I’ve been writing about Rohingya Muslims since I first came across an article in Time magazine that said this:
Today, southern Bangladesh has become a haven for hundreds of jihadis on the lam. They find natural allies in Muslim guerrillas from India hiding out across the border, and in Muslim Rohingyas, tens of thousands of whom fled the ethnic and religious suppression of the Burmese military junta in the late 1970s and 1980s. Many Rohingyas are long-term refugees, but some are trained to cause trouble back home in camps tolerated by a succession of Bangladeshi governments. The original facilities date back to 1975, making them Asia’s oldest jihadi training camps. And one former Burmese guerrilla who visits the camps regularly describes three near Ukhia, south of the town of Cox’s Bazar, as able to accommodate a force of 2,500 between them.
I posted on it almost two years ago here. I was told we didn’t take Rohingya Muslims as part of our refugee resettlement program at that time, but now we do. Thanks to commenter, “Knowing,” my fears have been confirmed. Here is his/her comment and my response at this post.
They are included in the Burmese allotment that the US takes. However, it’s no secret to the US or the VOLAGS when they come. In the group of people from Burma we take are Karen (Protestant, Animist and Buddhist), Karenni (mostly Catholic, Hindu and Buddhist), Chin (Catholic, Protestant and Buddhist), Ethnic Burmese (very few right now, generally Buddhist) and Rohingya (Muslim).
So when we say we’re taking Burmese that’s really an umbrella term meaning to resettle several persecuted ethnic groups.
This is my response:
Knowing, It may not be a secret to the State Department and the volags but I know for a fact that resettlement agencies tell local people that the “Burmese are Christians.” One more little deception for the local yokels,eh. I want to scream.
Last night I was telling a reader that my driving force in writing this blog is that I believe in the principle of good government. How dare big brother arrive in local communities and lie to people. Damn it, if refugee resettlement is good for communities then all the facts should be put on the table and let the local people decide what is good for their community!
Visit our Rohingya Reports category for lots more confirmation about why this is a huge mistake.
Update moments later from “Knowing:”
Well I guess someone could be trying to pass them off as Christians but with the exception of the Nepali/Bhutanese the majority of people resettled at the moment are Muslim. So one would truly have to be a yokel to buy in to that.
A word to yokels: the internet is a vast wonderland of information.