(重圍下遭扔鞋) 馬英九 林益世
台灣指標民調︰馬政府十項指標政策不滿意度多逾五成
〔記 者李宇欣／台北報導〕馬政府施政成績「滿江紅」！台灣指標民調昨日公布「台灣民心動態調查、年終政策總評」，針對馬政府今年推動的十項政策（施政表現）進 行民調，結果十項政策中有七項政策的不滿意度超過五成，其中，民眾最不滿意的三項政策及施政表現，分別為油電雙漲、穩定物價、處理勞工和軍公教退休年金， 其不滿意度均超過七成。
民進黨立委林佳龍指出，民調結果顯示，民眾對馬政府施政不滿意已是全民共識，要求馬總統儘速道歉、內閣改組並召開國是會議，不能再讓台灣繼續沉淪下去。
馬總統不滿意度高達73.5％
依據台灣指標民調的調查結果，馬總統與陳揆的執政滿意度都沒有超過兩成，馬、陳兩人「顧人怨」的指數居高不下。馬英九的執政滿意度為十七．二％，不滿意度則高達七十三．五％，而陳揆的執政滿意度為十九．二％，不滿意度為五十七．二％。
台灣指標民調針對馬政府推動的美國免簽、房屋交易實價登錄、實施奢侈稅、提高勞工基本時薪工資、偵辦高層官員貪污弊案、開放美牛進口、實施證所稅、穩定物價、處理勞工和軍公教退休年金以及油電雙漲等十項政策（施政表現）進行滿意度調查。
結果顯示，民怨指數居冠的是油電雙漲政策，不滿意度高達八十七．八％，僅七．五％的人滿意，而政府穩定物價及處理勞工、軍公教退休年金的表現，也令民眾高度不滿，不滿意度分別高達七十七．六％及七十三．六％，表示滿意的也各只有一成多。
至 於其他政策或施政表現的民調情況，偵辦高層官員貪污弊案的不滿意度為六十七．七％、開放含瘦肉精美牛進口的不滿意度為六十四．四％、實施證所稅的不滿意度 為六十．八％、提高勞工基本時薪工資的不滿意度為五十四．八％，上述七項政策的不滿意度皆超過半數。至於美國免簽的滿意度為六十五％、房屋交易實價登錄的 滿意度為五十四％、實施奢侈稅的滿意度僅四十一．三％。
林佳龍表示，從民調結果顯示，民眾對馬政府今年推動的政策很不滿意，顯示馬政府民調支持度十三％並非空穴來風，相關機構做出的民調都是不滿意居多。
國民黨立委李貴敏則說，油電雙漲確實衝擊民眾的基本開銷，且今年二月至七月全國只關注美牛案，平心而論確實是國家一大耗損，至於證所稅的概念是對的，但課徵方式有待檢討，但她認為政府很努力在穩定物價，可能民眾沒有這麼深切的感覺。
總統馬英九人權日遭扔鞋抗議
更新時間 2012年12月10日, 格林尼治標準時間13:26
馬英九在人權日活動上遭人扔鞋
在多項民調顯示台灣民眾對眼下人權狀況不滿之際，台灣總統馬英九在周一（12月10日）世界人權日台灣官方舉行的活動上，遭到了群眾扔鞋抗議。
馬英九是在出席景美人權園區的活動時，遭到抗議群眾扔擲包括鞋子在內物品。在眾多安全人員的保護下，他沒有被抗議者扔擲的鞋子擊中。近期多項民調顯示台灣民眾對眼下的人權狀況不滿，馬英九在人權日遇到許多難堪場面。在另一個由台灣民主基金會舉辦的亞洲民主人權獎頒獎典禮會場外，人權團體席地而躺，他們說馬英九沒資格作為此一獎項的頒獎人。
台灣民主基金會上周發佈的一份民調指出，民眾對台灣人權與民主的滿意度降低。在野的民進黨公布了一份最新民調則顯示，包括經濟人權、環境人權、弱勢人權、政治人權等各個調查項目，台灣民眾對眼下狀況不滿者都超過六成，滿意者都約兩成多。
聲援中國人權
相對於台灣民眾在人權日就台灣本身狀況發出不滿聲音外，民間團體華人民主書院則舉行記者會，呼籲人們除了台灣本身狀況外，也應關切中國的人權議題。
華人民主書院主席王丹呼表示台灣公民社會應多關心中國的人權狀況，他說這道理很簡單，因為一個民主的中國才有利於兩岸關係的發展。
