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ON Monday morning, December 5, 2022, the villagers of Barlar village in Yangon region’s Hlegu township found 13 Rohingya dead bodies on the roadside of Tabinshwehti Road.
A source close to the junta said the military killed them on the night of December 4, 2022, and dumped the dead body at Barlar village. There is clear evidence that they were tortured before they were killed.
According to the witness, the hospital confirmed that they had been dead for more than 48 hours – at least a day before they were found. The junta in power does not allow the dead body to be buried according to the Islamic way.
The Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation in Malaysia (Merhrom) strongly condemns the brutal and ongoing genocidal attacks against the Rohingya in Myanmar that forced the Rohingya to seek refuge out of Myanmar.
Merhrom condemns all parties who accuse the Rohingya of fleeing from Myanmar due to poverty or any other reasons other than the ongoing genocidal attacks against the minority Rohingya.
Merhrom urges all parties to convey accurate information about the Rohingya to prevent us from being antagonised, hated and discriminated against by the local population and the international community.
We have suffered enough following the smear campaign against me on April 21, 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, which sparked a very wide and dangerous campaign of hatred and xenophobia.
On this Human Rights Day 2022, I would like to ask the Malaysian government through the new leadership of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to make public the result of the police investigation on the false accusations against me as it impacted me, my family and the Rohingya refugees tremendously.
Until now, I have received ongoing threats and harassment that prevented me from appearing in public.
The restriction on freedom of movement not only prevented me from access to livelihood but also that for my community and advocacy work.
Death sentences on democracy activists
I also appeal to the Malaysian government to release genuine refugees and asylum seekers from the detention camps. We hope the Malaysian government will allow refugees to work while waiting for a durable solution.
We hope the Malaysian government continues to advocate for the oppressed people around the globe, including Rohingya, Palestinian, Syrian, Yemeni, Uighur, Kashmiri, Afghanistan, Ukranian, and the people of Myanmar.
We hope Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Senator Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir, the foreign minister, will continue to intervene with Asean, OIC and United Nations to stop Rohingya genocide and atrocities in Myanmar.
Recognising the shrinking of human rights since the establishment of United Nations, it is very crucial all of us to take actions to stop conflict, war and genocide around the globe.
Further to this, all human rights defenders, especially those who are at risk physically and mentally, must be granted timely and greater protection for the benefits of the communities they work with and the advancement of human rights.
The recent death sentences to seven pro-democracy activists who are also students of Dagon University in Yangon is a clear indication of shrinking human rights in Myanmar.
In July 2022, 4 pro-democracy activists were executed by the Myanmar junta. Merhrom believes that they were part of the 113 persons under the Myanmar junta’s execution list. This means that there will be many more executions onwards, and this must be stopped.
UN, world bodies urged to take action
On the occasion of the Human Rights Day 2022, we urge the United Nations, Asean, OIC, US, EU, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and all UN member states to make a significant commitment and political will to prevent human rights violations and work together to create peace, freedom and justice.
We strongly urge every UN member state to stop business and military deals with Myanmar as a manifestation of their political will to save the life of the Myanmar people from the genocidal regime.
We urge the United Nations and Asean to be more committed to end the Rohingya genocide and persecutions of Myanmar people and to stop Myanmar from producing refugees and internally displaced persons indefinitely.
Specifically, we appeal to the OIC donor countries, including Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, to take in Rohingya refugees to their countries to provide education through scholarship programmes.
Following the 8th Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission International Seminar on Islamic Perspectives on the Protection of Refugees – Rights and Access to Education on October 5 and 6, 2022 in Kuala Lumpur, we have a greater hope that higher education will be accessible for the Rohingya refugees.
As stateless refugees, education is very fundamental and significant to rebuild our broken lives. Without education, we can hardly achieve more than we have now.
We have to prepare and develop our young generation to strive for peace, justice and freedom after living long decades in genocide.
We hope the dire situation and the security issues in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps will be improved. Finally, we hope the ICJ process will be resumed in order to protect the remaining Rohingya in Myanmar as well as in exile. – The Vibes, December 10, 2022
Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani is president of the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation in Malaysia (Merhrom)
