ARAKAN ROHINGYA UNION

210 West Hamilton Ave, #320, State College, PA 16801, USA

(814)777-4498; dg.aru@ar-union.org

Testimony of
Wakar Uddin, Ph.D.
Director General
Arakan Rohingya Union
May 21, 2015
Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
Briefing: A People Adrift - Combating Warning Signs of Genocide in Burma


Chairmen McGovern and Pitts, Representatives Crowley, Chabot, and Franks, and members of
this commission-- Within this testimony, I will present evidence that supports the claim that the
Burmese government is committing genocide against the Rohingya people.

Under the definition of genocide found in the UN Conventions on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide means any of the following acts committed
with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the
group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births
within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.1

The persecution of the Rohingya people by the Burmese Buddhist majority and the Burmese
government itself falls under numerous elements of this definition, and as such, should be
treated as an ongoing genocide.

In Burmese Citizenship Law, the Central Body, consisting of the Burmese Minister Chairman
Ministry of Home Affairs, the Minister Member Ministry of Defense, and the Minister Member
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have complete autonomy to: (a) to decide if a person is a citizen, or
an associate citizen or a naturalized citizen; (b) to decide upon an application for associate
citizenship or naturalized citizenship; (c) to terminate citizenship or associate citizenship or
naturalized citizenship; (d) to revoke citizenship or associate citizenship or naturalized
citizenship; and (e) to decide upon an application regarding failure as to registration or
affirmation. Further, in section 4, the Burma Citizenship Law states that, The Council of State
may decide whether any ethnic group is national or not.2
1

United Nations. (1948). Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2202669
2
Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma. (1982). Burma Citizenship Law of 1982. Retrieved from
http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Citizenship%20Law.htm

ARAKAN ROHINGYA UNION

210 West Hamilton Ave, #320, State College, PA 16801, USA
(814)777-4498; dg.aru@ar-union.org

Presently, the Burmese government does not recognize the ethnic group of Rohingya people as
citizens, and through the aforementioned laws, it does not provide an opportunity to apply for
citizenship. Rohingya are therefore classified as stateless Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh on
grounds of insufficient evidence asserting their historical ties with the neighboring country. By
withholding citizenship, the Burmese government denies the Rohingya not only the recognition
and respect offered other peoples living in Burma, but also access to public goods available
through citizenship, including security, health, education, and economic opportunityall of
which severely damage the livelihood and opportunity for current and future generations of
Rohingya in Burma.

It is clear from the Burmese governments explicit and targeted denial of citizenshipand the
public goods associated with legal status in Burmathat the government views the Rohingya as
an alien ethnic group living within the borders of the country, specifically in the Rakhine State.
There is undeniable evidence that the Burmese government has taken steps to rid its country of
this allegedly alien population.

In the northern Rakhine townships of Maungdaw and Buthidaung, Rohingyaand only
Rohingyaare subject to a two-child policy as a method of population control supported by
politicians on both the state and national level3. This is a clear attempt to limit the size of the
Rohingya population and restrict reproductive rights based solely on ethnicity. As the
aforementioned UN Convention declares, explicitly imposing measures intended to prevent
births within a particular ethnic group is a defining characteristic of genocide. There have also
been numerous reports of Burmese doctors treating Rohingya improperly, in some cases
leading to their death.4

Furthermore, according to an investigation by the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of
Genocide, a partner of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, tens of thousands of
Rohingya remain in forced internment camps outside the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe,
prevented from accessing what might be left of their former homes and jobs. Across the
Rakhine State as a whole, it is estimated that over 140,000 Rohingya have been displaced in

Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide. (2015). They Want Us All To Go Away: Early Warning
Signs of Genocide in Burma. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved from
http://www.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/20150505-Burma-Report.pdf
4
Htusan, E. (2014, May 8). Lack of health care deadly for Burmas Rohingya. The Washington Post. Retrieved
from http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/lack-of-health-care-deadly-for-burmas-rohingya/2014/05/08/ac5a9ae8d6e6-11e3-8a78-8fe50322a72c_story.html

ARAKAN ROHINGYA UNION

210 West Hamilton Ave, #320, State College, PA 16801, USA
(814)777-4498; dg.aru@ar-union.org

such internment camps5. These camps have been described by UN officials as the most dismal
and under-served Internationally Displaced Persons camps in the world, and by journalist
Nicholas Kristof as 21st Century Concentration Camps.