目前在美國的維權律師陳光誠則以錄像方式，在記者會上向台灣民眾表示，中國人權狀況仍在惡化中，除了他的親人遭到不合理待遇外，藏人自焚及迫害法輪功等也都持續在發生中。
該書院發出一份聯署書，呼籲北京當局釋放劉曉波，該聯署書此前也要求馬英九及文化部長龍應台、陸委會主委王鬱琦共同聯署，據轉述他們都說認同，但不方便參與聯署。
籲國際關注
在野的民進黨主席蘇貞昌針對民調反映出的台灣人權倒退，舉行了一場國際記者會，他說台灣民主體制在馬英九政府執政後出現嚴重危機，並呼籲國際民主力量能正視台灣正在發生的危機，不要讓台灣在全球民主陣營中消失。
蘇貞昌說，台灣民主體制在馬英九主政下出現的危機，以司法及媒體這兩個面相最為突顯。
在記者會上國際媒體關注的一個議題是台灣民主與兩岸關係關聯性問題。民進黨對馬英九政府一直以來的一項批評是，其為了討好中共當局，而扭曲了台灣的人權與民主。
在被問到有關馬英九政府近日再度以＂時機不宜＂拒絕讓達賴喇嘛訪台一事時，蘇貞昌說該黨認為人權與自由民主沒有所謂時機問題。
蘇貞昌除了在記者會上呼籲人們多關心西藏人權問題外，並探視了九名在台北絕食抗議北京的西藏青年，對他們表示支持。
宗教矛盾撕扯緬甸
報道 2012年12月03日
Kuni Takahashi for The New York Times
實兌難民營里的穆斯林女孩。一些組織稱實兌穆斯林面臨的是種族清洗。
緬甸實兌——這座位於海邊小鎮外圍的佛寺里呈現一片寧靜祥和的景象，七名身穿藏紅色長袍的沙彌在參天大樹的樹蔭下乘涼，他們的師傅尼亞那(U Nyarna)正在一間灑滿陽光的佛堂里會客。
但在這樣寧靜的環境里，尼亞那傳達的信息卻十分不和諧，與佛教避免傷害生物的觀念大不相同。他主動地開始控訴穆斯林，稱他們是侵略者、不受歡迎的訪客以及“卧榻之上的毒蛇”。
“依照佛教教義，我們不應該殺生，”尼亞那說。“但當我們感覺受到威脅時，就不能再當聖者了。”
目前，若開邦的暴力衝突已導致至少167人死亡，10萬人無家可歸，其中大部分是穆斯林。暴力事件致使大量穆斯林逃離該地區，一些人權組織譴責這是 種族清洗。若開邦位於緬甸西部孟加拉灣沿岸地帶。作為一個年輕僧侶協會的會長，尼亞那與其他佛教領袖參與了將穆斯林驅逐出緬甸的運動，這反映了若開邦全邦 範圍內排斥異己問題的嚴重程度。該國最近才開始從威權統治向民主過渡。
繼過去五個月的一系列致命的狂暴行徑和縱火攻擊之後，佛教徒要求將那些不能證明已經在此合法居住三代的穆斯林關進營地，然後送到任何願意接受他們的 國家。而若開邦將近100萬穆斯林中的很大一部分人都無法做到這一點。在軍政府統治的50年里，穆斯林和佛教徒之間的仇恨受到壓制，而近幾個月來，這種敵 意幾乎不受約束。
甚至連緬甸最重要的民主人士、受壓迫民眾的捍衛者昂山素季(Daw Aung San Suu Kyi)在評論暴力事件時都小心翼翼。作為訪緬的首位在任美國總統，奧巴馬在本月的到訪期間，將這個問題列為重要問題，印度尼西亞、沙特阿拉伯等截然不同 的穆斯林國家也對此表示憂慮。
緬甸西部地區的佛教徒和穆斯林艱難共處了幾十年，在有些地方甚至共處了幾個世紀，但今年，那些將若開邦社會緊密聯繫在一起的社會結構已經崩塌。
逃離家園的穆斯林現在居住在類似貧民窟的營地里，食物和醫藥十分匱乏，而他們周圍的佛教人口都不願意與之為鄰。
“這個問題亟需解決，”緬甸的穆斯林議員瑞貌(U Shwe Maung)說。“如果沒有食物和避難所，這些人就會死亡。”
若開邦的穆斯林的處境非常危險，瑞貌要在政府安排的安保部隊的保護下才能出行。“政府給我安排了滿滿一卡車警察，”他說。“兩個、三個或者四個警察不夠。”
