(part of The Darkness Visible series)
In every pogrom there is a moment where the victimized community has to stop and ask themselves just how far this new wave of violence is going to go. Moments of terror crack like thunder in the hearts of those who wait to see if the violence will escalate further. These moments reverberate through the community in such a manner that one family's loss quickly becomes the sorrow of every household. As the blood continues to pour and the tragic losses continue to mount, the fear grows till it floods the hearts and souls of all those trapped by the violence.
At some point what starts as a one pogrom in one village or town tends to spread outward. With news of freshly spilled blood traveling faster today than ever before this tidal wave of terror rushes across the map. It breaks through every previous barrier that had once contained these outbreaks of savage violence. And the world now has no way of denying what we can all see so painfully clear.
Violence breeds more of itself. It feeds on the fear it creates within the communities it rips apart. With each outbreak it grows more brazen. Areas afflicted with genocide quickly become helpless to stop its spread as they buckle beneath it's weight. Unless those watching from the sidelines step in to break the cycle, this senseless violence will continue till it burns itself up and there is nothing left.
Rohingya Blogger has recently brought to light clear cases of pogroms that are rapidly spreading such terror across Maungdaw in the Arakan state of Myanmar. These incidents are brutal and savage cases of inhuman barbarism. They show the worst side of humanity as extreme elements of Burma's society work toward some of the darkest political and religious goals man could ever set. They show clear cases of genocidal intent to cleanse Burma of the Rohingya people through violent expulsion and/or outright slaughter.
On Monday (January 13th) Rohingya Blogger posted a piece by Democratic Voice of Burma that showed how the death of one man in Meikhtila had sparked "rumors that an outbreak of communal violence was imminent". Despite the police saying that this death was a family dispute and in no way connected to the racial divide within the community itself, there were concerns amongst some of Meikhtila's citizens. Only time, however, will tell if the spread of violence in other areas had anything to do with the spread of these rumors or if it is mere coincidence.
What we do know right now is that in the Arakan the thunder is rolling and the blood is spilling. There is no denying in these recent cases that the religious and ethnic divide is behind the new blood baths currently taking place. And despite Burma's best attempts to hide it's complete disregard to "restoring peace" the news of these pogroms is getting out. This is in part due to the diligence of dedicated screamers like those at Rohingya Blogger.
On January 13th Maungdaw once again felt the first drops of blood as the pogroms began.
Rohingya Blogger reported (here) that on the night of January 13th, around 11pm, a police sergeant along with three police officers, the village administer, and five Rakhinese men entered Eastern Duchiradan village. Upon their arrival the group appears to have set out to spread terror amongst the Rohingya citizens. Their offenses included rape, looting of Rohingya property, and ultimately the killing of three Rohingya (including the rape victim). All of which was clearly meant to show the Rohingya that such acts are protected and collaborated with by the police themselves. There will be no legal reprisals or protection here.
This report by Rohingya Blogger was rapidly followed by even more detailed accounts of the extent of the pogrom in Duchiradan village. Reporting (here) from Rohingya Blogger spells out the atrocities that continued to mount in this now abandoned village. From the accounts given the Rohingya of Duchiradan have suffered mass executions, rapes, mutilations, torture, and mass arrests. Bodies of the slain, in customary form for Myanmar's officials, were taken from public view and buried in unmarked locations.
Today Duchiradan village is reported to be abandoned. The Rohingya who survived the pogrom have left their homes and joined the ever growing numbers of internally displaced peoples (IDPs) of Myanmar's Arakan state. Forced from their homes, these Rohingya were by all definitions ethnically cleansed from their village as the Rakhine (supported by Burmese police) take control of the area. This act is by definition genocide.
However this is not the only pogrom in the Maungdaw region.
Rohingya Blogger reported (here) that on January 15th in Baggona village tract a group of about 50 Rakhine attack Rohingya farm plots. The ethnic violence there has been growing as Rakhine from Kaye Myaing village reportedly carry out attacks against the Rohingya village of Baggona without intervention by Burmese police. The attacks are growing from property damage to physical assaults and prolonged torture of Rohingya caught by Rakhine mobs.
Terror is a weapon in and of itself. In Baggona the attacks not only deprive Rohingya of food security but also create a situation in which Rohingya farmers are terrified of returning to their fields. This lack of defense means that any Rohingya who wants to eat must risk violent attack or even death as Rakhine assailants attack with impunity. The terror that is created spreads as Rohingya notice both their vulnerability and a shrinking food supply (already minimal).
Yet the pogroms don't end here... after all, violence only breeds more of itself...
In another report Rohingya Blogger shared (here) a press release by BROUK about a pogrom in Kiladaung village on January 13th. In this press release are detailed accounts of Burmese military and security forces actively participating in the slaughter of seven Rohingya (including women and children) and the mass arrests of 100 Rohingya. It shows clearly that government forces within the Arakan state are actively participating in a campaign of ethnic cleansing intended to ultimately end their genocidal ambitions.
It is clear that the violence against Rohingya in the Arakan is once again reaching a flash point like those seen during the summer and fall of last year. And just as before, these incidents of government backed ethnic cleansing will not end without the direct and deliberate action by the world community and/or United Nations. If no external governmental organization intervenes this thunder will only grow into a raging storm... a storm that threatens the existence of a people, a culture, and their heritage.
For all you screamers who are reading this we are once again asking that you raise your voice in any way you can. Tweet, use status updates on Facebook, Instagram if you got it, Tumblr if you still use it, and any other social media site you can get your voice heard on. Yet we also ask that once you have screamed on there that you take that passion and start harassing your representatives in your respective government. Take that passion and petition your churches, your mosque, your temples and get them involved with organizations like Partners Relief and Development (info here). Use your outrage and get creative... if there is somebody who will listen (or that you can force to listen) then get out there and scream so that they will know.
Your voice is a weapon far greater than that of the terror these perpetrators of genocide are using. This indignant sense of moral outrage can be yielded just as effectively as any weapon of war. All it takes is for you to find your outlet and start applying yourself. It isn't always easy, it isn't always comfortable, but it is absolutely vital.
Come scream with us on twitter to learn more...
Find us at: @alders_ledge and @AL_Staff
Notes:
Rohingya Blogger
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2014/01/police-and-rakhines-loot-and-rape-3.html#
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http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2014/01/rakhine-extremists-destroy-vegetable.html
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http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2014/01/press-release-7-rohingyas-killed.html
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http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2014/01/duchiradan-village-deserted-after.html
Partners Relief and Development
http://partnersworld.org/
Showing posts with label The Darkness Visible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Darkness Visible. Show all posts
January 15, 2014
January 8, 2014
Against All Odds
The Strength To Endure
(part of The Darkness Visible series)
(part of The Darkness Visible series)
Nowhere Left To Run.
Imagine for a moment that you have lost everything you have, everything you value, everything you cherish in this life. Imagine for a moment that the place you call home has been burned by your neighbors and all that remains is rubble and ash. Imagine that you have been driven from your house by people you once knew from what now seems like a previous life. Listen to their screams as they threaten you and your family. Listen to the malicious hatred they spew as they rip apart the life you at least felt comfortable living. Watch as they set your house to the torch and carry off any of your possessions they wish. Watch as they brutalize your family and friends as you run for safety. Watch as they turn into animals, engulfed in this barbaric orgy of violence, consumed by absolute hate.
In pogroms this is how the hate needed for genocide manifest itself. It is a flash point where every last grudge, every vile word spoken beneath one's breath, every vengeful thought that has ever passed through their minds comes to fruition. In that moment the gates of hell itself fling open as the worse part of mankind is realized. It is in that moment that the savage side of our existence triumphs over our otherwise pacifist side. Love dies, if only for a moment, as hate replaces anything that once resembled civility.
In Bosnia the outbreak of war brought the opportunity for long held resentments to flourish as neighbor was pitted against neighbor. In Rwanda the machete felt it's first taste of blood as the long ignored warning signs faded beneath a crimson tide. In Burma... in the Arakan... this flash point was the exploitation of one tragedy so as to plunge an entire people into a far worse one. Yet in every case the reason for this spirally collapse of society was predictable.
But this post isn't about pointing the blame...
Today we look at what has happened since those flood gates were opened.
Every year a tidal wave leaves the shores of the Arakan. Like clockwork, this human migration takes place without fail. Raggedy vessels that are barely seaworthy at all take to the waves as desperate souls hedge their bets upon uncertain means of escape. Each one of these Rohingya add to a collective that comprises a wave of refugees that risk their lives to run. But run to where?
Once the camps were quarantined off by Burmese military and police the conditions for starvation were established. Having killed countless Rohingya in often staged pogroms, the state forces had permitted themselves an excuse to sell the world. This method of siege warfare was now "justified" in the eyes of the Burmese government due to the "threat of communal unrest". Death by starvation and disease was somehow preferable to actually reinstating the rule of law.
In many ghettos the blockades have not lifted. What little aid makes it to the Rohingya behind the barricades is not secure and can be taken away at any given time. Those living behind these barriers are subjected to every indignity the Burmese security forces wish to cast upon them. Organized rape of Rohingya women and girls is apparently permissible within the ranks of Myanmar's police and military. Forced labor is a common method of deteriorating the health and well-being of Rohingya men and boys. The goal here is the same as it was in Warsaw... a slow grinding death that lingers at the gates as those trapped inside pray for relief.
And then there is the threat of liquidation.
Warsaw had the option of resisting. It was an enigma in the ghetto system the Germans had established across Europe. But it did take that option. And for what little time those brave souls could... the fought like hell to survive the inevitable.
Places like Aung Mingalar had no such option. The ability to fight, the ability to resist, had been stripped away the moment the Burmese police established Aung Mingalar ghetto. Barbed wire and armed checkpoints were put in place and the residents of the ghetto searched for any weapons. Total totalitarian rule was put in place as Myanmar allowed conditions within the ghetto to rapidly deteriorate.
