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Arab News on Rohingyas

Myanmarese refute charges against Bangladeshis

Staff Correspondent
Burmese (Myanmarese) community leaders in Makkah have refuted allegations that Bangladeshis in the kingdom are obstructing progress of Burmese people living there, Arab News reported yesterday.
They protested a Saudi daily report that Bangladeshis were hindering progress of Burmese Rohingyas in the kingdom, and said it created tension between the Bangladeshi and Burmese communities there.
Several leaders of the Burmese community met representatives of the Bangladeshi community to dispel misunderstandings following the report, the Arab News said quoting a Burmese community leader.
These developments took place in the wake of allegations that many Rohingyas committed crimes but identified themselves as Bangladeshis when Saudi police arrested them.
According to Arab News, an estimated 500,000 Burmese, most of them Rohingya Muslims, reside in Makkah region, and most do not have contacts with their mother country and have special residential status in the kingdom.
The Burmese leader in Makkah said the situation involving the two communities there would have become volatile if Makkah police had not conducted an anti-crime awareness campaign called "Makkah sans crimes” between April 1 and 17.
As part of the campaign, police visited various suburbs of the holy city — mainly those with high concentration of Burmese and Bangladeshi residents — stressing the need for abstaining from crimes. The campaign was also
used to help improve relations between the two communities, said the Arab News report.
Ayoub Al-Jamal, a Saudi businessman of Burmese origin and one of the sponsors of the campaign, told Arab News that the idea for the campaign came up during a meeting at the governor's office attended by local community leaders.
In that meeting with Abdul Aziz Al-Khudari, undersecretary at the governor's office, it was decided that the campaign would start in districts where Burmese and Bangladeshis live in large numbers, said Al-Jamal.
The campaign was launched with the help of the Islamic Education Foundation (1EF).
“Some people with vested interests spread a rumour that the campaign was a trap laid by the Passport Department to arrest Burmese people. Despite the rumours, the campaign was a success with people attending in large numbers,” Al-Jamal said.
Abdullah Marouf, head of the IEF for Asian communities in Makkah, said he hopes the campaign will educate people to stay away from crimes.
Ataallah Shaqdar, public relations director of the campaign, said 22 events took place in 17 districts with large numbers of Burmese and Bangladeshi residents. "The campaign was successful with more than 60,000 people attending,” he said. Abud Shama Al-Burmawi, a researcher at the Muslim World League and former head of the Committee for Burmese Affairs at the Passport Department, said the rate of crime had fallen since the campaign began. “I wish the campaigns were launched 10 years ago,” he said.
Rohingyas, who constitute four percent of Burma's population, are indigenous people of Arakan, the western province of Burma bordering Bangladesh. Due to persecution, about 1.5 million Rohingyas have either been expelled or left Burma since 1948, Arab News mentioned.
Meanwhile, there are around 25,000 Rohingya refugees in two camps in Cox's Bazar, and officials concerned estimate some 1.5 lakh Rohingyas are staying in the Chittagong hill districts.
It is alleged that many Rohingyas, claiming themselves to be Bangladeshis, secured Bangladeshi passports and went to Saudi Arabia for performing Hajj or Umrah and for other religious purposes. But they destroyed those passports and sought work permits to stay in the kingdom
The Saudi authorities also issued work permits to these Rohingyas considering the issue of their persecution in Burma.
Arab News said Saudi authorities recently allowed Burmese residents in the kingdom to open bank accounts without the need to present copies of their passports.