Occupied And Exploited

The Silent Genocide Of Ogaden
(Voiceless series)

Endless Suffering 

Time has shown that an occupying force has few options outside of military force and the endless committing of war crimes while attempting to subjugate native populations. No matter how beneficial the relationship may seem at first, the desire for self determination and self governance will rise to the surface when oppressive foreign rule is applied. Once these aspirations manifest the occupying force will rapidly find themselves unable to cling to power without compromising their ethics (if ever there could be while occupying another peoples' land). Mass arrests often slide into mass executions. What happens behind jail walls then often makes it's way out into the streets. And with one death comes an ocean of blood. One drop must be paid for with another.

When the Italians took possession of the Ogaden region of Ethiopia their military conquest was meant to, rather perversely, rebuild a Roma Empire of sorts. Just as with the first Romans in Africa, the Italians took what they wanted and killed those who dared to try and hold onto their resources. The native peoples of Ogaden were not regarded as equals to the invading Italians but rather treated as slaves in their own homeland. Anything that could be used to benefit Italy was taken at will.

This exploitation by Italy came to an end as Mussolini's fascist rule fell to the allied forces of World War Two. Yet the colonialist minds of Europe did not dare to leave Africa's resources to her own people. Instead the British stepped in and took control of Ogaden's resources and people. Just as with the Italians, the Brits plundered what they wanted and killed those they didn't. Resistance was met with the same oppressive methods used against any other native peoples that England had encountered all around the world.

European conquest of the world has been defined by the exploitation of native peoples and their natural resources. In Africa the idea that the Europeans were somehow bringing the native peoples out of the stone age and into the modern age was encouraged just as it had been in the Americas. The white European occupier was painted in Europe as bringing civilization to undeveloped people who just happened to be black. This allowed a disturbing, and racially based, rationale for the crimes against humanity committed by European colonial powers.

In Ogaden this conquest was further complicated by the lack of foresight shown by European colonial powers as they carved up the map of Africa. When Britain decided to consolidate power in the region they made plans to annex Ogaden into Ethiopia (a well controlled region of British influence). In 1954 the Brits forcibly annexed Ogaden into Ethiopia, thus keeping it out of reach of Somalia to the East. This permitted Britain the opportunity to dissolve a portion of it's empire and lessen the cost of controlling the region through military force.

Today Ogaden's largely ethnic Somali population (around 8 million) cling to existence rather than living. They have survived European conquest, a Soviet backed invasion, countless armed and unarmed uprisings, endless war, and Ethiopia's oppressive occupation. Their villages have been destroyed routinely. Their men and boys have been subjected to mass arrests and executions. Their women and children are vulnerable to rape, torture, and violent deaths of all sorts. Today Ogaden's native population faces what many might call ethnic cleansing... what Alder's Ledge would call genocide.

Why Genocide?

Genocide is defined as:

Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."

Every time the word genocide makes it's first appearance in a conversation there is a rapid reaction amongst many to cringe. Images of death camps in Poland or streets filled with dead bodies in Rwanda come to mind. So it is needless to say that the word itself as certain emotional responses. Yet it is the legal liability the word carries that makes governments across the world uneasy when using the word. For if and when it is applied to a humanitarian crisis there are supposed to be very clear and decisive actions taken to stop it. This is, after all, the UN's legal response to what was an emotional response to the Holocaust... our promise of "never again".

In a perfect world application of the word genocide to such events would trigger an immediate response. In a perfect world there wouldn't be a need for such a vile word in the first place. Yet it is precisely the lack of response to every genocide (both recognized and unrecognized) since the Holocaust that has led to a lack of concern by those who perpetrate it. Impunity for their actions has led to a certain level of comfort for those who would exercise such heinous crimes.

For the regime in Ethiopia the practice of committing endless crimes against the people of Ogaden has been reinforced by the responses given by the outside world. When Ethiopia uses the excuse of "fighting the war on terror" they are given a pass for destroying entire villages. When the government in Ethiopia refuses to allow journalists access by labeling them terrorists the outside world looks the other way. These two responses alone create a vacuum in which Ethiopia's military is allowed to operate without criticism or accountability.

With impunity for their actions the government of Ethiopia has allowed it's military (of which nearly half occupies Ogaden) to utilize Ogaden's people as slave labor, kill civilians at will, commit forced evictions, demolish homes and villages, rape and torture, and otherwise keep Ogaden under Ethiopian control. Each of these actions can easily be classified as "crimes against humanity" by even the most casual of observers. These crimes can then be further scrutinized, and with intent proven, only to be labeled for what they are: acts of genocide.

The forced removal of villagers from their homes falls under the legal perimeters of genocide itself. The intent is obvious once looked at and can only be justified through the targeting of the villagers due to their ethnicity and perceived nationality. Since Ethiopia's military does not treat the Ogaden people in the same way as they do other Ethiopians, nationality is part of this discriminatory and exploitative practice. Their Somali ethnicity is on the other hand the major reason as to why Ethiopia's leadership shows no remorse or intent upon reconciling their actions with the people of Ogaden.

The mass arrests, the use of torture, rape, and especially the executions of ethnic Somali civilians all also contribute to the classification of the greater crime here as genocide. Each of these crimes either directly or indirectly lend themselves to the completion of ethnic cleansing (a form of genocide) within the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. Through mass arrest, torture, and outright killings of ethnic Somalis the government weakens the targeted community and creates areas in Ogaden where life is made impossible.

Within areas of occupation by Ethiopian military forces the conditions to which the people of the Ogaden are subjected can only be described as; "inflicting on the group living conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction in part or in whole..." This is made evident through Ethiopia's policy of confiscating livestock and other necessities that the native population must have to survive in Ogaden's desert climate. Access to natural resources vital to survival, such as water and grazing lands, is also deliberately hindered by Ethiopia's military presence in Ogaden. Conditions are only made more dire by Ethiopia's denial of adequate access to healthcare and humanitarian aid across the region.

When the sum of Ethiopia's crimes against the people of Ogaden are all put together there is reason to believe that Ethiopia's regime intends to either push the Ogaden Somalis out or drastically decrease their population. But why?

As with most genocides throughout history, those perpetrating this one utilize ethnic hatred to gain access to profit. In this case it is the exploitation of Ogaden's oil reserves. The fact that the Ogaden Somali community happens to set atop that oil does not seem to deter the leaders of Ethiopia. By killing the ethnic Somali community they gain both profit and rid themselves of an ethnic group they perceive to be undesirable.

The Cost Of Ogaden's Oil

The native population of any colonized area always pay the price for the gains made by the colonial power. Their quality of life, their national or social aspirations, their very existence; all of these are placed into question as the exploitation of their community and property is carried out. The lives they could have had are all stolen from them by the greed and lust of the occupier. Those dreams that all mankind has are all placed out of reach by the exploitation they suffer. 

Oil could had been a blessing to the desperately impoverished region. It could had been used to lift the Ogaden Somali community out of life of just surviving from day to day. But alas it has been made a curse for those who rightfully have claim to it. 

With international oil companies pouring into the region the quality of life has been made worse for Ogaden's Somali community. Ethiopia defends the so called "right" of these oil giants to take what they want as long as Ethiopia's government profits from it. To maintain this source of income the government has utilized genocide and other crimes against humanity to assure their flow of cash survives. 