In August of 2013 Aung Mingalar's ghetto took the first steps toward liquidation. There may not have been and Auschwitz to which the Rohingya could be sent, but there were larger concentration camps away from the Buddhists inhabitants of Sittwe. Thus the hundreds of Rohingya forcibly moved from one hellish confine to the next could do little to stop the abuses they would endure.
Myanmar has received no real international condemnation or sanctions for it's abuses against Rohingya citizens. If a ghetto is to be liquidated in the same way the Nazi's did with Jewish ghettos, it is hard to believe at this point that the UN, EU, or United States would even bother to speak out. The behavior of treating the Rohingya like cattle has already been rewarded by the resounding sound of silence that has wafted across the globe in response to Burma's excesses. Since the events at Aung Mingalar were not punished it is likely that in the near future Myanmar's government could escalate it's offenses and move closer to the 1940's definition of liquidation.
As for now, those Rohingya still living under the oppressing weight of Myanmar's blockades must cling to life in any way they can manage. Water, food, medicine, and the basic needs of daily life must be scavenged or gone without. Children who should be in school will now grow up without any knowledge of what life should be like. Parents who should be providing for their families must now watch as what is left of them falls apart before their very eyes.
This isn't living...
It's simply existing from one day to the next.
Poseidon And The Dmōs
In the past the Rohingya had fished the very waters they now set out upon. Yet we should not fantasize that the Rohingya people now voyaging out onto the seas are seafaring individuals. These are people from all walks of life and with varying knowledge of what it takes to stay alive at sea. This act of bribing a vessel to carry them away from the Arakan is one of desperation. It is not one they seem to wish for or yearn for in any manner. This journey is a last resort for a broken people.
Actual war, classically romanticized by the imagery of two sides battling it out, would be preferable to the hell that the Rohingya boat people are fleeing. Mass starvation and the constant threat of pogroms sends these people to the waves. Without the ability to find security back home they are forced to sacrifice everything for one last glimmer of hope. But what hope does the god of this ocean offer?
To first make it aboard a vessel the Rohingya refugees must pay their way. It is a heavy toll for a refugee that has either lost everything or sold everything in hopes of making this journey. They are either promised safe passage or a little light at the end of their tunnel. But any way about it they are taken for every last valuable possession they have just to leave their homeland.
Then the journey begins.
Food, water, and fuel are not guaranteed. The owner of the vessel maximizes profits by offering nothing in the way of safety or comfort. The analogy between these vessels and slave ships of day past is not far from reality. Refugees on these boats are simply made to wait and see just how their luck will turn out. If the food or water disappears before a safe landing place is found... well, that is where prayers and a fading sense of hope fill the gap.
For some the journey will end with the wrath of Poseidon himself. The seas upon which they travel can become treacherous for even the most experience sailors. And with the reality of their ship's limited seaworthiness made blatantly clear, hope for salvation must surely fade fast. For the sea is the least forgiving place on earth. It bears no mercy for mankind; it never has and never will.
In 2012 there were an estimated 13,000 Rohingya who fled their homeland by sea. That year the UN High Commissioner for Refugees admitted to knowing at least 485 of these refugees had died at sea. Their deaths, no matter how unrecognized they might be, remain a testament to the harrowing journey their comrades had taken in fleeing Burma's grinding genocide in the Arakan. There is no justifiable reason why they had to die.
As for those who live... for these hell may have just begun to open up.
If the vessel the refugees are aboard makes it's way to Thailand there are differing ways the journey could end. The devil beneath the waves gives way to the cruelty of man as the refugees watch their hope slip away. Either they will make it ashore and risk being sent back to Myanmar by Thai officials or something far more sinister awaits.
Thai Navy ships in 2013 were reported to have opened fire on Rohingya refugees as their vessels raced toward the shore. These boats attempted to make their way to the beaches in hopes of slipping through the Thai defenses. When caught they were towed out to sea where they were left with little or no fuel. The intent on the part of the Thai Navy was clear... allow starvation and thirst to kill the refugees rather than let them make it back to the Thai coast.
This strategy of "dealing with the boat people" has however given way to even more savage exercises by Thai officials and the Navy. In recent months the dirty secrets of Thai officials' involvement in the illegal trade of human flesh has come to light. Their open trafficking of Rohingya refugees was released to the world by brave journalist who risked their own freedoms on behalf of the beleaguered Rohingya people. The response to the boldness of their actions in this war against injustice was met immediately with retaliation by the Thai government. But the facts are already out there and the bell has already rang for all to hear.
Where the Thai Navy had once dragged Rohingya back out to sea to die they are now handing them over to traffickers, for a fee of course. Where they had been shooting at Rohingya who dared to abandon ship and swim to shore they are now capturing them and selling them. The Thai officials had clearly discovered that there was a profit to be had if they only sold their own souls first.
And then there are the Rohingya who make it ashore.
Hope must be a wonderful thing for those who can manage to obtain it and/or keep it through all of this. But I would be far to cynical to imagine that there isn't at least a few Rohingya who manage to hold onto that last glimmer of hope. Even after having survived more than most people could ever bare, I have to imagine that at least some Rohingya keep that hope alive.
For those who come ashore there must be a moment where they feel relief. In that moment before the Thai military comes rushing toward them, that moment where the whole world lay stretched out before them... that must be the moment where hope still lives.
If taken into custody by police in Thailand the Rohingya refugees are offered no sense of dignity. In cramp quarters with no access to toilets or a place to sleep, hundreds of Rohingya refugees are kept caged like animals by Thai police. They are considered illegal by the government of Thailand. They are given no opportunity to apply for asylum in Thailand. They are given no access to resources that other refugees would be granted. In Thailand the genocide that the Rohingya had risked everything to escape is alive and well.
For many of these Rohingya the time in prison is a sort of limbo. They know that they are destined to be returned to Myanmar. They know that starvation and every form of indignity awaits them once they are taken back over the border. There really is no end the depravity that exist within the hearts and soul of the two nations actively participating in this genocide.
In The Hand's Of Thanatos
Then there are those who cannot run. Those who are left to starve in camps, those who are left to wait for death at the hands of soldiers and mobs, those who are left to watch the world crumble around them. These are the masses of Rohingya who dare to simply exist upon the land of their ancestors. These are the Rohingya that take each breath with the hope that it wont be their last.
Those who live in the camps wake up each day with the thought of where their next meal is coming from. They are left in a hellish condition of endless hunger. Mothers watch their children slowly dwindle before their eyes. Food, such a precious commodity, is not guaranteed from one day to the next. It is a resource that must be guarded and protected at all cost in a place where so little of it can be obtained.
From the outbreak of the this latest wave of genocidal "ethnic violence" thousands of Rohingya have been forced into these ghettos. Burma has worsened their plight by labeling these refugee camps as illegal and therefore attempting rationalize the military's blockades of Rohingya camps and villages. Putting up barriers and posting guards, Myanmar almost immediately transformed refugee camps into concentration camps. The places where Rohingya had taken refuge from the violence became prisons.
In 2012 CNN reported upon the starvation that was (and still is) running rampant in Rohingya camps within the Arakan. In a report that consisted of kissing President Barack Obama's boots, CNN managed to at least point out that Rohingya citizens had been made homeless through pogroms (though CNN calls it "communal violence"). They managed to show the world that once placed in camps the Rohingya were being denied access to basic needs. And yet that is where the world community left off.
In the months that followed the world ignored the plight of starving Rohingya as Burma continued to flirt with the Western powers. The promise of economic gains by appeasing Myanmar's rabid appetite for the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya has stunted any response by outside governments. Agencies that are supposed to record and report such atrocities appeared to turn their eyes away as the world community gawked at figures like Aung San Suu Kyi. The desire to recognize genocide where and when it is occurring once again failed as we forgot those two words... "never again".
Once the camps were quarantined off by Burmese military and police the conditions for starvation were established. Having killed countless Rohingya in often staged pogroms, the state forces had permitted themselves an excuse to sell the world. This method of siege warfare was now "justified" in the eyes of the Burmese government due to the "threat of communal unrest". Death by starvation and disease was somehow preferable to actually reinstating the rule of law.
In many ghettos the blockades have not lifted. What little aid makes it to the Rohingya behind the barricades is not secure and can be taken away at any given time. Those living behind these barriers are subjected to every indignity the Burmese security forces wish to cast upon them. Organized rape of Rohingya women and girls is apparently permissible within the ranks of Myanmar's police and military. Forced labor is a common method of deteriorating the health and well-being of Rohingya men and boys. The goal here is the same as it was in Warsaw... a slow grinding death that lingers at the gates as those trapped inside pray for relief.
And then there is the threat of liquidation.
Warsaw had the option of resisting. It was an enigma in the ghetto system the Germans had established across Europe. But it did take that option. And for what little time those brave souls could... the fought like hell to survive the inevitable.
Places like Aung Mingalar had no such option. The ability to fight, the ability to resist, had been stripped away the moment the Burmese police established Aung Mingalar ghetto. Barbed wire and armed checkpoints were put in place and the residents of the ghetto searched for any weapons. Total totalitarian rule was put in place as Myanmar allowed conditions within the ghetto to rapidly deteriorate.
In August of 2013 Aung Mingalar's ghetto took the first steps toward liquidation. There may not have been and Auschwitz to which the Rohingya could be sent, but there were larger concentration camps away from the Buddhists inhabitants of Sittwe. Thus the hundreds of Rohingya forcibly moved from one hellish confine to the next could do little to stop the abuses they would endure.