若開邦中佛教徒占多數，其領導人表示讓他們之所以感覺受到威脅，是因為高出生率導致穆斯林人口急劇膨脹，他們還發現一些伊斯蘭教儀式令人不快，比如屠宰動物。
“我們非常怕被伊斯蘭化，”若開民族發展黨(Rakhine Nationalities Development Party)總書記吳臘梭(U Oo Hla Saw)說。“這是我們的家鄉，是我們祖先的土地。”
在6月和10月爆發的教派衝突中，村民們手持刀和棍棒，利用自製發射器發射磨尖的單車車輪輻條。在穆斯林占多數的區域，寺院被燒毀。在佛教徒占多數的區域，清真寺被摧毀。暴力事件的導火索是穆斯林被指責強姦並殺害了一名年輕的女佛教徒。
實兌是前英國殖民地的前哨基地，這裡的中心地區現在已經沒有穆斯林了，以前大量的穆斯林在這裡從事着裝卸工和其他體力勞動。
“我很害怕回去，”這次動亂之前在一所公立學校教書的埃吞盛(AyeTun Sein)說。他的住地東泰羌距離實兌有20分鐘車程，他說，這兒的人都沒有工作，因為沒人能離開這個滿是棚戶和帳篷的村子。
數位政治領袖稱，這種針對穆斯林的幾近整體隔離的做法只是權宜之計。但這種措施卻似乎變得越來越具有永久性。
“我不想念他們，”單車夫文貌(U Win Maung)說，他家的房子在6月份被穆斯林鄰居放火燒掉了。“我們之間的仇恨在與日俱增。”
在訪問緬甸期間，奧巴馬在仰光大學(Yangon University)發表了演講，其中有很大一部分是關於多元化的重要性，他特別指出了若開邦的“危險”局勢，並告訴聽眾說“沒有任何理由對無辜者實施暴力。”
“我們在美國學到的是，有一些道理是具有普適性的，無論你的長相、出生地、宗教如何，對每個人都適用。”他說。
若開邦的分歧很嚴重，即便在如何稱呼穆斯林上，各個族群都無法達成一致。很多穆斯林稱自己是羅興亞人(Rohingya)。但羅興亞不是緬甸官方承認的少數民族。
在緬甸全國各地，佔少數的穆斯林與占人口大多數的佛教徒混居，但人們對羅興亞人的仇恨最深，部分是因為他們人口眾多——根據聯合國數據，他們至少有80萬人——而且他們還主要集中在若開邦。（緬甸全國人口為5500萬人。）
若開邦的佛教居民把自己視為佛教古國妙烏(Mrauk U)的傳人。在民族上，他們不認為自己是緬甸人，緬甸政府也把他們看做是一個單獨群體。若開邦的佛教徒稱，他們感到了來自緬甸主要民族的擠壓、迫害，還遭到不斷擴張的穆斯林少數民族的威脅。
在暴力事件發生以前，若開邦的佛教徒和穆斯林之間有一種主僕關係，有點類似於種姓制度，穆斯林干粗活，而佛教徒則通常是老闆。
“我們住在一起，但從來沒有相互交談，”今年51歲，在暴力事件中失去房屋的佛教徒居民森梅(Htwe May)說。
當被問到他們的孩子是否和穆斯林一起玩耍時，一群佛教婦女爆發出一陣大笑。
“連小孩子都知道他不該和一個卡拉爾一起玩”，今年55歲的登拉伊(Thein Hla Yi)稱，卡拉爾是對印度裔人的一種蔑稱。
佛教徒稱，穆斯林應該被視為非法移民。對於那些同情穆斯林的其他國家和外國媒體，他們感到憤怒。
這兩個群體的領導人都拿歷史來為自己的合法性辯護。
“這些人並不是從別處遷來的，”議會的穆斯林成員瑞貌說，他的父親是一位警官，祖父是若開邦的地主。“他們已經在這裡居住了幾個世紀。”
7月份，總統登盛（Thein Sein，又譯吳登盛）對一個美國訪問代表團稱，只有那些在緬甸居住了至少三代的穆斯林才可以成為公民。他說，其餘人都是“國家和平的威脅”，這些人要被送進營地然後送到國外。聯合國反對這個說法稱，不應該製造難民。
