The Rohingya Massacre: A Crisis the West Rather Not Cover

The United Nations considers the Rohingya people the “most persecuted minority group in the world.” It’s time we start paying attention. 

[Silent] Genocide: The Rohingya Massacre… We originally published this article on 11 September 2017. The crisis has unfortunately worsened since then. If you haven’t heard about the Rohingya Massacre, likely due to the West and major news orgs choosing not to cover it, please read our short piece below to catch up on a story everyone should know about. 

I was scrolling through my newsfeed last week and noticed some of my friend’s updates and funny videos from Labor-Day weekend. While scrolling, I also saw that one of my friends had posted a link from The Economist talking about the Rohingya genocide that is currently taking place in Burma (Myanmar). In a short blurb above the article, she wrote in capital letters, “WHY ISN’T ANYONE TALKING ABOUT THIS!”

I’ve known about this conflict prior to seeing her post, but she made a good point – why isn’t this being discussed on major news networks? I have read time and time again about the intensity and cruelty that is taking place at this moment across the world in Burma, and it sickens me to know that just this year alone 1,000 Rohingya have been killed in a new crackdown by the Myanmar state. 

Here is a breakdown of what started this conflict and why this is happening…

The Rohingya are Muslims. They are indigenous to Burma’s Rakhine province in the North-West Region that borders the South Asian country, Bangladesh. There are approximately 2 million Rohingya, of which, 1 million are currently living in Burma today.

Despite having historic ties to the land of Burma that have lasted for centuries, the Rohingya people were rendered stateless in 1982 by a highly controversial citizenship law that deliberately excluded them as one of Burma’s natural, and thereby legitimate, ethnicities. Because of this, the Rohingya people have been falsely and cruelly classified as foreigners in their own homeland.

If this was not difficult enough the Citizenship Law of 1982 has since become the staging grounds for the rising tide of Islamophobia in Burma. Biased government led initiatives are being fueled by a strategically planted hatred for Muslims and are designed to alienate the native Rohingya from Burmese Buddhist life.

One of the main initiatives involves the denial of the title “Rohingya” from public discourse. Instead, the incorrect term “Benjali” is being pushed on the Rohingya people to make them seem like foreigners and Muslims to the Burmese people. 

Because of this, the Rohingya people have been pushed to the literal fringes of Burmese society where they are extremely vulnerable, and where human rights abuses are mounting up and becoming quite difficult to document.

Since the violence has started the Rohingya people have been forced to flee to neighboring states, such as Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia. They’ve unfortunately been met with further hostility. Those governments have rejected them and relegated them to a life of complete neglect in refugee camps, which inevitably increases the very real threat of human trafficking. 

In 1967, Martin Luther King Jr said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” These words should ring loud and true for anyone who considers themselves a citizen of the world, and they cannot be ignored just because what you see makes you uncomfortable or helpless. We all belong to this planet and when anyone tries to force one person or a group of us to disappear via genocide, we ALL need to come together and say it loud and clear – that it is NOT OK, and that IT WILL NOT BE IGNORED. I too at times feel that my voice is lost in the multitude of noise that is generated in this busy world we live in; however, that will not stop me from yelling, writing, and talking about issues like the Rohingya genocide because they deserve our attention. The people of Rohingya need and deserve justice, and they’ll never get it if the people who know about the issue refuse to discuss it and bring it to other peoples attention. 

The United Nations considers the Rohingya people the “most persecuted minority group in the world.” It’s time we start paying attention. 

Last year we shared a similar story about 8,000 Muslims who were killed in a designated U.N. “safe haven.” Read about it here: Unknown Genocide

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Trump Succeeds Where Obama Did Not?

The North Korean state media hailed a meeting between its leader and South Korea’s president as a “new milestone.” Momentous decisions took place at this meeting, one of them is to end the Korean War formally, and another being to make the Korean peninsula nuclear-free. 

South Korean’s news agency Yonhap reported on Saturday that both Pyongyang and Seoul “affirm the common goal of realizing a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through complete denuclearization.”

