Jews in 1939, Rohingya in 2015: Will the world act to prevent a 21st century SS St. Louis?
The international community's apathy toward the plight of the Muslim-Burmese refugees stranded at sea mimics the indifference that saw many Jews sent to their death. Will countries of conscience remain silent?
The persecution of the Muslim Rohingya minority in Burma has been among the world's greatest human rights disasters over the past century. However, this tragedy has only recently emerged as a hot-button international issue after the Rohingya have opted for drastic means to escape the sordid conditions faced at home.
The international community's apathy toward the plight of the Muslim-Burmese refugees stranded at sea mimics the indifference that saw many Jews sent to their death. Will countries of conscience remain silent?
The persecution of the Muslim Rohingya minority in Burma has been among the world's greatest human rights disasters over the past century. However, this tragedy has only recently emerged as a hot-button international issue after the Rohingya have opted for drastic means to escape the sordid conditions faced at home.
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The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists said:
The refugees are a mixture of poor Bangladeshis in search of work and Rohingya Muslims fleeing widespread persecution from Myanmar's Buddhist majority.
The refugees are a mixture of poor Bangladeshis in search of work and Rohingya Muslims fleeing widespread persecution from Myanmar's Buddhist majority.
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Jews in 1939, Rohingya in 2015: Will the world act to prevent a 21st century SS St. Louis?
The international community's apathy toward the plight of the Muslim-Burmese refugees stranded at sea mimics the indifference that saw many Jews sent to their death. Will countries of conscience remain silent?
The persecution of the Muslim Rohingya minority in Burma has been among the world's greatest human rights disasters over the past century. However, this tragedy has only recently emerged as a hot-button international issue after the Rohingya have opted for drastic means to escape the sordid conditions faced at home.
The international community's apathy toward the plight of the Muslim-Burmese refugees stranded at sea mimics the indifference that saw many Jews sent to their death. Will countries of conscience remain silent?
The persecution of the Muslim Rohingya minority in Burma has been among the world's greatest human rights disasters over the past century. However, this tragedy has only recently emerged as a hot-button international issue after the Rohingya have opted for drastic means to escape the sordid conditions faced at home.
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Couldn't the people who reported on this story have done something to help reunite Jubair with his family?
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Reading this story certainly doesn't encourage hope for humane treatment of one group by another. One thing our government should do is refuse to allow its citizens to have economic relations with the government of Myanmar or members of its Buddhist majority, or any other nation that deliberately makes life impossible for a minority population.
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When I read “A Mother’s Anguished Choice to Flee Myanmar and Leave One Child Behind” by Chris Buckley and Thomas Fuller, it was a very powerful experience. I had to slow the pace of my reading and was struck by the tragic story they shared. The poverty these Rohingya refugees have to face every moment is devastating. This article made me reconsider all that we take for granted in our daily lives. As stated in the article, “School is unlikely. For most children here, an education means a few years of religious school learning to recite the Quran and the Arabic alphabet, though not enough to read.” More importantly to me, ““When I asked people, they said he has no father.” Mr. Ullah said. “I asked where does he stay? They said he just stays on the street.” As I paused for a moment, I digested the meaning of their words. If you even begin, in the slightest way, to compare your life to Jubair’s and many other refugees, you face just how fortunate you really are. We are blessed with the opportunity to recieve a extensive education, Jubair is simply memorizing the Quran and Arabic alphabet. His education is strictly limited to his religion. He is not taught math, history, science, or the arts. Even in the simplest forms, so many parts of my life I have taken for granted. A lock on your door, for example. Jubair simply has to hide and pray that nobody will break into the mud shack he stays in. Thank you, New York Times, for making me realize just how blessed we all really are.
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Rather than (only) sending money to help one child, we should pressure our government to intervene in Myanmar's persecution of the Rohingya. If they were allowed to live in peace there would be no refugee crisis. More productive to allow foreign aid to help them in their homeland, and yes, it is their homeland, contrary to their government's ethnic and religious bias. And as others have mentioned, birth control should be a key pillar of foreign aid. No economy can grow faster than the natural human birthrate!
Why did Ms Junaid leave her oldest son behind? Because she could. Because he was old enough to have a chance to survive on his own. It was a calculation to increase the odds of survival for everyone.
Why did Ms Junaid leave her oldest son behind? Because she could. Because he was old enough to have a chance to survive on his own. It was a calculation to increase the odds of survival for everyone.
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Jubair is everyone's child. I woke up early this morning thinking of him. If we can't reunite hm with his family, can we at least help him with the basic necessitiesof life. How can we help him? Send money to him in his village? To the fisherman that helps him? Mr. Fuller what is the best way to help this. Little boy? We may not be able to save everyone, we can at least save him.
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It is very easy to sit in the comfort of your house & read this story with full stomach & clean clothes without smallest clue of how it feels like to be afraid for your life at any minute, going days without any food or clean water, no family and yet to judge or blame others. Until we don’t live under the circumstances that they have been we have no place to judge! As humans, we are ALL responsible for everything that is happening in any side of the world. Some more & some less but we have created this mess ourselves & until we don’t realize that we are ALL part of the same body nothing will change. If any part of your body hurts, would you say let’s forget it and let it get infected? No you can’t so then how is it that in the name of religion, race, country, social status and etc everyone thinks that they are the best and most entitled to anything and yet others “deserve” to suffer! As you can see we are all paying the price for it too, in “rich” countries we have lots of problems of our own, in the surface we all have our wonderful jobs, houses and etc but we are all not feeling peaceful, we are worried financially, any simple incident can badly disturb us or we lose sleep over it, we are suffering from more diseases, mental illnesses, mass shootings and etc. In big picture no one will have a happy and peaceful life until WE take ownership and start with small changes within our reach to positively impact each other’s life. Plz provide info to help Jubair & his family.
I don't understand why some people here are talking about birth control and abortion and staff like that when the issue here is to help this family to be reunited. This kid is suffering by being away from his mother. Can someone here put in his shoes and think for a little bit how devastated was for this boy to get back home and find out that "HE WAS HOMELESS?" "LEFT BEHIND" "ABONDONE" with no home, no food, no family, no shelter and no plan B. No where to go. He was all alone to figure things out by himself for the first time. Force to man up in a blink of an eye., that was very sad and a very traumatic situation for a 13yrl old boy. Most of us here in the US have no idea what that means or how it feels but obviously every body has a mouth to open and talk NO sense. Please show some respect for this family. and if you don't have anything good to say don't say anything. that would be better, just read the story and save your comments to yourself. Leave them alone if you're not willing to help. Treat other's as you want other's to treat you. Respect is the key here. This Kid needs help to get to his mother and family, please help if you can. If not stay away from making such comments as birth control and abortion. They don't need that. They need money to bring their son with them, to pay their debts, to pay rent, to buy food and to live a better life. In God's name.
ALL THEY NEED IS A BLESSING. THEY NEED KINDNESS, THEY NEED COMPASION. THEY NEED IS HELP! please help.
ALL THEY NEED IS A BLESSING. THEY NEED KINDNESS, THEY NEED COMPASION. THEY NEED IS HELP! please help.
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To Chirs Buckley & Thomas Fuller
Is there and address for Jubair? Or his parents? If so could you release that? So that those who want to send money or gifts could do so.
Is there and address for Jubair? Or his parents? If so could you release that? So that those who want to send money or gifts could do so.
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Great idea!
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Seriously? Send the child some chocolates so that he feels better? He needs an entire new family, new culture, new religion. Otherwise, he and millions like him are doomed.
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your comment makes no sense. Why does he need a new family, culture and religion? Seems to me he needs to be reunited with his existing family and who are you to judge his culture and religion?
This article made me sad, the comments make me sadder
This article made me sad, the comments make me sadder
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My opinion is not based on the comments below , but from reading and based on the knowledge I know. I think It is really sad that people can not even come together as one; Children are homeless because of their families mistakes, but I do not think it is right for children to be punished for their parents' mistake. This mother in "A Migrant Mother's Anguished Choice", was shunned and persecuted for their Muslim faith. This women had three children and had to sell her house for five-hundred dollars. She did not have anything left knowing that she really did not want to go with the smugglers to Malaysia. She also knew that it as a 15% possibility that she had a chance of becoming free, and a 85% of being tortured or sold into slavery. This is an example of people judging or thinking higher then other people. It is not right for people to think this way. If our government or anyone who was over our community and was actually putting money towards more productive things we would not have to really force people to make choices that they would not want to do. That's my opinion on things like this.