One UN spokesperson, describing Nget Chaung, a camp that houses 6,000 displaced Rohingya,
said, No-one should have to live in the conditions that we see [here].6 Lacking access to
electricity, food, or sufficient medical care, and forced to reside in dilapidated and overcrowded
structures, the Rohingya are left to succumb to disease and starvation. Thousands of Rohingya
are forced to live in camps such as Nget Chaung to prevent further clashes and (ensure) their
safety, as Burmas Minister of Information told CNN in 2014. The deliberate physical and
mental harm induced by these conditions will lead to the groups destruction over time.

The discovery of four mass grave sites by Human Rights Watch, two of which were located
outside the Ba Du Baw IDP camp, is of particular alarm. On June 14th, 2012, following waves of
violence, witnesses report Burmese armed forces digging mass graves along the road to
Thackabyin outside the Ba Du Baw IDP camp, just west of Sittwe. The day before, a Burmese
government truck was seen dumping 18 naked and half-clothed bodies outside the camp, the
bodies appearing to have been bound and shot execution style. During the Rakhine Buddhists
attack on Rohingya in Yan Thei village on October 23, 2012, over 60 Rohingya were killed, an
estimated 30 of whom are believed to have been children. Afterward, police and army officials
ordered Rohingya villagers to bury the dead in a mass grave instead of individual graves, in the
interest of time.

One eyewitness reported, We dug the graves. We buried 11 men, 20 women, and nearly 30
children. At that time the children couldnt escape with their parents. All the children were
killed by the assailants using swords, machetes, and knives, and then they threw them into the
fire. They had burns. I brought some of the burned, dead bodies here to bury them. We buried
the dead bodies after getting permission from the army. When we were burying the bodies, the
security forces were standing nearby.7 This overt devaluation of human life based on the
Rohingya ethnic identity is inexcusable. When considering the magnitude to which the
government commits and permits these murders, alongside the utter disregard for traditional
Muslim burial rites, the Burmese government is undoubtedly accountable for these human
rights violations.
5

U.S. Campaign for Burma. (2014). Rohingya: Ethnic Cleansing. Retrieved May 21, 2015, from
http://uscampaignforburma.org/about-burma/conflict-and-human-rights/rohingya-ethnic-cleansing.html
6
Hume, T. (2014, October 30). Myanmar Rohingya camps: Between a hammer and an anvil. Retrieved May 20,
2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/29/world/asia/myanmar-rohingya-action-plan/index.html
7
Human Rights Watch. (2013, April 22). All You Can Do is Pray. Retrieved May 21, 2015, from
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2013/04/22/all-you-can-do-pray

ARAKAN ROHINGYA UNION

210 West Hamilton Ave, #320, State College, PA 16801, USA
(814)777-4498; dg.aru@ar-union.org

On November 19, 2012, President Obama gave a speech at University of Yangon in Myanmar.
He said, Today, we look at the recent violence in Rakhine State that has caused so much
suffering, and we see the danger of continued tensions there. For too long, the people of this
state, including ethnic Rakhine, have faced crushing poverty and persecution. But there is no
excuse for violence against innocent people.

And the Rohingya hold themselves -- hold within themselves the same dignity as you do, and I
do.8 This remains true today. The right to religious freedom and the persecution felt by
Rohingyas based on ethnic identity has only worsened. Over three years, the danger of
continued tensions has resulted in what is now clearly defined by the UN Declaration of
Human Rights as genocide, and it is time that the international community clearly supports the
assertion that what the Burmese government is doing is just that.

Thank you.

The White House. (2012, November 19). Remarks by President Obama at the University of Yangon. Retrieved
May 21, 2015, from https://www.whitehouse.gov/node/185751