For the Somali community in Ogaden this means that life itself is not guaranteed from one day to the next. This has led to thousands of Ogaden's Somali community seeking refuge in Kenya, South Africa, and Yemen. Fleeing their homeland has become a better option for some than to stay and die at the hands of Ethiopian soldiers. 

This is the cost of oil in Ethiopia's Ogaden region. Each drop of petrol from the area is matched by the pools of blood spilled getting them. And yet, while Ogaden's Somali community pays in blood, the outside world has yet to ask if this price is worth "cheap gasoline". 

Source Documents
(not all listed)

MLA of South Africa
http://www.mlajhb.com/ogaden-docket

UNPO
http://www.unpo.org/article/16791

Somaliland Sun
http://somalilandsun.com/index.php/regional/4832-ethiopia-how-foreign-oil-companies-annihilated-the-lives-of-ordinary-african-population-in-ogaden-region-

UN.org
https://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/pdf/osapg_analysis_framework.pdf

A Liar's Promise

Fate Of Kachin Still Hangs In Thin Air
(The Darkness Visible series)

"A lasting solution, the possibility to begin a new life, is the only dignified solution for the refugee himself."

~ Poul Hartling

What is the value of a promise made by somebody who has lied to you time and time before? How much weight do those words carry with you? Trust is not a measure of how much that person is respected by others but by how much they have earned it from you personally. It cannot be purchased through goodwill gestures offered at the expense of someone else. It can't be manipulated by the assurances of others. It must be earned by the person who has betrayed you in the past. For history is the best indicator of future behavior. It cannot be ignored even by the most credulous of individuals. And it most certainly is never ignored in the heat of battle.

For two years the Kachin people have been fighting a brutal war against the aggressive Burmese military. In June of 2011 a 17 year old ceasefire fell apart as war returned to their lands. Children who had been born into the uneasy peace were now ripped away from the homes they once knew. Their families, their neighbors, their villages; all was put in jeopardy by the callousness of Myanmar's generals. For two years the Kachin have simply been trying to survive.

This month a rickety agreement was reached and for the time the Burmese government seems willing to hold back it's old military rulers. In the meantime the Kachin people are forced to hold out on the other side of battle line. 100,000 internally displaced peoples remain under the fog of war. Food remains scarce and water is still a daily struggle for most. Despite agreements, these internally displaced peoples cannot return home.

Two years of war has meant that Kachin children have had no real access to an education. Some 40,000 estimated Kachin children have not received a formal education since the fighting broke out two years ago. Those who have received any form of schooling have received only minor support from NGOs and charity organizations who work around Myanmar's restrictions on the Kachin people. And yet even with the peace plan still holding, these 40,000 (est.) children are still suffering from a lack of teachers and schools in the Kachin region.

The outbreak of war in the Kachin region has led to increased vulnerability of Kachin women and children to the crime of human trafficking. With a price tag running up to $6,500 USD for each victim, the traffickers that operate along the Burmese-China border have stepped up their operations since June of 2011. Utilizing illegal trade routes the criminals transport Kachin women and girls as far as the eastern shores of China, selling them into slavery or forced marriages. Those who manage to escape are at times assisted by Chinese authorities in their attempt to return home to the Kachin region. Myanmar on the other hand does nothing to help Kachin victims, the Burmese anti-trafficking liaison office along the border does not even appear to be manned. Thus not one case of a Kachin trafficking victim contacting Myanmar authorities has yet to be reported.

Continued occupation of Kachin lands has led to confiscation of Kachin farms and villages by the Burmese authorities. These plots of valuable land have been turned into state sponsored mass agricultural projects (plantations), unregistered and unregulated gold mining operations, and foreign investment projects. One NGO even managed to document cases that have led to around 3,500 Kachin people being evicted forcibly by the Burmese military in the past few years alone. These villagers now have very limited options on how to provide for their families and future. All as a result of the seemingly lawlessness of the Kachin region under Burmese military occupation.

All of these things are promised to end soon. That is if we are to believe the government of Myanmar. This would mean that we are to believe a government that has continuously lied when talking about the Kachin region and it's people. Where the Burmese government has promised peace it has delivered unmitigated brutality and aggression. When the government promised to combat the exploitation of minorities, especially when dealing with human trafficking, it has created the "perfect storm" for criminal enterprise. To those Burma promised protection, education, and social services it has offered only homelessness, helplessness, and neglect in the worst degree.

The only token of goodwill that Myanmar has given the people of the Kachin in two years was the small gesture of allowing a UN convoy to pass through the front lines of the Kachin conflict zone. This week members from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, and World Food Programme managed to break the siege for the first time in over a year. Delivering food, water, medical aid, humanitarian supplies, and urgent care the United Nations convoy pushed into the Kachin region unmolested. This was the first sign that Myanmar could tolerate some form of compassion being shown to it's enemies. It was the first token of goodwill shown by Burma in two miserable years of fighting in the Kachin.

But once again, what is the value of a promise when it comes from a liar? How much weight can one put to the words of a bitter enemy? Can trust be earned by flimsy documents and cheapened promises? Or will only time be capable of telling whether or not the government of Myanmar is lying once again?

"It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath."

~Aeschylus

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Source Documents
(note: not all sources listed)

Democratic Voice of Burma
http://www.dvb.no/news/aid-push-to-stem-kachin-refugee-crisis/19035
-
http://www.dvb.no/news/un-convoy-delivers-aid-to-idp-camps-in-rebel-territory/28809

United Nations OCHA
http://www.unocha.org/top-stories/all-stories/myanmar-un-aid-convoy-crosses-kachin-frontlines

Mizzima News
http://www.mizzima.com/news/ethnic-issues/9511-kachin-refugee-children-in-desperate-need-of-schools

Thomson Reuters Foundation
http://www.trust.org/item/20130605081951-jpk6z/

Kachin Women's Association Thailand
http://www.kachinwomen.com/advocacy/press-release/37-press-release/110-burmas-war-against-kachin-creating-perfect-storm-for-human-trafficking-.html
-
http://www.kachinwomen.com/images/stories/publication/pushed_to_the_brink.pdf

Irrawaddy News
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/35684

Open Society Foundations 
http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/women-violence-and-burma-reporting-frontlines-kachin-state

A Line In The Sand

United States Shows Yellow Streak Over Red Line Comment
(The Darkness Visible series)

In August of 2012 President Obama said before the world in no uncertain words that the United States would not tolerate Assad's regime crossing the "red line" by using chemical weapons. In the strongest words the President could afford, Obama told Assad's regime that the use of Syria's chemical weapon stockpiles would have "serious consequences". The audience was supposed to recall Gaddafi and the US military's actions in Libya. This was Obama's moment to sound like a war hawk while seeking to be a dove.

“We have been very clear to the Assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is, we start seeing a whole bunch of weapons moving around or being utilized.”

~ President Barack Obama, 20th August 2012

Well today we know that Assad crossed that "red line" after dancing upon it and the bones of the dead beneath it. This was Assad's way of telling the West that he doesn't fear them. This was Assad's way of telling Obama that unlike Gaddafi, Assad will not be removed from power by any UN or NATO action. Assad showed his teeth when Obama attempted to back him into a corner.

