Anti-Muslim violence reaches new heights in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO/ALUTHGAMA - The signs had been clear for months; beneath the veneer of normalcy in Sri Lanka’s southwestern coastal town of Aluthgama, religious tensions were brewing, but no one was sure how or when they would erupt.
A little over a month ago the cauldron simmered over when a mob attacked a Muslim-owned shop in this town, 60 km south of the capital Colombo, after the owner’s brother was arrested for sexually molesting a minor from the majority Sinhala community.
Barely a month later, on Jun. 12, hostilities flared again when crowds of angry people surrounded the local police station following an altercation involving a Buddhist monk and some Muslim residents.
When officials in Colombo and Aluthgama heard that the hard-line group Bodu Bala Sena – loosely translated as Buddhist Force and referred to simply as the BBS – was planning a meeting on Jun. 15 in Aluthgama, they sounded the alarm.
Faiszer Musthapha, a deputy minister in the government of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), urged the inspector general of police to increase security in the area for fear the rally could turn sour.
According to a letter penned by the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, the Wakf Board of Sri Lanka, the All Ceylon YMMA and the Colombo Masjid Federation, “This is a dangerous situation that could develop into a major riot.”
The warning fell on deaf ears.
On Jun. 15, the meeting went ahead as planned and shortly thereafter, trouble began in the nearby Muslim enclave of Dharga Town. Some of the participants in the BBS rally traveled through the town in a convoy and the first clashes erupted near the town’s mosque where local residents had gathered.
By dusk the police had declared a curfew, but by then the rampaging mob could not be contained. Sporadic violence continued for the next three days in Aluthgama, with smaller incidents reported in the neighbouring town of Beruwela, leaving eight dead, according to residents, though police said only two fatalities had been reported. Locals also told IPS an additional 80 people were wounded in the brawls.
With homes and business premises going up in flames before their eyes, families were forced to take shelter in school buildings, where women huddled in overcrowded classrooms with their children while the men stood guard outside, fearful that the Buddhist mobs would return at any minute.
While the tragedy in Aluthgama is not the first example of post-war communal riots in the country, it has certainly been the worst, representing the first riot-related deaths since Sri Lanka declared an end to its ethnic conflict in 2009.
Previous incidents involving the BBS include the attack on a Muslim-owned clothing store on the outskirts of Colombo on May 13 last year and the storming of a press conference held by a group of Buddhist and Muslim leaders on Apr. 11 this year.
When the BBS rose to prominence in early 2013 its leaders said their aim was to help Buddhism regain its ‘rightful place’ in Sri Lanka.
Although officially constituted on May 7, 2012, the group did not release its 10-point declaration until February 2013, spelling out such demands as an end to Halal certification for certain food items, suspension of the scheme which allows Sinhalese women to work in the Middle East, and a full ban on birth control.
Speakers at BBS rallies have repeatedly claimed that so-called ‘Muslim extremism’ is the biggest threat facing Buddhists in a country where Muslims constitute 10 percent of the population of some 20 million.
Leaders of the movement claim they enjoy close ties with the government, but the state has denied official links with the group.
Rubble replaces communal harmony
As Muslim residents nervously make their way back to the scene of the furore, rights groups and concerned citizens are raising questions about the government’s lax reaction to the violence and the tensions that precipitated it.
From the G77 summit in Bolivia, President Mahinda Rajapaksa tweeted the following message immediately after being notified about the attacks:
The Government will not allow anyone to take the law into their own hands. I urge all parties concerned to act in restraint. -MR (1/2) — Mahinda Rajapaksa (@PresRajapaksa) June 15, 2014
Back in Colombo on Jun. 18 he visited the troubled areas and promised an impartial probe into the incident.
But civil society leaders, as well as top officials in the Rajapakse government, want more assertive action from the government to stem communal violence once and for all.
According to Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem, “The law-and-order machinery completely failed.”
“For 72 hours, we begged the government to prevent this rally from taking place on Sunday for fear of riots […],” said the minister, who is also the head of Sri Lanka’s largest Muslim political party, the Muslim Congress, adding, “I am ashamed. I couldn’t protect my people.”
Under tremendous pressure, police arrested close to 50 people Monday night in connection with the violence, 30 of who have been remanded in police custody according to Police Spokesman and Superintendent Ajith Rohana.
Those who were caught in the violence told IPS that if the authorities had acted swiftly, the mayhem could have been avoided.
Eyewitnesses say that BBS members who entered Dharga Town encountered the police as they neared the mosque, but it didn’t slow them down.
“The police were either overwhelmed, or scared, but for whatever reason they did not take any action to prevent the clashes. If they had, lives would not have been lost,” Iqbal Asgar, a resident who fled the violence, asserted.
He said that most of the Muslim properties in the town had been torched, including at least one car dealership and one small factory. Residents told IPS that the losses could run into millions of rupees (thousands of dollars).