外交官稱，登盛已經放棄了這個立場，現在正在討論重新在緬甸國內安置那些流離失所的穆斯林。在奧巴馬來訪之前，他曾給聯合國寫信稱，一旦情緒穩定下 來，他將會“解決有爭議的政治問題，包括重新安置被轉移的人群及發放公民資格。”但他沒有提供更多細節或者是時間進度。他已經下令成立了一個委員會，在接 下來的幾周里該委員會會出台一份相關報告。
實兌的佛教徒稱，他們不願意妥協。尼亞那稱，很多穆斯林“沒有人性道德”，他們應該被送回穆斯林國家，和“自己的同類”一起生活。
但在這樣寧靜的環境里，尼亞那傳達的信息卻十分不和諧，與佛教避免傷害生物的觀念大不相同。他主動地開始控訴穆斯林，稱他們是侵略者、不受歡迎的訪客以及“卧榻之上的毒蛇”。
The New York Times
目前，若開邦的暴力衝突已導致至少167人死亡，10萬人無家可歸，其中大部分是穆斯林。暴力事件致使大量穆斯林逃離該地區，一些人權組織譴責這是 種族清洗。若開邦位於緬甸西部孟加拉灣沿岸地帶。作為一個年輕僧侶協會的會長，尼亞那與其他佛教領袖參與了將穆斯林驅逐出緬甸的運動，這反映了若開邦全邦 範圍內排斥異己問題的嚴重程度。該國最近才開始從威權統治向民主過渡。
繼過去五個月的一系列致命的狂暴行徑和縱火攻擊之後，佛教徒要求將那些不能證明已經在此合法居住三代的穆斯林關進營地，然後送到任何願意接受他們的 國家。而若開邦將近100萬穆斯林中的很大一部分人都無法做到這一點。在軍政府統治的50年里，穆斯林和佛教徒之間的仇恨受到壓制，而近幾個月來，這種敵 意幾乎不受約束。
甚至連緬甸最重要的民主人士、受壓迫民眾的捍衛者昂山素季(Daw Aung San Suu Kyi)在評論暴力事件時都小心翼翼。作為訪緬的首位在任美國總統，奧巴馬在本月的到訪期間，將這個問題列為重要問題，印度尼西亞、沙特阿拉伯等截然不同 的穆斯林國家也對此表示憂慮。
緬甸西部地區的佛教徒和穆斯林艱難共處了幾十年，在有些地方甚至共處了幾個世紀，但今年，那些將若開邦社會緊密聯繫在一起的社會結構已經崩塌。
逃離家園的穆斯林現在居住在類似貧民窟的營地里，食物和醫藥十分匱乏，而他們周圍的佛教人口都不願意與之為鄰。
“這個問題亟需解決，”緬甸的穆斯林議員瑞貌(U Shwe Maung)說。“如果沒有食物和避難所，這些人就會死亡。”
若開邦的穆斯林的處境非常危險，瑞貌要在政府安排的安保部隊的保護下才能出行。“政府給我安排了滿滿一卡車警察，”他說。“兩個、三個或者四個警察不夠。”
若開邦中佛教徒占多數，其領導人表示讓他們之所以感覺受到威脅，是因為高出生率導致穆斯林人口急劇膨脹，他們還發現一些伊斯蘭教儀式令人不快，比如屠宰動物。
“我們非常怕被伊斯蘭化，”若開民族發展黨(Rakhine Nationalities Development Party)總書記吳臘梭(U Oo Hla Saw)說。“這是我們的家鄉，是我們祖先的土地。”
在6月和10月爆發的教派衝突中，村民們手持刀和棍棒，利用自製發射器發射磨尖的單車車輪輻條。在穆斯林占多數的區域，寺院被燒毀。在佛教徒占多數的區域，清真寺被摧毀。暴力事件的導火索是穆斯林被指責強姦並殺害了一名年輕的女佛教徒。
實兌是前英國殖民地的前哨基地，這裡的中心地區現在已經沒有穆斯林了，以前大量的穆斯林在這裡從事着裝卸工和其他體力勞動。
“我很害怕回去，”這次動亂之前在一所公立學校教書的埃吞盛(AyeTun Sein)說。他的住地東泰羌距離實兌有20分鐘車程，他說，這兒的人都沒有工作，因為沒人能離開這個滿是棚戶和帳篷的村子。
數位政治領袖稱，這種針對穆斯林的幾近整體隔離的做法只是權宜之計。但這種措施卻似乎變得越來越具有永久性。