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I seem to remember the good nuns at St. Mary's school in Flushing, NY, tell all of us snot-nosed brats that we should try to "do unto others as we would want them to do unto us" more than a few times. Almost seventy years later I think that these words have helped me to make a heck of a lot of friends over the years. One of the few things I've learned in this life is that people who love and help others are themselves loved and helped. People who hate others are generally themselves hated by others.
It's much better to be loved and helped than to be hated. The road to hatred is a dead end road. Help someone!
It's much better to be loved and helped than to be hated. The road to hatred is a dead end road. Help someone!
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In a past job I worked with a number of Burmese people. (they never said Myanmar, so I wont). The younger Burmese always demurred and would never talk about their country. But a few of the older ones, and one fellow in particular would talk about Burma. It is very unsettling when a man tells you he went home to find his family and the village did not exist anymore. This puts our petty problems in perspective. To brush off the suffering of these people is to refuse to accept complicity. A complicity we are surely guilty of in this globalized economy.
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Sorry, but the only likely halfway-truthful person here is the boy left behind. Do please notice how relaxed and happy his mother looks in her comfortable new accommodations. Not exactly the face of an "anguished" parent.
Her current husband was probably not interested in going into more debt for another man's child.
I have unfortunately had more than enough experience with heartrending stories told to farangis. It's not all that hard, if you actually look and listen, to determine who is being less than honest and who is genuinely suffering.
Even if that boy is reunited with his mother, don't count on any happy ever afters for him. His stepfather will expect him to do a man's work and to earn his keep. Anyone who wants the best for him would try to get him into a reputable boarding school, and to follow up regularly.
Her current husband was probably not interested in going into more debt for another man's child.
I have unfortunately had more than enough experience with heartrending stories told to farangis. It's not all that hard, if you actually look and listen, to determine who is being less than honest and who is genuinely suffering.
Even if that boy is reunited with his mother, don't count on any happy ever afters for him. His stepfather will expect him to do a man's work and to earn his keep. Anyone who wants the best for him would try to get him into a reputable boarding school, and to follow up regularly.
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Based on many comments here, if a fund were to set up to bring this poor boy to his family, there would be enough donations from readers to get this done. Now we just need to figure out how to accomplish this task. I think NYT should take the lead in organizing the collection of funds (I will definitely contribute) and get the money there. If their journalists found their way to the boy and his family, they can certainly find a way to bring the money there and bring him to his family.
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Sure!! Bring them here -- as if we don't have millions of homeless hungry people right here. Also let us remember the Boston Marathon boomers -- that family was also allegedly fleeing persecution. There are plenty of people right here in America that need your help.
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I really like your suggestion and I think it would be great if If NYT can organize a way for people like us to fund for this little boy to join his mother. I urge the journalists of this story to come forward and help us in helping this boy. I will definitely contribute. thank you and Please help.
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I actually don't have much income for the contribution on the fund. But I'll be willing to help in other ways as these family is staying just around my area.
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Heartbreaking portrayal of a perhaps less final, but in some ways equally brutal 21st Century Sophie's choice. A recent NY Times article remembered the 12 million Africans transported as slaves in 60,000 voyages over 300 years to the Americas and Europe. Mind boggling. Even more mind boggling are the millions of refugees currently bought, sold, hunted, tortured and killed every day around the world, more people living in wretchedness and slavery than ever before. When and how will we use the power of our collective humanity to meaningfully address these issues?
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The number of people here blaming impoverished parents for their own poverty is astounding. It's almost as if:
1. Sex education requires an actual education. These people don't even have a school.
2. Birth control costs money, even assuming you know to/how to use it. And let's not pretend the pull-out method or the "family planning" method are reliable. (Let alone how unreliable a woman's cycle could be in such a stressful environment.) Even medically prescribed birth control methods are not 100% effective.
3. Abortions are expensive when legal, dangerous when illegal, and morally opposed by many people anyway.
4. Married people expect to have sex. It's pretty reasonable.
5. Poor women with no education or marketable skills are frequently expected to marry rather than remain a financial burden to their own parents forever.
6. Since retirement funds seem pretty far-fetched here, children are the best way of making sure their parents are taken care of in their old age when they can no longer work. In a patriarchal society, sons or sons-in-law are likely the breadwinners, while daughters and daughters-in-law tend to affairs at home.
Please think before you blame someone for being poor and having children.
1. Sex education requires an actual education. These people don't even have a school.
2. Birth control costs money, even assuming you know to/how to use it. And let's not pretend the pull-out method or the "family planning" method are reliable. (Let alone how unreliable a woman's cycle could be in such a stressful environment.) Even medically prescribed birth control methods are not 100% effective.
3. Abortions are expensive when legal, dangerous when illegal, and morally opposed by many people anyway.
4. Married people expect to have sex. It's pretty reasonable.
5. Poor women with no education or marketable skills are frequently expected to marry rather than remain a financial burden to their own parents forever.
6. Since retirement funds seem pretty far-fetched here, children are the best way of making sure their parents are taken care of in their old age when they can no longer work. In a patriarchal society, sons or sons-in-law are likely the breadwinners, while daughters and daughters-in-law tend to affairs at home.
Please think before you blame someone for being poor and having children.
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Yep, birth control is expensive, so are abortions. But somehow i still think that they cost a lot less than children.
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rtj--So what you're saying is that you're seeking a means of donating money for birth control in poorer countries? You could start by contacting International Planned Parenthood Federation.
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I expected someone to only read parts of #2 & 3 and ignore everything else I wrote. Yes, children are more expensive than birth control. But if you lack education on birth control, can't actually afford either (and might not even have access to a doctor), and that expensive birth control isn't 100% effective, guess what happens? Plus, as I said, children can be financially beneficial to poor parents later in life.
I have the fortune to know a family from Myanmar as I tutor their children. These children are so eager to learn, to fit in, to explore everything. Their parents sacrificed unbelievably to come here, both having advanced education but finding it worthless here in the US. So humbly, they have taken low-paying menial work to make ends meet. Some of the indignities these people have faced from bigoted Americans makes me ashamed of what we have become. I would take a boat load of these sorts of immigrants over a ignorant spoiled citizen who has forgotten how this country was formed and what that huge statue in the NY harbor stands for.
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Thank you! It's what I've been saying these past few months. Americans have chosen to forget their origins. None of us are truly Americans. There was a civilization here before the white men came and drove them out. We should be more compassionate of these poor souls.
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Aw heck. Aung San Suu Kyi turned out not to be what she marketed herself as? Who'd a guessed it?
Well, maybe her treatment of her own family was a clue. People who put politics above everything else in life tend to be not the greatest human beings ever. She abandoned her husband and children to return to Myanmar to martyr herelf for the world's consumption--not even returning when her husband died, leaving her two young sons effectively parentless.
Sorry. There is no greater good. There is the love and nurturing and protection one owes one's own family, before you can remake the world into a better place. That step cannot be skipped on the way to sainthood.
Well, maybe her treatment of her own family was a clue. People who put politics above everything else in life tend to be not the greatest human beings ever. She abandoned her husband and children to return to Myanmar to martyr herelf for the world's consumption--not even returning when her husband died, leaving her two young sons effectively parentless.
Sorry. There is no greater good. There is the love and nurturing and protection one owes one's own family, before you can remake the world into a better place. That step cannot be skipped on the way to sainthood.
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I'm so disappointed by the lack of human compassion in so many of these comments. Particularly from the commenters who are placing blame on the parents and blaming them for having too many children. We first-worlders know NOTHING about what it's like to live like this, and the kind of choices you are forced to make to survive. So the judgement being passed on the parents, especially the mother, sickens me, quite frankly. Perhaps we should consider the fact that women typically have no power whatsoever in these countries. So with no access to birth control, and no power to say no to their husbands, they probably have little or no control over their reproductive choices. To assume that they have multiple children because of selfishness or laziness is so short-sighted. Having a child might be the only joy they have in their lives, the only reason to smile, to live. Perhaps we should try to consider that.
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this is tragedy for mankind. these people are being abused in Former Burma. it appears that nobody cared at all. China is silent. they need the ports for business. God bless them.