With the use of sarin gas Assad showed the world that his military is only getting started in a long fight to maintain power over the people of Syria. While the world watches and cheers on the rebel forces, Assad still has plenty of resources to draw upon to win this fight. He has shown with the use of chemical weapons that he will utilize whatever weapons he needs to to win this war. And once the fight has ended, Assad's al-anfal campaign will begin.

"We need to expand the evidence we have, we need to make it reviewable, we need to have it corroborated," ~ Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary 4th June, 2013

While the White House drags their heels the forces of Assad's brutal regime continue to move chemical weapons about Syria in preparation for wider use. The intent to suppress unorganized units of the rebels while pinning down battle hardened opposition has proven to be useful to Assad's military. They have been able to hold their ground while the opposition has been able to only shift the line on one point just to lose another. All the while Assad has been receiving arms and goods from Iran, Russia, and China. Allowing the regime to hold out while the rebels beg for supplies from the West. 

With every passing day the civilians trapped between the trenches are sacrificed to an ever shifting line in the sand. Obama's promise of action had shifted that line in their favor last year. Now it has been dragged back over the border as the Syrian people become refugees in their own country. For the lucky ones there is still the hope to cross the only permanent lines by fleeing the country for Turkey and Lebanon. 

“These weapons are made to be used strictly and only in the event of external aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic.” ~ Jihad Makdissi, Foreign Ministry Spokesman.

Then there remains the threat that Syria issued in July of 2012 when Assad was beginning to realize that UN or NATO troops might intervene. It was at that time that Assad raised the stakes by declaring that his forces would use any and all chemical weapons against foreign soldiers and/or nations who interfered. This now (that we already know Syria has used chemicals) hints that Assad has something worse than sarin gas to use on outsiders. It also leaves one to wonder just why Assad went ahead and used sarin gas in the first place. 

So we should therefore ask ourselves, us in the United States, if we want our troops exposed to a war where the other side has already used chemicals and promises to use them again. We must ask if we wish to sacrifice our blood and treasure to end the suffering of Syrian civilians trapped between two armies (or more). And just how much will we invest to end the bloodshed? Will we accept the cost of spilling blood to supposedly end the flow of innocent blood? Just how much more suffering can we stomach? 

"Russia has been a key supporter of Assad, protecting his regime from the United Nations sanctions and providing it with weapons despite the two-year civil war in which more than 70,000 people have been killed." ~ CBS News

With the cold war supposedly dead the West finds itself face to face with a man that reminds many of Stalin reincarnated. Putin's Russia has supplied Assad with weapons that the unstable regime had previously only been able to drool over. Now the crazed president uses Russian munitions upon his own citizens, killing women and children rather intentionally. All of which has brought a weakened West to an awkward feeling of déjà vu (think Vietnam, Afghanistan, or even Korea). 

If the United States is to overcome its reputation of making false promises and hollow threats it will be facing off with Russian made weapons and Soviet trained units. This would be a war where the UN and NATO forces would not necessarily be better armed than their prey. Instead Obama would be throwing American lives into the breach without knowing what the opposite side is willing to bring to the table. 

So once again, should we be ready to join the fray? 

For over two years I have listened to the loudest and most persistant voices here at home say that "it is sad what is happening to those Syrians, but... it's not our fight.". The irony to me is that most of the time these are the same people who uphold President Bush's decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. When there was the promise of gain from the sacrifice of others, these were the people who were ready to "liberate" an opponent. These were the brave warriors of "freedom". These were the ones who claimed the moral high ground while we, the underclass, sacrificed our brothers and sisters for their wars. 

Now we are faced with a war to end the slaughtering of innocent civilians by a tyrannical dictator. For the first time in a generation we are presented with a good fight. And suddenly the West backs down with their tails between their legs. Where have the war hawks gone? Where did the moral high ground disappear to? Where is Uncle Sam's conscience now that the blood of innocence is upon our President's hands? 

Promises of this magnitude can not be backed away from just because the other side has taken the opportunity to up the ante. When we tell a dictator that we will act we must do so. Any hesitation is complacency with the crimes committed by the enemy. Any motion that even hints that we are turning away from our word is a defeat before we ever begin. Barack Obama must be forced to stand up and be a man. He must be forced to uphold his promise to the people of Syria. 

What if China and Iran back Russia and engulf the region in civil war? What if the West is being dragged into a proxy war? What if Syria is just the first domino to fall? 

There will always be reasons to stand by while innocent lives are being destroyed. We will always have fears to face when we are presented with the right thing to do. If doing what is needed was easy then France would already be mobilizing. But the reality that Syria presents to the West is that when faced with massacres and the war crimes that Assad has given us we have no other option. This is where we prove that freedom is not free. And that no matter what, we will never surrender our belief that the liberty of others is always worth the risk... the fight... the suffering... and the blood we will surely spill. 

Putin and Assad may have led us to this moment. Their desire to prove our weakness may very well be reason for the constant antagonism that Syria displays to the West. Yet in the end we have to live with the fact that a promise was made. We drew the line in the sand. And we can't let it be moved again.

Source Documents
(Note: not all sources listed)

CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57587640/france-says-sarin-gas-used-in-syria/
-
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57587531/putin-russia-has-not-sent-s-300-air-defense-missiles-to-syria-yet/
-
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57587007/russia-to-sell-mig-jet-fighters-to-syria-jet-maker-says/

NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/world/middleeast/obamas-vow-on-chemical-weapons-puts-him-in-tough-spot.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
-
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/world/middleeast/obama-threatens-force-against-syria.html
-
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/world/middleeast/chemical-weapons-wont-be-used-in-rebellion-syria-says.html

The People From Nowhere

Forced To Live Nowhere
(part of Footsteps In The Dark series)

(Eritrea's Human Rights Record Turns Out Thousands Of Refugees)

Slavery...

Abuse...

Rape...

The list of what an Eritrean refugee has to look forward to is tragic at best. Many of these victims of government indifference have no way of seeking justice. They often find themselves trapped between fences (literally) as the world argues about who should help them. All the while they did not choose to be there. This was not their way of taking the easy way out of an already hellish situation back home. For many Eritrean refugees their story begins with human trafficking, kidnapping, and/or a handful of other methods of exploitation. 

On the Sinai peninsula between Africa and the Middle East the story of the Eritrean refugee plays out every day. Bedouin criminal gangs traffic Eritrean hostages across the Sinai in hopes of extorting cash payments from impoverished families back in Eritrea. When the families obviously cannot pay the extortion the rate asked does not come down. Instead the victims are tortured, some to the point of death. Those who survive are sold to other Bedouins to be used as slaves. Other survivors are at times told to run... to head toward Israel and get out of the Bedouins' sight. 

For the runners the wretched fate that has been handed to them has only just begun. A life that many could never imagine has just gotten worse. And yet for these refugees the journey to a better life in their eyes has just begun. 

At the border with Israel the Eritrean refugees are greeted with barbed wire, landmines, and border guards on either side of the fence. If the hot sand and lack of water don't kill them the possibility always lingers just beneath their feet and in the hands of the guards both in front and behind them. This long stretch of wire is the Eritrean refugees' version of limbo. 