Myanmar has received no real international condemnation or sanctions for it's abuses against Rohingya citizens. If a ghetto is to be liquidated in the same way the Nazi's did with Jewish ghettos, it is hard to believe at this point that the UN, EU, or United States would even bother to speak out. The behavior of treating the Rohingya like cattle has already been rewarded by the resounding sound of silence that has wafted across the globe in response to Burma's excesses. Since the events at Aung Mingalar were not punished it is likely that in the near future Myanmar's government could escalate it's offenses and move closer to the 1940's definition of liquidation.
As for now, those Rohingya still living under the oppressing weight of Myanmar's blockades must cling to life in any way they can manage. Water, food, medicine, and the basic needs of daily life must be scavenged or gone without. Children who should be in school will now grow up without any knowledge of what life should be like. Parents who should be providing for their families must now watch as what is left of them falls apart before their very eyes.
This isn't living...
It's simply existing from one day to the next.
Astraea's Death
In cases of ethnic cleansing during the 21st century the use of sexualized violence is often overlooked yet remains a hallmark of this barbaric crime. Bosnia and Rwanda showed the world that during acts of genocide women and children are particularly vulnerable. They not only suffer from outright killing but also from acts meant to leave permanent scars upon the targeted community as whole. And this is what rape, especially when used as a weapon, does to a community already fractured by genocide.
Myanmar's use of rape has spread across every state where the military has engaged in what it calls war. In the Kachin the use of rape was implemented as a method of pushing the Kachin people off their homeland and thus giving access to the government to the resources upon which the Kachin sat. When used against the Shan it was unmistakeably utilized as a method of ethnic cleansing. And when put into practice in the Arakan state, this method of dehumanization was intended to allow troops to fragment what little sense of community the Rohingya people had left.
Rape leaves the community vulnerable. This is especially true when the victims' families and community have no means of defense or access to legal reprisals against the assailants. When committed in this manner it violates the sense of security that both the woman and her family feel. This insecurity often manifest in distrust amongst members of the targeted community. And thus the fractures left by the initial crime begin to multiply.
For the Rohingya rape has been utilized in multiple ways. In many incidents it is used spontaneously as security forces come in contact with Rohingya trapped behind blockades or in camps. At other times it is used against Rohingya women who are already being used as forced labor. While in more sinister cases, becoming more frequently reported, it is used by the Burmese military in "rape camps" where Rohingya girls are abducted and forced into sexual slavery by the Burmese government.
Rape camps were nearly perfected by the Serbian forces during the Bosnian Genocide. The use of these camps was meant to kill women through both physical and sexual abuse. Those who survived were intended to be rejected by their community. The potential offspring would be outright killed or allowed to live as a reminder to the Bosnian community of the crimes committed against them. It was in it's essence an absolute manifestation of the perverse nature of genocide and the complete lack of humanity it embodies.
Burmese use of this crime once again highlights the world community's lack of teeth when dealing with violence committed against women and children. Our countless resolutions come up short when we never bother to put muscle behind the vague words we so often apply to worthless paper. And in the end it is the women of victimized communities that pay the highest price for our indifference to their suffering.
"A man from NaSaKa [Burma’s border security force] came to my house. He kicked the door and told me I had to go and work as a sentry instead of my husband. I had to go immediately with my young child and without food. Later in the evening while I was at my post someone else from NaSaKa came. He told me "your husband is not there, I will stay with you; I want to live with you." That night the man raped me in the shed in front of my boy.
We [women] feel at peace in Bangladesh. There is no food and some problems, but there is no rape, we have peace."
~ 26 Year-old Rohingya Female Refugee In Bangladesh
These accounts are sadly the normal tales that come out of the Arakan. Rapist within the government's forces are not punished. Their crimes are encouraged by a country that wants to devalue the worth of an entire ethnic group. Their abuses are rewarded by a military that promotes excessive violence as a means of progress for Myanmar's future as a country.
For those left to pick up the pieces after these attacks there are lasting affects of rape (no matter what the context).
Rohingya women and girls who have been victimized will often remain silent in fear of the stigma that comes with the crime itself. Their willingness to speak up would bring direct condemnation from others in the community at large. In many cases the victim is blamed for the crime as the community itself seeks an answer why an unjustifiable crime was committed in the first place. And thus more motivation is created on the victims part to remain silent.
Depression, anxiety, and withdrawing from others are all symptoms that hamper the victim's ability to help their community survive the stress of the overall genocide itself. If by chance these reactions to the rape culminate in the death of the victim the end goal of genocide is also achieved.
For those who survive to carry on there is the question of why? Why did they have to suffer this wretched offense? Why they were left to carry on in silence? Why nobody cares and why nobody will help?
The Strength To Endure
When we set down to write up this piece we knew that this post would only be able to touch upon a portion of what the Rohingya people are suffering in Myanmar. We picked these three portions of the story so as to help those reading realize just what genocide looks like in Burma. You wont get the complete picture from us, we would never dream of being able to tell it all... it is just too vast a subject for any one post. But we did set down with one thing in mind; and that was to create a scream that the world will not be able to ignore.
The Rohingya people are suffering a tragedy in slow motion as the world watches somewhat blindly and with a muted sense of outrage. We want to change that. We want to restore the hope that Myanmar is stripping from each and every Rohingya trapped under it's crushing weight. We seek to bring our voice like swords, cutting to the bone without remorse, so that those left defenseless have at least one ally on their side.
Alder's Ledge is seeking to motivate our readers to get involved. For the past year this has been a struggle on our own part. We took some time away from this subject because we felt it was gaining traction amongst those who could help. Sadly, this hasn't happened yet. The Rohingya's plight is still worsening and our so called "activists" are losing the strength to keep up the fight.
Our hope comes from individuals we have met along the way.
In Thailand we have friends who live in just as much poverty as anyone here in the states could ever imagine. They struggle to keep their phones turned on as they work any given job to pay the next bill. Yet they give every spare bit of cash to the cause. And more importantly, they give every spare moment to the fight.
In China, where the subject is barely ever spoken about, we have team members that take material we provide them into their communities and literally scream. They risk their own reputations in a country where that is almost 90% of their personal value within society. In their schools, in their work places, and in their neighborhoods they take our motto of screaming to it's most direct extent... making sure nobody can say they didn't know. And all this because the genocide which we speak of is happening just across their border and yet nobody around them bothers to wake-up and recognize it.
Then there is twitter...
For those reading this twitter may be the only way you feel you can reach out to the world and scream. It may be the last refuge for you to feel like somebody is listening. And if that is the case then we encourage you to scream... scream till your energy is gone, and then scream even longer. Your voice counts. Your effort will not go unnoticed.
On twitter we have watched as people like Jamila Hanan (@JamilaHanan) toil away on behalf of the Rohingya people. Within the network that encircles great people like Jamila are others who take their voices and apply them to actions on and off the Internet. We have seen over the past year beautiful souls that have purchased food and other necessities that otherwise would had never made it to the Rohingya. We have watched dedicated warriors for the cause organize efforts to petition governments and agencies around the world on behalf of the Rohingya. And all this because it's simply the right thing to do.
So if you are reading this we aren't asking you to do these things because nobody else is. We are asking you to get involved because those already on the field are more than ready for reinforcements. We are asking that you contact us on twitter (@alders_ledge and @AL_Staff) so that we can point you toward people who are actively engaged in this struggle. We are asking that you lend yourself to the cause along with us.
Ready to do more than tweet or email?
Money is the root of all evil.
Or so that is what they say... In Myanmar it has been the driving force behind the silence of the world community at large. It keeps the Burmese military in the field as foreign investors pour cash into the genocidal government's back pocket. And yet it is the one thing that can make the difference between whether a Rohingya family eats or starves.
Chances are if you are reading this you have some of that said cash available after all your bills are paid each month. Chances are you spend some of that on things you really don't need. For example: name brand coffee, movie tickets, music downloads, or maybe even fast food. None of this really has to be purchased. And if you could spare any of your "wants" for some of what the Rohingya need... well why wouldn't you?
We here at Alder's Ledge make monthly donations to organizations that directly help the Rohingya people of Myanmar. Our team members are asked to provide whatever they can in our effort to put our money where our mouths are. We know that our words have power, but we also recognize that at times... this being one of them... cold hard cash speaks louder than good intended words.
One of our favorite organizations to provide our support to is Partners Relief and Development. You can learn more about Partners and how they help the Rohingya by clicking: here.
Once you have researched what organization you want to provide your financial support to we ask that you make this a habit. However often you can donate, please do so. Whatever you can give, please do so. Make it a part of your day to day life.
Ready to do more than tweet or email?
Money is the root of all evil.
Or so that is what they say... In Myanmar it has been the driving force behind the silence of the world community at large. It keeps the Burmese military in the field as foreign investors pour cash into the genocidal government's back pocket. And yet it is the one thing that can make the difference between whether a Rohingya family eats or starves.
Chances are if you are reading this you have some of that said cash available after all your bills are paid each month. Chances are you spend some of that on things you really don't need. For example: name brand coffee, movie tickets, music downloads, or maybe even fast food. None of this really has to be purchased. And if you could spare any of your "wants" for some of what the Rohingya need... well why wouldn't you?
We here at Alder's Ledge make monthly donations to organizations that directly help the Rohingya people of Myanmar. Our team members are asked to provide whatever they can in our effort to put our money where our mouths are. We know that our words have power, but we also recognize that at times... this being one of them... cold hard cash speaks louder than good intended words.
One of our favorite organizations to provide our support to is Partners Relief and Development. You can learn more about Partners and how they help the Rohingya by clicking: here.
Once you have researched what organization you want to provide your financial support to we ask that you make this a habit. However often you can donate, please do so. Whatever you can give, please do so. Make it a part of your day to day life.
"A screamer is somebody who witnesses genocide and refuses to remain silent.
How wonderful it would be if there were more screamers in the world today."
Want To Learn More?