Ok, enough judging this people. We all know that the mother shouldn't have had all those kids. OK..we get it. The question is:
How can we help this child? I believe that we can all make a difference in this child's life. Compassion people......PLEASE
How can we help this child? I believe that we can all make a difference in this child's life. Compassion people......PLEASE
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Well, here's an idea, based on international precedent:
Since I, as an American-born Jewish child of American-born Jewish parents themselves born of Eastern European Jewish immigrants to the US, have an inviolable right to move to Israel any time I might so choose--
How about Bangladesh accepting all these ethnic Bengalis now in exile lo these many generations?
Well, I guess Bangladesh doesn't want them any more than it wanted those unfortunate East Pakistanis who used to be Bengalis, and who misfortunately chose Pakistan as their preferred homeland but ended up for decades and generations in miserable internment camps in Bangladesh, as stateless as these Rohingyas are now.
And considering what a basket case Bangladesh remains, lo a generation after foolishly voting for independence instead of remaining as an Indian state, I guess the Rohingyas aren't going to find a welcoming home among their ethnic brethren there, or among their co-religionists eastward.
The answer will be difficult to find, but it certainly doesn't lie in creating even more displaced populations in the middle of countries that will never allow the Rohingyas to become fully legal residents or citizens.
But one partial answer--for the future--is in the Rohingyas understanding that they must find the common sense to limit population growth, because there isn't even a sustainable level of it for them, anywhere in the world.
Since I, as an American-born Jewish child of American-born Jewish parents themselves born of Eastern European Jewish immigrants to the US, have an inviolable right to move to Israel any time I might so choose--
How about Bangladesh accepting all these ethnic Bengalis now in exile lo these many generations?
Well, I guess Bangladesh doesn't want them any more than it wanted those unfortunate East Pakistanis who used to be Bengalis, and who misfortunately chose Pakistan as their preferred homeland but ended up for decades and generations in miserable internment camps in Bangladesh, as stateless as these Rohingyas are now.
And considering what a basket case Bangladesh remains, lo a generation after foolishly voting for independence instead of remaining as an Indian state, I guess the Rohingyas aren't going to find a welcoming home among their ethnic brethren there, or among their co-religionists eastward.
The answer will be difficult to find, but it certainly doesn't lie in creating even more displaced populations in the middle of countries that will never allow the Rohingyas to become fully legal residents or citizens.
But one partial answer--for the future--is in the Rohingyas understanding that they must find the common sense to limit population growth, because there isn't even a sustainable level of it for them, anywhere in the world.
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glad you havent exercized your "right" to steal some palestinian's land... considering the rohynga were placed in burma by the british long before european jews were placed in palestine...a better analogy would be to hva e flood zone bangladeshis "return" to the rohynga and boot the burmeses!
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I would like to do something to help Jubair, the boy left behind. I have twin 14 year olds and the story broke my heart. What can I do?
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...dunno melinda, what can you do...?
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Count me in Melinda, I would like to see him united with his mom. For that we need the contact details of this family, is there anyway of getting the contact details? May be from the authors. Then we can arrange for the funds to get him out of his village and fly him to Malaysia. I am sure there will be some hurdles but hopefully together we can do it, what do you say?
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I also would like to help, what can I do?
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How can such a large group of people be "stateless"? The Aung San Suu Kyi government so embraced by the Obama administration is a failure. The US should suspend all aid to Myanmar until they agree to carve out an autonomous region for the Rohingya people. This is yet another failure of Obama's foreign policy.
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First, the father abandons his family. Then the mother abandons her oldest child, without even saying goodbye. That is simply unforgivable. I don't care how awful things are. You do not abandon your child, especially to such horrible living conditions. You just don't.
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We can't imagine to understand what these people must live with. Spare the judgement and just try to feel compassion.
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And yet it's not unknown to happen on our own continent with some regularity.
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I do feel compassion. I feel it for that boy who live forever knowing that his mother did not love him enough to take him with her.
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Why wouldn't they come here?
NYT: how can we help Jubair and the Izhar family?
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Bad news Brodi, we really can't help them specifically, but even if we could, there are millions in these conditions, in Haiti, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, North Korea, and many more, that we can't help.
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So if we can't help millions we shouldn't help one?
Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good
Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good
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They have no future, no income, no food, no peace, not even a nationality.
The solution? how about getting some more kids! yea you know? it's starvation already for the ones here. so let's have some more! of one bread loaf was barely enough, let's add more to the table and starve every one, because, why not?
And if you can't afford to move you and your infants, well, just leave your son behind. I mean, am sure that an abandoned child will make it through. We're just leaving because we can't live here, there's no food, and we're prosecuted, so let's leave the 13 year old behind on his own, 'good luck kid! you'll need it, hope you don't die.'
It is amazingly inhuman how these people think. Just mindbogglingly inhuman. All the work people do, is to afford a better life to your kids. This person just abandoned her son, just discarded like an unwanted possession. In other countries, your kid goes missing, there is Amber Alerts, there is police helping to find them, it makes the news. There, she just said 'see ya!', and left. This is treason. It's, wow. I can barely comprehend.
The solution? how about getting some more kids! yea you know? it's starvation already for the ones here. so let's have some more! of one bread loaf was barely enough, let's add more to the table and starve every one, because, why not?
And if you can't afford to move you and your infants, well, just leave your son behind. I mean, am sure that an abandoned child will make it through. We're just leaving because we can't live here, there's no food, and we're prosecuted, so let's leave the 13 year old behind on his own, 'good luck kid! you'll need it, hope you don't die.'
It is amazingly inhuman how these people think. Just mindbogglingly inhuman. All the work people do, is to afford a better life to your kids. This person just abandoned her son, just discarded like an unwanted possession. In other countries, your kid goes missing, there is Amber Alerts, there is police helping to find them, it makes the news. There, she just said 'see ya!', and left. This is treason. It's, wow. I can barely comprehend.
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It's disgraceful and inhumane behavior to simply abandon your child without so much as a good bye. Yet excuses are being made for such selfish behavior. Simply appalling, what is the world coming to.
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This is heartbreaking. Surely there are things we can do about this:
- First, we can of course spread the word online. S
- Second, we can donate to organizations like this one (I don't know much about this group): http://www.icna.org/icna-appeal-help-burmese-muslims/
- Third, we can contact people of influence who we may know. That may be writing to senators and congressmen, or for the well-placed among us, calling on powerful friends or family to take action.
The one thing NOT to do is to spread or encourage callous disregard.
- First, we can of course spread the word online. S
- Second, we can donate to organizations like this one (I don't know much about this group): http://www.icna.org/icna-appeal-help-burmese-muslims/
- Third, we can contact people of influence who we may know. That may be writing to senators and congressmen, or for the well-placed among us, calling on powerful friends or family to take action.
The one thing NOT to do is to spread or encourage callous disregard.
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Really, how is any of that going to help? These stories have been around forever and always will be. Spread the word? To whom? Throw some money at a charity that does what? Solves poverty? Solves overbreeding? Write to a congressman in a congress that can't even pass laws for this country, let alone pass assistance legislation for other countries?
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That website hasn't been updated in 3 years and the organization is not active in any state.
Sometimes a well reported story counts more than others because it reminds us that for all the bad days we account for ourselves, our worst is the most gifted for the majority of people on this earth.
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Where is Saudi Whabbi money to help these people? Too busy being funneled to ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko and the Taliban.
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The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation specifically helps with birth control and AID but here is a more experienced agency in regards to the specific problems discussed here:
The International Rescue Committee IRC founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein,
the IRC delivers lifesaving care to people fleeing conflict and natural disaster. Year after year, the IRC is one of the highest-ranking nonprofits for accountability, transparency, and efficient use of contributions.
Across 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, the IRC is helping to restore safety and dignity to millions forced to flee from war, persecution and natural disaster. In one year alone, the IRC's lifesaving programs:
Provided 16 million people with primary and reproductive health care.
Gave 3.3 million people access to clean drinking water and sanitation.
Vaccinated 364,000 children; helped 331,000 women deliver babies.
Cared for 11,000 sexual violence victims; mobilized 1.2 million people to lead prevention efforts in their communities.
Helped resettle 10,900 newly arrived refugees in the United States; assisted 36,000 refugees, asylees and victims of human trafficking.
Here is there internet address:
https://engage.rescue.org/donate/donate-now-here-humanity-alt?ms=gs_brnd...