For these refugees their part in an over forty year history of Eritrean refugees has only just begun. For the Eritrean refugees who aren't taken to the Sinai and never have the hope of entering Israel there is another version of limbo. 

In camps just over the border in the Sudan the Eritrean refugees attempt to hide from human traffickers who would send them north into Egypt. At Kilo 26 Camp some 12,500 Eritrean refugees wait till the day they can return home. These refugees are among the 130,000+ Eritrean refugees in camps all across the border with Sudan. All of them are subjected to over the border raids, kidnapping, and human trafficking. And yet around 22,000 Eritrean refugees have crossed the border since November of 2003.

Life in camps in Sudan is difficult, if not impossible at times, for the Eritrean refugees. They are reliant upon UN and other foreign aid in a country where human rights abuses are already common. When they attempt to make themselves more self reliant in the Sudan they open themselves up to new threats of exploitation and attack. For most the dream of returning home is the only thing they have keeping them alive. And yet for over a decade now they have been living as the people from nowhere with nowhere to go. 

So for us in the West the question should have already arisen as to why and how this many refugees could be fleeing a tiny country such as Eritrea in the first place.

The protracted hostilities between Ethiopia and Eritrea have created running battles in which innocent civilians are made intentional "collateral damage". Fighting between the two sides often ends up becoming so bitterly entrenched that any member of the opposite state is considered fair game for war weary soldiers. Battlefields spill over into villages and urban areas. Rape and summary executions were all to common when open hostilities existed. Now the uneasy peace still sees militant acts between factions of the two sides. War is never to far from reality along the border between the two states. 

Then when you add the horrific human rights record of the Eritrean state itself to the matter the reality of becoming a refugee is almost all the Eritrean people have left. Eritrean men and boys often "disappear" never to be heard from or seen alive again. Women and girls are subject to rape by government forces and police. This is then complicated by unjust taxation and extortion by government officials. 

For the Eritrean refugees clinging to the wire along the border with Israel there is only the hope of life beyond the oppression they have come to know back home. This longing for freedom is so embedded in human nature that the Eritrean people would risk death to just get a peek at it. And yet if caught staring upon its beauty, these Eritrean people face prison in Egypt and Israel alike. 

These are the people from nowhere...

These are the people with nowhere left to run.

Source Documents

(Note note all sources are listed)

IBT

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/455019/20130409/eritrean-sinai-refugees-egypt-sudan.htm

Amnesty International 

http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/egypt-sudan-kidnap-and-trafficking-refugees-and-asylum-seekers-must-be-stop

UNHCR 

http://www.unhcr.org/46cc4a974.html

Blockades In Bangladesh

Racism Knows No Borders
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Always On The Outside Looking In)

For nearly a year now the Arakan has been under siege by Rakhine extremist who are determined to fulfill their campaign of ethnic cleansing. These fascist have created as system of oppression not seen by the West since the Bosnian Genocide. And much like the Serbian aggression, the Rakhine extremist began their siege of the Rohingya with a horrific purge. 

Many of Burma's Rohingya fled the initial wave of genocide in their homeland for the promise of security across the border in Bangladesh. These Rohingya had been led to believe that at the very least they would be spared the killing and barbarism that was spreading across the Arakan. The one thing they would never escape however was the racism that plagues the region in which they live. 

No border would stop the hatred the Bengali and Burmese communities hold for the Rohingya. It is a deep seeded hatred that can't be easily explained. And yet, in the same irony of the cheap excuses given for the Bosnian Genocide, it isn't a hatred that can be used to explain the violence. This was a hatred that has left the Rohingya as a people vulnerable, oppressed, and constantly on the run. 

In Bangladesh the local authorities fought against the establishment of any form of refugee camps. Recognized camps were just as dangerous as the purges across the border in Burma. So with the constant threat of violence, the Rohingya gathered in unregistered (and considered illegal) camps away from prying eyes. 

(Dreary And Miserable Camps)

Hostility against the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh has been only getting worse. The Border Guards Bangladesh and the Repaid Action Battalion have been increasing their presence around the Rohingya camps. Along with their presence comes the threat of rape, robbery, extortion, and slavery. Let alone the violence associated with the security personnel.

This increase in military and security has also led to Rohingya being unable to seek jobs and income in the the surrounding area. The fact that these camps are unregistered with the UNHCR also means that they are unable to receive aid from the UN. And with the security the roads have been blocked and checkpoints erected, meaning that NGOs are unable to reach the camps. 

In Bangladesh there are four refugee camps. Two of which are not registered with the UNHCR. This leaves these two camps vulnerable and at the whims of the Bengali military.

In Kutupalong makeshift camp there are about 60,000 people and  15,000 in Lada makeshift camp. All of these Rohingya are on the verge of starvation. Without the ability to leave these camps and seek employment and food, these Rohingya will have to face a slow and painful death.

For many they will have to decide if they should stay in Bangladesh or risk death on the sea fleeing ethnic cleansing once again.

West's Burmese Parrot Finds Her Own Voice

Just As Vile A Voice As Any Other Nationalist
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(The Ironic Ideologue) 

Almost from day one of her imprisonment the outside world begged and pleaded for Aung San Suu Kyi to be released. Their misguided pleas were intended to help bring about the "democratic revolution" that the idealist believed Suu Kyi stood to represent. It was believed that universal human rights were right around the corner for Burma. And Suu Kyi was the poster child for the movement.

Well here we are today and Suu Kyi is released and free. She is an active participant in Burma's ruling party. Her voice is clearly heard in Myanmar as the voice of the people... or at least those whom Burma considers to be human beings. And for some time now she has been the voice of democracy in Burma for the outside world transfixed with her every move. 

For those who have been watching the Arakan region of Suu Kyi's country one would wonder where the democracy she speaks of is. Universal human rights are as far from reality for the Rohingya as food and water are. There is nothing human about the way Burma is treating it's native ethnic minorities... especially the Rohingya. 

So what does Suu Kyi think about Burma's Muslim minorities? 

Till recently Suu Kyi had parroted just what the West wanted to hear about the situation in the Arakan. During her visits tot he West she has been the polite pet of the Western governments as she collected her awards and spoke when told to do so. When watching Suu Kyi in her parades across Europe you could almost see how she mirrored just what her audience had projected upon her. In doing this, Suu Kyi's performance has been impeccable... much like other famous nationalists of days long past.

“A country must decide its citizenship for itself..."

~ Aung San Suu Kyi 

Suu Kyi recently responded to critics of her country's 1982 Citizenship Law in much the same way as her leader, Thein Sein, has in the past. Dancing around the phrases "mind your own business" and "shut-up", Suu Kyi made it clear that Burma's laws will only be made and decided upon by the Burmese. This has been state policy every since the law was made after all. 

On February 20Th, 2013 Deputy Minister of Immigration and Population Kyaw Kyaw Win told the Burmese Parliament that there was no such thing as a "Rohingya" minority in Myanmar. Leaders, such as Suu Kyi and Thein Sein, seem to agree since not one of them decided to make a rebuttal to the idiotic claim. In fact there has only been one government official (Shwe Maung) to even bother to correct the Minister of Immigration and Population (note who made the initial claim and his position in government). 