On the opposite side of the border, North Korea’s Central News Agency (KCNA) also said that the summit would mark the way for “a new era of peace and prosperity.”

To cement these substantial declarations, the leaders of the two Koreas signed a joint statement after a historic summit that saw Kim Jong-un become the first North Korean leader to step into South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

A day of choreographed talks and symbolic gestures gave way to some unscripted spontaneity when Kim asked his South Korean counterpart to reciprocate by briefly stepping into North Korea.

The signing of the declaration came after two rounds of discussions between the leaders, as well as a symbolic tree-planting ceremony to bring about peace and prosperity on the split peninsula.

What does this all mean?

North Korea and South Korea have had talks before, have made pledges before and have also committed to peace previously, and none of it lasted. What makes this time different?

Here is a brief look at the sanctions (see fig. 1) and the reasons behind them. This new agreement would help Kim Jong-un remove some if not most of these sanctions and benefit from if the deal between South Korea, United States, and China goes through. 

Sanctions Against North Korea 

Year Action Sanction
Dec – 1985 DPRK ratifies the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
Jan – 2003 DPRK withdraws from NPT
Oct – 2006 UN Security Council (UNSC) passes resolution 1718 condemning the country’s first nuclear test and imposing sanctions on DPRK, including the supply of heavy weaponry, missile technology, material, and select luxury goods.
June – 2008 DPRK declares its nuclear programs to China and commits to shutting down parts of its Yongbyon nuclear facilities
June – 2009 UNSC adopts Resolution 1874, which strengthens against DPRK after it conducted its second nuclear explosion test.
Dec – 2011 North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies after seventeen years in power. His son Kim Jong-un takes over
Jan – 2013 UNSC passes Resolution 2087 condemning DPRK 2012 satellite launch and proliferation activities.
Mar – 2013 UNSC passes Resolution 2094 imposing harsher sanctions in response to DPRK’s third nuclear test in a month prior
March – 2016 UNSC adopts Resolution 2270 condemning DPRK’s fourth nuclear test and its 2015 submarine-launched missile test. Sanctions are enhanced, including banning states from supplying aviation fuel to DPRK.
Nov – 2016 UNSC passes Resolution 2321 expanding sanctions after DPRK’s fifth nuclear test, including a ban on mineral exports such as copper and nickel, and the selling of statues and helicopters.
Aug – 2017 UNSC adopts Resolution 2371 boosting sanctions after DPRK’s two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July, including a ban on coal and iron exports.
Sept – 2017 UNSC unanimously passes Resolution 2375 to ratchet up sanctions following DPRK’s sixth and largest nuclear test.
Dec – 2017 UNSC passes Resolution 2397 imposing new restrictions on oil imports, as well as metal, agricultural, and labor exports.

(Figure 1. Chronology of International action against the rogue state Eleanor A. (2018). What to know about the sanctions on North Korea. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-know-about-sanctions-north-korea.)

These sanctions have been crushing to the economic stability and prosperity of North Korea. So the reason to come to the table now and push to make these promises stick this time is actually quite simple. Kim Jong-un wants to improve North Korea, and mutually the leaders of both Korea’s realize that there is more strength in unity than there is to remain split apart and to have outside influences use the “divide and conquer strategy” to get what they want and foster distrust and hatred to continue the vicious cycle.

This summit is good news. Having a joint Korea (or something close to it), will help the North become stable and less aggressive to the world. It will also open up borders for trade and commerce to flow once again while allowing peace and security to reach all its neighbors without fear of turning back. For the South, it will allow families who have been split for decades to finally reunite and remove threats to their stability and growth.

All that remains now is to see how these talks will fare with Donald Trump when he meet’s with Kim later this year. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has suggested that Trump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize should the matters of their talks come to fruition. We have yet to see how all of these recent developments stand with our President, and if he wants to truly make a positive difference. One thing for sure, time will tell fast.

Denuclearization is a milestone worthy of applause… but who deserves the applause?

Want to read more international pieces from Independent Asian Inquisitor, subscribe for free by clicking here: LCR

Schumer Takes One for the Country

He almost lasted a whole year. President Trump’s first government shutdown comes even with the Republicans holding all the cards.

