in the motherland. In 2012, sectarian violence perpetrated by the current regime affected many Rohingya people who lost their lives and had their land and villages burnt. President Obama articulated the reality that Rohingya people are the most persecuted people. He said in a public statement published on 27 April 2014 when he visited Muslim-majority Malaysia that “Myanmar won’t succeed if the Muslim [Rohingya] population is oppressed”. The President further stated, “…there is no excuse for violence against innocent people….and the Rohingya hold within themselves the same dignity as you do” (19 November 2012 visit to Myanmar). To date, the political reforms in Myanmar (Burma) have yielded little for the Rohingya. Under the Myanmar Citizenship law Act 1982, our people are not recognised as one of the 135 national races of Burma. We are stateless people in our own country. President Thein Sein openly stated in July 2012 there are two options for the Rohingya people. One option is to resettle them in a third country; and the other option is for the UNHCR to build a refugee camp in the country….our motherland. The Burmese authorities do everything in their power to remove us from our own land, persecute our people and subject them to humiliation and gross human rights abuses. Family members have been killed, our sisters and wives raped by military personnel. Our land is being confiscated, homes burnt and with it our livelihood. We are often subjected to brutal forced labour and there is no freedom of movement or the freedom to marry without government approval. When we are not actively removed by the Burmese authorities, the Rohingya try to escape the arbitrary persecution of the Burmese military regime by fleeing into Bangladesh. There are approximately 30,000 Rohingya refugees officially living in Bangladeshi camps today. Unofficially, 200,000 unregistered Rohingya live in a precarious situation in Bangladesh, in abhorrent conditions in constant fear for the lives of their families. Conditions are deplorable and in breach of international humanitarian laws. Between 1992 and 1995, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were forcibly repatriated to Burma yet a significant number have returned to live illegally in Bangladeshi communities. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has been denied the ability to assist Rohingya escaping persecution and only has the mandate to process those refugees remaining from the 1991/92 exodus. The Rohingya account for approximately thirty per cent of the total population of the northern Arakan state of Burma a district mostly occupied by the majority Buddhist Rakhine, who are culturally related to the Burmese military junta. The Queensland Rohingya Community requests: That the World leaders stop the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar now; That the World leaders find a permanent solution in Myanmar now; That the World leaders find a permanent solution for the stateless Rohingya refugees now; That the World leaders investigate massacres in Myanmar now; That the World Leaders should press Aung San Suu Kyi to break her silence on the plight of Rohingya people and stand for true and meaningful democratic reforms and human rights NOW; Call for World leaders’ international intervention in Myanmar now; Call for World leaders to impose new sanctions against Myanmar now; Call for World leaders to stop the ongoing crimes against humanity in Myanmar now; Call for World leaders to take necessary action to rebuild the burnt Rohingya villages without any conditions now; Call for World leaders to take action against the Myanmar regime forcing the Rohingya to change their identity and threats to force Rohingya to register as Bengalis; That the World leaders address the policy of the Bangladesh government to not issue departure visa for accepted refugees in third countries, including Australia; That the World leaders address the appropriation of international partners, especially with the Office of the UN Human Rights, Amnesty international, EU Committee and UNHCR, to determine any irregularities; That the World leaders continue to make representations to the Myanmar authorities to include and recognise the Rohingya as citizens under the Myanmar Citizenship law 1982 and provide appropriate protection under that legislation; That the World leaders continue to monitor closely the situation of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar and make representations to its government with a view to establish a ceasefire among warring parties, and work according to principles of international law and peremptory legal norms to keep the peace and public order; That the World leaders continue to monitor the political situation in Burma, especially in relation to the perceived reforms of governance in the country, since true and authentic reforms, by recognising and applying human rights principles, will alleviate the reason to flee our own country and live in abhorrent conditions with fear for our health and lives. The Queensland Rohingya Community implore World leaders to take proactive action to save the remaining Rohingya people in Burma so that they can live as human beings with dignity. We encourage the European nations to acknowledge the plight of the Rohingya people and to take strong measure to improve their situation in what is unacceptable according to international humanitarian law and human rights law. According to a UN report, the current regime is committing crimes against humanity. The Rohingya people have eyewitness accounts of crimes against humanity towards the Rohingya in Rakhine (Arakan) state in Burma. The practical reality is that before an allegation against each another is made, only evidence that is corroborated will be credible. There is a plethora of credible evidence and eyewitness accounts from sources such as the UN, UNHCR, BBC, CNN, SBS, Al Jazeera, Amnesty international, MSF, Human Rights Watch, the European Union, ASEAN and other organizations. We are pleading to the present G-20 World leaders to assist Rohingya people. As a people, Rohingya are suffering today but the International community, including the leadership of G20, should not witness or ignore our ongoing sufferings. History will judge the world by how it has stood with its most persecuted members. The Rohingya plight is the plight of every freedom loving people across the globe. Today, we urgently ask for the G-20 World leaders and international community to intervene in Myanmar to form a democratic and peaceful country that will strive for a multi-lingual, multi-racial and multi-cultural (Rohingya) society that respects the dignity and rights of all. The Rohingya people are suffering mercilessly under the current ‘crocodile’ regime. Thank you Noor Zaman President Queensland Rohingya Community Inc 0423851261 zaman1951convention@yahoo Kefayet Ullah Secretary Queensland Rohingya Community Inc 0406552620 Kefayett88@gmail Queensland Rohingya Community (QRC) facebook 6 November 2014
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 21:32:56 +0000
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