The International Rescue Committee IRC founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein,
the IRC delivers lifesaving care to people fleeing conflict and natural disaster. Year after year, the IRC is one of the highest-ranking nonprofits for accountability, transparency, and efficient use of contributions.
Across 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, the IRC is helping to restore safety and dignity to millions forced to flee from war, persecution and natural disaster. In one year alone, the IRC's lifesaving programs:
Provided 16 million people with primary and reproductive health care.
Gave 3.3 million people access to clean drinking water and sanitation.
Vaccinated 364,000 children; helped 331,000 women deliver babies.
Cared for 11,000 sexual violence victims; mobilized 1.2 million people to lead prevention efforts in their communities.
Helped resettle 10,900 newly arrived refugees in the United States; assisted 36,000 refugees, asylees and victims of human trafficking.
Here is there internet address:
https://engage.rescue.org/donate/donate-now-here-humanity-alt?ms=gs_brnd...
3
Why isn't the VATICAN with all their pomp and money help people like this family.It's inhumane for people to want to exploit others but look around any Home Depot in this country ,Poor latinos are also suffering quietly,while others are making $ dollars off their backs......Hope is just a word Pliticians like to mention!!!
The Catholic Church does more than any other organization. However, that doesn't conform with the progressive narrative, so it's ignored.
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just unthinkable pain. no one should have to suffer that, ever, anywhere.
3
This is comparable to the problems in Sri Lanka--formerly Ceylon--when the British brought in South Indian Tamils as indentured labor in a majority Buddhist Sinhalese country that did not want them after independence.
These problems are everywhere the Western nations drew borders based on their own political machinations, or needed workers for their plantations.
But as I learned myself, living in and eventually founding a women's vocational and educational center in a largely impoverished Muslim country--only local people themselves can solve these problems, and only from the ground up. And they can solve them, if investment is made in the right places and to the right people. Poor women will reject unwanted marriages if they have economic leverage, and that leverage is easier to provide than you might think. Teaching a woman to sew enables her to earn money without leaving her home. Enabling women to form small cooperatives so they can assist each other in purchasing supplies so they can begin marketing their skill gets the ball rolling.
But big international efforts only feed the corrupt local officials who skim their percentage off the top and then keep on skimming.
I believe there is more to this particular story than the reporters have told us, or have been able to ascertain. It's no coincidence that the oldest child--a boy who is the son of Ms. Izhar's deceased first husband--got left behind. He is competition for the resources her second husband must provide.
These problems are everywhere the Western nations drew borders based on their own political machinations, or needed workers for their plantations.
But as I learned myself, living in and eventually founding a women's vocational and educational center in a largely impoverished Muslim country--only local people themselves can solve these problems, and only from the ground up. And they can solve them, if investment is made in the right places and to the right people. Poor women will reject unwanted marriages if they have economic leverage, and that leverage is easier to provide than you might think. Teaching a woman to sew enables her to earn money without leaving her home. Enabling women to form small cooperatives so they can assist each other in purchasing supplies so they can begin marketing their skill gets the ball rolling.
But big international efforts only feed the corrupt local officials who skim their percentage off the top and then keep on skimming.
I believe there is more to this particular story than the reporters have told us, or have been able to ascertain. It's no coincidence that the oldest child--a boy who is the son of Ms. Izhar's deceased first husband--got left behind. He is competition for the resources her second husband must provide.
13
I just emailed the author asking what I can do. Who is in with me? Let's let him know we are willing and ready to do something.
Here's his email: [email protected]
Who is in with me?
Here's his email: [email protected]
Who is in with me?
13
I would love to help as well. Reuniting him with his family would be the best-case scenario but he can't legally travel to his mother because he's undocumented. Short of funding a journey via smugglers, what can we possibly do?
1
I would like to help to. I was trying to find the email id and was glad to see one here. No mother should have to leave a child behind. Money may not be answer to all of it. I am willing to also volunteer in any way I can along with providing monetary support.
1
How very Nicholas Kristof of you. There are probably 10,000 other Rohingy children just like the one profiled, what good will saving one do for the rest? We need to think of much more global strategies. Why do these people need to leave at all? We need to suspend all aid to Myanmar until they agree to stop persecuting these people, and give them an autonomous region to self-govern. No other country can take in all of these refugees, not even the US. The US, World Bank and other rich countries send hundreds of millions in aid to Myanmar each year, it's time to hold Aung Sun Suu Kyi's government accountable for their policies towards the Rohingyas.
5
Jews in 1939, Rohingya in 2015: Will the world act to prevent a 21st century SS St. Louis?
The international community's apathy toward the plight of the Muslim-Burmese refugees stranded at sea mimics the indifference that saw many Jews sent to their death. Will countries of conscience remain silent?
The persecution of the Muslim Rohingya minority in Burma has been among the world's greatest human rights disasters over the past century. However, this tragedy has only recently emerged as a hot-button international issue after the Rohingya have opted for drastic means to escape the sordid conditions faced at home.
The international community's apathy toward the plight of the Muslim-Burmese refugees stranded at sea mimics the indifference that saw many Jews sent to their death. Will countries of conscience remain silent?
The persecution of the Muslim Rohingya minority in Burma has been among the world's greatest human rights disasters over the past century. However, this tragedy has only recently emerged as a hot-button international issue after the Rohingya have opted for drastic means to escape the sordid conditions faced at home.
8
Where is the UN on this issue? Thank you to the NYT for raising concern and compassion for this unfortunate family and many others like them. Getting the word out and exposing the fact that world leaders are letting people suffer like this is a good thing. If there is anything that regular people can do, please let us know.
I don't understand many things about this story: why the UN can't do something, how Buddhists can be violent and still be Buddhists, and why Aung San Suu Kyi, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has not done more to relieve this terrible suffering in her country: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32925805
I don't understand many things about this story: why the UN can't do something, how Buddhists can be violent and still be Buddhists, and why Aung San Suu Kyi, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has not done more to relieve this terrible suffering in her country: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32925805
3
Reading this story I have to wonder what Islam teaches the people who follow the religion. First you have a husband who abandons his wife and children and flees to another country for his own safety. He sends no money to his family for ether there support or to bring them to him.Second you have a mother who abandons her oldest son and flees for her safety. She does not even tell the boy she is leaving. Nor does she make any provision for his shelter or care.The child is left dependent on the kindness and charity of strangers.Third where are the wealthy Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia during this crisis? I have read many times that charity is a pillar of Islam. So why aren't wealthy Islamic countries taking these refugees in and providing for their care and feeding?
22
Really? that's all you took from this heart-wrenching story? All you saw were extremes? Nothing struck you about the fact that this has more to do with abject poverty and the lack of options they have? Just religion?
And nobody, especially Muslims, expects Saudi Arabia to help anyone but themselves. They've done nothing but spread radicalism across the Muslim world and now it's coming back to haunt them. So on behalf of the majority of Muslims across the world, please stop referring to Saudi as if it's the Muslim World's golden standard! Thank you
And nobody, especially Muslims, expects Saudi Arabia to help anyone but themselves. They've done nothing but spread radicalism across the Muslim world and now it's coming back to haunt them. So on behalf of the majority of Muslims across the world, please stop referring to Saudi as if it's the Muslim World's golden standard! Thank you
9
I agree with the poster. I don't care how awful things are. You do not abandon your children. And where ARE the wealthy Muslim countries? Why aren't they helping their own?
5
I"m no admirer of Islam but I would hardly blame religion for this terrible story. The man fled and the woman left her son behind because they are at levels of desperation and poverty and fear you cannot possibly comprehend. Given two days of living their life, you'd find yourself in the same numb, panic-stricken state.
What heartbreak, needless heartbreak.
Millions of Rohingya muslims have remained as 'stateless' lot for décades.Though they migrated to Mynamar, made this country their home, they have been denied the basic human right to live their.Rohingans are persecuted,murderd,raped and inflicted all possible brutality that is imaginable by a demon by the native Buddhists,even Buddhist monks carry nefarious violent atrocity on Rohingans just because they are muslims.
The story of Jubair is the story of thousands of family and hundreds of children of this illfated tribe.No one,not even social group or organisation have came to their rescue to even listen to their human suffering,disease,starvation,murder and slow lingering death.
One does not expect from brute Mynamar military Junta to liberate Rohingans from the disdain and hatred with which they are targeted by local Buddhists.
But even the Nobel Peace winner Ang Sang Su Kye has maintained her stoic silence to ventilate the human misery of this tribe.Her silence speaks volume of her personal ambition than human misery continuing for décades.
