Despite obstacles, refugees plan for education in makeshift camp .

Kutupalong, Bangladesh: Some refugees from the Kutupalong makeshift camp are preparing to teach basic education to youth as private tutoring in huts made from branches and tattered black plastic sheeting, according to a refugee leader from the unregistered refugee camp.

“We are planning to set up more than 50 huts as private coaching centers as there are more than 10,000 youngsters without schooling in the camp,” said Ahmed, a young refugee teacher.

“Our huts are very small and the height is very low with plastic and bushes, so we will only teach thirty youngsters in a center at a time,” Ahmed said. “We have just organized some refugees who have completed classes seven and up in Burma and Bangladesh to be teachers.”

“The centers are not much like classrooms. The children sitting on the floor don't have books or a blackboard for their teacher to write on,” Ahmed added.

“We hope we will be able to manage the books for students and blackboards for the teaching huts with donations from our refugee community and other well-wishers,” said Syed Hussain, a 55-year-old community leader from Kutupalong camp.

"I like studying English, Bengali, and Math," said eight-year-old Formina. "When I am not at school I help my mother."

“I like studying English, Bengali, math, and Burmese,” said Rosina, a ten-year-old youngster from the camp, “but we need more books and pens for our studying.”

"We need textbooks and we need equipment," said Amina, one of the senior members of staff responsible for helping to train others to become teachers. "The lessons are for children aged 5–10. After that we can’t offer anything."

And yet the community struggles on, determined that its children receive some education, however basic. Within this huge unofficial camp, there are 30 classroom huts now. During the summer when the temperatures soar, the lessons will be held in the relative cool of the very early morning, according to Amina.

“We are very happy to be able to help our children with education from our own young refugee teachers, and pray for them to have success with their goals,” said Syed, an older refugee who has four children in the camp.

28,000 refugees are registered with the government under UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency. At least 200,000 more refugees – some claim the figure is as high as 500,000 – are unofficial. While the official refugees live in shelters, receive food, medical care, and educational support, the unregistered refugees are forced to fend for themselves.

The disparity between the official refugees and the hundreds of thousands of unregistered Rohingyas is no more starkly revealed than here at Kutupalong, south of Cox's Bazaar, where the official refugees live in permanent huts and the unofficial refugees in flimsy shacks. Such is its temporary nature that everyone refers to it as Kutupalong Makeshift Camp. And that is the way the officials see it; when residents tried to build a permanent school, the authorities tore it down.

On other hand, Children on the Edge, a British-based basic education program, is hoping to establish a nutrition and education program for these youngsters who have so little. "Their future at the moment is very bleak – they are struggling to get enough food to survive," said the charity's director, Rachel Bentley. "Healthcare and sanitation is very poor. Those that go out from the camp to earn money are in danger of being rounded up and sent back to Burma."

Rape or trap for village head in Maungdaw South?

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Three men, including an active Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) head, were arrested for allegedly raping two young women on December 29, according to a member of VPDC from Kyaukpandu village.

Hashim Ullah, the active VPDC head, is a former VPDC member who was promoted to serve as the active head of his village after the last head of the village, Rafique, was found guilty in a rape case of a school teacher last October 2010, the member said.

“The allegation was made by two Rakhine from the Kodankauk Village of Rathedaung to the Burma Border Security Force (Nasaka) area number 8 in Myint Hlut,” the village member added.

The two Rakhine were U Maung Kyaw Kine, the father of an 18 year-old girl, and U Kyaw Tin Maung, the father of a 21 year-old girl, both from a Natala (model) village of Kodankauk, according to a village elder from Kyaukpandu. “We have heard that the two girls are not of good character and have worked as sex workers.”

The two Rakhine filed the rape case against the VPDC head along with two other villagers, Moulana Kafayet Ullah and Hashim, on December 29 at Myint Hlut Nasaka camp where the three Rohingyas are being detained and Nasaka personnel who hope to extort huge money, he said.

The two Rakhine complained in the file that their daughters were hijacked and raped by Rohingya men on December 19–20, and were later released to their village. “It is unknown why the two Rakhine waited until December 29 to file the case against the active village head and the other two Rohingya.”

On the other hand, some village authorities from Maungdaw remarked that the former village head of Kyaukpandu, Rafique, may be behind this case to dismiss the active village head, said a school teacher from Alaythankyaw village.

“The former village head, Rafique, organized the two fathers of the Rakhine girls to file the case against the active village headman,” the teacher said.

The teacher believes the crime as reported could not have been committed because it would not have been possible for the three men to kidnap the two girls as there is an increased number of authorities helping Natala Villagers in northern Arakan. “How could the Rohingya pass with the Rakhine girls through the Natala Village?” the teacher asked. “The two girls were not shouting when they passed through the village.”