“我不想念他們，”單車夫文貌(U Win Maung)說，他家的房子在6月份被穆斯林鄰居放火燒掉了。“我們之間的仇恨在與日俱增。”
在訪問緬甸期間，奧巴馬在仰光大學(Yangon University)發表了演講，其中有很大一部分是關於多元化的重要性，他特別指出了若開邦的“危險”局勢，並告訴聽眾說“沒有任何理由對無辜者實施暴力。”
“我們在美國學到的是，有一些道理是具有普適性的，無論你的長相、出生地、宗教如何，對每個人都適用。”他說。
若開邦的分歧很嚴重，即便在如何稱呼穆斯林上，各個族群都無法達成一致。很多穆斯林稱自己是羅興亞人(Rohingya)。但羅興亞不是緬甸官方承認的少數民族。
在緬甸全國各地，佔少數的穆斯林與占人口大多數的佛教徒混居，但人們對羅興亞人的仇恨最深，部分是因為他們人口眾多——根據聯合國數據，他們至少有80萬人——而且他們還主要集中在若開邦。（緬甸全國人口為5500萬人。）
若開邦的佛教居民把自己視為佛教古國妙烏(Mrauk U)的傳人。在民族上，他們不認為自己是緬甸人，緬甸政府也把他們看做是一個單獨群體。若開邦的佛教徒稱，他們感到了來自緬甸主要民族的擠壓、迫害，還遭到不斷擴張的穆斯林少數民族的威脅。
在暴力事件發生以前，若開邦的佛教徒和穆斯林之間有一種主僕關係，有點類似於種姓制度，穆斯林干粗活，而佛教徒則通常是老闆。
“我們住在一起，但從來沒有相互交談，”今年51歲，在暴力事件中失去房屋的佛教徒居民森梅(Htwe May)說。
當被問到他們的孩子是否和穆斯林一起玩耍時，一群佛教婦女爆發出一陣大笑。
“連小孩子都知道他不該和一個卡拉爾一起玩”，今年55歲的登拉伊(Thein Hla Yi)稱，卡拉爾是對印度裔人的一種蔑稱。
佛教徒稱，穆斯林應該被視為非法移民。對於那些同情穆斯林的其他國家和外國媒體，他們感到憤怒。
這兩個群體的領導人都拿歷史來為自己的合法性辯護。
“這些人並不是從別處遷來的，”議會的穆斯林成員瑞貌說，他的父親是一位警官，祖父是若開邦的地主。“他們已經在這裡居住了幾個世紀。”
7月份，總統登盛（Thein Sein，又譯吳登盛）對一個美國訪問代表團稱，只有那些在緬甸居住了至少三代的穆斯林才可以成為公民。他說，其餘人都是“國家和平的威脅”，這些人要被送進營地然後送到國外。聯合國反對這個說法稱，不應該製造難民。
外交官稱，登盛已經放棄了這個立場，現在正在討論重新在緬甸國內安置那些流離失所的穆斯林。在奧巴馬來訪之前，他曾給聯合國寫信稱，一旦情緒穩定下 來，他將會“解決有爭議的政治問題，包括重新安置被轉移的人群及發放公民資格。”但他沒有提供更多細節或者是時間進度。他已經下令成立了一個委員會，在接 下來的幾周里該委員會會出台一份相關報告。
實兌的佛教徒稱，他們不願意妥協。尼亞那稱，很多穆斯林“沒有人性道德”，他們應該被送回穆斯林國家，和“自己的同類”一起生活。
翻譯：許欣、張亮亮
Ethnic Hatred Tears Apart a Region of Myanmar
December 03, 2012
SITTWE, Myanmar — The Buddhist monastery
on the edge of this seaside town is a picture of tranquillity, with
novice monks in saffron robes finding shade under a towering tree and
their teacher, U Nyarna, greeting a visitor in a sunlit prayer room.