Even the United Nations response has been timid and nochalent.
With persecution in Mynamar, bordering starvation, Rohingans are easy pray of human traffickers who are extracting thousands from these poor cashless tribes ready to sacrifice anything,even life,to escape from Mynamar.
They are like Vietnamese 'boat people' running from one shore to the other in search of refuge.
This is the humanitarian call desrving utmost UN attention.
The story of Jubair is the story of thousands of family and hundreds of children of this illfated tribe.No one,not even social group or organisation have came to their rescue to even listen to their human suffering,disease,starvation,murder and slow lingering death.
One does not expect from brute Mynamar military Junta to liberate Rohingans from the disdain and hatred with which they are targeted by local Buddhists.
But even the Nobel Peace winner Ang Sang Su Kye has maintained her stoic silence to ventilate the human misery of this tribe.Her silence speaks volume of her personal ambition than human misery continuing for décades.
Even the United Nations response has been timid and nochalent.
With persecution in Mynamar, bordering starvation, Rohingans are easy pray of human traffickers who are extracting thousands from these poor cashless tribes ready to sacrifice anything,even life,to escape from Mynamar.
They are like Vietnamese 'boat people' running from one shore to the other in search of refuge.
This is the humanitarian call desrving utmost UN attention.
23
It's hard to relate to people who have children they can't feed, clothe, shelter, or educate. This is 2015, control over your fertility is essential to your survival, your village's, & your country's. The alternative? Pointless lives of pain & misery.
14
Yes, among aids given to the poor should be birth control, unfortunately many of the world's poorest are muslims and Catholics who do not believe in birth control.
The commenters that respond that this injustice and suffering is due to "overbreeding" sicken me. Was the Holocaust brought on by overbreeding? Too many Jews? Too many Rohinya? This is due to the resurfacing of old ethnic tensions and should be recognized as such by the world community.
Yes, the plight of this family does move me and I will look to contribute to relief organizations. Thank you for this report, there are people who will care and the story needs to be told.
Yes, the plight of this family does move me and I will look to contribute to relief organizations. Thank you for this report, there are people who will care and the story needs to be told.
20
Dear Science Prof,
Sorry but while the Holocaust was not a product of overbreeding, more of ethnic tensions being used by a nation that was bankrupt, this case of injustice does relate to overbreeding. Things wouldn't be so bad in Myanmar if there were enough food, jobs, housing, and supplies to go around. There aren't, and it's not just because Myanmar was a fascist nightmare for decades, it's partly related to having too many children. The woman protagonist in this article was one of ten children and had four, right? That's too many when one is impoverished; really one is too many.
Also feel free to contribute to relief organizations but they will do nothing about the root cause. The refugees may be given subsistence food and set up in tent towns, that they'll be forced to stay in, and they'll lead a pointless, boring, unhappy life. Then they'll have too many kids again, the relief agencies won't be able to provide for them all, and it'll be wave of refugee time once more.
Overbreeding is humanity's most pressing problem, and if people refuse to face it, then there's always vast decimation of humanity to take care of the problem.
Sorry but while the Holocaust was not a product of overbreeding, more of ethnic tensions being used by a nation that was bankrupt, this case of injustice does relate to overbreeding. Things wouldn't be so bad in Myanmar if there were enough food, jobs, housing, and supplies to go around. There aren't, and it's not just because Myanmar was a fascist nightmare for decades, it's partly related to having too many children. The woman protagonist in this article was one of ten children and had four, right? That's too many when one is impoverished; really one is too many.
Also feel free to contribute to relief organizations but they will do nothing about the root cause. The refugees may be given subsistence food and set up in tent towns, that they'll be forced to stay in, and they'll lead a pointless, boring, unhappy life. Then they'll have too many kids again, the relief agencies won't be able to provide for them all, and it'll be wave of refugee time once more.
Overbreeding is humanity's most pressing problem, and if people refuse to face it, then there's always vast decimation of humanity to take care of the problem.
10
Contributing relief? To what end? To continue an endless cycle of bearing children they can't feed, clothe, shelter, educate.....
Your heart is in the right place, but other than soothing your conscience, the paltry amount of short term aid to these millions upon millions of refugees won't solve their problems in the long term.
Your heart is in the right place, but other than soothing your conscience, the paltry amount of short term aid to these millions upon millions of refugees won't solve their problems in the long term.
7
Immediate aid to these victims is needed. Their lives matter. Of course, policies to support development such as education of girls to reduce the birth rates rather than exploitation of cheap labor by the wealthier countries is what is needed in the long run. That is why I personally give a large annual donation to an adult literacy organization for women in impoverished countries. But I can give something for urgent needs also.
3
Heartbreaking read, not only because of the situation itself but also for its depressing familiarity. NYT, please tell me what I can do, short of posting a frankly meaningless comment about my genuine but not-very-helpful sympathies?
9
There are over 50 armed conflicts ongoing around the world as of now, see Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ongoing_armed_conflicts
With the exception of the drug wars in the western hemisphere and the subjugation of Tibet by China all the rest of the conflicts and without exception involve Muslims seeking more power.
There is no justification for persecuting anyone or any people but why should anyone be surprised when a country is concerned about the possibility of a growing Muslim population seeking rights?
With the exception of the drug wars in the western hemisphere and the subjugation of Tibet by China all the rest of the conflicts and without exception involve Muslims seeking more power.
There is no justification for persecuting anyone or any people but why should anyone be surprised when a country is concerned about the possibility of a growing Muslim population seeking rights?
10
This story is devastating but no where is there information on how we can help. Are there charities we can donate to or funds we could raise that could both give Jubair an education and reunite him with his mother and family?
6
Yes we need to help him in some way.
It's always horribly tragic when humans overbreed the local resources and are reduced to starving refugees. Happens all the time, and this time is no different from all the others. It's happened for a few million years too, depending on your definition of 'human', and usually the tribes it happened to died out completely and were never known at all.
Sorry that my compassion is running low for things like this, but I can't mourn every sparrow's passing anymore. These are humans alright, but there's no shortage of humans and nothing particularly special about humans. As can be seen from much of the news, many humans are violent, mindlessly fundamentalist, vicious to other humans and everything else around them, and intent on destroying the planet. Sad as individual circumstances may be, the truth is, we need a lot less humans in a hurry, and whatever brings that about at the minimum cost to the environment is a good thing.
Also if the article was an attempt to get the world to intervene in these doomed peoples' horrible circumstances, I'd say forget it. There are too many millions in the same worn-out shoes, too many starving, and helping any group will just make the next generation larger and tougher to help. The respite that awaits these unfortunate people is death, sorry to say.
Sorry that my compassion is running low for things like this, but I can't mourn every sparrow's passing anymore. These are humans alright, but there's no shortage of humans and nothing particularly special about humans. As can be seen from much of the news, many humans are violent, mindlessly fundamentalist, vicious to other humans and everything else around them, and intent on destroying the planet. Sad as individual circumstances may be, the truth is, we need a lot less humans in a hurry, and whatever brings that about at the minimum cost to the environment is a good thing.
Also if the article was an attempt to get the world to intervene in these doomed peoples' horrible circumstances, I'd say forget it. There are too many millions in the same worn-out shoes, too many starving, and helping any group will just make the next generation larger and tougher to help. The respite that awaits these unfortunate people is death, sorry to say.
14
Alright so I know this sounds really heartless and like something Trump might say. I just get frustrated at the evils of humanity, the overbreeding, the rapacious destruction of all that surrounds us. If we reach the post-apocalyptic era as seen in the recent (or past) 'Mad Max', when people ask who broke the world, it was us. We are destroying the planet and each other.
So I get fed up, and grimly accept the deaths of refugees like these Rohingya because I know other humans will not help them much, and if they do, these people will again have too many children and the next generation will be impossible to feed. Sorry for the tone but I just don't see easy answers here, either humans control their birthrate down to no more than one child per person, or humans die in vast numbers, there are no other alternatives.
So I get fed up, and grimly accept the deaths of refugees like these Rohingya because I know other humans will not help them much, and if they do, these people will again have too many children and the next generation will be impossible to feed. Sorry for the tone but I just don't see easy answers here, either humans control their birthrate down to no more than one child per person, or humans die in vast numbers, there are no other alternatives.