Contact Alder's Ledge on Twitter: @AL_Staff
Contact Alder's Ledge on Twitter: @AL_Staff
Source Documents
(note: not all listed)
Press TV
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/01/04/281765/13000-people-fled-myanmar-in-2012/
-
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/12/29/342615/myanmar-uses-rohingyas-as-sex-slaves/
-
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/12/29/342615/myanmar-uses-rohingyas-as-sex-slaves/
Radio Australia
UNHCR
Phuket Wan Tourists News
-
Time
http://world.time.com/2014/01/07/thailand-asked-to-end-rohingya-trafficking/
Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/01/06/thailand-protect-rohingya-boat-children
Irrawaddy News
http://www.irrawaddy.org/rohingya/muslims-trapped-in-ghetto-after-clashes-in-burma.html
Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/24/myanmar-relocates-hundreds-residents-from-muslim-ghetto-to-refugee-camps/
Women Under Siege Project
http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/conflicts/profile/burma
Burma Campaign UK
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/reports/License_to_rape.pdf
Kachin Women.org
http://www.kachinwomen.com/images/stories/publication/ongoing_iimpunity%20.pdf
http://world.time.com/2014/01/07/thailand-asked-to-end-rohingya-trafficking/
Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/01/06/thailand-protect-rohingya-boat-children
Irrawaddy News
http://www.irrawaddy.org/rohingya/muslims-trapped-in-ghetto-after-clashes-in-burma.html
Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/24/myanmar-relocates-hundreds-residents-from-muslim-ghetto-to-refugee-camps/
Women Under Siege Project
http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/conflicts/profile/burma
Burma Campaign UK
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/reports/License_to_rape.pdf
Kachin Women.org
http://www.kachinwomen.com/images/stories/publication/ongoing_iimpunity%20.pdf
January 2, 2014
Savage Peace
Enduring Myanmar's "Ceasefire"
(part of The Darkness Visible series)
When every meal is a blessing, and never guaranteed, you don't take a single grain of rice for granted. Every morsel, every last bite, is a step toward survival for the Kachin people of Burma. Their way of life was stripped from them. Their homeland laid to waste as the military of Myanmar grabbed up land and expelled the people it belongs to. Their homes were burned as the hellish minions of Myanmar's leadership trampled their fields and slaughtered their livestock. Where children once played there are now landmines and men in uniform to who the laws of war do not apply.
When every day you get to breath air free of smoke and ash is a blessing you don't take the little things in life for granted. Holidays that were once sacred may come and go without notice for many, but for those who have nothing else, they never pass without the offering of some faint sense of hope. Christmas was once a time of blessings for the Kachin people. It was celebrated in their own unique way. Now it is cherished for it's sweet, if only momentary, release from the cruel monotony of war. Celebrations that may only mirror what they once were are now the moments that Kachin children, born to this hell on earth, will remember for a lifetime. And yet these bitter sweet memories will have to be stored alongside ones that leave scars that time may never fully heal.
Peace is a lofty idea for a nation that has been at war with itself for nearly six decades. It's almost like a carrot at the end of a stick. Persistently dangling just beyond the reach of the people these wars have oppressed for so long. It is a sign of hope that they would continue to look forward towards it. Yet it is a miserable reality that the nation holding that carrot just out reach is the very reason for their suffering in the first place.
The Kachin people seek only for themselves what any other nation of men have sought out throughout all of time. They want the right to self-determination as a people, the right to preserve their heritage and culture. They seek to be recognized as a distinct culture and not forced into assimilation into an amalgamation designed by politicians who detest them on an ethic basis. But more importantly, they seek a better life for their children and a future free from the threat of war and starvation.
No people on the this planet will ever accept for their children a life worse than the one they have already endured. No mother would wish to remain silent as she watches her children waste away from hunger and disease. No father would want to live with the reality that his wife and daughters could be taken away and raped at any moment. And though these may not characterize the politics behind the war, these are the driving fears that fuel a society to resist the heavy hand of a brutal government. These are the sorts of fears that keep militias in the field and a savage military constantly beating at the door.
However despite the natural inclination of man to resist tyranny, Myanmar continues to push for more of it as they tell the world how wonderful this "ceasefire" is for the Kachin State and it's people. Behind the fog of war, which never really left, the military continues it's campaign of rape, pillage, and ruthless slaughter. The intent to intimidate what they view as the underdog is clear once the government's lies are stripped away. No amount of propaganda can hide the scars left upon the victims of this barbarism. Missing limbs and protruding ribs don't speak to peace. Children playing in squalid camps while parents wait for rations that never come doesn't indicate peace. Only the lies coming from Burma's leadership speak of this.
This is made evident when soldiers from Burma's military invade internally displaced peoples' camps (IDPs) and use what little resources these people have for their own profit.
Organizations like the Free Burma Rangers, a front line humanitarian group, have helped strip away the lies that Myanmar attempts to portray to the world. Their people on the ground record every movement the Burmese soldiers make against the Kachin civilians. Their atrocities are recorded in detail and accounts from the victims, whose voices would otherwise be silenced, are smuggled out of Myanmar. These records show where Myanmar's official party line and reality so dramatically separate from one another.
When Burma's military sets IDP camps to the torch the world is told that there are million reasons why these squalid camps go up in flames. Myanmar blames anything from a camp fire getting out of control to the refugees themselves. Yet when Nam Lim Pa went up in flames the Free Burma Rangers provided the world with photographic evidence of Myanmar's military's involvement. Unexploded mortar shells and spent rounds proved that the camp was savagely attacked and the refugees driven off as the Burmese soldiers approached in such a manner as to flush the camp entirely.
Civilians are not mentally prepared for combat in the way that soldiers are. Attacks like these are carried out to amplify the confusion and fear that sets in as the military takes camps by surprise. Though the goal is usually to simply drive off the refugees the military takes no measures to prevent casualties amongst civilians. It rather appears that the intent is to maximize the numbers of Kachin refugees killed so as to keep refugees from returning once the soldiers have moved out.
Once the attacks are over the Burmese military takes to exploiting Kachin civilians who can't escape their advance. Taking resources the Kachin people need to live, Myanmar's military deprives desperate refugees of their basic needs. In Nam Lim Pa the soldiers took rice from villagers before opening fire to drive the civilians back as the soldiers carried off their food. Helpless, the Kachin villagers had no way of hiding their rice or keeping it from troops that are still being resupplied from central Burma.
For the outside world these sorts of actions should indicate the end goal of Myanmar's war against the Kachin people. This is not a war to bring the Kachin people into the ranks of Burma's "culturally diverse" society. This is not a war to push the Kachin rebel factions into submission. This is a war to ethnically cleanse as much of the Kachin state as Myanmar possibly can before so called peace is established. The ceasefire is Burma's way of holding up a blank sheet of paper and proclaiming to the world "peace in our time".
There can be no peace with between a government and a people it wishes didn't exist. The carrot at the end of this stick is an illusion. For the actions of the Burmese military more directly reflect the intent of it's government than the words that fall from perverse lips back in Myanmar's capitol. Every drop of blood spilled on behalf of this savage peace speaks volumes to the reason the Kachin people still suffer.
Until the world is forced to realize that genocide needs not war or conflict to be effective then the peoples whose lives it claims can never be saved. The value of their existence amongst us is no more than that of the breath we exhale while proclaiming "never again". Our promise to uphold that vague proclamation falls more rapidly to the grave than the Kachin people themselves.
As a world community we must look past our hope that peace can be achieved without pain. We must realize that as long as there are men who would sacrifice entire races of men to their insanity there will always be a reason to fight. We must realize that those words, never again, so desperately need action to make them a reality.
Putting pressure upon your own government is just a start.
The most direct way to help those who need it most, the Kachin civilians who endure this tragedy, is to put your own resources into the fight. Time, money, and your voice go further than you might realize.
Two organizations to partner with in this fight for the Kachin peoples' future, and two organizations you should research for more info on this topic, are:
The Free Burma Rangers
And...
Partners Relief and Development
When every meal you eat is just another part of your day, you have it better than most of the rest of the world. When every dollar you spend doesn't make you decide between life and death, you have something to spare. And when every breath you breathe is free from fear, you have a voice that can be used to ease the fears of others.
We here at Alder's Ledge make regular donations to Partners Relief and Development. We will never ask that you do something that we ourselves would not. When we ask you to "scream" we will always be there to help amplify your voice in any way we can. When we ask you to donate we are pleading with you to join us in our effort to put our hard earned cash behind our voice. We know that everyone of us is working hard, and those dollars probably have been dogeared for something else, yet when we ask... we ask also that you give it thought (and prayer if need be) to decide what it is you could sacrifice so that those in need don't have to.
Source Documents
(note: not all listed)
Burma News International
http://www.bnionline.net/index.php/feature/kic/16604-burma-army-looting-intimidation-displacement-in-kachin-state.html
Myanmar Times
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/lifestyle/travel/9175-feeling-a-little-myopic-at-the-kachin-cultural-museum.html
Burma Free Rangers
http://www.freeburmarangers.org/2013/12/11/rangers-help-lead-villagers-to-safety-as-burma-army-enters-nam-lim-pa-idp-camp-takes-rice-rations-and-fires-at-villagers/
(part of The Darkness Visible series)
Praying for peace, praying to live.
When every meal is a blessing, and never guaranteed, you don't take a single grain of rice for granted. Every morsel, every last bite, is a step toward survival for the Kachin people of Burma. Their way of life was stripped from them. Their homeland laid to waste as the military of Myanmar grabbed up land and expelled the people it belongs to. Their homes were burned as the hellish minions of Myanmar's leadership trampled their fields and slaughtered their livestock. Where children once played there are now landmines and men in uniform to who the laws of war do not apply.