Suu Kyi's party took the opportunity to once again claim that the Minister of Immigration and Population was technically correct since Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya at all. This once again helped to solidify the fact that Suu Kyi herself does not disagree at all with Myanmar's current stance upon the genocide of the Rohingya people. Instead it points to the fact that Suu Kyi, much like the rest of her party, believes that the "stateless" Rohingya are simply illegal immigrants... no matter how long ago they may have "immigrated" to what is now modern day Myanmar. 

"We have to be very clear about what the laws of citizenship are and who are entitled to them."

~ Aung San Suu Kyi

It is this embed racism and bigotry that has helped fuel the complicity of Arakan state officials and Myanmar military leaders in the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya throughout Burma. It is the underlying reason that the ethnic violence has been allowed to spread from the Rakhine region on into the capitol city of Rangoon. And it is the reason that the Burmese government itself has no reason nor will to stop the violence that started in mid 2012. 

Suu Kyi's complacency in the genocide should show the West that as long as Burma is not forced to recognize that its actions (and inaction) are violations of international law then Myanmar will do nothing to correct its criminal behavior. In addition to this the fixation with Suu Kyi herself will forever show future and present war criminals that the West's (and international) affection can be bought. Her cult of personality shows that even genocide can be forgiven as long as the killer is willing to portray himself/herself in the light the world finds comfortable.

Suu Kyi's awards should have been revoked or withheld after the conflict began. It would not have been long before the world could had noticed that this "ethnic violence" was in fact ethnic cleansing. And had we not been so busy praising Suu Kyi, we would have noticed her lack of concern and complacency with the slaughter. 

If silence is as much a crime as doing the killing itself. Then Suu Kyi is a murder, not the victim.

Source documents 

(note not all sources are listed)

The Irrawaddy

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/27763

Democratic Voice of Burma

http://www.dvb.no/news/mp-hits-back-at-official-denial-of-rohingya/26571

Burma Recreates Crimes Of Pol Pot

Turning Buthidaung into Tuol Sleng S-21
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

There are few scenarios a person can imagine that are worse than those that arise in places like Buthidaung Prison. This horrific prison is a hellish pit that can easily be compared to Tuol Sleng S-21 in Pol Pot's Cambodia. The horrors that occur here are the sorts of things that nightmares are made of. These are the sorts of crimes that once committed can never be set straight once again... they can not be truly forgiven... they can not be forgot.

Since the outbreak of ethnic violence in the summer of 2012 the police in the Arakan have been organized in their effort to strip the Rohingya population of its males. The idea behind this tactic is that once the able bodied men are removed the population is left helpless and completely defenseless. This had led to outright massacres of Rohingya men and boys and the arbitrary arrest of countless Rohingya men. It is a tactic that both supports their genocidal intentions and sets the stage for the completion of their campaign of ethnic cleansing.

For the men and boys that are dragged off to Buthnidaung prison the rest of the world might as well be a million miles away. Life as they know it has ended. Once inside the gates of hell itself are just a few paces away.

In recent days information about life inside this prison have leaked out of Burma through the dedicated work of bloggers at the Rohingya Blogger website (source listed below). The accounts of torture are reminiscent of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. And just as the world did with Tuol Sleng... many are already brushing the accounts of torture off as "exaggerated" at best.

Yet whether you believe it or not, these are just a few of the things Rohingya prisoners at Buthidaung Prison have to go through on a daily basis.

• Prisoners are bound with ropes tightly and forced to remain naked.
• Upon arrival prisoners are forced down to the ground and their heads are stepped upon by the prison guards. 
• Prisoners are stripped naked for extended periods while waiting to bathe, when taken off to the bathing areas they are marched off still nude and return in the same manner. 
• At times the prisoners genitals are touched, beaten, and or tied with ropes till they become swollen and dark with blood. 
• During torture the Rohingya prisoner are forced to the ground as the guards set upon their backs and beat them in the head with hammers. At times Rakhine prisoners are brought in to whip the Rohingya with chains, beat them with sticks, or attack them with hammers. 
• Some Rohingya prisoners have had limbs, ears, and even their noses cut (at times amputated) while being beat about the face till they are bruised severely.
• Rohingya prisoners are beat about the chest, limbs, and head till they begin to bleed both externally and internally. 
• Prison guards, often with the help of Rakhine prisoners, pluck the beards of the Rohingya prisoners. They also pull the hair off the Rohingyas' heads and body. 
• Rohingya prisoners are burnt with charcoals. Their genitals are shocked with electricity and burnt with boiling water. 
• Rohingya prisoners are starved and deprived of water. When allowed to bathe the prisoners are given little water so as to prevent both bathing and drinking of the dirty water. 
• Rohingya prisoners are often subjected to sleep deprivation. When caught falling asleep the Rohingya are beaten, at times nearly to death. This helps the guards break the Rohingya prisoners and induce psychiatric issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder. 
• Rohingya prisoners are banned from praying or observing the Sabbath. 
• Heavy shackles (yokes) are placed upon the Rohingyas' shoulders as they are made to walk around with the extra burden. 
• Rohingya prisoners are often made to crawl about as guards ride them like animals. 
• Rohingya prisoners are forced to walk across nail ridden planks and broken glass. 
• Guards use scissors, nails, needles and knives to peel off the skin of Rohingya prisoners. At times the guards will cut the eyes and pierce the tongues of their victims. 
• If a Rohingya urinates or defecates during the course of being tortured the guards will force the Rohingya victim to eat or drink the waste as the guards watch. 
• Fire ants are poured over Rohingya prisoners so that they will bite and sting the victims.
• When stray dogs are available the guards will force Rohingya prisoners to lay down as they apply rice and curries to their bodies. The dogs are led through and forced upon the Rohingya victims. The dogs willingly eat the food and often bite the Rohingya as the guards agitate the dogs to make them more aggressive.
• Guards use slurs to dehumanize the Rohingya constantly. They often refer to the Rohingya as animals in ways such as "Kalar cows". 
• When taking Rohingya to the court the guards tie their victims up and beat them severely.
• At any point of being moved or when inside or outside the Rohingya are tied together with ropes around their necks, waists, and limbs. All the while they are beaten by guards. 
• Rohingya who become ill are denied any form of medical assistance or medicine. 
• Rohingya prisoners are forbidden from meeting with relatives to accept cash, clothing, medicine, or food. 
• Rohingya prisoners are often raped. Often the victim is forced to swallow the sperm of their assailant. 
• Rohingya who are disabled, elderly, or very young are all subject to the same forms of torture as the able bodied Rohingya prisoners. 
• Rohingya prisoners are often told during torture that their religion is worthless. Guards will often tell them, "You said your G-d is great. Now call your G-d to save you."
• Rohingya prisoners who are killed during their captivity due to torture, disease, or outright murder are not given a proper burial. Their bodies are not turned over to their families. Instead the corpses are disposed of in the same manner the prison removes garbage and human waste. 