4
Easy position to take sitting in NYC, as I do, with the certainty that others will make the ultimate sacrifice, not yourself or your family
3
Dear Ben,
Sure, it is easy. But in this case and many others, where lack of resources has led to floods of refugees, these people were the cause of their now necessary sacrifice. They chose to have ten kids that they could not feed, and now those kids and their own children are on the run and many will starve. Since I can't do anything about it, I don't know what other position to take except be fatalistic. And since I don't have any kids, nor will I, I am blameless in this.
Sure, it is easy. But in this case and many others, where lack of resources has led to floods of refugees, these people were the cause of their now necessary sacrifice. They chose to have ten kids that they could not feed, and now those kids and their own children are on the run and many will starve. Since I can't do anything about it, I don't know what other position to take except be fatalistic. And since I don't have any kids, nor will I, I am blameless in this.
1
There are millions of devastating stories like this every year, around the world. My friend's parents brought her to the US with her brother from China to escape Mao Tse-tung, leaving her twin and two other siblings on the side of the road in China.
While this story is intended to pull at the heartstrings of the western readers, and make us aware of atrocious conditions throughout the world, it is not new. And sadly, it will continue. Humans have never exhibited a total desire to live in peace. No matter what the NYTimes and liberals would like to propose as 'ideal' the reality is that most humans like to live with 'their own kind' and suspect those that don't think like them, don't practice the same religion (or lack thereof), etc. Just consider the comments in NYTimes when it comes to 'Republicans' or Christians.
Globalization of economies has only made matters worse. While many improved their standard of living, those that choose to 'rule' with their own ideals have more than come out of the woodwork in response. And those that lost their standard of living (i.e. western middle class) are now recoiling from a desire to integrate, allow immigration of peoples from un-like lands. Why? Because there is finite resources, jobs, and access that can be afforded and the lack of education, welfare needs, and family size of those immigrants seeking a better life take their standard of life down. To make matters worse, those that immigrate do not want to integrate.
While this story is intended to pull at the heartstrings of the western readers, and make us aware of atrocious conditions throughout the world, it is not new. And sadly, it will continue. Humans have never exhibited a total desire to live in peace. No matter what the NYTimes and liberals would like to propose as 'ideal' the reality is that most humans like to live with 'their own kind' and suspect those that don't think like them, don't practice the same religion (or lack thereof), etc. Just consider the comments in NYTimes when it comes to 'Republicans' or Christians.
Globalization of economies has only made matters worse. While many improved their standard of living, those that choose to 'rule' with their own ideals have more than come out of the woodwork in response. And those that lost their standard of living (i.e. western middle class) are now recoiling from a desire to integrate, allow immigration of peoples from un-like lands. Why? Because there is finite resources, jobs, and access that can be afforded and the lack of education, welfare needs, and family size of those immigrants seeking a better life take their standard of life down. To make matters worse, those that immigrate do not want to integrate.
19
I visited Myanmar in 2001 when the country was very much under the thumb of the military. I was amazed how kind and dignified so many of the people were finding strength by faiths-- the majority Buddhist. Little did I realize even in Myanmar when the stranglehold of dictatorship was lifted old ethnic/religious tensions would come to the surface and horrific brutality would ensue- a ghastly pattern that repeats itself. All we have to remember is the former Yugoslavia or the collapse or the Soviet Union. Currently, we are witnessing the atrocities bestowed on Christian minorities in the Syria and other parts of Arab world. How can we collectively implore Aung San Suu Ky as the symbol of Burmese democracy to practice what she has preached. Has she forgotten her own imprisonment, the collective Burmese suffering, her tireless quest for freedom and her puzzling silence on the blight of the Rohingan minority?
Perhaps we need to start with one child Jubair and collectively reunite him with his parents and pay off his father's debts.
Collectively we could easily we could raise enough funds and with more difficulty create and mechanism and wade through the bureaucratic morass to save this boy. Woefully there are many Jubairs but few get the space and airtime in the New York Times. Jubhair is the the symbol of the Rohingan suffering and more how can we change the blight of the Rohingan people through diplomatic, humanitarian and political channels.
Perhaps we need to start with one child Jubair and collectively reunite him with his parents and pay off his father's debts.
Collectively we could easily we could raise enough funds and with more difficulty create and mechanism and wade through the bureaucratic morass to save this boy. Woefully there are many Jubairs but few get the space and airtime in the New York Times. Jubhair is the the symbol of the Rohingan suffering and more how can we change the blight of the Rohingan people through diplomatic, humanitarian and political channels.
3
Than you for this excellent piece! I understand your purpose is to inform and raise consciousness. However, given that you've exposed the human cost at the heart of this particular case, I'm joining others to ask that you respond to the question of how we can help. Like many others, I'd like to help reunite this child with his family. Only you are in a position to direct our efforts. Please do so!
15
The human fall-out is too much to bear. This family's future is not bright, but they should be united at the very least. Please find a way for us to contribute to this one family's plight. Every life is sacred, and all attempts at saving even one life should be made.
Linked to another comment, I came online to see what others had to say--and how many comments there would be. I assumed many and I was wrong. If the same story were told about a family in Mexico, I wonder how many comments. In Syria? Maybe less. In Myranmar... And yet again, the mother and the father are blamed for the situation, even as the situation controls their options, not visa versa.
In slavery, war, during the Holocaust (and all genocides), and in other contexts amplified by poverty and the fact we don't see other humans as "persons like us," the so-called choices people have and make are aligned with the morality of the person making the choice, rather than the immorality of the leaders and others who create the situation in which those "choices" are made.
I don't have the answers for everything but I continue to believe that blaming those who have no "good" options does not bring us closer to those answers.
In slavery, war, during the Holocaust (and all genocides), and in other contexts amplified by poverty and the fact we don't see other humans as "persons like us," the so-called choices people have and make are aligned with the morality of the person making the choice, rather than the immorality of the leaders and others who create the situation in which those "choices" are made.
I don't have the answers for everything but I continue to believe that blaming those who have no "good" options does not bring us closer to those answers.
60
It's still immoral, in any way of thinking or religion, to abandon your child, so that you can live better. In fact, it's one of the worse things you can ever do.
It's not a matter of opinion, or morals, it's a fact. Go ask this kid, he'll tell you.
It's not a matter of opinion, or morals, it's a fact. Go ask this kid, he'll tell you.
1
Such a devastating story, please give information for charities that can help Jubair and family. Every child should have the chance to receive an education, especially those who want one. I am reminded so often how lucky I am that my mom brought me to America with her and I had all the opportunities that so many here take for granted.
15
The Nobel committee should consider rescinding the Peace Prize given to Ahn Sang Suu Yyi. She has been silent on this atrocity happening in her own country. Apparently her compassion only extends to people of her own religious faith and ethnicity. She should feel embarrassed.
Also, Mr. Obama, can you just put aside geopolitical calculations for a day and put some real political pressure on the brutal generals ruling Burma to let these defenseless children reunite with their parents?
Also, Mr. Obama, can you just put aside geopolitical calculations for a day and put some real political pressure on the brutal generals ruling Burma to let these defenseless children reunite with their parents?
25
We Americans are so ignorant about the world outside our borders (most of us don't know the areas that border our safe suburban neighborhoods) I think there is a real chance that Donald Trump may win the presidency in 2016.
8
A heart wrenching story of a family separated / torn apart by conditions and their own choices re parents.
All the money and charity work won't stop this type of misery until the 8,000 lb Gorilla in the room is addressed and that is family planning. Excess children in families leads to disposability of some for the perceived greater good of the rest. I've seen it around the world.
And I can't think of one charitable organization that addresses this issue globally. If their is one please let me know.
All the money and charity work won't stop this type of misery until the 8,000 lb Gorilla in the room is addressed and that is family planning. Excess children in families leads to disposability of some for the perceived greater good of the rest. I've seen it around the world.
And I can't think of one charitable organization that addresses this issue globally. If their is one please let me know.
13
the bill and melinda gates foundation does have a family planning program
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Family-Plan...
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Family-Plan...
4
International Planned Parenthood.
3
Planned Parenthood. Although I disagree with you. Children and having too many of them are not the problem here. Poverty and lack of access to education are the real problems. It's a nasty cycle that flourishes where ever people blame the poor for their own problems, instead of realising a country can only progress as far as it's bottom 1% can reach. If you alleviate poverty and educate all, you'd be surprised how crime, excess birth-rates and poor, desperate, hungry people can start disappearing.