When every day you get to breath air free of smoke and ash is a blessing you don't take the little things in life for granted. Holidays that were once sacred may come and go without notice for many, but for those who have nothing else, they never pass without the offering of some faint sense of hope. Christmas was once a time of blessings for the Kachin people. It was celebrated in their own unique way. Now it is cherished for it's sweet, if only momentary, release from the cruel monotony of war. Celebrations that may only mirror what they once were are now the moments that Kachin children, born to this hell on earth, will remember for a lifetime. And yet these bitter sweet memories will have to be stored alongside ones that leave scars that time may never fully heal.
Peace is a lofty idea for a nation that has been at war with itself for nearly six decades. It's almost like a carrot at the end of a stick. Persistently dangling just beyond the reach of the people these wars have oppressed for so long. It is a sign of hope that they would continue to look forward towards it. Yet it is a miserable reality that the nation holding that carrot just out reach is the very reason for their suffering in the first place.
The Kachin people seek only for themselves what any other nation of men have sought out throughout all of time. They want the right to self-determination as a people, the right to preserve their heritage and culture. They seek to be recognized as a distinct culture and not forced into assimilation into an amalgamation designed by politicians who detest them on an ethic basis. But more importantly, they seek a better life for their children and a future free from the threat of war and starvation.
No people on the this planet will ever accept for their children a life worse than the one they have already endured. No mother would wish to remain silent as she watches her children waste away from hunger and disease. No father would want to live with the reality that his wife and daughters could be taken away and raped at any moment. And though these may not characterize the politics behind the war, these are the driving fears that fuel a society to resist the heavy hand of a brutal government. These are the sorts of fears that keep militias in the field and a savage military constantly beating at the door.
However despite the natural inclination of man to resist tyranny, Myanmar continues to push for more of it as they tell the world how wonderful this "ceasefire" is for the Kachin State and it's people. Behind the fog of war, which never really left, the military continues it's campaign of rape, pillage, and ruthless slaughter. The intent to intimidate what they view as the underdog is clear once the government's lies are stripped away. No amount of propaganda can hide the scars left upon the victims of this barbarism. Missing limbs and protruding ribs don't speak to peace. Children playing in squalid camps while parents wait for rations that never come doesn't indicate peace. Only the lies coming from Burma's leadership speak of this.
This is made evident when soldiers from Burma's military invade internally displaced peoples' camps (IDPs) and use what little resources these people have for their own profit.
"The FBR (Free Burma Rangers) lists and dates the Burma Army took over a camp for displaced
people. On 21 November 2013, Burma Army soldiers – from Battalion 47,
56, 240, 276, and 319 – occupied Nam Lim Pa clinic, in Nam Lim Pa IDP
camp, using the building to store weapons and ammunition."
~ Burma News International 1-2-14
Organizations like the Free Burma Rangers, a front line humanitarian group, have helped strip away the lies that Myanmar attempts to portray to the world. Their people on the ground record every movement the Burmese soldiers make against the Kachin civilians. Their atrocities are recorded in detail and accounts from the victims, whose voices would otherwise be silenced, are smuggled out of Myanmar. These records show where Myanmar's official party line and reality so dramatically separate from one another.
When Burma's military sets IDP camps to the torch the world is told that there are million reasons why these squalid camps go up in flames. Myanmar blames anything from a camp fire getting out of control to the refugees themselves. Yet when Nam Lim Pa went up in flames the Free Burma Rangers provided the world with photographic evidence of Myanmar's military's involvement. Unexploded mortar shells and spent rounds proved that the camp was savagely attacked and the refugees driven off as the Burmese soldiers approached in such a manner as to flush the camp entirely.
Civilians are not mentally prepared for combat in the way that soldiers are. Attacks like these are carried out to amplify the confusion and fear that sets in as the military takes camps by surprise. Though the goal is usually to simply drive off the refugees the military takes no measures to prevent casualties amongst civilians. It rather appears that the intent is to maximize the numbers of Kachin refugees killed so as to keep refugees from returning once the soldiers have moved out.
Once the attacks are over the Burmese military takes to exploiting Kachin civilians who can't escape their advance. Taking resources the Kachin people need to live, Myanmar's military deprives desperate refugees of their basic needs. In Nam Lim Pa the soldiers took rice from villagers before opening fire to drive the civilians back as the soldiers carried off their food. Helpless, the Kachin villagers had no way of hiding their rice or keeping it from troops that are still being resupplied from central Burma.
For the outside world these sorts of actions should indicate the end goal of Myanmar's war against the Kachin people. This is not a war to bring the Kachin people into the ranks of Burma's "culturally diverse" society. This is not a war to push the Kachin rebel factions into submission. This is a war to ethnically cleanse as much of the Kachin state as Myanmar possibly can before so called peace is established. The ceasefire is Burma's way of holding up a blank sheet of paper and proclaiming to the world "peace in our time".
There can be no peace with between a government and a people it wishes didn't exist. The carrot at the end of this stick is an illusion. For the actions of the Burmese military more directly reflect the intent of it's government than the words that fall from perverse lips back in Myanmar's capitol. Every drop of blood spilled on behalf of this savage peace speaks volumes to the reason the Kachin people still suffer.
Until the world is forced to realize that genocide needs not war or conflict to be effective then the peoples whose lives it claims can never be saved. The value of their existence amongst us is no more than that of the breath we exhale while proclaiming "never again". Our promise to uphold that vague proclamation falls more rapidly to the grave than the Kachin people themselves.
As a world community we must look past our hope that peace can be achieved without pain. We must realize that as long as there are men who would sacrifice entire races of men to their insanity there will always be a reason to fight. We must realize that those words, never again, so desperately need action to make them a reality.
Putting pressure upon your own government is just a start.
The most direct way to help those who need it most, the Kachin civilians who endure this tragedy, is to put your own resources into the fight. Time, money, and your voice go further than you might realize.
Two organizations to partner with in this fight for the Kachin peoples' future, and two organizations you should research for more info on this topic, are:
The Free Burma Rangers
And...
Partners Relief and Development
When every meal you eat is just another part of your day, you have it better than most of the rest of the world. When every dollar you spend doesn't make you decide between life and death, you have something to spare. And when every breath you breathe is free from fear, you have a voice that can be used to ease the fears of others.
We here at Alder's Ledge make regular donations to Partners Relief and Development. We will never ask that you do something that we ourselves would not. When we ask you to "scream" we will always be there to help amplify your voice in any way we can. When we ask you to donate we are pleading with you to join us in our effort to put our hard earned cash behind our voice. We know that everyone of us is working hard, and those dollars probably have been dogeared for something else, yet when we ask... we ask also that you give it thought (and prayer if need be) to decide what it is you could sacrifice so that those in need don't have to.
On
22 November 2013, Burma Army soldiers from MOC 21 took 5 sacks of rice
from the IDP rations at Nam Lim Pa IDP camp. While Burma Army troops
were taking rice rations from IDPs, 23 villagers from Man Dau village
were walking to Nam Lim Pa IDP camp. When they encountered the Burma
Army troops in the area, Burma Army troops began shooting at the
villagers, causing the villagers to turn and run back to Man Dau. - See
more at:
http://www.freeburmarangers.org/2013/12/11/rangers-help-lead-villagers-to-safety-as-burma-army-enters-nam-lim-pa-idp-camp-takes-rice-rations-and-fires-at-villagers/#sthash.JT10Wp5h.dpuf
On
22 November 2013, Burma Army soldiers from MOC 21 took 5 sacks of rice
from the IDP rations at Nam Lim Pa IDP camp. While Burma Army troops
were taking rice rations from IDPs, 23 villagers from Man Dau village
were walking to Nam Lim Pa IDP camp. When they encountered the Burma
Army troops in the area, Burma Army troops began shooting at the
villagers, causing the villagers to turn and run back to Man Dau. - See
more at:
http://www.freeburmarangers.org/2013/12/11/rangers-help-lead-villagers-to-safety-as-burma-army-enters-nam-lim-pa-idp-camp-takes-rice-rations-and-fires-at-villagers/#sthash.JT10Wp5h.dpuf
Have questions for us?
Contact the author on Twitter - @alders_ledge
Contact a team member on Twitter - @AL_Staff
Source Documents
(note: not all listed)
Burma News International
http://www.bnionline.net/index.php/feature/kic/16604-burma-army-looting-intimidation-displacement-in-kachin-state.html
Myanmar Times
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/lifestyle/travel/9175-feeling-a-little-myopic-at-the-kachin-cultural-museum.html
Burma Free Rangers
http://www.freeburmarangers.org/2013/12/11/rangers-help-lead-villagers-to-safety-as-burma-army-enters-nam-lim-pa-idp-camp-takes-rice-rations-and-fires-at-villagers/
December 13, 2013
Gifts Of The Spirit
Family Isn't Always Flesh And Blood
(The Darkness Visible series)
(The Darkness Visible series)
(Shan Refugees In Koung Jor Shan Refugee Camp)
(Image via Al Jazeera)
This post contains spiritual content that may not match the views of all Alder's Ledge's team members. The views contained here are not meant to evangelize or any given faith over another. The sharing of these views is meant only to challenge the notions of what it means to be a "screamer". These are for illustrative purposes and to help those reading get to know our staff a little better.
Every new year brings people around the world a sense of hope and the promise of a fresh start. We celebrate the passing of the old year as we envision a year of endless possibilities just around the corner. In the West we use champagne and long nights of parties to somewhat drown the sorrows that had come our way and forget the pain of the past year. Yet for refugees around the world there is no such relief. The sting of a endless years of sorrow has a way of blurring the line between one year and the next.
The Shan people who comprise the Koung Jor refugee camp, just north of Chiang Mai, Thailand, recently celebrated the Shan New Year for the first time in their camp of about 500 refugees. Some of these refugees have spent decades trying to remain invisible as war has ravaged their homeland. Pushed over the border by ruthless elements of Burma's government, these refugees have suffered every indignity Myanmar could bring upon them. They are victims of ethnic cleansing and yet during this celebration the irony of smiles and sincere moments of joy washed over the faces of these refugees.