These accounts of torture, murder, and crimes against humanity are only the most recent ones to have been leaked out of Burma. This prison has been used as a death camp since the radical Rakhine movement launched its genocide in June of 2012. With these accounts of state sponsorship of their wanton destruction of the Rohingya people it is impossible to call these crimes anything other than genocide.

In December of 2012 other organizations had already warned of Rohingya prisoners at Buthidaung Prison being used as slave labor. Those accounts told of how Rohingya prisoners were being starved to death as they were forced to work in rice paddies outside of the prison. They told of how the Rohingya were marched in and out of the prison bound and tied like animals as they were beaten in plain sight of the Rakhine onlookers. These accounts said clearly that the Rohingya prisoners were not given proper clothing or equipment to work and yet were made to work till their hands were bleeding.

Yet here we are again with even more disgusting accounts of blatant torture coming out of Burmese state run prisons. Here we are again as the world looks the other way. Here we are again as the leaders of Myanmar tell the UN and US that nothing wrong is happening in the Arakan... that this is just a phase... that is will pass and democracy will take hold in Burma.

With this information it should be clear to those outside of Burma that the government of Myanmar is either already on its way to completing its genocide or is preparing its own "final solution". The facts all point to a government that is obviously prepared to annihilate an entire race of people both due to their ethnicity and religious inclinations. So why are we still waiting for Burma to fix this problem? Why are we still waiting to see how this all pans out?

If the Rohingya people are not helped they will never be saved from Burma's cruel intentions. Without foreign intervention the Rohingya people of Myanmar are damned to the same fate as those souls lost to Pol Pot's genocidal regime. If the prisoners of Buthidaung Prison are not liberated they will suffer the same deaths as those who were dragged off to Tuol Sleng S-21.

The question remains... how many more need perish before the world wakes up?









If you want to do something to help end the plight of the Rohingya people you are not alone. Screamers around the world are lifting their voices to raise awareness of the situation in the Arakan. But our voices can only do so much. Our actions must match the tone with which we speak. Our bite must be as strong as our bark... so to speak.

That is where organizations such as Partners Relief and Development come into the picture. They are currently one of the few relief groups able to reach the Rohingya in Burma. Their actions are making a difference in a place that few others are willing to venture. But don't take my word for it... follow this link and see for yourself. ( http://www.partnersworld.org/ )

Join us by screaming... join the fight by donating.














Source Documents (note not all sources listed)

Mayu Press Network
http://mayupress.blogspot.com/2012/12/prison-labor-in-buthidaung-jail.html

Rohingya Blogger
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2013/02/some-forms-of-brutal-tortures-and.html

Partners Relief and Development
http://www.partnersworld.org/

On Twitter:
@nslwin
@jamilahanan
@rohingyablogger

Hunted Down Like Dogs

RNDP Puts Up A "Bounty" For Every Dead Rohingya
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(This Boy Is Now A Commodity, Sold As A Slave Or Killed For A Bounty)

Rakhine Prime Minister, U Hla Maung Tin, arrived at Pauktaw this morning and made a beeline for the Rohingya refugee camp. Once there the PM fell in line with his party (the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party) by demanding that the Rohingya in the internally displaced peoples' camp sign documents that state that they are illegal immigrants. The documents state that the Rohingya are illegal Bangladeshi immigrants that have no claim to Burmese citizenship. These documents would be used therefore to deport the Rohingya to a country that has shown no interest whatsoever in accepting them. And without actual legal documents to show that they are either Burmese or Bengali, the Rohingya would officially in Burmese courts be "stateless". 

When the Rohingya in the camp refused to sign the documents Maung Tin threatened the refugees and left. Maung Tin told the Rohingya refugees that if they did not sign that he would see to it that no aid ever made it through the blockades again (including rice from the foreign aid organizations). The RNDP went further by going to Rakhine villages and camps to pass around word of just what these threats entailed. The RNDP then went on to tell the Rakhine that they would pay one lakh kyats for every Rohingya, or kalar (a slur for the Rohingya), they kill. Together, Maung Tin and the RNDP, are making threats that could lead to a return to the June and October riots that launched their genocidal campaign. 

This tactic of "sign or die" has been getting used more and more as the campaign of ethnic cleansing has been amped up. In addition to calling on renewed butchery by the RNDP, the Rakhine extremist have maintained their blockades of Rohingya villages and camps. The RNDP has also begun encouraging Rakhine from Bangladesh and impoverished areas of the Arakan to move into Rohingya villages. By calling the Rakhine "settlers" the RNDP shows that they are intent upon wiping out the memory of these Rohingya villages that were burnt or bulldozed. 

With all the actions taken recently by a major Burmese political party to kill and deport an entire minority one might wonder how the outside world is ignoring this? Time and time again Alder's Ledge has brought proof of genocide taking place right now in Burma and yet these same articles fail to show up in mainstream media. So once again I'm sure there are those wondering just how something like that which has been shown above can take place without their media source covering it. I'm sure there are still far to many people with their eyes closed to this subject to understand that genocide is taking place as they sleep. 

So imagine for a moment that you are a Rohingya trapped behind barbed wire and military checkpoints. Imagine that your family and friends are starving to death as you pick through the grass for any source of food you can find. Imagine that your government, your homeland, is treating you as though you aren't even human. Now imagine that you aren't allowed to leave... you aren't even allowed to travel to neighboring villages or camps. 

All you know is hunger. All you know is pain. All you know is desperation. 

Now imagine that the only way out is to flee by boat. Yet to do this you have to sell everything you have and scavenge for something to bribe the boat's owner. Imagine that you have no way to know if this boat will make it to the presumed safety of Malaysia or not. All you can do is hope that the Nasaka don't catch you as you drift off into the night. 

Imagine that while you starve to death you are approached by Rakhine who promise they can get you out of Myanmar. Imagine that you are asked to sign a paper in exchange for a promise of a better life. Imagine that you don't realize that this paper will make you a slave and that you will be sold in Thailand or Bangladesh. 

But imagine that you stay...

Now try to imagine that the RNDP just visited your village. Imagine that you just heard them proclaim that your Rakhine neighbor can earn cash money just for killing you. You know that your local police don't stop these attacks. You know that the military sides with the RNDP. You know that there is nowhere you can run. Now imagine that you are being hunted... but instead of running, you can only wait for your hunter to strike. You know that you are like a caged animal. You know that there is nowhere in you homeland that you can hide. 

This is the life of nearly a million Rohingya trapped in Burma. This is how the government of Myanmar has allowed ethnic cleansing to occur in the Arakan. The Burmese have committed a forced famine, constructed death camps, blockaded entire villages, and permitted the wholesale slaughter of the Rohingya people. 

It is a story that would enrage the common citizens of the West. It is a narrative that would sell papers across America and Europe. And it is a tragedy that the West could exploit at a moment's notice. Yet the prospects of Myanmar's untapped wealth have curtailed the actions these crimes demand. Once again the numbers were run and the prospect of economic gain topped the cost of saving lives.

Starvation Fuels Slavery

Exportation Helping Complete Ethnic Cleansing
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(It is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts. Koran 22:46)

Since the October pogroms the Rakhine officials and Myanmar's government have been enforcing a campaign of mass starvation amongst the Rohingya population of Burma. The method of killing those who refuse to leave changed from mass murder to mass starvation. And for many in the media this change from outright slaughter to passive barbarism offered some sort of perverted hope that Myanmar might actually uphold its promise of "democratic reform". Yet here we are over six months later and the original intent of Burma's sins is still being carried out without mercy as Rohingya die on a daily basis. 

