Category Archives: News

How to help Ukraine, and defeat the Russian invasion and punish the aggressor

Caspar ten Dam & Ab de Buck                    

1 September 2022, Leiden, the Netherlands  

Demonstration for and by Ukrainians in The Hague, 26 February 2022  © C. ten Dam

One of our worst fears earlier this year – as mentioned in our article on Bosnian-Serb separatist plans in Bosnia [1] – has come to pass: on February 24th Russia invaded Ukraine.

We have anticipated the fierce, smart and thereby effective Ukrainian resistance stymieing and even reversing Russian advances toward the capital Kiev and other places s however. Thus we predicted that “despite the military disparities, the Ukrainian armed forces would not be a pushover if Putin does decide to invade Ukraine.” [2] The currently slow progress at best by heavily concentrated Russian and pro-Russian forces in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region – particularly in the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces partially controlled by pro-Russian breakaway republics since the preceding war in 2014 – should surprise no one either. Indeed the entire invasion is “about to run out of steam”, according to Richard Moore, the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6.[3] These setbacks clearly have surprised Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who masterminded and ordered the invasion of Ukraine with high ambitions of territorial conquest and regime change.

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Bosnian-Serb separatist plans threaten peace in Bosnia – we can still stop this

Ab de Buck & Caspar ten Dam

Russia has invaded Ukraine – a terrible war has begun. It is still receiving little attention, but similar violence threatens to break out in Bosnia. Nationalist Bosnian-Serb politicians are working towards unilateral secession of the entity dominated by them, Sprska. They also aim to form their own army. The Russian invasion of Ukraine will further encourage them to push through secession by force as well. The European Union (EU) is in a position to stop this from happening, but to date is showing little initiative to do so.

Bosnia has known a fragile peace since the devastating war of ’92 – ’95. The Bosnian-Serb leader Milorad Dodik has now planted a bomb under it. He is working on the secession of the Serb-dominated entity of the country (Srpska) from the Bosnian state this spring, even with its own army. In doing so, he is receiving active support from Serbia and Russia. This decision of his is contrary to the Bosnian constitution. But it is above all a life-threatening undertaking. Please note: this is not just about a population group that seeks to peacefully secede from a country, such as if Flanders were to secede from Belgium. The roots of the call for secession lie in the war of the 1990s. Many or most Bosnian Serbs strived for an ethnically pure state: a state only intended for Serbs. Everyone else was systematically expelled, raped and murdered. With the mass murder of more than 8,000 men and boys from Srebrenica in July 1995 as a sad low point of this cruel war waged against a multi-ethnic society and state that Bosnia once was and could still fully be in the future.

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Guest Press Release by BROUK on Rohingya Disenfranchisement, November 2020

BURMESE ROHINGYA ORGANISATION UK (BROUK)

24 Quakers Place , Forest Gate , London E7 8AG
+44 208 553 5259    e-mail: brorg.london@gmail.com                              web: www.brouk.org

 

Media Release from Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK

For Immediate Release 6th November 2020

International Acceptance of Rohingya Disenfranchisement Encourages Further Abuses

 

Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) is concerned that the lack of international condemnation of the disenfranchisement of the Rohingya in Sunday’s election will encourage further human rights violations against the Rohingya people.

Not only has the international community been largely silent about the fact that Rohingya have been disenfranchised from the election, but international governments and organisations, including the European Union, have even been assisting the government of Burma and the government appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) in the holding of this discriminatory election.

“The disenfranchisement of the Rohingya in this election is another part of the genocide against us, and it’s being done with international assistance instead of condemnation,” said Tun Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisations UK. “The message the international community is sending to the government of Burma is that they can commit human rights violations against the Rohingya and not just get away with it, they will even still get international support. This encourages the government to carry on denying our rights and discriminating against us.”

State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi decided to keep in place the ban on Rohingya voting in the election, and the UEC, appointed by her government, has continued the policy of barring Rohingya parties and candidates from standing in the election. Those engaged in anti-Rohingya and anti-Muslim hate speech inciting hatred and violence face no legal consequences.

“It is clear that Myanmar’s elections will be unfree, unfair and un- democratic”, Tun Khin said. “The disenfranchisement of the Rohingya is the most extreme example, but other ethnic and religion groups are also facing mass disenfranchisement. By supporting this election, the international community seem to be saying ethnic rights don’t matter. As long as the situation improves for the mainly Buddhist Bamar majority, that is good enough for them.”

Barring Rohingya from voting in the election is also a violation of the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice. The denial of our identity and rights, including the right to vote, is part of the genocide against the Rohingya people.

“If the response of the international community to this election is to welcome it, and only add a small caveat at the end of a statement expressing disappointment that Rohingya were excluded, that is a green light to Aung San Suu Kyi to keep discriminating against us,” said Tun Khin. “The international community must state clearly that disenfranchisement of the Rohingya and other minorities from the election is completely unacceptable and that they will provide no support to future elections as long as this discrimination continues.”

For more information, please contact Tun Khin on +44(0)7888714866

 

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