We, in our homes halfway around the world, meanwhile prepare for a holiday season of overindulgence and purchasing of gifts we don't necessarily need. We lavish our friends and family with material wealth even when we don't need to. And all the while these displays we so often associate with our holidays have nothing to do with the meaning of those said occasions. No amount of gifts, no amount of food or drink, no amount of time spent shopping, or any amount of time preparing actually can be linked to the reasons we are supposed to be celebrating. All these excesses, however, do just the opposite as they wipe away our smiles and sincere moments of joy we should be finding in those holidays spent with family.
There is nothing noble about the downtrodden, they aren't really any different than you or I. The only difference is what they have been through. They didn't choose to be cast aside and abused by a nation of ideologically driven politicians. They didn't want to be driven from their homes and forced to become aliens in a foreign land. Yet here is the catch... the difference that makes all the difference in the world... they find the meaning of a holiday, a celebration, in the one thing that we all should always remember. Family.
Recently I celebrated Hanukkah with my family. Every year this holiday has the task of giving gifts much like those given at Christmas by our Christian friends. Yet it also has another blessing in it that can't be purchased and isn't received by the family G-d gave me... at least not in the traditional sense. This blessing, this gift of the spirit behind the holiday, is the bringing of light to a dark and cold world. It is the blessing of giving of both my time, money, and any other resources I might have to those in need. It is the part of this holiday that I have grown to love the most. For it is the part of this holiday that reminds me of what family really means.
Over the years I have found family in some of the most bizarre places. A sister in Thailand, China, Burma, Korea, England... A brother in Canada, California, Japan, Croatia... Everywhere I have turned G-d has shown me that there isn't a person alive that isn't my brother, my sister, my beloved family. Our color, our creed, our faith cannot matter to me. For inside my Master has placed a fire that burns without end, a love for a family that knows no borders or limits.
For this reason the chance to give of myself to those who need it most is one that surpasses any gift I could ever receive. That chance to help bring a smile a face that has been missing that feeling for far too long... that is what every holy day embodies. It is in this service to others that we find what G-d meant when He told us to love Him, fear Him, and be of service to Him.
My beloved sister, in all her wisdom for such a young soul, reminds me often that in her practice of Buddhism the idea of serving others is essential to the growth of the spirit. In her work to help others she revels in the opportunity to learn from others' experiences, both bad and good. And by coming alongside them she is able to help those in need as they get back on their feet. But more importantly, she finds what it means to be family even with those who aren't our own flesh and blood.
For our Muslim staff the command in their faith to give charitably is a major part of their holy days. I have always cherished the moments where I have gotten to celebrate with them. To give to their causes and come alongside them as a brother during these holy times.
And for our atheist members, some of our most bold screamers, the notion that we are all a family of sorts is just as relevant. They challenge me to look beyond my faith, my people, and my own limitations to find new ways to serve others. These members remind me constantly that we are all born with a desire to be happy, free, and to feel the love of others.
What better way to show that love than to serve?
The people of Burma are suffering in ways that most of us will never truly be able to understand. Children there have seen things that they should never have had to lived through. Mothers in Burma have had to watch their children die right before their eyes. Fathers have had to live with the humiliation of not being able to provide for their families. Sons have watched their mothers and sisters be raped by a military that uses sex as a weapon. Daughters have had to care for their siblings after their parents were slaughtered like animals by barbaric mobs.
Every minority in Myanmar has a long sad story to tell a world that is hellbent on remaining deaf. Their voices have been stifled by the greed of a world ready to exploit the newly opened up country in which they live. And for many, their very existence is placed in question as countless genocides continue to set Burma's countryside ablaze.
This is why your service to them, your family, is needed beyond what words can fully express.
There are several ways that you can get involved and start serving the Rohingya, Shan, Wa, Kachin, Karen, Chin, and other minorities in Burma. The first is rather simple, and that is to start reading every bit of information you can get your hands on. Learn their stories, learn their plight, and learn what the issues they face mean to them as a people. Take in every article, every report, and every tweet or blog post you can find about the suffering in Myanmar.
Next comes the work of any and all screamers...
Start spreading the articles and information you gather. By posting this information to your social media outlets you start the process of screaming. This starts by reaching out to your friends and contacts online. Yet it is just the start. You must take this information and start spreading it to people face to face. By having that one on one contact you have the ability to engage the other person not just on an intellectual basis but have the chance to put some heart into it... emotions after all, make the information stick.
Next you need to start contacting your government officials. If you are in America this means that you must contact your representatives in Congress. It means that you need to bombard your officials in your state house and your governor (many states will attempt to forge new economic relationships with Myanmar). You must keep your government officials accountable for their lack of action when dealing with ethnic cleansing and genocide.
This is just a start when it comes to serving of your times and energy. And many of us who scream on a regular basis do most of these things without relent. These are our daily struggle as we serve those the world so often forgets. Yet this isn't the only way we need to be serving our family, our fellow man.
Charitable giving isn't just a part of the holidays. It isn't something that need be waited for. It is something that we should be doing on a regular basis. And if you do, then let me take a moment to thank you for your selfless generosity. But for far too many of us there are times where we hold back and tell ourselves that our actions and effort is more than enough... but it isn't.
In a world where money is a god in it's own right the act of charity must be continuous. No matter how little it might be, the act of giving of our own wealth to those who are without is an act that blesses both the recipient and the donor alike. It is an act that should be done without seeking of recognition. It is an act that should be done without concern for what that money could had been used for in our own financial needs. It should be given freely and without stipulation. And it must be readily given without hesitation.
For those who would wish to do this during the holiday season we here at Alder's Ledge would like to invite you to join us as we give to Partners Relief & Development.
The wonderful people at Partners Relief & Development have been serving the people of Burma for years. Their endless work on behalf of the refugees and oppressed within Myanmar is the sort of service we all should strive for. It is a selfless giving to those most in need that gives freely and without reservation. People like Oddny Gumaer are personal role models to the staff here at Alder's Ledge.
You can learn more about Myanmar and give to Partners Relief & Development by visiting their website: partnersworld.org
Please join us this holiday season in our efforts to scream for the oppressed and those in need across Myanmar. Your voice can help bring about an end to the suffering of thousands of refugees and internally displaced peoples in Burma. Your efforts can bring hope to those who have lived without it for decades. And your donations can keep vital workers in the field as they bring life saving medicines, food and water, and much needed help to the suffering in Myanmar.
The Shan people who comprise the Koung Jor refugee camp, just north of Chiang Mai, Thailand, recently celebrated the Shan New Year for the first time in their camp of about 500 refugees. Some of these refugees have spent decades trying to remain invisible as war has ravaged their homeland. Pushed over the border by ruthless elements of Burma's government, these refugees have suffered every indignity Myanmar could bring upon them. They are victims of ethnic cleansing and yet during this celebration the irony of smiles and sincere moments of joy washed over the faces of these refugees.
We, in our homes halfway around the world, meanwhile prepare for a holiday season of overindulgence and purchasing of gifts we don't necessarily need. We lavish our friends and family with material wealth even when we don't need to. And all the while these displays we so often associate with our holidays have nothing to do with the meaning of those said occasions. No amount of gifts, no amount of food or drink, no amount of time spent shopping, or any amount of time preparing actually can be linked to the reasons we are supposed to be celebrating. All these excesses, however, do just the opposite as they wipe away our smiles and sincere moments of joy we should be finding in those holidays spent with family.
There is nothing noble about the downtrodden, they aren't really any different than you or I. The only difference is what they have been through. They didn't choose to be cast aside and abused by a nation of ideologically driven politicians. They didn't want to be driven from their homes and forced to become aliens in a foreign land. Yet here is the catch... the difference that makes all the difference in the world... they find the meaning of a holiday, a celebration, in the one thing that we all should always remember. Family.
Recently I celebrated Hanukkah with my family. Every year this holiday has the task of giving gifts much like those given at Christmas by our Christian friends. Yet it also has another blessing in it that can't be purchased and isn't received by the family G-d gave me... at least not in the traditional sense. This blessing, this gift of the spirit behind the holiday, is the bringing of light to a dark and cold world. It is the blessing of giving of both my time, money, and any other resources I might have to those in need. It is the part of this holiday that I have grown to love the most. For it is the part of this holiday that reminds me of what family really means.
Over the years I have found family in some of the most bizarre places. A sister in Thailand, China, Burma, Korea, England... A brother in Canada, California, Japan, Croatia... Everywhere I have turned G-d has shown me that there isn't a person alive that isn't my brother, my sister, my beloved family. Our color, our creed, our faith cannot matter to me. For inside my Master has placed a fire that burns without end, a love for a family that knows no borders or limits.
For this reason the chance to give of myself to those who need it most is one that surpasses any gift I could ever receive. That chance to help bring a smile a face that has been missing that feeling for far too long... that is what every holy day embodies. It is in this service to others that we find what G-d meant when He told us to love Him, fear Him, and be of service to Him.
My beloved sister, in all her wisdom for such a young soul, reminds me often that in her practice of Buddhism the idea of serving others is essential to the growth of the spirit. In her work to help others she revels in the opportunity to learn from others' experiences, both bad and good. And by coming alongside them she is able to help those in need as they get back on their feet. But more importantly, she finds what it means to be family even with those who aren't our own flesh and blood.
For our Muslim staff the command in their faith to give charitably is a major part of their holy days. I have always cherished the moments where I have gotten to celebrate with them. To give to their causes and come alongside them as a brother during these holy times.
And for our atheist members, some of our most bold screamers, the notion that we are all a family of sorts is just as relevant. They challenge me to look beyond my faith, my people, and my own limitations to find new ways to serve others. These members remind me constantly that we are all born with a desire to be happy, free, and to feel the love of others.
What better way to show that love than to serve?