In July The Guardian posted a piece in which they quoted an aid worker that described the Rohingya refugee camps as "open air prisons". This was back in July of 2012 when the fighting had only recently ended. This was just as humanitarian workers began to actually see just how horrid the conditions were amongst the Rohingya. Or at the very least the Rohingya they were allowed to see in the camps since many Rohingya were at that point blockaded in their villages. 

"We are worried that malnutrition rates already have and will continue to rise dramatically; if free and direct humanitarian access accompanied by guaranteed security is not granted with the shortest delay, there's no way they won't rise," said Tarik Kadir of Action Against Hunger. (July 2012)

Over the next six months the world did nothing to stop the campaign of ethnic cleansing that the Burmese have been carrying out. Instead the aid groups found it impossible to reach those in desperate need of food, water, medicine, and basic humanitarian aid. All the while governments around the world have increased trade with Burma while denying that any crisis is under way. 

Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson, "Would expect a strong international response" to any attempt to deport the Rohingya."

After the October pogroms the Burmese government decided to begin the very deportations the Human Rights Watch organization predicted back in July. But unlike they expected, the world did nothing to stop the deportations. Instead countries like Thailand and Bangladesh have decided to profit off the horrific crimes that Burma has been perpetrating for over half a year now. While America and Europe continue to look for new ways to exploit Burma for its natural resources and economic contributions to the emerging markets of China and India.

Today nearly 1,000 Rohingya are stuck in a system of limbo created by Thailand as the government decides just how many if not all are deported back to Burma. Around 800 of these Rohingya were just recently "rescued" from human trafficking camps. And to add to this around 40 percent of the Rohingya found in Thailand's trafficking rings are below the age of 18. Yet despite facing death back home in Burma and facing slavery at the hands of traffickers, Thailand is in a hurry to send their "problems" back to Myanmar.

Rohingya often end up these days in the hands of human traffickers simply because desperation drives them to desperate actions. Using whatever money or materials they can bribe their captors with the Rohingya appear to enter slavery willingly. And at the same time it is blatantly obvious that nobody wants to be a slave. It is from that point of rationalization that makes us ask why?

Why would they risk breaking up their families and sending them out across southeast Asia? Why would anyone give up apparent freedom for a life of oppression?

The answers are almost as unfortunate as the trade off they are making is.

Rohingya have no freedoms in Burma from the moment they are born to the day that they die. A Rohingya person must be documented in multiple ways from birth yet are never admitted citizenship. Their parents must pay taxes upon them from birth while their children will have to pay taxes upon their death. Movement from village to village during life is taxed and restricted unless being dictated by Rakhine authorities.

In the long list of oppressive laws and restrictions put in place upon the Rohingya the part that preps the Rohingya for human trafficking the most happens to be the slavery they are raised with in Burma. It is a well known fact even outside Myanmar that the Rohingya are often used as slave labor when the Rakhine or military wants free labor. They are not fed nor do they receive any form of compensation during these times of forced labor. Their fields do not get worked, their boats don't go out to fish, and their children do not get fed during these times of slavery. It is this part of Burma's treatment of the Rohingya that prepares them for life as human cargo at the hands of human traffickers.

Thai officials have repeatedly been found cooperating with human traffickers and often doing the trafficking themselves. It is only in recent years that industry and the free market have begun to demand that the "free labor" portion of Thailand's economy be brought under control. Sadly these demands have only arrived out of the desire to gain larger portions of economic shares rather than out of concern for the Rohingya peoples' well-being.

The only good news coming out of Thailand is the fact that they have for now decided to hold the Rohingya till the UN can have a look at them. This does not mean that the Thai authorities will take the UN's suggestions seriously. It does not meant that the Rohingya will not be deported after the UN leaves. It does however mean that for now, at least, these Rohingya are spared the reprisals that await upon return to Myanmar.

For the rest of the world the question of how to stop human trafficking still remains. Last year MTV Exit put on a concert in Myanmar (counter productive since Myanmar is the heart of human trafficking in Southeast Asia). President Obama and other world leaders have talked endlessly about this subject. The United Nations has countless programs and branches dedicated to stopping this crime against humanity. Yet the sin of slavery still plagues us. And for the Rohingya it is a painful way out of Hell on earth.

Source Documents 

(Note not all sources used are listed)

CNN (December 7th, 2012)

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/07/myanmar-can-keep-rohingya-from-starving-but-will-it/

(November 26, 2012)

 http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/25/world/asia/myanmar-rohingya-violence-rivers/index.html

The Guardian (July 13, 2012)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/13/burma-humanitarian-crisis-rohingya-arakan

Rohingya.org (December 16th, 2012)

http://www.rohingya.org/portal/index.php/burma/63-news--article/427-the-rohingya-suffer-ethiopian-like-starvation.html

The Independent (October 30, 2012)

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-world-must-act-to-protect-burmas-rohingya-from-starvation-and-slaughter-8262073.html

Phuketwan (December 26, 2012)

http://phuketwan.com/tourism/desperation-marks-rohingyas-fight-rights-survival-17303/

Aljazeera (January 11, 2013)

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/01/201311184320327355.html

Pushed Back Into The Abyss

Failure Of Humanity In Thailand
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Rohingya Refugees Awaiting Deportation From Thailand)

Found drifting off the shore of Thailand's resort town, Phuket, 73 Rohingya refugees are set to be deported back to Myanmar. Among the refugees are women and children. And despite their claims of physical abuse at the hands of the Burmese military, none are going to receive asylum within Thailand.

The question remains just why the Rohingya would want to stay in Thailand in the first place? 

Human traffickers in Thailand have used Rohingya as slaves for factories and fishing trawlers operating out of Thai waters. Thai police and military are often seen abusing Rohingya refugees and forcing the Rohingya back out to open water. Government organizations in Thailand have been discriminating against the Rohingya for decades. And yet the Rohingya still try to enter Thailand in droves. 

This leaves us to guess that even moderate discrimination and routine abuse are still seen as a better life than what awaits them back in Myanmar. 

(Refugees Show The Wounds Burmese Military Gave Them)

The UN says that the Thai authorities should halt all attempts to deport the refugees by labeling them "migrant workers". This cheap trick in labeling has allowed Thailand to persistently deny entry to Rohingya in the past. On many occasions the Thai navy has claimed that they had at the very least given some supplies to the "boat people" before sending them back to sea. But even in doing this the Thai navy was simply giving the Rohingya a death sentence in boats that obviously had already failed. 

UN officials have pleaded with Thailand to wait until UN observers could arrive to meet with the latest wave of Rohingya refugees. Yet, just as with most cases of "boat people", Thailand shows no intention of waiting before shipping the Rohingya families back over the border into Burma. 

(Thai Military Guard Rohingya Refugees)

In response to this failure by Thailand to show at least some form of humanity we can expect the UN to propose some new plan for Southeast Asian countries when dealing with Rohingya refugees. In doing this the UN will once again fail to do anything to actually stop the cause of this new wave of refugees in the first place. While telling Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries, to accept the refugees the UN has shown no sign of telling Myanmar to cease the killings that have caused this exodus. 