Chuck Schumer had the upper hand in this shutdown but was forced to give in by agreeing to support a deal to keep the federal government open until Feb. 8, leaving immigrants who came to the U.S. at a young age in political chaos.

Last week, Senate Democrats were holding their ground for full protection for the Dreamers but settled for an ambiguous promise to discuss the crisis. Even if the Senate does debate a bill in the next month or so to protect the Dreamers, there will be little to hold Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to his promise to schedule a vote. What makes this situation even more taxing, is if there is a vote and it ends in their favor, there is little-to-no guarantee Trump will sign it.

Schumer held a lot of power in this situation. He had the president and the GOP majorities in Congress cornered with the pressures that was built up to protect the Dreamers thanks to the public outcry for more options, but let it slip away.

Had Schumer waited for a few days, Republicans might have folded and bowed to the public pressure to keep the government open and protect the Dreamers. But now, we won’t ever know if the Republicans would have learned an important lesson in humility.

In the next few weeks we will learn how much the American people who are more liberal-minded, and the dreamers who are holding on by a thread, will have to pay to keep things somewhat balanced.

If we can even call it that anymore.

Change in the Air: The Protests in Iran

For a while now, the people of Iran have had two things to be angry about: the economy and the government.

Years of rising costs in real estate and the price of meat have put Iranians in an awkward position. Iranians expected more than what they got. Regional experts like to talk about how Iran is not as dangerous or oppressive as some of its neighbors, and the very fact that Iranians can complain proves this. But the country is still struggling, and if you lived there, you would feel it immediately.

Iran is a hard country, and the desire to separate the economic woes from the political mess might cause one to miss the point. Both issues are intertwined, more so when outcry is met with violent repression.

The protests you have been slowly hearing about started around Dec. 28. The Islamic Revolutionary guards corps and the clerical establishment under the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are the enforcers of the repression in Iran, as well as the beneficiaries of a system that has performed poorly for everyone else. This fact is not lost on the demonstrators who have vehemently objected to the new budget by calling for an end to the current regime.

The people who are currently protesting are from the lower classes and are motivated by the lack of economic fairness and opportunities in the country. The nuclear deal, with its promise to end the sanctions that never really happened, did not appease the longstanding unemployment crisis. The 2018 budget released last month, revealed in harsh terms the regime’s desire to spend on religious institutions and foreign adventures, even though there have been cuts in cash dispersals and an increase in fuel prices, the threat of drought in the provinces, environmental degradation, and embezzlement have repeatedly incited the public.

Maybe all these issues are growing pains of a country trying to redefine its presence in a globally-minded world, or perhaps it isn’t. The truth for many Iranians is that their country has resources that their family and friends never see.

As of now, the protesters know that they won’t be able to effectively make a change to the current establishment. But what they are hoping is that their cry for change will be picked up and echoed by more and more people in the country and around the world to build enough pressure for the government to make positive changes.

The latest protests have no leaders to imprison or publicly humiliate. These demonstrations aren’t pitting the elites against one another, but everyday people against the state. If there is anything you should know as you read this article, it’s how little we know as Americans about what is happening in Iran. The current regime and its desire to censor everything, made sure of this. So the battle is a two-pronged war. One part is our foreign policy on Iran, and the other is Iran’s need to push everything under the rug.

Model Citizen or Not, You Can Win in Alabama

Tonight’s results of the special Senate election in Alabama will set an exciting stage moving forward. Not only will this have regional implications in the home state of Alabama, but it will also have enormous national consequences for President Trump and both political parties. After a weird and childish campaign run by Roy Moore, voters have been left confused and exhausted by all the allegations, predictions, and media coverage of the election. 

Even though he has been hit with allegations of sexual misconduct with underage women, if he is victorious, it will illustrate the growing limitations of Democrats in the significantly conservative South. On the other hand, a win by his rival Doug Jones would shrink Republicans’ Senate advantage to a single seat, finally putting their majority in action. 