But in these placid surroundings Mr. Nyarna’s message is discordant, and a far cry from the Buddhist precept of avoiding harm to living creatures. Unprompted, Mr. Nyarna launches into a rant against Muslims, calling them invaders, unwanted guests and “vipers in our laps.”
“According to Buddhist teachings we should not kill,” Mr. Nyarna said. “But when we feel threatened we cannot be saints.”
Violence here in Rakhine State — where clashes have left at least 167 people dead and 100,000 people homeless, most of them Muslims — has set off an exodus that some human rights groups condemn as ethnic cleansing. It is a measure of the deep intolerance that pervades the state, a strip of land along the Bay of Bengal in western Myanmar, that Buddhist religious leaders like Mr. Nyarna, who is the head of an association of young monks, are participating in the campaign to oust Muslims from the country, which only recently began a transition to democracy from authoritarian rule.
After a series of deadly rampages and arson attacks over the past five months, Buddhists are calling for Muslims who cannot prove three generations of legal residence — a large part of the nearly one million Muslims from the state — to be put into camps and sent to any country willing to take them. Hatred between Muslims and Buddhists that was kept in check during five decades of military rule has been virtually unrestrained in recent months.
Even the country’s leading liberal voice and defender of the downtrodden, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been circumspect in her comments about the violence. President Obama made the issue a priority during his visit to the country this month — the first by a sitting American president — and Muslim nations as diverse as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have expressed alarm.
Buddhists and Muslims in western Myanmar have had an uneasy coexistence for decades, and in some areas for centuries, but the thin threads that held together the social fabric of Rakhine State have torn apart this year.
Muslims who fled their homes now live in slumlike encampments that are short on food and medical care, surrounded by a Buddhist population that does not want them as neighbors.
“This issue must be solved urgently,” said U Shwe Maung, a Muslim member of Parliament. “When there is no food or shelter, people will die.”
Conditions have become so treacherous for Muslims across the state that Mr. Shwe Maung travels with a security force provided by the government. “They give me a full truck of police,” he said. “Two, three or four policemen is not enough.”
Leaders of the Buddhist majority in the state say they feel threatened by what they say is the swelling Muslim population from high birthrates and by Islamic rituals they find offensive, like the slaughter of animals.
“We are very fearful of Islamicization,” said U Oo Hla Saw, general secretary of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, the largest party in the state. “This is our native land; it’s the land of our ancestors.”
During outbreaks of sectarian violence in June and again in October, villagers armed themselves with swords, clubs and sharpened bicycle spokes that they launched from homemade catapults. In Muslim-majority areas, monasteries were burned. In Buddhist-majority areas, mosques were destroyed. The mayhem was set off by the rape and murder of a Buddhist girl for which Muslims were blamed.
The center of Sittwe, a former British colonial outpost, is now empty of the Muslims who once worked in large numbers as stevedores and at other manual jobs.
“I’m scared to go back,” said Aye Tun Sein, who was a teacher at a government school before the upheaval. In his village, Teh Chaung East, a 20 minute drive from Sittwe, he said that no one has a job because no one can leave the village, a collection of shacks and tents.
Political leaders describe the near total segregation of Muslims as temporary, but it appears to be more and more permanent.
“I don’t miss them,” said U Win Maung, a bicycle rickshaw driver whose house was burned down in June by his Muslim neighbors. “The hatred we have for each other is growing day by day.”
During his visit, Mr. Obama spent a considerable portion of a speech at Yangon University focusing on the importance of diversity, singling out the “danger” of the Rakhine situation and telling his audience “there is no excuse for violence against innocent people.”
“What we’ve learned in the United States is that there are certain principles that are universal, apply to everybody no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter what religion you practice,” he said.
Divisions are so deep in Rakhine State that the communities cannot agree on what the Muslims should be called. Many Muslims call themselves Rohingya, an ethnic group that is not officially recognized in Myanmar, formerly Burma.