If the West will not act to stop the genocide the Rohingya will continue to flee by sea. Those who take to the ocean will once again face hostile navies and deadly cases of starvation and dehydration. As history has shown, hundreds... if not thousands... will be lost to the sea or be forced into slavery. 

Life amongst the Burmese government and Rakhine Buddhist has proven impossible for the Rohingya trapped within Myanmar. For this reason death at sea appears to be the only way out. And yet the West promised these people time and time again... Never Again.

Welcome To The Ghetto

Banished To The Slums
(Part of The Darkness Visible series) 

Myanmar Government Now Establishing Ghettos For Rohingya

In Sittwe, Myanmar the Burmese government has now established a policy of forced segregation in which the Rohingya are being forced into ghettos. The Rakhine Buddhist are now the only ones allowed to enter the market areas in Sittwe and other cities and larger villages in the Rakhine region of Myanmar. Rohingya who had their own businesses in this region are now banned from working. Rohingya who had homes in Sittwe are now homeless and forced to walk the alleyways of the ghettos. Not one Rohingya dares leave the ghettos in fear that they will be attacked. Sittwe is now in a full fledged stage of ethnic cleansing.

In 1992 the Serbian militias set up concentration camps and ghettos where the Bosniaks were forced to live in constant fear. These sorts of open air prisons are meant to force the prisoners to live like animals. For the oppressors on the outside these camps are designed to give the image that the prisoners are not human. And for the community as a whole... this sort of segregation will leave scars that even time can not truly heal.

For my ancestors the ghettos were a way of life that still lives in the backs of our minds. To a degree the memory of these places still lives on even in generations who never knew what the ghettos were actually like. This is how time fails to wipe the slate clean. This is why the ghetto is such an effective tool of war.

Myanmar police and military have been known to use these ghettos to round up Rohingya women to gang rape or use as sexual slaves. Once again this mirrors how the Serbian militias used this tactic. It shows how the Junta is creating a step by step version of ethnic cleansing. This is exactly the style of genocide that appeared in Bosnia. It is the method the Nazis used in Eastern Europe. And it is how the Russians exercised their segregation and pogroms before the Holocaust.

Food and Clean Water are Scarce in the Ghetto

Death has a way of lingering in camps like these. Frail bodies haunt the shadows as helplessness creeps around every corner. A sense of timelessness falls over a person who lives in these conditions. There is nothing to mark the passing of time anyhow. There are no meals to speak of. There are no jobs to get up in the morning and go off to do. There is no reason to go to bed when your stomach is aching and your body is hurting. And there is no way of quenching your thirst without inviting death from disease or infection. 

No human being should ever have to live like this. Nobody should ever have to wait for death to come for them as they live with the fading hope of having a life worth living. Yet this is what the world has left for the Rohingya. This is the life Myanmar has cursed an entire ethnicity with. 

For those who make it to UN sponsored camps life isn't much better. They have already passed through the hell of war. They have been hunted like a dog as they ran through the flames. And now they must live in a ghetto full of pale canvas tents and meager rations. 

So how can you help end this ethnic cleansing campaign? How can you do anything that might end the United States support for Myanmar's genocidal campaign against the Rohingya?

The easiest way to take action is to first contact your Representative in Congress. All you have to do is search by zip code on the following page:

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

Once you have found your Representative you can go to their web page and email them. In your own words you can express how you have read about the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar and you want the United States to come out on the world stage and condemn it. Tell your Representative that you want the United States to take any actions necessary to force Myanmar to end the ethnic cleansing and stop the genocide of the Rohingya Muslims. 

If you do not want to take this action you can "Scream" with us. To do this you can simply press the "share" button down below. By posting these articles on your FaceBook and Twitter you raise your voice with us and help spread the word about this horrific tragedy. And that alone is a simple step you can take that honestly and rapidly helps end the silence surrounding this genocide.

And The Flames Go Higher

Falling Further Faster
(Part of The Darkness Visible post)

Since about midday Wednesday the Syrian military has been shelling the city of Aleppo with greater ferocity than has been seen since the standoff began. Jets have been dropping bombs nonstop for nearly a day now as their target range from Aleppo to towns north of the city. Artillery's deafening roar has not stopped since Assad ordered his hellish assault. And the tactics being reported are nothing short of barbaric.

Carving a crescent shape behind the civilian neighborhoods the bombings are being used to pin the innocent in while the army attacks head on. Helicopters are being used to patrol any routes of escape while the shabiha roam the rebel flanks. Every living soul in Aleppo seems to be the target.

What information is coming out of Aleppo lends itself to a massacre larger than any seen as of yet in this 17 month rebellion. The use of jets to bomb from the air has made it harder for innocent civilians to escape the barrage of artillery and tank fire. Machine gun fire erupts on the streets leading north out of Aleppo whenever people are seen trying to flee. It appears that Assad will hold to his promise to burn Aleppo to the ground. And he may be making sure that nobody will get out alive.

Of the original 3 million citizens there is an estimated 2.5 million still trapped in the city and its outlying neighborhoods. Most have been without running water or electricity since Assad's siege of the city began. All have been having a hard time trying to find food. And nearly everyone has been under the regime guns for the last 24 hours.

News agencies are reporting that Assad's forces have taken at least one of the key neighborhoods and are pushing toward the north side of the city. We are also hearing that Assad's regime is threatening to use "unconventional" weapons to win the fight in Aleppo. These weapons could include chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. On the lighter side of the spectrum Assad could also be referring to napalm or high explosives to level larger areas of the city. In any case the dense population in the neighborhoods of Aleppo would spike the death toll sky high if Assad gets even more desperate.

In previous weeks Assad has threatened to use chemical and biological weapons on foreign troops if any nation or the UN tries to intervene. It appears now that the ever more desperate situation of the regime is pushing the use of these weapons closer to reality. Yet the West continues to only worry about the use of these weapons on their troops and against their interest. Apparently the helpless citizens trapped in Aleppo are not a Western interest.

On the rebel side of the battle news has come forward that the Syrian rebels have killed a Russian general who was working with the Syrian army in Damascus. The Syrian rebels produced his military id and several other sources of identification in addition to video of his body. In response the Russians have produced a man on video in Moscow who claims to be the dead general. The flaw in the Russian video is the fact the man in the video was told from a man behind the camera what to say... including his own name... and stumbled through the scripted video. In addition to not knowing who he was supposed to be, the Russian puppet also didn't look anything like the dead general in Syria.

So as I have suspected all along, Russia is doing more than just providing Assad the weapons, helicopters, tanks, and ammunition to kill his own people with. Putin's interest in keeping Syria oppressed has brought Russian military leaders to the battle field where they are reported to be directing the Syrian offenses. And yet despite an invested interest in the battle for Syria, Russia continues to be allowed to vote on the issue in the UN.

For now we still are forced to wait to see what is really happening in Aleppo as the rebels fight on against ever growing odds. So for now we will pray for the safety of those innocent civilians now trapped in the crossfire. May G-d have mercy on them seeing as how Assad will not.