1
As Myanmar continually tries to court other countries, East and West, to do trade and business with them, promising a pathway to democracy and making incremental moves suggesting as such, why is there no greater insistence that Myanmar abandon their pogroms against the Rohingya? I know that the U.S. often trades and does business with countries that it does not agree with on human rights like China (which I expect to remain silent on this issue) but why is there no greater push for the pathway to democracy in Myanmar to include their ethnic minorities? Other than President Obama mentioning that he is regarded as an ethnic minority in his own country, collective action from the global community seems to be lacking.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is at turns taciturn and utterly silent on the issue. How odd for a person once so vehement about civil rights.
Governments should not be allowed to throw away their own people. If they do, their officials should not be allowed to enrich themselves by trading and schmoozing with other countries.
At this point, I can only hope that this young boy can somehow be reunited with his family and he is spared any psychological or physical harm this bitter experience may be exposing him to. I also hope that his family in Malaysia can get access to a better existence. At the very least, can the U.N. make health care and women's care services (especially birth control) available to these families? More will suffer with more population growth.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is at turns taciturn and utterly silent on the issue. How odd for a person once so vehement about civil rights.
Governments should not be allowed to throw away their own people. If they do, their officials should not be allowed to enrich themselves by trading and schmoozing with other countries.
At this point, I can only hope that this young boy can somehow be reunited with his family and he is spared any psychological or physical harm this bitter experience may be exposing him to. I also hope that his family in Malaysia can get access to a better existence. At the very least, can the U.N. make health care and women's care services (especially birth control) available to these families? More will suffer with more population growth.
43
precisely because we benefit from the human rights abuses. Such repressive states are inhospitable to unions and labor rights.
It is telling that all of the globalist trade agreements are very specific about removing tariffs and other mechanisms of economic protectionism and opening markets to the free flow of capital, goods and resources. But are silent on labor rights and do not do anything to open borders for immigration.
The implicit idea being they want to take advantage of economic disparity to get cheap labor costs. If the people of these 'emerging markets' had unions or the ability to move across borders as easily as shipping containers there would be no reason to have such trade agreements.
It is telling that all of the globalist trade agreements are very specific about removing tariffs and other mechanisms of economic protectionism and opening markets to the free flow of capital, goods and resources. But are silent on labor rights and do not do anything to open borders for immigration.
The implicit idea being they want to take advantage of economic disparity to get cheap labor costs. If the people of these 'emerging markets' had unions or the ability to move across borders as easily as shipping containers there would be no reason to have such trade agreements.
Mr Ullah, the shrimp farmer, is as close to a hero as this story has.
50
This is ethnic genocide, yet our administration turns a deaf ear and blind eye to it just as it does in Central African Republic. It seems that the only people Obama is inclined to save (financially as well as militarily) are Middle Easterners and North Africans, the majority of whom share just one faith. If any other faith group is being persecuted, this administration simply looks away.
3
Not really, these Rohingya are also Muslims. The main difference between this area and the Mideast/North Africa is, there's lots of oil there.
Um, these people are of thesame " faith " as the Middle Easterners and North Africans you are referring to. You're argument is baseless.
A sad story. An all too common story. Millions, perhaps billions of people who are unwanted migrants -- all over the world.
5
It seems that every day the NY Times publishes another article about impoverished refugees somewhere in the world. Yesterday it was Mr. Kristoff's article about Africa, and op-eds about Haiti and the Dominican Republic, today it is a major article about the Rohingya on the front page. But other than arousing sympathy, none of the articles suggests a feasible solution to this world-wide problem, other than often a vague suggestion that somehow the U.S. should solve it. The answer, as a huge majority of your readers write in every day, is not that the developed countries in the world simply absorb all of the migrants from less developed countries. Yes, those escaping persecution deserve special consideration, but even in the case of the Rohingya there is also a large component of economic motivation. The answer has to be encouraging better governance in the migrants's home countries, not a worldwide shift of populations from poorer nations to wealthier nations. The objective has to be an improvement in the living standards of the poorest countries.
59
There is no feasible solution except birth control and resettlement.
Many Americans as well as Pope Francis object to the first measure on religious grounds.
And many of the same Americans, as the children of immigrants, feel that no more immigrants should come here on purely selfish grounds (Jesus loved everyone, but according to most Americans, he was just kidding).
By the way, since the advent of digital TV we watch NHK Japan to see what's happening in the east (there are also channels from Afghanistan, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, etc. France 24 is good for Africa, Europe and the Middle East. RT (former Russian Today) is a hoot if you like pro-Russia propaganda that sadly is mostly true when they talk about us (they don't talk about Russia).
But do not watch them if you are bothered by world crises. Instead, stick to watching American channels with their soothing mixture of Big Pharma commercials and news from the world of entertainment and sports, with an occasional story about hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.
Many Americans as well as Pope Francis object to the first measure on religious grounds.
And many of the same Americans, as the children of immigrants, feel that no more immigrants should come here on purely selfish grounds (Jesus loved everyone, but according to most Americans, he was just kidding).
By the way, since the advent of digital TV we watch NHK Japan to see what's happening in the east (there are also channels from Afghanistan, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, etc. France 24 is good for Africa, Europe and the Middle East. RT (former Russian Today) is a hoot if you like pro-Russia propaganda that sadly is mostly true when they talk about us (they don't talk about Russia).
But do not watch them if you are bothered by world crises. Instead, stick to watching American channels with their soothing mixture of Big Pharma commercials and news from the world of entertainment and sports, with an occasional story about hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.
14
It's not just about 'governance', it's about the hatred that the majority Buddhist populations apparently has for the Rohinga, who, unfortunately, don't have a country of their own. In contrast, the Haitians in the Dominican Republic do have a country of their own.
The Rohingya, and Ms. Izhar and Jubair in particular, have been placed in a devastatingly cruel and unmerited position. When will we figure out how to co-exist with each other? Nothing in this story augurs well for humanity's future.
I wish the Izhar's recognition, peace, and a timely reunion.
I wish the Izhar's recognition, peace, and a timely reunion.
8
Not a fortnight seems to go by without the Times reporting on Myanmar's Bengali (Rohingya) problem. Such stories are great for NGOs looking to raise funds, but do nothing to solve the problem. It would be more useful if you tried to explain why most people in Myanmar (not just the ethnically dominant Burmese) view the Bengalis as illegal immigrants.
It would be even more impressive if you manage to explain why Bangladeshis can be found on these hell boats that take them to places like Malaysia and Indonesia when there are immigration channels that allow Bangladeshis to seek work in South East Asia.
The story is sad and sadness sells but pity does not illuminate. This is bad journalism.
It would be even more impressive if you manage to explain why Bangladeshis can be found on these hell boats that take them to places like Malaysia and Indonesia when there are immigration channels that allow Bangladeshis to seek work in South East Asia.
The story is sad and sadness sells but pity does not illuminate. This is bad journalism.
29
"It would be more useful if you tried to explain why most people in Myanmar (not just the ethnically dominant Burmese) view the Bengalis as illegal immigrants."
Most Americans do not care why anyone is an illegal immigrant.
Most Americans only know that a) they don't want to help immigrants and b) illegal immigrants are breaking the law and are, therefore, "criminal."
I'll bet many Americans like Donald Trump believe there are many rapists and murderers among the Royhinga.
Most Americans do not care why anyone is an illegal immigrant.
Most Americans only know that a) they don't want to help immigrants and b) illegal immigrants are breaking the law and are, therefore, "criminal."
I'll bet many Americans like Donald Trump believe there are many rapists and murderers among the Royhinga.
2
Many Americans want to help other American citizens who are poor, starving or don't have healthcare.
Mingsphinx- your two points could have been illuminated with a short explanation as to why other Myannar populations don't like and want the Rohingya ethnic group although it probably wouldn't surprise and if there are or aren't onerous conditions or restrictions on legal movement to Malaysia by the originating or receiving country. Of course these details can be looked up but many of us Americans have short attention spans.
Simply heartbreaking, and to think sanctions have been lifted on Myanmar because they are "free" now. Yes, they are "free" to discriminate against the hated non-Bamar 'other' including Muslims, Karen and other ethnic minorities, while KFC just opened their first branch in Yangon last week. I hope Yum Foods and all the other Western corporations opening in Myanmar enjoy their blood money because that is what it exactly is. Shame on the Myanmar authorities for allowing a slow genocide, shame on Indonesia and Malaysia for not helping fellow Muslims, and shame on Western countries for only thinking of their bloody corporate profits.