President Trump, who not so surprisingly gave Roy Moore his full-throated endorsement, yet again tweeted his support on Tuesday morning: “Roy Moore will always vote with us.”

For Doug Jones to steal a win in this election he will need high turnout from black, urban and suburban white voters. Oddly enough, Roy Moore, who rode his horse to the polls, (literally), will need support from rural white voters.

How this election plays out will have many ripple effects. If men in power can have accusations thrown at them from all different angles and still find a way to sway people into believing they can make a positive difference in our country, we are truly in trouble.  

When you decide to run for office, regardless of the rank and title, your first job is to be a model citizen. You are there to LEAD your constituents to a better and brighter future, based on your SOUND judgment. It is sickening that after everything that has come to light regarding Roy Moore, people still find him fit for office. 

Catalonia: Leaders Behind Bars [Update | Part VII]

As of Monday Morning [12/4/17], four Catalan politicians and activists remained in Spanish custody after a judge denied bail for the Catalan leaders. If this situation wasn’t already difficult enough for their leaders, the vice president of Catalonia, who is running for special elections on Dec. 21, has also been detained and will be campaigning from behind bars.

Six other separatists leaders have been released on bail, with the hefty sum of 100,00 euros ($118,00) each. Even with the release, the judge ordered the confiscation of their passports to prevent them from leaving the country.

The ousted president, Carles Puigdemont, is still stuck in exile in Belgium, along with four of his close allies. On Dec. 14 a judge will rule the possibility of extradition to Spain for all 5 of the leaders.

Imprisoning their leaders and attempting to push them into desperate situations began after Catalonia declared independence from Spain. Madrid responded with a crackdown on its leaders and the absolvement of the region’s limited freedoms as it is.

The outcome of this conflict between Catalonia and Spain is yet to be determined. As of now, Spain is still trying to control the scenario hoping to make this all disappear; but, with the growing discontent over the imprisonment of its leaders and journalists, Catalans once again have their emotions churning over why they need to separate from Spain.

Follow Catalonia’s fight for independence from the beginning (links below)…

Catalonia: The Rebel State

Catalonia: The Rebel State [Update | Part II]

Catalonia: Do Not Ignore Us [Update | Part III]

Catalonia: When Catalonia Wants Space And Spain Doesn’t Seem To “Get” It [Update | Part IV]

Catalonia: Birth of a Nation [Update | Part V]

Ex-Catalan Leader Faces Off With Spain [Update | Part VI]

Catalonia’s former leader Carles Puigdemont had an international arrest warrant issued for him by a spanish judge on Friday, which was overturned during the weekend and allowed Puigdemont to walk free on Monday, when a Brussels court deemed he could stay at liberty in Belgium until it had heard in detail Spain’s allegations of rebellion against Puigdemont.
On Friday [11/3/17] a spanish judge issued an international arrest warrant for Catalonia’s former leader Carles Puigdemont. However, it was overturned over the weekend and Puigdemont was allowed to walk free on Monday when a Brussels court deemed he could stay at liberty in Belgium until it had heard in detail Spain’s allegations of rebellion against him.
The court’s decision means that Puigdemont, who left Spain last month after Madrid dissolved the Catalan Government, is free to aggressively campaign for independence for Catalonia by Dec 21. 
The vote as of now is shaping up as a de facto independence referendum. Over the weekend, Puigdemont and another member of the secessionist party stated they might run on a combined ticket, but would need to make a decision on how to create any formal alliance, which at this time would include other parties as well before the deadline on Tuesday, Nov 7th.
Though this is not to say that alliances cannot also take shape after the election. 
The push for independence has dragged Spain through its worst political crisis since its return to democracy nearly four decades ago and has severely divided the country, lighting up anti-Spanish sentiments in Catalonia and charging up nationalist tendencies elsewhere. 
The ex-catalan president, as well as four of his ex-ministers, turned themselves into the Belgian police on Sunday [11/5/17] after Spain issued a European arrest warrant on charges of rebellion and alleged charges of public funds misuse.
As of now, all five members are not able to leave Belgium without a judge’s consent.
The next step in this situation is for the appearance of the five defendants before the Chambre du Conseil within the next 15 days.
Back home, Spain’s central government has taken control of Catalonia, which makes up a fifth of the national economy. Polls are pouring in with support for Puigdemont and his allies, eight of them to be exact who stayed behind in Spain are being detained on trumped up charges that Puigdemont has been slandered with.
The outcome for Catalonia and Puigdemont seem to be tied to one another and uncertain right now. With two months left in 2017 there is still plenty of time to see whether or not Catalonia will start 2018 off as a new nation, or one still under the heels of a fearful oppressed government. 
Follow Catalonia’s fight for independence from the beginning (links below)…
Catalonia: The Rebel State
Catalonia: The Rebel State [Update | Part II]
Catalonia: Do Not Ignore Us [Update | Part III]
Catalonia: When Catalonia Wants Space And Spain Doesn’t Seem To “Get” It [Update | Part IV]
Catalonia: Birth of a Nation [Update | Part V]