The people of Burma are suffering in ways that most of us will never truly be able to understand. Children there have seen things that they should never have had to lived through. Mothers in Burma have had to watch their children die right before their eyes. Fathers have had to live with the humiliation of not being able to provide for their families. Sons have watched their mothers and sisters be raped by a military that uses sex as a weapon. Daughters have had to care for their siblings after their parents were slaughtered like animals by barbaric mobs.
Every minority in Myanmar has a long sad story to tell a world that is hellbent on remaining deaf. Their voices have been stifled by the greed of a world ready to exploit the newly opened up country in which they live. And for many, their very existence is placed in question as countless genocides continue to set Burma's countryside ablaze.
This is why your service to them, your family, is needed beyond what words can fully express.
There are several ways that you can get involved and start serving the Rohingya, Shan, Wa, Kachin, Karen, Chin, and other minorities in Burma. The first is rather simple, and that is to start reading every bit of information you can get your hands on. Learn their stories, learn their plight, and learn what the issues they face mean to them as a people. Take in every article, every report, and every tweet or blog post you can find about the suffering in Myanmar.
Next comes the work of any and all screamers...
Start spreading the articles and information you gather. By posting this information to your social media outlets you start the process of screaming. This starts by reaching out to your friends and contacts online. Yet it is just the start. You must take this information and start spreading it to people face to face. By having that one on one contact you have the ability to engage the other person not just on an intellectual basis but have the chance to put some heart into it... emotions after all, make the information stick.
Next you need to start contacting your government officials. If you are in America this means that you must contact your representatives in Congress. It means that you need to bombard your officials in your state house and your governor (many states will attempt to forge new economic relationships with Myanmar). You must keep your government officials accountable for their lack of action when dealing with ethnic cleansing and genocide.
This is just a start when it comes to serving of your times and energy. And many of us who scream on a regular basis do most of these things without relent. These are our daily struggle as we serve those the world so often forgets. Yet this isn't the only way we need to be serving our family, our fellow man.
Charitable giving isn't just a part of the holidays. It isn't something that need be waited for. It is something that we should be doing on a regular basis. And if you do, then let me take a moment to thank you for your selfless generosity. But for far too many of us there are times where we hold back and tell ourselves that our actions and effort is more than enough... but it isn't.
In a world where money is a god in it's own right the act of charity must be continuous. No matter how little it might be, the act of giving of our own wealth to those who are without is an act that blesses both the recipient and the donor alike. It is an act that should be done without seeking of recognition. It is an act that should be done without concern for what that money could had been used for in our own financial needs. It should be given freely and without stipulation. And it must be readily given without hesitation.
For those who would wish to do this during the holiday season we here at Alder's Ledge would like to invite you to join us as we give to Partners Relief & Development.
The wonderful people at Partners Relief & Development have been serving the people of Burma for years. Their endless work on behalf of the refugees and oppressed within Myanmar is the sort of service we all should strive for. It is a selfless giving to those most in need that gives freely and without reservation. People like Oddny Gumaer are personal role models to the staff here at Alder's Ledge.
You can learn more about Myanmar and give to Partners Relief & Development by visiting their website: partnersworld.org
Please join us this holiday season in our efforts to scream for the oppressed and those in need across Myanmar. Your voice can help bring about an end to the suffering of thousands of refugees and internally displaced peoples in Burma. Your efforts can bring hope to those who have lived without it for decades. And your donations can keep vital workers in the field as they bring life saving medicines, food and water, and much needed help to the suffering in Myanmar.
Want to know more about becoming a screamer?
Contact the author on twitter: @alders_ledge
Or a member of our staff: @AL_Staff
Source Documents
Al Jazeera
DVB
July 9, 2013
Beneath The Black Flag
Myanmar's Military Not Prepared To Give Up The Fight
(The Darkness Visible series)
(The Darkness Visible series)
(Image via Irrawaddy News, June 2013)
When the Shan people practice drills to defend their homeland against the aggressive Burmese military they practice with wooden rifles. In a war for survival the only bullets the Shan are able to obtain are saved for the Myanmar soldiers who stalk the Shan forests. In many cases the Shan people hug the border in hopes that the pugnacious Burmese military will avoid conducting their attacks in view of the outside world. In a war for survival the Shan civilians are left with only a remnant of their homeland upon which to live.
This is the "war on drugs" in the far north of Myanmar. Utilizing cheap excuses that will buy themselves favor in the West, Myanmar's generals commit ethnic cleansing against the Shan people. There has been no real effort on the part of Burma's government to actually end the transportation and growing of opium. Instead the excuse is simply kept alive so as to give the Burmese military a reason to maintain their genocidal campaign against the Shan people. This is a war fought beneath the black flag... no surrender, no ceasefire, no peace.
Where ever the boots of Burmese soldiers go in regions populated by ethnic minorities they raise this black flag. Taking what they want from the ethnic states before burning what they can't carry off as plunder. Villages that are razed are turned into "black zones" as the Burmese military plants landmines around their victims' homes. There is no right to return to normality for those who are unfortunate enough to live in the path of this cannibalistic military. These victims are turned into fodder for future exhibitions by Burma's legions.
Life Within The "Black Zones"
(Image via Irrawaddy News, April 3 2013)
In World War One there was the "no-man's land". A long stretch of scorched earth that separated hostile enemies. Over the years of conflict this stretch of land became filled with craters from artillery and barbed wire, both meant to slow advancing troops. It was on either side of this wire and blackened ground that the opposing forces dug their way into deep (and complex) trenches. From these hellish gashes in the earth the two sides launched failed attack after failed attack. And yet the war dragged on and on. With each side "going over the top" and out into no-man's land only to die.
For the ethnic minorities in eastern and northern Burma there is little land that they could dub "no-man's land". However there are plenty of places that are openly refereed to as "black zones". For the ethnic minorities these were once places that they had called home. Kachin villages, Karen homes, and Shan fields... all planted with landmines. This tactic is meant to keep the targeted ethnic group on the run. It keeps those from the village and any refugees within it from returning. And at the same time prevents migration of minorities back into lands claimed by the invading Burmese forces.
In a world that claims to be for the downtrodden and the underdog we once again see the failure of the world community in securing the right to return for internally displaced peoples living on the edges of these black zones. Despite murmuring by NGOs and UN secretaries, the Burmese military continues to actively lay new mine fields. These anti-personnel mines create the tragic images like that listed above. Yet all the world can afford these victims is lip service?
For those trapped in the black zones there is little hope for life or liberty. When trapped behind these lines the civilians in the Kachin and Shan state are hunted like animals by ever diligent barbarians (Burma's Army). They face coordinated assaults that often involve aerial bombardment or artillery strikes just before the machine gunners lay siege to villages and camps. Advancing Burmese soldiers then sweep the village in hopes of finding only women and children. Those caught in the dragnet are systematically tortured then slaughtered. Anything that can walk or ever hold a weapon is killed. For those trapped in the black zones every day is a struggle to survive.
Yet like Mr. Rogers once said, "look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."
Traveling into the areas that appear to be kill zones, the Free Burma Rangers put their lives at risk when they infiltrate enemy lines. Once in the black zones the Free Burma Rangers are open to reprisals and ambush by an enemy that is determined to cleanse the state of "inferior" ethnic groups. And yet these brave souls cross over the land of the damned to bring the innocent to safety. Standing in the gap between the beast and it's prey the Free Burma Rangers document the atrocities and save those left behind.
In stories that echo those of the American Underground Railroad, the Free Burma Rangers lead refugees out of areas that appear to be next in line for the Burmese army. In other trips the Free Burma Rangers bring food, water, and medicine to the IDP camps nearest to Burmese military activity. It is in these trips that the Free Burma Rangers provide aid and training to the refugees that have been victimized by Burma's brutal campaign of genocide.
This is the little glimmer of hope in a land blackened by a military far from willing to lower it's black flag.
The Penis As A Weapon Of Genocide
(Image via Burma Campaign UK)
What is the one thing every Burmese soldier carries into the field that doesn't need replaced or reloaded in order to ruin lives?
Rape has long been a trademark of war. It has plagued the fairer sex every since the first testosterone fueled army took to the field. Yet for all our time affiliated with such sins, for all the time that we have spent fighting against it, this crime has only increased in as our hatred for one-another has grown. It allows the savage an opportunity to dehumanize their victim. It offers the soldier an outlet for the rage that their master has put in place. And yet there is no justification one can present for this horrific act of violence.
In Burma the use of rape as a weapon of war and genocide has been prolific, to say the least. Myanmar's military leaders readily look the other way as their minions utilize this most perverse weapon to implement Burma's campaign of "Burmanization". Thus utilizing one perverse weapon to bring about a perverse ideology.
Like the Turks of the Ottoman Empire, Burma's soldiers are given free reign when entering an ethnic minority's village. Men who flee into the forest to evade slave labor therefore risk leaving their wives and daughters open to rape and mutilation. Any woman who attempts to flee makes themselves an almost certain target for rape and torture. Once the Burmese soldiers enter the village they become the law... their words, their actions, their crimes... this is the reality of what "Burmanization" means to those it most directly affects.
In the Kachin this method has been used both to demoralize the targeted population and in an attempt to destroy the families within the victimized community. Raiding IDP camps, the Burmese rape women in front of their husbands and children so as to make the violence blatantly clear to the Kachin community. In the black zones of the Kachin State the Burmese army uses rape to motivate women to stay away from the claimed territories.
For the Rohingya of the Arakan State the uses of rape is specifically utilized by Nasaka and Burmese military members in an attempt to isolate Rohingya women. Rohingya girls are known to be rounded up and taken to Burmese military installations where soldiers use the girls as sex slaves. This is used as a way to permanently scar the Rohingya girls both mentally and physically. On the Burmese side it permits the soldiers a rather perverted moral boost that can keep soldiers motivated and in the field longer.
