ROHINGYA 3

Press Release: Save Rohingyas from the hands of the human traffickers and greedy exploiters

Thursday, 07 May 2015 08:20 - Last Updated Thursday, 07 May 2015 08:30

ARAKAN ROHINGYA NATIONAL ORGANISATION, ARAKAN, BURMA

Arakan Rohingya National Organisation expresses its strong concern at recent exhumation on 

 

brutal camps in 1st and 4th  May of dozens of bodies from mass gravesites near human traffickers'

southern Thailand. More such graves are believed to exist in the region.

Due to institutionalized persecution and ‘atrocity crimes’ against themby the Burmese/Myanmar

 

government and state-sponsored non-state actors or Rakhine/Buddhist extremists, the Muslim

Rohingya of Arakan have become desperate to take dangerous voyages to countries within the

region in search of safe shelters in particular. Since June 2012 deadly violence and genocidal

 

massacres in Arakan their exodus to Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and other

countries have swelled to alarming proportion.

 

The fleeing boat people were deceived and made captives in brutal jungle camps in southern

Thailand where they were pressured, starved and beaten to death by their captors to extort

ransom from their families and relatives in overseas. Some of the victims were sold to work as

labourers in fishing boats and farmlands. It is apprehended that hundreds of boat people are

 

currently held up in the sea by the smugglers. The trafficking gangs are understood to have link

 

with powerful people.

It is a disappointment that the Rohingya issue was not discussed in the recent 26th ASEAN

 

Summit held between 26-28 April in Malaysia, although the issue is a regional issue since bulk

 

of refugees had fled to Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. The Burmese/Myanmar government

 

is manifestly involved in the human trafficking as its security forces and repressive functionaries

 

have been forcing Rohingyas to leave their hearth and home while extorting money.

We appreciate the Thai Prime Minister’s recent statement and words of warning to get rid of the

 

human traffickers, to unearth their hideouts and victims’ graves, and to bring the culprits to

 

justice. In this connection, it is important that all countries in the region, including Bangladesh,

should strengthen cooperation in fighting against human trafficking and smuggling while

ensuring the protection of victims.

Meanwhile, the following measures are of most urgent:

1. UN should constitute a Commission of Inquiry to find out the exact number of death of the

trafficked people and extent of their sufferings, and to bring the culprits to justice.

2. Concerted efforts through enhanced cooperation among the countries in the region -

including Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia - and with UN Bodies, such

as IOM in order to wipe out human trafficking and smuggling while protecting the

3. Burmese/Myanmar government is to be held responsible in human trafficking for its

Rohingya extermination policies and for compelling the Rohingyas to leave their hearth and

home.

4. ASEAN should discuss the Rohingya issue dynamically for a regional solution.
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