Catalonia: Birth of A New Nation [Update | Part V]

The impossible just happened a few days ago. Catalonia declared independence from Spain less than an hour before a vote in the Spanish senate would give Madrid the power to seize the region’s limited autonomous powers.
The vote in the parliament came after a dramatic week of tense last-minute negotiations between Madrid and Barcelona. Out of 135 Catalan deputies, 70 voted for independence, with 10 opposing the move and two blank ballot slips. This outcome had opposition lawmakers walk out of the chamber ahead of last Friday’s vote in protest.
Not surprisingly, the feelings about independence have been conflicting for the Catalans. The small region has many of its citizens who see the split of Catalonia as a new beginning for a bright future. Whereas a growing group of the Catalan people feels that without the support of the EU or the United States, who have both stated they will not recognize Catalonia as a country, this is the start of a very challenging and dangerous road for the small state.
Protests have already been sprouting up all over Spain calling for the indictment of Carles Puigdemont. In the coming weeks, we will see if Catalonia can defy the odds and stand up to Spain and the rest of the world, or crumble beneath the pressure of Madrid and be forced to get back in line.
Follow Catalonia’s fight for independence from the beginning (links below)…
Catalonia: The Rebel State
Catalonia: The Rebel State [Update | Part II]
Catalonia: Do Not Ignore Us [Update | Part III]
Catalonia: When Catalonia Wants Space And Spain Doesn’t Seem To “Get” It [Update | Part IV]

Catalonia: When Catalonia Wants Space And Spain Doesn’t Seem To “Get” It [Update | Part IV]

“As of now, Spain’s central government hopes to avoid further political and economic damage to the prominent northeastern region of Catalonia due to its bid to secede by imposing direct rule,” Prime minister Mariano Rajoy told parliament on Wednesday. 
In a hasty attempt to protect their business interests, more than a thousand firms have relocated their legal headquarters out of the Catalan region to avoid instability that has been brought on by the independence bid, according to the companies registry, and this level of uncertainty has pushed Madrid to cut economic forecasts.
Mr. Puigdemont had some scathing words to add to this treatment by Madrid by stating that the implementation of Article 155 of the country’s constitution, Mr. Rajoy has set out to “humiliate” Catalonia in an “attack on democracy.”
He said removing powers from the Catalan people to govern themselves was the “worst attack against the people of Catalonia since the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.” He added that with this taking place, he wanted the parliament to meet in a session where the representatives of the citizens’ sovereignty would be able to decide on the region’s fate and how precisely the shift of control and power will be handed over.
Catalonia’s government currently runs its own policing, education, and healthcare, which if taken over by Madrid would leave the region without any say as to how its people are governed.
Today will bring more clarity to the situation when Mr. Puigdemont is expected to make a last effort to stall the decision of Article 155 and to bring back some measure of control to the Catalan people.
It’s difficult to say which way this is going to go again. The Catalan people are fiercely in support of their identity and independence, which makes the central government’s attempt to take power all the more damning in the eyes of those who value these guiding principles. The world is watching Spain, that should be something to mull on as time passes and this decision begins to stir up new resentment. 
Follow Catalonia’s fight for independence from the beginning (links below)…
Catalonia: The Rebel State
Catalonia: The Rebel State [Update | Part II]
Catalonia: Do Not Ignore Us [Update | Part III]

