Seeking common ground in Myanmar's bitter religious divide

"Don't help her, she is Muslim," the doctor told Min Min, a Buddhist, when he lent his phone to a distressed pregnant woman in hospital so she could call her husband. "He wanted her to pay, even for incoming calls," Min Min recalled.

At the time Min Min lived in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State in western Myanmar, which for years has been racked by strife and occasional violence between Buddhists and Muslims. The Buddhist-majority country refuses to grant citizenship to the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, even though most of them have lived in the area for generations. Most Myanmar people agree with the government, calling the Rohingya illegal immigrants. The 1.1 million Rohingya are among the most persecuted minorities in the world, the UN says. Most live in Rakhine State, one of the country's poorest regions, with a population of 3.2 million.

Tensions flared up again in Rakhine in early October when the Myanmar government blamed Muslims for the deaths of nine border guards. The army cordoned off an area of 3,500 square kilometres and arrested hundreds who they said attacked them with knifes and machetes.

Some 20,000 Muslims have since fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, the International Organisation for Migration said. Around 100 people have died, according to state media. Journalists are prohibited from entering the conflict zone, making it difficult to verify what is actually happening there.

Rohingya refugees have accused Myanmar soldiers of killings and rape.

Min Min, a journalist, grew up thinking Muslims posed a threat to Myanmar and that they had ambitions to take over Rakhine State. But after living in Thailand and Malaysia for five years, the 27-year-old reconsidered his position. The incident at the hospital finally inspired him to begin reporting on the suffering of Muslims. Min Min has written about the camps in Rakhine State where Muslims are confined, and he has investigated how their basic needs are often not met - including how difficult it is for them to see doctors.

He has also reported on the fear among Buddhists that they might be somehow undermined by Islam. "How should the two sides ever agree to talk to each other if we don't listen to them both?" he told journalists. Many Rakhine residents are unhappy about the unconventional attitudes Min Min expresses in his articles.

In March his house in Sittwe was bombed, forcing him and his family to relocate to Yangon. Nationalists put a 29,000-dollar bounty on his head, he said. "I am not afraid. But I hope my country will change and my son won't have to suffer bullying from classmates for a dad who speaks up for Muslims once he goes to school," he said. Despite these threats, Min Min this month published the first issue of a new magazine, "Root," which features reporting that skews toward neither Muslim nor Buddhist viewpoints.

The latest issue includes a story about the integration of refugees from both communities. A 23-year-old teacher named Yadana, who is Buddhist, has also been threatened for trying to bridge the Muslim and Buddhist communities. She organises computer and leadership skills training and English classes for Buddhists and Muslims together. "Isn't it crazy that this simple thing that I am doing is something unique in Rakhine?" said Yadana, which is not her real name. Schools in Rakhine State are segregated and some people have not had contact with members of the other community for years, she said.

Yadana no longer discusses her work with her friends because it only causes arguments. "They look down on me for supporting the kalar," she said, using a derogatory term in Myanmar for Muslims. She does not have many allies in Rakhine State, she said, noting that she cannot think of another organisation there trying to bring Muslims and Buddhists together in similar pursuits. Yadana had planned to organise classes in an area that is now cordoned off due to the conflict. During her last visit to northern Rakhine, she discovered largely deserted villages. "Those who stay are too afraid to go out, even during the day," she said, adding that she fears conflict might replace her reconciliation efforts with a new wave of mistrust.    (dpa)

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