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Mr Chairman,
Anti-Slavery International would like to call the attention of
the Commission to the situation of Rohingya women in Northern
Rakhine State of Burma.
The root causes of the problems they faced lie with the policies
of exclusion and discrimination carried out by the military regime
against this Muslim population. The 1982 Citizenship Law renders
them stateless and their freedom of movement is severely restricted,
as they need a permit to travel even to a neighbouring village.
In addition, conservative cultural and religious practices give
Rohingya women a subordinate status within their own community
and their level of economic and political participation is almost
non-existent. The majority are illiterate and live in abject poverty.
Constant demands for forced labour on their male relatives and
extortion by the authorities put a heavy toll on the economic survival
of the whole family. There are many instances where the husband
fled to escape from forced labour or from arrest because of non-payment
of taxes or overstaying of travel permits. The wife is then left
behind with her children. She is suddenly compelled to find a means
to feed them and she becomes particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment
and rape.
Moreover, a series of measures have been imposed to control birth
and limit expansion of the Rohingya population. In Northern
Rakhine State, unlike any other part of Burma, Muslim couples must
apply for permission to get married, which is only granted in exchange
for high bribes and can take up to several years to obtain. These
obstacles to marriage are destroying the social fabric of the community
and the authorities punish couples discovered meeting secretly with
a fine or jail sentence for illegal relationship. Unwanted pregnancies
and unsafe abortions are reportedly on the rise. Many young couples
have abandoned their parents and fled to Bangladesh in order to
live together.
Even after marriage, women's dignity is greatly offended, as they
have to declare their pregnancy to the NaSaKa and sometimes even
show their belly. In North Maungdaw, it has also been reported in
2004 that women are being prohibited from having more than three
children. In the event of a fourth pregnancy, the husband will be
beaten and the authorities will refuse to register the newborn child.
Living in such an oppressive environment with no protection, many
women have fled to Bangladesh where they are considered as illegal
migrants and face slavery-like labour conditions in order to survive.
Others have relied on people smugglers to go to Pakistan or Saudi
Arabia to join their husbands or relatives already there. There,
too, they are denied protection, not only as illegal migrants, but
also as stateless persons.
Mr Chairman,
The voices and cries of Rohingya women should no longer
be left unheard. Measures need to be put in place urgently to allow
them to live in full human dignity. We appeal to this Commission
[to address their situation of statelessness with the Government
of Burma and] to do everything within its power to ensure that their
fundamental rights are respected and guaranteed.
Thank you, Mr Chairman.
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