Catalonia: Do Not Ignore Us [Update | Part III]

This tidbit may come as a surprise, but no one outside of Spain knew anything of Catalonia’s historical struggle and aspirations for independence a few years ago. Even today, most people have at the very least a minimal concept about this region and the dream that its people have of being free. When an internal struggle like Catalonia’s current fight for independence in Spain reaches its boiling point, it’s not shocking to see the conflict expand beyond its national borders.
Due to all the attention, Catalonia is receiving now; it has given the small state some punch behind its demands to be heard all over the world. Has this type of scrutiny made it possible for the region to gain independence without violence being its driving force? 
No one could have presented this better than the president of the region, Carles Puigdemont, when he addressed the Catalan Parliament on October 10. His speech, in which he halted the declaration of independence and called for rational dialogue with the Spanish state, demonstrated a value that the people of Catalonia are known well for, its aptly named  “Seny Catala” (Catalan Sanity). Comically enough, you as the reader should know that throughout this entire situation, Spain has contributed significantly to the perception that Catalonia is the “sane side” in this conflict.
It started with Spain’s response to the referendum of Catalonia. It showed a clumsy, and savage Spanish government that had no idea of how to de-escalate matters. With the support of its state media, Spain’s central government tried to hide any favor of ideas that contradicted the state’s point of view, which showed a darker side to Spain that resembled the Franco dictatorship. Throughout that chaotic October 1st day, images of violence and bedlam filled television screens all over the world, showing the international audience what the Spanish central government was capable of doing.
When you think about it, images are the most powerful tool in any communication, and with Spain’s brutal tactics, the government of Mariano Rajoy, clearly communicated a strong message: We will use any force necessary to keep stability against our citizens and maintain the status quo. This tactic was not the only dark action taken on that day. The Spanish government also proved how foolish they could be by using all possible measures to stop a referendum, and they failed miserably.
On the other hand, the Catalan Government proved to be much more strategic by aligning with the current political culture of the European continent, which proved in some ways why the Catalonia people deserve independence. 
Where is this all leading? Well, the strategy of the Catalan state was simple: to officially request a referendum, and, when this would most certainly be denied, to go ahead and do it anyway. The most important part of this strategy was to do it without violence. The next part of this plan, and by far the most crucial role is to demand dialogue after the Speech that President Carles Puigdemont gave at the Catalan parliament.
What was said in Puigdemont’s speech? 
Catalonia’s leader stated that he accepted the “mandate from the people” to “become an independent state,” but stopped short of declaring independence as he pursues an open dialogue with Spain. This gesture showed a sense of practicality and it’s in line with the political behavior model of the EU. A model that is firmly based on dialogue, agreements, and respect for the tenents of democracy. Unfortunately, Spain chose to ignore Puigdemont’s gesture, so his impassioned speech did not have the effect he had hoped it would on the central government’s attitude towards the Catalan people.
Catalonia is at the fork in the road now. They have two options: Disobey the Spanish central government and declare independence regardless of what the government says, or give up and withdraw its proposal for dialogue on full autonomy.
Currently, it’s a stalemate for both sides. On one hand, the Catalans view the suspension of the declaration of independence as a type of betrayal of the astounding results of the referendum they fought so hard to achieve. On the other hand, some sections of the Spanish population want the central government to take a more forceful action against any current or future demands for secession.
We will all have to see what will be the next steps Spain takes towards the Catalan state. They must not forget that the world is watching, and with each forceful clampdown of liberty, another revolution sows into the ground to one day come bursting through the doors. 
For more on Catalonia and their fight for independence…
Catalonia: The Rebel State
Catalonia: The Rebel State [Update | Part II]
Catalonia: When Catalonia Wants Space And Spain Doesn’t Seem To Get It [Update | Part IV]