“Most of the villagers believe that this whole case is a trap to dismiss the new active village headman from his post and cause his supporters to lose money.”

It is learned that the said two Rakhine girls were traveling from Ahngumaw to Kodankauk when they met nine Rohingya men riding motorbikes to Kyaukpandu. The two girls asked the men to drop them at their village as the Rohingyas were going same way. Kodankauk Village is between Ahngumaw and Kyaukpandu.

According to the filed complaint, the Rohingya didn’t stop at the Rakhine girls’ village, but passed the village and took the girls to Kyaukpandu. The incident reportedly happened on December 19, and the case was filed on December 29 at the Myint Hlut Nasaka camp. The girls were taken to the Alaythankyaw Clinic of Maungdaw South for medical test on December 29. The clinic’s personnel advised the girls to go to the Rathedaung Hospital

Inland harbour in Arakan to be privatized .

The Department of Inland Water Transport in western Burma's Arakan State is gearing up to privatize the main inland harbour on Satrokya Creek in capital Sittwe, said a harbor official on Thursday.

"Since last January, the authorities have been working on the details of the harbour, including data of all official staff, shipmen, and labourers, with an eye on privatizing the harbour," he told Narinjara on condition of anonymity.

It is also rumored that any worker with less than 10 years of service would be dismissed and any worker above the age of 50 would be given pension before handing over the harbour to a private company, he added.

The Sittwe Harbour has over 1,000 workers, including officials and shipmen.The harbor also has an additional shipyard for ship repair.
Sittwe Harbour still plays an important role in inland transportation in coastal Arakan, with an abundance of rivers and creeks where road infrastructure is poor.

Currently, there are nearly 30 passenger-cum-cargo ships plying on the routes between the capital Sittwe and other towns such as Mrauk-U, Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, and Taungup.

"It is not known yet to which private company the authorities will hand it over to, but one of the ships named Aungthakhon-1, which operates between Sittwe and Taungup, was already given to U Kyauk Taung's Company two years ago," the official added.

Following its plans to privatize public businesses across the country before the election this year, the Burmese junta has already given some of the petrol pumps, cinema halls, land, and one airline to the private sector.

According to local officials, the military authorities also plans to privatize the Myoma Cinema Hall and public warehouses in Sittwe, as well as many other public factories and industries across Arakan State.

Increase in restrictions on internet cafes in Sittwe .

Restrictions have been imposed on internet cafes in Sittwe by the Special Police Department to prevent users from sending information and photographs to the media in exile, said Zaw Ko, a student from Sittwe University.
"Police officials have ordered internet cafes in Sittwe to open a separate private room for operators of the cafes to monitor internet users. In the separate room, a computer would be linked with all the computers in the shop. Whenever a customer uses internet at the cafe, all their emails and address would appear on the computer screen of the operator, who will write the email address and circumstances of the email in his daily notebook," the student said.
Police officers visit the internet cafes in Sittwe every night to see the log and registration books.
"Most internet users know of the authority's restrictions on internet users in Sittwe. Because of it, users avoid sending information to the media in exile through internet cafes in Sittwe. We use the internet in Sittwe for normal purposes," he said.
A young internet cafe owner in Sittwe confirmed, saying, "Our business will be hurt if we do not follow the police order. So we do it every day and show the record to the police officers. If we kept the record secret, they will take away our operating permit from us."
In Sittwe, there are six internet cafes, and all are implementing the new system to track internet users out of fear of retribution by the police.
Another internet user in Sittwe said, "Every internet shop prohibits users from opening unnecessary websites, especially exiled media websites including the BBC, RFA, and Narinjara. The cafe owners have posted on notice boards which websites are blocked by the authorities."
According to student sources, many internet users in Sittwe follow the cafes' restrictions on websites in order to avoid punishment by authorities.
In Sittwe, the price of surfing is only 500 kyats per hour, but many people who use the internet rarely visit the cafes in Sittwe.
Zaw Ko said, "Most internet users in Sittwe are university students, but the students at present do not visit the internet cafes in Sittwe due to such restrictions by the authority. Most internet shops in Sittwe are losing business from lack of customers."
It is estimated that under normal conditions, 20 internet cafes would be needed in Sittwe to meet the needs of current internet users in the city, but only six are operating because the restrictions have caused a fall in business, said the internet cafe owner.

Muslim community wooed for 2010 polls with USDA membership .

The Burmese military junta is allowing Muslims in Arakan to join the Union Solidarity Development Association, a government-backed organization, for support of the community for the 2010 elections, said a USDA official in Maungdaw.