Even three days after the riots, tension was still palpable in the town, with plumes of smoke rising from the remnants of charred buildings. Anger among the victims, left helpless in the face of the carnage, hung thick in the air.
Muslim women were the first to venture back to the outskirts of Dharga to examine what was left of their properties. Those who lived closer to the town centre were too terrified to return – as were most of the men, who remained in the safety of the schools where the families initially sought shelter.
They have good reason to be afraid. Even after the army swept through the town in a bid to clear it of extremist elements, Asgar said the displaced heard rumors that the mobs were still at large, and had even attacked a vehicle carrying food aid for those affected.
In the absence of state sponsored relief immediately after the riots, religious and community groups, including Buddhist organisations, mobilised to gather and deliver dry rations, clothes and baby food to the affected population as early as Jun. 16.
Still, it will take sustained effort to repair the sacred bond of communal trust and harmony that now lies in ashes in the southwest of Sri Lanka.
“When you see your house burnt down, your life destroyed in flames, it is very difficult to regain the trust in those you expect to protect you,” Asgar told IPS.
According to Jehan Perera, who heads the advocacy body known as the National Peace Council, the government must publicly say that all minorities including Muslims are full citizens of the country, take legal action against the perpetrators of the riots and pay compensation to those who have lost loved ones and property.
“Failure to do so,” he told IPS, “would be an abdication of responsibility.”
President Rajapaksa has pledged to rebuild all damaged property with state support; it remains to be seen whether the promise will be honoured in the weeks and months to come.
Sumber HD - 27-6-2014
Bantu pelarian sempena Hari Pelarian Sedunia
TANGGAL 20 Jun diraikan pada setiap tahun sebagai Hari Pelarian Sedunia. Sebagai sebuah organisasi yang terlibat langsung dalam misi kemanusiaan membantu pelarian di seluruh dunia sejak awal penubuhannya, Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) ingin menzahirkan keprihatinan dan kebimbangan terhadap perkembangan trend sejagat berkaitan pelarian di peringkat global dan kesan-kesan langsung yang terkait dengannya.Pelarian merujuk kepada sesiapa yang berada di luar negara asal mereka dan mereka yang mempunyai “kebimbangan berasas akan diseksa atas alasan ras, agama, kerakyatan, anggota kumpulan sisual atau fahaman politik tertentu dan kerana itu, tidak berupaya atau sanggup lagi untuk pulang ke negara tersebut”.
Berasaskan definisi khusus perundangan antarabangsa yang termaktub di dalam Konvensyen 1951 berkaitan Status Pelarian (Konvensyen Pelarian) dan Protokol 1967-nya, jumlah pelarian yang dianggarkan oleh Pesuruhjaya Tinggi Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu Bagi Pelarian (UNHCR) sehingga penghujung 2013 secara global ialah seramai 16 juta orang.
Namun agensi tersebut menyatakan bahawa jumlah keseluruhan populasi dunia yang terjejas akibat krisis kemanusiaan adalah jauh lebih tinggi, iaitu seramai 40 juta orang dengan mengambilkira pelbagai kategori lain seperti pencari suaka (asylum seeker), pelarian dalam negara (Internally Displaced Person, IDP) dan warga tanpa negara (stateless person).
Inilah sebenarnya jumlah yang lebih tepat untuk menggambarkan kadar dan skala pelarian sejagat hari ini. Untuk rekod, ini merupakan angka tertinggi yang pernah dicatatkan dalam sejarah krisis pelarian global sejak penubuhan UNHCR pada tahun 1951.
Peperangan dan konflik khususnya di Syria, Republik Afrika Tengah, Congo dan Mali telah menyumbang sekitar 4 juta pelarian global diantara tahun 2011-2013. Di rantau ini, Myanmar sahaja misalnya telah menyumbang sekurang-kurangnya 1.1 juta populasi pelarian dalam rantaian krisis kemanusiaan yang disifatkan UNHCR sebagai terburuk abad ini.
Sesungguhnya masalah melibatkan pelarian tidak boleh dipandang enteng. Masalah pelarian ialah refleksi terhadap keamanan dunia yang kita diami hari ini. Dalam situasi dunia yang diwarnai oleh konflik berpanjangan merentas benua, hampir setiap negara akan merasai dampak krisis pelarian, khususnya negara-negara yang berjiran dengan zon dilanda konflik. Malaysia tidak terkecuali.
Sehingga akhir Mei 2014, terdapat sejumlah 145,025 orang pelarian dan pencari suaka telah didaftarkan di bawah pejabat UNHCR Malaysia. Daripada jumlah tersebut, 134,430 adalah dari Myanmar dengan jumlah terbesar dari etnik Chin (51,620), Rohingya (37,100), Muslim Myanmar (11,840), Rakhine (7735 ) dan selebihnya lain-lain etnik. Dari sejumlah 10,590 pelarian dari negara-negara lain, Sri Lanka kekal sebagai penyumbang terbesar (4,280) dan konflik di Syria pula telah menyumbang seramai 920 pelarian.