Small Muslim communities coexist with the Buddhist majority across Myanmar, but hatred is greatest for the Rohingya, partly because of their large numbers — at least 800,000, according to the United Nations — and their concentration in Rakhine State. (The country has a population of 55 million.)
The Buddhist residents of Rakhine see themselves as the inheritors of the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Mrauk U. They do not consider themselves ethnically Burmese, and the government recognizes them as a separate group. Rakhine Buddhists say they feel squeezed, persecuted by the Burmese majority and threatened by the swelling Muslim minority.
Before the violence, Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims had a sort of master-servant relationship, a castelike system in which Muslims did menial work and Buddhists were usually the bosses.
“We lived side by side but we never talked to each other,” said Daw Htwe May, a 51-year-old Buddhist resident of Sittwe who lost her home in the violence.
A group of Buddhist women burst out laughing when asked whether their children played with Muslims.
“Even a small boy knows that he should not play with a kalar,” a pejorative term for people of Indian descent, said Daw Thein Hla Yi, 55.
Buddhists say Muslims should be considered illegal immigrants, and they are angry that foreign countries and the foreign news media have sympathy for Muslims.
Leaders from both groups reach back into history for justifications for their cause.
“These people did not migrate from anywhere,” said Mr. Shwe Maung, the Muslim member of Parliament whose father was a police officer and whose grandfather was a landlord in Rakhine State. “They have been living there for several centuries.”
President Thein Sein told a visiting delegation from the United Nations in July that only Muslims who have been in the country for at least three generations would be allowed citizenship. The rest were a “threat to the peace of the nation,” he said, and would be put in camps and sent abroad. The United Nations rejected the idea, saying that it was not in the business of creating refugees.
Diplomats say that Mr. Thein Sein has retreated from that position and is now talking about resettling displaced Muslim populations inside the country. He sent a letter to the United Nations just before Mr. Obama’s visit saying that once passions cooled he would “address contentious political dimensions, ranging from resettlement of displaced populations to granting of citizenship.” But he offered no details or time frame. He has ordered a commission of inquiry, which is expected to issue a report in the coming months.
In Sittwe, Buddhists say they are not ready to make concessions. Mr. Nyarna, the monk, said many Muslims do not “practice human morals” and should be sent to Muslim countries to be among “their own kind.”
But in these placid surroundings Mr. Nyarna’s message is discordant, and a far cry from the Buddhist precept of avoiding harm to living creatures. Unprompted, Mr. Nyarna launches into a rant against Muslims, calling them invaders, unwanted guests and “vipers in our laps.”
The New York Times
按图放大
Kuni Takahashi for The New York Times
A mosque that was burned in sectarian violence in Sittwe, a former British colonial outpost.
Violence here in Rakhine State — where clashes have left at least 167 people dead and 100,000 people homeless, most of them Muslims — has set off an exodus that some human rights groups condemn as ethnic cleansing. It is a measure of the deep intolerance that pervades the state, a strip of land along the Bay of Bengal in western Myanmar, that Buddhist religious leaders like Mr. Nyarna, who is the head of an association of young monks, are participating in the campaign to oust Muslims from the country, which only recently began a transition to democracy from authoritarian rule.
After a series of deadly rampages and arson attacks over the past five months, Buddhists are calling for Muslims who cannot prove three generations of legal residence — a large part of the nearly one million Muslims from the state — to be put into camps and sent to any country willing to take them. Hatred between Muslims and Buddhists that was kept in check during five decades of military rule has been virtually unrestrained in recent months.
Even the country’s leading liberal voice and defender of the downtrodden, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been circumspect in her comments about the violence. President Obama made the issue a priority during his visit to the country this month — the first by a sitting American president — and Muslim nations as diverse as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have expressed alarm.
Buddhists and Muslims in western Myanmar have had an uneasy coexistence for decades, and in some areas for centuries, but the thin threads that held together the social fabric of Rakhine State have torn apart this year.
Muslims who fled their homes now live in slumlike encampments that are short on food and medical care, surrounded by a Buddhist population that does not want them as neighbors.
“This issue must be solved urgently,” said U Shwe Maung, a Muslim member of Parliament. “When there is no food or shelter, people will die.”