"We have now started mobilizing the Muslim community in Maungdaw Township after higher authorities instructed us to do so for the USDA. We formed several groups with many members in Maungdaw to go to Muslim villages," the official said.

The military authorities had not allowed any Muslims in Arakan to join the USDA since the organization was formed in 1993, but the policy has recently undergone a change with an eye to the forthcoming elections.

"We went to many Muslim villages in Maungdaw Township recently to mobilize them. Many Muslim youths, who are under 20 applied for membership in the USDA. We are now reviewing their names and addresses, and we hope we will recognize them as USDA members very soon," he said.

The USDA secretary in Maungdaw Township, U Tun Hla Sein, AKA Khwe Chay, has visited many Muslim villages in Maungdaw along with officials from the fire brigade, township and district office, and red cross since January 2010.

Kamal, a student of Maungdaw's government high school, said, "We Muslim students were not allowed to become members of the USDA in the past despite being students, but the authorities are now allowing us to apply for membership of the USDA."

"I believe it is for the 2010 elections. The authorities want to woo our community for support in the polls," he added.

As the USDA is a government-backed organization, it is very powerful in Burma. Many young people are being pressured by authorities to join the USDA and it is impossible to get a government job in Burma without first becoming a member of the organization.

The USDA was formed on 15 September, 2003, and U Htay Oo is the secretary-general of the organization. Its headquarters are in Naypyidaw, the new capital of Burma, and it operates nationwide. The USDA's motto is "Morale, Discipline, Solidarity, and Unity". In spite of this motto, though, many USDA members have engaged in anti-social and oppressive activities. The organization now has 30 million members.

Extortion in villages for renewing family cards in Arakan .

Burmese military authorities have forced villagers to pay hefty fees for updating family lists in Maungdaw District in western Burma's Arakan State, said a villager from Thapraytaw Village on Sunday.

The villagers faced extortion for enlisting their newborn children and for deleting the names of their deceased loved ones from the data recorded on their family card, known locally as Form No. 10, he said.

"We are forced to pay 10,000 Kyat for listing our newborn children, 5,000 Kyat for deleting the names of our deceased family members, 3,000 Kyat for a group photograph, and 1,000 Kyat to the respective village chairman," he said on condition of anonymity because talking to the media is a punishable offence in Arakan State.

He added that every villager had to pay what was demanded by the authorities without complaint out of fear of harsh punishment.

Teams formed by officials of the immigration department, Nasaka, and members of the Village Peace and Development Council have been conducting family card renewal operations for Muslim and Hindu families across Maungdaw District from the beginning of this year.

Currently, the operation is continuing in rural villages under Nasaka Area No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9 after being completed in the urban wards in the district.

There were formerly two townships known as Buthidaung and Maungdaw under Maungdaw District, but the regime recently formed a new township called Taungbro-Left from an area that was part of Maungdaw Township.

A resident of downtown Maungdaw said that the family card renewal operation has already been completed in their locality and they had to pay 1,500 Kyat to the census team just for a family photograph to be taken for the record. However, he added that residents had to pay at least 50,000 Kyat to the census team in order to get a new family member included in their card.

According to an official Burmese source, authorities undertake the census by renewing the family cards once or twice a year in order to combat illegal immigration into Maungdaw District, which is close to the Bangladesh border.

Migrant Rights Advocate

I'v been campaigning for migrant rights for more than 16 years. My parents were migrant workers from Kerela, India. They came to Malaysia during the British rule to work in plantations. As a daughter of mogrant labourers, every worker reminds me of the struggle my parents went through.

One of the problems facing migrant workers in Malaysia today is the lack of legal protection. They are frequently arrested and detained without access to justice. Workers aren't allowed to organize or form unions so they often have to stuggle alone.

Outsourcing companies bring in large numbers of workers but fail to provide proper jobs or security. And, even when the workers do have gainful employment, if employers terminated their work permits, they lose their legal status in the country and can be arrested and deported. Worse sitll, their passports are usually held by the employers.

Without their passports, migrant workers cannot file cases in labour court. And even when they file a complaint, things get complicated because it's likely that their work permits will be cancelled. They will only able to stay in the country through special pass, which lasts up to a maximum of three months. During this time, they receive monthly payments of RM100($29) and cannot work. If the case is not resolved during this period they will have to leave the country and return when the case resume.

There are some memorable cases that keep me going. We won a case against Chong Wah Plastics after a six-year battle to recognise migrant workers as equal to local workers in wages, benefits and treatment in the Federal Court.

The judgement has set a precedent in the treatment of migrant workers.

by: Irene Fernandez - Activist for Migrant workers in Malaysia

(Reader's Digest- February 2010)