In the end the use of rape as a weapon of genocide is viewed through the perverts' eyes as way to "pollute the blood" of the targeted community. It doesn't matter that the children that are bore out of this violence will be viewed with just as much contempt as their victimized mothers. It doesn't matter that Burma will never accept responsibility for their soldiers' actions. In the eyes of the perverted architects of these genocides, the weapon's damage is justified due to it's effectiveness in destroying cultures, communities, and the very fabric of the minorities' societies. The only desire and rationalization for this horrific act is that of destruction.
For the victims these weapons of genocide... this black flag... will forever be lifted above their heads. As long as the perpetrators of these crimes are allowed the impunity currently given to them by both the West and Burma alike, there will be no peace. There can be no surrender, no ceasefire, nor any hope as long as criminals are allowed to walk away from the fight unmolested.
Cutting Down The Black Flag
We here at Alder's Ledge don't claim to have all the answers. Post like this one are not meant to offer a clear path to the end of this wretched darkness. They are only meant to shine a light on the darkness so as to make it visible for all to see. We don't want to tell you what to think, we just want to make you start thinking... thinking critically... questioning why.
With your help, your voice, we can continue to shine a light upon this darkness that has for far too long masked the ethnic minorities of Myanmar. With your help we can show the world what they have been so willing to ignore. Forcing those in a position to end these things, dragging the fight back to those who tolerate this evil, we can create a noise that the world cannot tune out. A scream, if you will...
We need you to scream with us. The victims of these genocidal campaigns need you to scream for them. Their voices have been silenced for decades. The voice of their ancestors has been muted by the heels of oppressive tyrants. The voice of their children is threatened by our silence.
This isn't an activist blog... this is the front line for those who cannot travel to the fields and forests of Burma. It is here that we stand against the complicity of our own governments. It is from this ledge that we bring our voices to the forefront of our own portion of this blackened world. It is with our voice that we do our best to wage a war, if all be it a war of words, against those who would kill in the name of G-d, country, race, or greed.
Help us.
Scream.
What to learn more about this issue and others covered by Alder's Ledge?
Follow us on Twitter: @alders_ledge
Or on Facebook: Alder's Ledge
To put your money where your mouth is please take a moment and visit Partners Relief and Development. Donate Here.
Source Documents
(note not all sources are listed)
Irrawaddy News
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/38596 - June 26, 2013
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/31344 - April 3, 2013
One Million Bones
Free Burma Rangers
Burma Campaign UK
Kachinland News
June 25, 2013
The Slow Bleed
Is Burma Intentionally Creating Refugees?
(Part of The Darkness Visible series)
Want to learn more about this subject and others covered by Alder's Ledge?
Source Documents
(note: not all sources are listed)
Radio Free Asia
http://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/return-06142013110751.html
Asia Times Online
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/SEA-01-250613.html
Nuvo (Indy's Alternative News)
http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/from-burma-to-indianapolis-a-familys-journey/Content?oid=2538383#.Ucn3O-upYXw
UNPO
http://www.unpo.org/article/16110
(Part of The Darkness Visible series)
“The population is decreasing year over year. We are losing our entire
young generation. Eventually, we will lose our identity."
Not far from the Arakan region of Myanmar lays the homeland of the Chin people. It is so tied to the Chin people themselves that it has long bore their name as part of Myanmar's history. Unlike the Rohingya, Myanmar cannot claim that the Chin don't exist. Their blood is in the mountains of their homeland. Their sweat is in the fields of their farms perched on hillsides and in dry valleys. Their youth however is being lost from that sacred soil. For unlike with the Rohingya, Myanmar appears to have employed the method of a slow bleed to ethnic cleanse the Chin homeland.
While brutality is still common when the Burmese army ventures into the Chin villages, the method for clearing out the village has been economical in nature. Through deprivation and isolation, Myanmar has kept the Chin locked outside the economy that has slowly begun to gain traction. Like with the Kachin, Myanmar only allows economic investment in the Chin state where and when the Chin people have lost ground to the centralized government. Thus the Chin themselves do not profit from the investment but rather suffer in the shadows of it.
Chin families are quickly coming to the realization that money isn't coming to the Chin state. Or at the very least, if and when it does come, it isn't coming for them. This has left the Chin with one option and one option alone. Seek a better life elsewhere... become a refugee.
This slow bleed of the Chin population in their homeland has left the fragile peace agreement the Chin National Front made with Myanmar even shakier than before. Nobody is eager to return to the days of state sponsored oppression and brutal combat. Yet the Chin families are left with little options as they watch their children fleeing the country for yet another reason caused by the central government.
“We must change the system in Myanmar."
How it was before...
Prior to the peace agreement the Chin people were openly subjected to military campaigns that were intended to drive ethnic Chin up into the mountains. Burmese military forces frequently entered the region in attempts to route the Chin National Front and other ethnic militias. Civilians, as always, paid the price of ethnic war as they were often forced into slavery to the Burmese military forces. Farmers were targeted for forced labor in the vital months of planting and harvesting so as to decrease the food supply of the Chin people all together. Women were rounded up and used as sex slaves to keep Burmese soldiers on the battle field longer. Prior to the peace agreement the genocide being conducted against the Chin people was blatant.
Even in times of relative peace prior to this brutal peace today, Chin people were used as slaves to build roads upon which the military could bring in larger equipment. Chin women and men were made to work till they died or the government's project was complete. It simply came down to which one would happen first.
Food and supplies to keep the military in the field was taken directly from Chin farmers. Families gardens were the supermarket for the Burmese military. This made forced famines a reality for Chin civilians caught between the Chin militias and the national army. Those who tried to flee starvation were subjected to torture and execution.
Then came the use of landmines. Just as with the Kachin and Karen people, the Chin learned not to return to villages that had been razed by the Burmese military. Those who attempted to return were greeted with landmines and vulnerable to abductions by patrolling Burmese soldiers. This was the breadth of Myanmar's genocidal ambitions in the Chin state.
“There are no jobs here."
A Peace Worse Than War...
Hunger is a wretched thing. It can separate us from things and places that prior to it we may have never abandoned. It is a force that drives us to expand from what we know and seek out options that are foreign at best. Hunger is a form of torture in and of itself. It cannot be escaped from no matter how far we run. It is a parasite that saps us of our motivation while stripping us of our inhibitions.
For the Chin people in Burma it is a constant threat as the Burmese continue to alienate the Chin in their own homeland. Denying access by refusing to build roads and power-lines to the Chin, Myanmar maintains it's campaign of genocide in the Chin state. Where there have been options to make the remote region of Burma more accessible, Myanmar has refused to put forth effort. And what little roads are being built are being built by Chin workers who are paid considerably less than their Buddhists neighbors.
Thein Sein's government has reduced the outright repression of the Chin people yet has not done anything to combat the discrimination against them on a state level. By allowing the government the option to neglect the Chin people, Thein Sein's regime has prolonged the genocide against the Chin. With the intent to drive out the Chin through economic pressure the government picks up where the outright killing of Chin civilians left off. What the bullet could not achieve the dollar threatens to complete.
“We need people who are part of the ‘brain drain’ to come home and help us."
Brain Drain
This method of genocide was has been utilized time and time again. In Armenia the Turks targeted educated members of the Armenian community first. Those who were fit to lead the Armenian society and expand upon the Armenian culture were rounded up and sent to prison to be executed while others were put up on gallows for the world to see. This was meant to decapitate the culture and destroy the leadership of the targeted community.
In Myanmar the move to slowly bleed the Chin community dry shows more directly in it's willingness to allow Chin children to leave Burma. Unlike the families that they leave behind, the Chin children receive far less scrutiny when fleeing to Malaysia and the West (especially the United States). This process of allowing children to readily leave their families behind gives Myanmar's regime the ability to leave the Chin community without "the next generation".
Today there are more than 50,000 estimated Chin seeking refugee status in Malaysia. Of these many are seeking immigration or refugee status in the United States. This would add to the 30,000 plus Chin refugees currently living in places like Idaho, Indiana, New York, and Colorado. It is important to note that these 80,000 are a sizable portion of the Chin worldwide. Unlike ethnic or refugees of given nationalities from elsewhere, this 80,000 number can be contrasted to the 500,000 Chin living in their homeland in Myanmar.
These numbers will only continue to change as President Thein Sein utilizes military dominated branches of "civilian" government to openly discriminate against Christian (Chin) and Muslim minorities along the border with India and Bangladesh. There can be no expected change in the pattern as long as Myanmar's government is permitted to continue violating the basic human rights of ethnic minorities within Burma.
So for now the question remains; is Burma creating refugees of the Chin people intentionally? And if so, will the world admit that you can perpetrate genocide without bullets, gas, or machetes? When will we admit that economics, hunger, and isolation are just as affective tools of genocidal regimes as are bullets and chemicals?
The Chin people deserve the right to remain in their homeland. They deserve the right to share in the economy their blood, sweat, and tears helped build. They deserve to raise their children on the same land upon which they were raised and their ancestors were raised. These are basic desires of all ethnic groups. These are the dreams that all peoples across the planet hold for the society in which they are born.
The Chin deserve to preserve their identity and way of life. They deserve the opportunity to propagate their culture and preserve it for the next generation. They deserve the right to return home as they wish and to a land that resembles the one from which they were forced to flee. But none of this can be achieved as long as Burma continues to violate the basic human rights of the Chin people.
Want to learn more about this subject and others covered by Alder's Ledge?
Follow us on Twitter: @alders_ledge
Or follow us on FaceBook: Alder's Ledge
Source Documents
(note: not all sources are listed)
Radio Free Asia
http://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/return-06142013110751.html
Asia Times Online
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/SEA-01-250613.html
Nuvo (Indy's Alternative News)
http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/from-burma-to-indianapolis-a-familys-journey/Content?oid=2538383#.Ucn3O-upYXw
UNPO
http://www.unpo.org/article/16110
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