 https://www.a020/09/arakan-army-bringing-harmony-between.html |
Villagers from Pha Yar Poun village are sleeping on the ground after Myanmar army set fire their houses on September 3.
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Background of Two Foot
Soldiers
Recent development of
two deserted foot soldiers from Myanmar army and reportedly
appeared in Netherlands in this week is encouraging for both Rakhine
and Raohingya communities for at least International Criminal Court (ICC) and
International Court of Justice (ICJ) may able to produce more evidences of
crimes committed by Myanmar army against Rohingya Muslim in 2017.
Moreover, after Arakan
Army, freedom fighting ethnic Rakhine revolutionary force emerging, two
communities are brought in harmony to seek for justice, protection, and
interaction in every level of grassroots in the villages, in towns, and among
the key political leaderships in recent years.
The video clips
released by Arakan Army in June revealed that the two soldiers, Private Myo Win
Tun, 33, and served for Light Infantry Battalion 565, and Private Zaw Naing
Tun, 30, and served for Light Infantry Battalion 353 had involved in ‘clearance
operations’ in 2016 and 2017 and killed a number of Rohingya after given orders
from their superiors.
International news
said Myo Win Tun and Zaw Naing Tun are now in the custody in Netherlands after
they requested protection in Bangladesh in August. The news said Bangladesh
authority contacted to ICC after the soldiers sought asylums.
Arakan Army
Spokesperson Khine Thu Kha told our news agency the two former soldiers
appeared in Netherlands are run-away military service men from Myanmar army but
not Prisoner of War, or ‘POW’. He said AA did not detain them at all but helped
them for certain extent of providing foods, cashes, and shelters for temporary
basis before they went out themselves to settle private lives elsewhere.
“These two soldiers
are run-awayfoot soldiers from Myanmar army. They reached to our camps. We
documented what they have done and really experienced on the ground that we
have already released some video clips,” he said.
Khine Thu Kha said, “In order to save valuable
human life, we have cooperated with the international community because Myanmar
army is killing innocent Rakhine civilians daily, randomly arresting villagers,
setting fire houses, looting private properties, and stealing and slaughtering
cattle for foods, in terms of rampaging all kinds of violence over the general
populations that have to be stop one way or another. In Myanmar, domestic law
does not protect civilians but the international law. So, we ought to cooperate
with the international community in order to prevent such atrocity carried out
by Myanmar military.”
“As we have made an
announcement, we have provided some mass grave locations to the international
community. And, we hope that the international community will somehow prevent
the lawless killing over our people by enforcing the international law,” he
said.
Arakan Army announced
on January 26 and stated, “While Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) is being investigated
for war crimes at the International Criminal Court, they are brazenly
continuing to commit like this even today. Therefore, if any organization that
loves the truth and other independent organizations take steps to establish the
truth, we stand ever ready to extend our hands of cooperation.”
According to AA
sources, it has handed over some evidences of Rohingya mass graves and the
locations to the international organization in June shortly after it made the
announcement.
Local sources said
there are several high ranking military officers and hundreds of deserted foot
soldiers who obtain evidences and experiences in the massive atrocities done
over the Rohingya community during the clearance operations in Buthedang and
Maungdaw townships in 2016 and 2017.
Rakhine and Rogingya
Villagers Helping Each Other
When Myanmar army
declared ‘clearance operation’ in Kyautan village track in Rathedaung township
on June 24, over 30,000 residents were fleeing from the villages in fear of get
killed and arrested. But several Rohingya villages were remaining untouched by
the military. Rakhine villagers asked the Rohingya to look after their cows,
buffalos, and some properties while they were running out of the villages.
Ahr Kar Taung and Kan
Sit are some Rohingya villages close to the Yet Khone Taing and Tha Mee Hla
Rakhine villages where all residents have been fleeing since June. The
villagers handed over hundreds of cows, buffalos, and farming-machines to the
Rohingya villagers to temporarily take care of.
“Five cows and three
buffalos are given to my Muslim friend in Ahr Kar Taung village to look after
before I come back to my village. They are well taking care of the cattle,”
said U Kyaw Thar Aung, a villager from Tha Mee Hla village.
There are many stories
like these in in Rathedaung and Buthedaung townships.
Ko Ann Thar Gyi, a
charity volunteer, assisted and transported several wounded Rohungya to the
hospital in Minbya township in June. The video clip of assisting the Rohingya
patients appeared on social media. He told the local media, Rakhine people
ought to help the Rohungya patients because they are suffered the same as
Rahkhine people are facing today by the Myanmar military randomly attacking and
firing motor shells.
Arakan Army Set a Tax
Free Zone for Rohingya Villages
Rohingya villagers
reported the village chairman collected tax of 20,000 Kyat (About 18 US dollar)
to per cow before the Muslim Eid day celebration in Than Htuang and Ya Ba
villages in Kyauktaw township. They reported the village chairman, Mro ethnic,
was collecting taxes for Arakan Army.
After AA got that
report and investigated the tax collection, it found out the local Rohingya
villagers had to pay taxes to the local authorities for many years. The village
chairman had collected the taxes to pass the authority and police. But the
police and the authority could not come to those villages at all because AA has
been controlling that region since last summer.
Then, the AA leader in
the local base instructed the village chairman to give back the tax money to
the Rohingya villagers, and ordered from now on, these villagers do not have to
pay any tax to the local authorities. Now, the Rohingya villagers are saving a
lot of money.
Similar case took
place in Buthedaung township when 10 stolen buffaloes were captured by AA
administrator in May.
Traders were heading
to the Bangladesh border with 10 buffaloes in the morning of May. AA administrator
was reported that those buffaloes were stolen from Zay Taung village. Then AA
stopped the traders on the border and investigated it.
AA found out the
buffaloes belonged to the Rohingya. AA gave back the cattle to the
owners.
One of the key AA
leaders said some Rakhine came and claimed those buffaloes belonged to them.
But it was not true. He said justice has to be fairness and does not matter
they are Rakhine or Muslim, the properties must be given to the rightful
owners.
High Level Leaderships
Interaction
Some high level of
liberal Rakhine and Rohingya leaderships are discussing their view point how to
cooperate and build unity among themselves in order to have bargaining power
when negotiating with the central government and how their future will be look
like in term of achieving freedom and equality.
The discussions are
going on local and diaspora leaderships level. They discuss they would like to
have a common agreement between Rakhine and Rohingya community in basic terms
of freedom of movements, right to citizenships, right to equality, and right to
voluntary return of refugees. They believe these kinds of common agreement may
empower themselves to negotiate with the central government and implement the
recommendations of late UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
In different point of
views among the diaspora leaderships, they even discuss radicalized approach in
cooperation between the two communities and prosecute individual Myanmar
generals at the ICC, and even lead to further discussion of forming a political
and military collation to fight together for total independence from the
Myanmar authority and create a new nation where everyone can enjoy equal rights
and equal opportunity whereas AA has manifested 'Way of Rahita.'
For the leaderships
and organizations that are involving in the political discussions, Arakan News
is requested to off publishing on media due to their security concern. .
