The IOM and the Rohingya community jointly launched the website in late March last year, aiming at preserving the history of the Rohingyas
A photo of the website Collected
Tribune Desk
Publish : 09 Jan 2022, 07:12 PMUpdate : 09 Jan 2022, 07:27 PM
The Myanmar junta has protested to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) about a website the UN agency set up to preserve the history of the Rohingyas, accusing the site of containing false statements, reports BenarNews.
The site for the Rohingya Cultural Memory Center (RCMC) is an IOM initiative.
The IOM and the Rohingya community jointly launched the website in late May last year. The center first started as a website and now has a physical location, Shamsuddoza Noyon, an additional commissioner for refugee relief and repatriation in Bangladesh, said on Friday.
“The Rohingya Cultural Memory Center was established at Camp-18 at Ukhia to store the culture and traditions of Rohingya. It would help Rohingya to remember their old memories,” he told BenarNews, referring to a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.
The military regime’s appointed Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement on Friday, criticized the IOM for creating this website.
Beyond IOM’s jurisdiction?
The ministry said: “The establishment of such a website is beyond the scope of the IOM’s jurisdiction and expertise, and the Myanmar Permanent Representative Office in Geneva sent a letter of protest to the IOM on 23 December 2021 against the IOM’s inability to approve the false claims of certain groups.”
“The term ‘Rohingya’ has always been rejected by the Burmese people and is not recognized by the Burmese people. Myanmar has also rejected the false and misleading statements and information contained on the website,” it added.
For decades, Burmese administrations have refused to call the stateless minority “Rohingya.” Even today, Myanmar insists on calling them “Bengalis.”
BenarNews tried to contact the ministry and the IOM to get more details but did not immediately hear back on Friday.
Myanmar, a country of 54 million people, recognizes 135 official ethnic groups, with majority Myanmarese accounting for about 68% of the population. The Rohingya ethnicity is not recognized. And both civilian and military governments have kept this status quo.
The Muslim Rohingyas have centuries of history in Myanmar—but are denied citizenship and voting rights, prevented from obtaining jobs and formal education, and restricted from traveling freely.
In August 2017, the Myanmar military launched a brutal offensive – unleashing a host of atrocities – against the minority community in their home state of Rakhine. As many as 740,000 Rohingya fled across the border to Bangladesh and now live in camps in and around Cox’s Bazar.
IOM’s initiative
A year later, IOM conducted a mental health assessment of Rohingya refugees and the findings are what inspired the creation of the Rohingya cultural center.
The assessment found that that 45% of those surveyed were living with distress symptoms, such a nightmares, panic attacks, or suicidal thoughts, according to IOM.
“The Rohingya community is at specific risk of mental health issues due to a number of factors, including prior history of systematic dehumanization, persecution and bearing witness to or directly experiencing extreme violence,” the fact sheet said.
The survey also showed that 50% of Rohingya refuges surveyed had an “identity crisis” and 73% of respondents identified a loss of cultural identity following their forced exodus from Myanmar in 2017.
“It was in light of the findings in Cox’s Bazar, [that] IOM envisioned the concept of a Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre (RCMC),” the fact sheet said.
“One of the main objectives of the RCMC project is to provide the Rohingya refugees in the camps of Cox’s Bazar with a creative and safe space to share their knowledge, preserve their cultural heritage and reconnect with their individual and collective memory, as a community and as an ethnic group from Myanmar."
What does the website contain?
The website showcases the art, architecture, food, music, memorabilia, stories and much more of the community. For instance, one article talks about the love songs of the Rohingya.
It says: “For this brave community, who have resisted generations of discrimination and displacement, love is the architecture that holds them together, that strengthens their bonds, and creates windows and doors for greater connection and meaning. Better than most, the Rohingya know that love is what makes life livable."
According to the Myanmar junta’s Foreign Ministry, the IOM and the Bangladesh embassy in The Hague had also jointly organized an online exhibition titled “Art, Life, Rohingya.” The website says the exhibition ran from December 10 to December 31.
Visitors could click through a 3D virtual gallery, moving through different rooms to view collections such as Rohingya architecture and boat models, needlework, pottery, basketry, musical instruments, and the like, said the cultural center’s website.
The IOM notes in its fact sheet that many experts around the world say that one’s cultural and ethnic identity is central to a person's identity, to how they see themselves, and how they relate to the world.
“This is especially true for the Rohingya as their identity has historically been questioned by the Myanmar authorities,” the fact sheet says.
Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya leader who lives in the no-man’s land in Bandarban district, on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border lauded the idea of the center.
“This center was established to remind and tell the Rohingya community about their history, culture, traditions and memories by preserving those elements,” he told BenarNews on Friday. “This is a great initiative.”
