February 03, 2020
Rohingya rights activists claim that hundreds of refugees, including children, have been incarcerated for traveling without a permit, a rule which they allege is disproportionately imposed upon Rohingyas. (AFP)
- Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, presiding judge of the ICJ panel, gave Myanmar four months to report back on how it was implementing the ruling
- Young people realize Myanmar will not change unless they keep resisting and demanding a free and fair society, says Rohingya activist Yasmin Ullah
DHAKA, Bangladesh: The UN’s top court has ordered Myanmar to do all it can to prevent genocide against the country’s ethnic Muslim Rohingya minority.
A 17-judge panel at the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) said its order for so-called provisional measures meant to protect the Rohingya was binding “and creates international legal obligations” on Myanmar.
Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya activist who was in the court on Jan. 23, described the ruling, which warns that genocidal actions could recur, as historic.
“Today, having the judges unanimously agree on the protection of Rohingya means so much to us because we’re now allowed to exist and it’s legally binding,” she said, adding that she did not think Myanmar would comply with the order.
Indeed, Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the order presented a “distorted picture of the situation.”
Yasmin Ullah was born in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state, and her family fled the country after the massacres of Rohingya Muslims in the 1990s.
After arriving in Thailand in 1995, the Ullahs lived there without any legal protection and basic rights for 16 years.
FASTFACTS
She is now based in Canada where she is pursuing a degree in political science. In addition, she serves as the President of the Rohingya Human Rights Network (RHRN) and works as a coordinator at the Free Rohingya Coalition.
In an email interview with Arab News, she described the current human-rights situation in Myanmar as “strange.”
Human rights violations are still rampant, and disproportionately instigated by the members of government authority, military, and law enforcement against innocent civilians, she said.
“This is especially true in the area populated by ethnic nationalities, including Rakhine state from where I come.”
On the other hand, she pointed out, Myanmar was still perceived as the country of Nobel Peace Prize winner and a human rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi, the current civilian ruler (state counsellor).
The ICJ ruling came despite appeals last month by her for the judges to drop the case, and denials by Aung San Suu Kyi that the armed forces, which once held her under house arrest for 15 years, had committed genocide.
“Internationally, Myanmar was very promising to investors as a country transforming into a liberal democracy primed for the free market, and thus, human rights violations that have been taking place are often dismissed in favor of the big picture,” Yasmin Ullah said.
“Structurally, the country is made of a small percentage that controls most of the country’s resources, a very small sliver of the middle class and the vast majority living under the poverty line as wage workers, farmers and other low-paying positions.
- The Rohingya are Myanmar’s largest Muslim community.
- The majority live in northern Rakhine state.
- Government denies them citizenship, claiming they are illegal immigrants.
- Persecuted Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in waves.
- Latest crisis erupted in 2017 after Rohingya militants attacked police posts.
She is now based in Canada where she is pursuing a degree in political science. In addition, she serves as the President of the Rohingya Human Rights Network (RHRN) and works as a coordinator at the Free Rohingya Coalition.
In an email interview with Arab News, she described the current human-rights situation in Myanmar as “strange.”
Human rights violations are still rampant, and disproportionately instigated by the members of government authority, military, and law enforcement against innocent civilians, she said.
“This is especially true in the area populated by ethnic nationalities, including Rakhine state from where I come.”
On the other hand, she pointed out, Myanmar was still perceived as the country of Nobel Peace Prize winner and a human rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi, the current civilian ruler (state counsellor).
The ICJ ruling came despite appeals last month by her for the judges to drop the case, and denials by Aung San Suu Kyi that the armed forces, which once held her under house arrest for 15 years, had committed genocide.
“Internationally, Myanmar was very promising to investors as a country transforming into a liberal democracy primed for the free market, and thus, human rights violations that have been taking place are often dismissed in favor of the big picture,” Yasmin Ullah said.
“Structurally, the country is made of a small percentage that controls most of the country’s resources, a very small sliver of the middle class and the vast majority living under the poverty line as wage workers, farmers and other low-paying positions.
Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya Muslim girl, currently based in Canada, has been travelling around the world to tell the stories of the ongoing atrocities on her community in Myanmar. (Supplied)
“The years of propaganda by the military regime has carved Myanmar into an intolerant society and emphasized the idea of one acceptable monolithic identity.
“Hence, any departure from the Buddhist identity or what is accepted as a good Burmese is almost frowned upon.”
According to Yasmin Ullah: “Expressing any dissenting views of the government or the military’s policies will at least get those who speak up monitored, profiled, and at times, kidnapped and disappeared.”
She said many minority groups within the country decided long ago to take up arms and fight back.
The majority of those living in ethnic states are innocent civilians, but they are often the ones to bear the brunt of the battles between the military and the ethnic armed groups, Yasmin Ullah said.
“Women frequently suffer the worst of it all due to the military strategic plans to incite fear of the ethnic communities by way of mass rape as well as sexual and gender-based violence,” she said.
“Once the community is fearful enough, the people often leave their homes and lands, and comply with the even worse living conditions enforced by the military, such as internment camps that can be found in various areas in Shan, Rakhine and other states.”
“Hence, any departure from the Buddhist identity or what is accepted as a good Burmese is almost frowned upon.”
According to Yasmin Ullah: “Expressing any dissenting views of the government or the military’s policies will at least get those who speak up monitored, profiled, and at times, kidnapped and disappeared.”
She said many minority groups within the country decided long ago to take up arms and fight back.
The majority of those living in ethnic states are innocent civilians, but they are often the ones to bear the brunt of the battles between the military and the ethnic armed groups, Yasmin Ullah said.
“Women frequently suffer the worst of it all due to the military strategic plans to incite fear of the ethnic communities by way of mass rape as well as sexual and gender-based violence,” she said.
“Once the community is fearful enough, the people often leave their homes and lands, and comply with the even worse living conditions enforced by the military, such as internment camps that can be found in various areas in Shan, Rakhine and other states.”
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