Conditions have become so treacherous for Muslims across the state that Mr. Shwe Maung travels with a security force provided by the government. “They give me a full truck of police,” he said. “Two, three or four policemen is not enough.”
Leaders of the Buddhist majority in the state say they feel threatened by what they say is the swelling Muslim population from high birthrates and by Islamic rituals they find offensive, like the slaughter of animals.
“We are very fearful of Islamicization,” said U Oo Hla Saw, general secretary of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, the largest party in the state. “This is our native land; it’s the land of our ancestors.”
During outbreaks of sectarian violence in June and again in October, villagers armed themselves with swords, clubs and sharpened bicycle spokes that they launched from homemade catapults. In Muslim-majority areas, monasteries were burned. In Buddhist-majority areas, mosques were destroyed. The mayhem was set off by the rape and murder of a Buddhist girl for which Muslims were blamed.
The center of Sittwe, a former British colonial outpost, is now empty of the Muslims who once worked in large numbers as stevedores and at other manual jobs.
“I’m scared to go back,” said Aye Tun Sein, who was a teacher at a government school before the upheaval. In his village, Teh Chaung East, a 20 minute drive from Sittwe, he said that no one has a job because no one can leave the village, a collection of shacks and tents.
Political leaders describe the near total segregation of Muslims as temporary, but it appears to be more and more permanent.
“I don’t miss them,” said U Win Maung, a bicycle rickshaw driver whose house was burned down in June by his Muslim neighbors. “The hatred we have for each other is growing day by day.”
During his visit, Mr. Obama spent a considerable portion of a speech at Yangon University focusing on the importance of diversity, singling out the “danger” of the Rakhine situation and telling his audience “there is no excuse for violence against innocent people.”
“What we’ve learned in the United States is that there are certain principles that are universal, apply to everybody no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter what religion you practice,” he said.
Divisions are so deep in Rakhine State that the communities cannot agree on what the Muslims should be called. Many Muslims call themselves Rohingya, an ethnic group that is not officially recognized in Myanmar, formerly Burma.
Small Muslim communities coexist with the Buddhist majority across Myanmar, but hatred is greatest for the Rohingya, partly because of their large numbers — at least 800,000, according to the United Nations — and their concentration in Rakhine State. (The country has a population of 55 million.)
The Buddhist residents of Rakhine see themselves as the inheritors of the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Mrauk U. They do not consider themselves ethnically Burmese, and the government recognizes them as a separate group. Rakhine Buddhists say they feel squeezed, persecuted by the Burmese majority and threatened by the swelling Muslim minority.
Before the violence, Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims had a sort of master-servant relationship, a castelike system in which Muslims did menial work and Buddhists were usually the bosses.
“We lived side by side but we never talked to each other,” said Daw Htwe May, a 51-year-old Buddhist resident of Sittwe who lost her home in the violence.
A group of Buddhist women burst out laughing when asked whether their children played with Muslims.
“Even a small boy knows that he should not play with a kalar,” a pejorative term for people of Indian descent, said Daw Thein Hla Yi, 55.
Buddhists say Muslims should be considered illegal immigrants, and they are angry that foreign countries and the foreign news media have sympathy for Muslims.
Leaders from both groups reach back into history for justifications for their cause.
“These people did not migrate from anywhere,” said Mr. Shwe Maung, the Muslim member of Parliament whose father was a police officer and whose grandfather was a landlord in Rakhine State. “They have been living there for several centuries.”
President Thein Sein told a visiting delegation from the United Nations in July that only Muslims who have been in the country for at least three generations would be allowed citizenship. The rest were a “threat to the peace of the nation,” he said, and would be put in camps and sent abroad. The United Nations rejected the idea, saying that it was not in the business of creating refugees.
Diplomats say that Mr. Thein Sein has retreated from that position and is now talking about resettling displaced Muslim populations inside the country. He sent a letter to the United Nations just before Mr. Obama’s visit saying that once passions cooled he would “address contentious political dimensions, ranging from resettlement of displaced populations to granting of citizenship.” But he offered no details or time frame. He has ordered a commission of inquiry, which is expected to issue a report in the coming months.
In Sittwe, Buddhists say they are not ready to make concessions. Mr. Nyarna, the monk, said many Muslims do not “practice human morals” and should be sent to Muslim countries to be among “their own kind.”
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