Perlu diingat bahawa jumlah di atas hanyalah mengambil kira pelarian yang didaftarkan melalui UNHCR. Jumlah mereka yang tidak berdaftar atau diuruskan langsung oleh agensi penguatkuasa kerajaan dan melalui NGO pastinya lebih tinggi.
Pada masa yang sama, Malaysia bukan merupakan penandatangan Konvensyen Berkaitan Pelarian 1951. Dalam erti kata lain, perundangan Malaysia tidak mengiktiraf hak-hak berkaitan pelarian seperti yang termaktub dalam undang-undang antarabangsa.
Justeru istilah ‘pelarian’ itu sendiri secara teknikal tidak diiktiraf dalam undang-undang negara; yang ada hanyalah pendatang tanpa izin bagi mereka masuk tanpa dokumen pengenalan dan permit yang sah, ataupun tinggal lebih masa dari tempoh yang dibenarkan.
Pelarian yang berada di Malaysia termasuk dalam kategori ini. Justeru antara masalah utama yang dihadapi oleh ‘pelarian’ ini ialah isu penguatkuasaan dan hukuman undang-undang, kebajikan,kesihatan, pendidikan kanak-kanak dan pekerjaan.
Di sebalik kesulitan tersebut, Malaysia terus menjadi destinasi pilihan pendatang kerana pendirian kerajaan yang membantu atas dasar kemanusiaan dan sikap rakyat kita yang terkenal pemurah dalam membantu mereka yang lebih memerlukan.
Justeru bersempena Hari Pelarian Sedunia tahun ini, ABIM ingin menyeru kepada seluruh rakyat Malaysia yang cintakan keamanan dan menjunjung tinggi kemuliaan insani (karamah insaniah) agar terus membantu pelarian yang tertindas dan berdepan kebuluran, penyeksaan dan kematian di negara mereka sendiri.
Sesungguhnya nilai kemanusian dan kasih sayang sesama insan - seperti yang dianjurkan oleh seluruh agama-agama besar dunia - merentas batas sempadan kenegaraan, warna kulit, ras dan agama. ABIM menyeru agar nilai-nilai murni kemanusian inilah, dan bukannya kebencian dan diskriminasi yang harus menjadi pertimbangan utama dalam menilai sikap dan pendirian kita terhadap mereka.
Pada masa yang sama , ABIM menyeru agar kita tidak sama sekali akan berkompromi terhadap sebarang unsur jenayah dan elemen keganasan yang secara cuba menyelusup masuk ke negara ini melalui manupulasi pelarian dan pencari suaka; sebagaimana juga kita tidak akan berkompromi terhadap sindiket penyeludupan manusia serta korupsi dan salah guna kuasa pegawai penguatkuasa yang mengaut keuntungan lumayan atas nama pelarian.
Bahkan sebaliknya, ABIM menyeru agar warga Malaysia membantu pelarian yang berada di negara ini melalui kempen kesedaran terhadap kemelaratan mereka, mendaftarkan diri sebagai sukarelawan dan melalui bantuan kewangan khususnya dalam memenuhi keperluan kesihatan dan pendidikan kanak-kanak dan wanita.
Semoga sumbangan kecil dari individu, organisasi dan pertubuhan ini akan menjanjikan masa depan yang lebih cerah dan dunia yang lebih aman buat pelarian dan umat manusia seluruhnya.
Selamat Mengenang Hari Pelarian Sedunia 2014!
Penulis ialah Naib Presiden ABIM.
Sumber HD - 20-6-2014
Ukraine: Scaling up aid effort to respond to growing humanitarian needs
Geneva – Amid the ongoing violence in eastern and southern Ukraine, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is asking donors for an additional 8.2 million Swiss francs (approximately 9 million US dollars).
The ICRC’s response to the current crisis includes support for medical facilities. Eight hospitals in the Luhansk region, in the eastern part of the country, recently received medical supplies provided by the ICRC in cooperation with the Luhansk branch of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society.
"We are ready to provide more aid should the need arise," said Jacques Barberis, deputy head of the ICRC delegation in Kiev. "However, we have to have the cooperation of everyone involved in the violence along with security guarantees to reach some cities, such as Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, where medical aid is urgently needed."
Since the beginning of May, 1,000 people injured in fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have been treated in 20 hospitals that have been given medicines required for emergency treatment as well as wound-dressing materials by the ICRC.
With these additional funds, the ICRC will continue to expand its contacts with those who can influence the situation and to respond to the humanitarian needs of civilians, including those arrested, displaced, detained or wounded. It will also further increase its support enabling the Ukrainian Red Cross to strengthen its emergency response services and the level of its preparedness, particularly in terms of administering first aid, providing psychosocial support and restoring contact between family members.
The ICRC has had a permanent presence in Ukraine since the end of 2013. It currently has some 25 staff based in Kiev, Kharkyiv, Donetsk, Odessa and elsewhere in the region.
Sumber HD - 13-6-2014
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