Myanmar vents anger over IOM's Rohingya website
The IOM and the Rohingya community jointly launched the website in late March last year, aiming at preserving the history of the Rohingyas
The Myanmar junta has protested to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) about a website the UN agency set up to preserve the history of the Rohingyas, accusing the site of containing false statements, reports BenarNews.
The site for the Rohingya Cultural Memory Center (RCMC) is an IOM initiative.
The IOM and the Rohingya community jointly launched the website in late May last year. The center first started as a website and now has a physical location, Shamsuddoza Noyon, an additional commissioner for refugee relief and repatriation in Bangladesh, said on Friday.
“The Rohingya Cultural Memory Center was established at Camp-18 at Ukhia to store the culture and traditions of Rohingya. It would help Rohingya to remember their old memories,” he told BenarNews, referring to a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.
The military regime’s appointed Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement on Friday, criticized the IOM for creating this website.
Beyond IOM’s jurisdiction?
The ministry said: “The establishment of such a website is beyond the scope of the IOM’s jurisdiction and expertise, and the Myanmar Permanent Representative Office in Geneva sent a letter of protest to the IOM on 23 December 2021 against the IOM’s inability to approve the false claims of certain groups.”
“The term ‘Rohingya’ has always been rejected by the Burmese people and is not recognized by the Burmese people. Myanmar has also rejected the false and misleading statements and information contained on the website,” it added.
For decades, Burmese administrations have refused to call the stateless minority “Rohingya.” Even today, Myanmar insists on calling them “Bengalis.”
BenarNews tried to contact the ministry and the IOM to get more details but did not immediately hear back on Friday.
Also Read- Rohingya cultural memory centre launched
Myanmar, a country of 54 million people, recognizes 135 official ethnic groups, with majority Myanmarese accounting for about 68% of the population. The Rohingya ethnicity is not recognized. And both civilian and military governments have kept this status quo.
The Muslim Rohingyas have centuries of history in Myanmar—but are denied citizenship and voting rights, prevented from obtaining jobs and formal education, and restricted from traveling freely.
In August 2017, the Myanmar military launched a brutal offensive – unleashing a host of atrocities – against the minority community in their home state of Rakhine. As many as 740,000 Rohingya fled across the border to Bangladesh and now live in camps in and around Cox’s Bazar.
IOM’s initiative
A year later, IOM conducted a mental health assessment of Rohingya refugees and the findings are what inspired the creation of the Rohingya cultural center.
The assessment found that that 45% of those surveyed were living with distress symptoms, such a nightmares, panic attacks, or suicidal thoughts, according to IOM.
“The Rohingya community is at specific risk of mental health issues due to a number of factors, including prior history of systematic dehumanization, persecution and bearing witness to or directly experiencing extreme violence,” the fact sheet said.
The survey also showed that 50% of Rohingya refuges surveyed had an “identity crisis” and 73% of respondents identified a loss of cultural identity following their forced exodus from Myanmar in 2017.
“It was in light of the findings in Cox’s Bazar, [that] IOM envisioned the concept of a Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre (RCMC),” the fact sheet said.
“One of the main objectives of the RCMC project is to provide the Rohingya refugees in the camps of Cox’s Bazar with a creative and safe space to share their knowledge, preserve their cultural heritage and reconnect with their individual and collective memory, as a community and as an ethnic group from Myanmar."
What does the website contain?
The website showcases the art, architecture, food, music, memorabilia, stories and much more of the community. For instance, one article talks about the love songs of the Rohingya.
It says: “For this brave community, who have resisted generations of discrimination and displacement, love is the architecture that holds them together, that strengthens their bonds, and creates windows and doors for greater connection and meaning. Better than most, the Rohingya know that love is what makes life livable."
According to the Myanmar junta’s Foreign Ministry, the IOM and the Bangladesh embassy in The Hague had also jointly organized an online exhibition titled “Art, Life, Rohingya.” The website says the exhibition ran from December 10 to December 31.
Visitors could click through a 3D virtual gallery, moving through different rooms to view collections such as Rohingya architecture and boat models, needlework, pottery, basketry, musical instruments, and the like, said the cultural center’s website.
The IOM notes in its fact sheet that many experts around the world say that one’s cultural and ethnic identity is central to a person's identity, to how they see themselves, and how they relate to the world.
“This is especially true for the Rohingya as their identity has historically been questioned by the Myanmar authorities,” the fact sheet says.
Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya leader who lives in the no-man’s land in Bandarban district, on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border lauded the idea of the center.
“This center was established to remind and tell the Rohingya community about their history, culture, traditions and memories by preserving those elements,” he told BenarNews on Friday. “This is a great initiative.”
Topics: