Always vigilant in the global fight against terrorism, Facebook has placed the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on its “dangerous organizations” list & has ordered its censors to delete any content “by or praising” it. Who determined ARSA was dangerous other than Assad supporters & the Burmese government conducting genocide against the Rohingya? Since the UN Secretary General & human rights groups have accused the Burmese military of ethnic cleansing, why has Facebook not censored the walls of the Myanmar military & its Commander-in-Chief General Min Aung Hlaing as well as Aung San Suu Kyi? They’re all posting up a storm about their genocidal feats.
Kashmiri activists know this kind of censorship well. They are censored & suspended for saying the name or posting a photo of the man who was murdered by the Indian army & whose funeral was attended by over 600,000 people. But the Indian army which has 700,000 soldiers occupying Kashmir has no problem with censorship on FB.
The UK is suspending its military training program with the Burmese military variously described as “educational” or “human rights”. Did you ever hear such a crock? Since the Burmese army is engaged in genocide in Arakan & is accused of several other human rights crimes in other states (including child soldiers, mass rape, forced labor, disappearance, & extrajudicial executions) it seems necessary for the UK to come clean about exactly what its training program entailed. Or will coming clean implicate the UK in those same crimes?
Didn’t listen to the whole of Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly. It’s reported it was another of his racist, xenophobic rants. How much of that crap can you listen to before your brain begins to rot? His doom is coming. We’ll be dancing in the streets. For those who say Pence is worse? Of course he is. Maybe we need to rethink how things are run in this country that such vile creatures arise from their crypts to power.
Were it not for photojournalists in Bangladesh, we would not really grasp what is happening to Rohingya refugees. That’s just as true in Palestine & Kashmir. We should more than tip our hats to the contribution they make to understanding what is going on in the world to working people.
A Rohingya woman crying on the side of the road in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh: a rebuttal to the lies of Aung San Suu Kyi & the generals. Nothing more need be said.
Mohammed Nazir & his wife Zohar Nahar shelter from monsoon rains under a tarpaulin–“their home until a proper shelter can be built.” And when will that be? What in the hell is going on–or more accurately, not going on–with humanitarian aid for the Rohingya refugees? Let us speak frankly: racism is of the essence here. If these were people in a western country, there would be an international call for emergency, immediate, & massive humanitarian aid. This is a catastrophe very much like Hurricane Katrina & Haiti where racism was also of the essence. No less, this is a crime scene.
Stand with the Rohingya refugees by demanding humanitarian aid.
A Rohingya woman collecting water from a hole many households use for washing, drinking, cooking & bathing in the Balukhali camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. This is not a new settlement although it is not an official camp & most residents do not receive UNHCR assistance. This is the state of humanitarian aid before the influx of 420,000 new refugees. Will anyone be surprised when a cholera epidemic is announced?
Stand with the Rohingya by demanding humanitarian aid & refugee rights to asylum wherever they choose.
Last December, the International Crisis Group (ICG) released an unsavory dishonest report titled “Myanmar: A New Muslim Insurgency in Rakhine State”. It was shoddy stuff, reprehensible, & mostly imaginary. Rohingya Vision published an excoriating review of that report by Ne Myo Win titled “ICG’s Report: A Travesty of Rohingya Genocide in Myanmar.” For those interested in knowing the truth about Rohingya “terrorism”/self-defense, the Rohingya Vision article is essential so I repost it again:
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says the Rohingya “issue” is “complex & sensitive.” See how marble-mouthed diplomacy can be when there are billions of investments & arms deals at stake? It’s not an issue; it’s a genocide.
There’s what Aung San Suu Kyi has to say about what’s going on in Arakan state & there’s what this Rohingya woman has to say after the wooden boat she was fleeing in crashed into the shore.