6
One of the most heart-wrenching and evocative pieces I have read. It also shows how the international community has simply abandoned these people. Where is pressure on the Burmese government to legitimize these people and their rights? Where is Aung San Suu Kyi? Why has she remained silent on the plight of these poeple this long? Has she become a sell out?
13
The situation is worse and this community deserve justice and basic human right I feel shamed that i live in a world where counties spend a lot of budget on making guns and nuclear weapons Instead of help the needy I am ashamed and i have no doubt that i will be a atheist soon form a agnostic
1
Please tell us how we can help this child. You told us the story, now please help us helping him and his family. I cannot imagine the mother's torment. To leave one child behind, there is nothing worse than that.
26
Yes, this is heartbreaking. How easy it would be for readers to raise the funds needed to reunite this child with his family.
1
I'm 56 and haven't spent a moment of my entire life worrying about where my - or my family's - next meal is going to come from. Poverty in America is equivalent to wealth in places like Myanmar, India and Africa.
In America, we have many, many times more than what would gratefully be considered "enough" by much of the rest of the world. It is telling that this article has only garnered eight comments when articles about economics, politics and such generate hundreds.
In America, we have many, many times more than what would gratefully be considered "enough" by much of the rest of the world. It is telling that this article has only garnered eight comments when articles about economics, politics and such generate hundreds.
9
It will be interesting to see if this article gets more than 20 COMMENTS.
Most Americans don't know what or where Myanmar is, much less care about its problems or its people.
And since the story involved immigrants, most Americans will immediately react negatively to the flight of these people since no one really cares about immigrants.
Most Americans don't know what or where Myanmar is, much less care about its problems or its people.
And since the story involved immigrants, most Americans will immediately react negatively to the flight of these people since no one really cares about immigrants.
8
Regardless of whether we know where Burma is or not, what would you have us do? Americans are very welcoming to immigrants to this country, the legal ones anyway. How are we to help with this problem, which has nothing to do with us? Shouldn't the Asian nations work this out?
4
Ms Izhar was one of 10 children raised by her farmer parents - the problem began right there. The Myanmarese majority cite the large birthrates of the Rohingyas as one of the reasons they are afraid that the Rakhine state will be taken over by the Rohingyas. This is a very sad story, it is gut wrenching, but we will see more and more of these unless the world begins to takes appropriate steps against overpopulation. There are many many religious charities and NGOs working in the poor areas of the world, but they all stat away from discussions on birth control, less they hurt the sensibilitiy of the locals. In the long term, this is cruel.
That said, there is no justification for the Myanmarese authorities to deny citizenships to the Rohingyas. Unfortunately, the authorities are not doing anything that the citizens belonging to the majority group does not believe in.
That said, there is no justification for the Myanmarese authorities to deny citizenships to the Rohingyas. Unfortunately, the authorities are not doing anything that the citizens belonging to the majority group does not believe in.
61
Thus, next time charities come calling, donate only to NGOs that also provide comprehensive family planning.
6
Sophie's Choice again.
5
Dire circumstances have forced mothers to make life-and-death decisions about their children since the dawn of time. It is terrible for this one mother, of course, but what are we in the US supposed to do? How is her situation any different from what other mothers in similar or worse situations are facing in Myanmar? Put this issue on the front burner of the wealthy Asian nations, who enjoy asserting they are better than the US, and have them put their money where their mouths are.
17
I pray that one day we unite with compassionate hearts and spread the access to education and birth control. Having children one can not afford and in an unsafe environment prolongs suffering for the family and for society. This would be an investment for a better future for all.
45
I don't know why you keep reducing this to religion. It's more complicated than that. Myanmar has many religious minorities. These folks are a remnant of the South Asian community that came when the Brits ran Burma as a subsidiary of India. The Indians were mostly expelled at independence. It's a much more basic tribal issue. The Burmese are a plurality, but not majority in Myanmar and many of the other minorities have been at war with the military government for decades.
5
European colonialism: The gift that just keeps giving and giving and giving.
3
The pattern is familiar.
Myanmar was an isolated dictatorship. The West wanted in.
The West pressured Myanmar to open us; we promoted Aung San Suu Kyi as the champion on freedom in Myanmar.
It worked; we forced Myanmar's dictators to liberalize.
The almost immediate consequence has been that the western-empowered democratic government is persecuting its minority and causing a major humanitarian crisis, but we refuse to help.
Myanmar was an isolated dictatorship. The West wanted in.
The West pressured Myanmar to open us; we promoted Aung San Suu Kyi as the champion on freedom in Myanmar.
It worked; we forced Myanmar's dictators to liberalize.
The almost immediate consequence has been that the western-empowered democratic government is persecuting its minority and causing a major humanitarian crisis, but we refuse to help.
2
It's hard for me to understand these religious entanglements. If it would save my life, I would convert to any religion in an instant. Practice how they expect me to, and keep my own religion in my heart. But, I am not a religious person, so I do not understand what drives people to become martyrs for their religion. But, to sacrifice a child? Unthinkable. How can any religion be worth that?
5
Religious extremists don't accept converts as true members of their faiths. Conversion is not a protection. Hitler's slaughter didn't exclude those of Jewish heritage who had been practicing Christians for generations.
As to sacrificing a child, I wonder if you have ever read the story of Abraham and Isaac in the Bible. Of course, in this case, the woman wasn't sacrificing one child for religion; she was doing her best to keep her other younger and more helpless children alive.
As to sacrificing a child, I wonder if you have ever read the story of Abraham and Isaac in the Bible. Of course, in this case, the woman wasn't sacrificing one child for religion; she was doing her best to keep her other younger and more helpless children alive.
3
Yes, but God demanded that Abraham kill his son to demonstrate that God is more important than family.
2
The injustice is so terrible it makes me feel physically sick. If I had the power . . . but I don't. One day they'll be free.
5
I hope we don't start taking in Rohinga refuges. We have enough given all the illegal aliens that sneak in here, we certainly don't need Rohinga. Let SE Asia take care of them. Stop insisting that the US must take more refugees - we are full up.
28
Where are you getting the notion that someone is insisting that the U.S. starts taking in Rohinga? Is immigration really so scary to you that you are unable or unwilling to recognize the extent to which it is the backbone of this nation? I appreciate what Irish-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Liberian-Americans, Italian-Americans, Korean-Americans, etc., have brought to this country. Take the blinders off.
31
It makes me sad that this is your takeaway from this tragic story. Those of us who were lucky enough to be born in the United States, the richest country in the world, should have more compassion and understanding for those who were not as lucky, through no fault of their own.
29
You're right.
Even though WE caused the problem, W certainly should NOT help.
Death to the children!
Signed,
The U.S. Pro-Life Movement
Even though WE caused the problem, W certainly should NOT help.
Death to the children!
Signed,
The U.S. Pro-Life Movement
12
The worse cruelty was the mother leaving her child behind.
22
No, the worst cruelty was the father abandoning the family.
8
Wait.
So a parent strangling or drowning her/his child is not the worse thing? I'm glad our panel of ethicists has cleared that up.
I am reminded of the Ten Commandments.
There is no prohibition against rape or sexual assault (didn't make God's top 10).
But the Israelites were forbidden from cooking a baby goat in the milk of the baby goat's mother.
Now that's cruel!
So a parent strangling or drowning her/his child is not the worse thing? I'm glad our panel of ethicists has cleared that up.
I am reminded of the Ten Commandments.
There is no prohibition against rape or sexual assault (didn't make God's top 10).
But the Israelites were forbidden from cooking a baby goat in the milk of the baby goat's mother.
Now that's cruel!
Followed closely by the husband leaving his pregnant wife and children behind--without even telling them.
7
I cannot imagine the situation I would have to be in to desert my child like that. With all the charities and "do gooders" in this world, the multi millionaires we see in the papers every day, why did this little boy have to be left behind .. alone. Someone should help. There are certainly enough people who can.
Mr Trump. Mr Gates, Mr Buffett, Mr Koch, Ms Bettencourt.
Mr Trump. Mr Gates, Mr Buffett, Mr Koch, Ms Bettencourt.
48
There are millionaires and billionaires in places like Saudi Arabia -- why don't you ask THEM to step up to the plate here?
4
Every time I read a story like this one, I wonder, "Why is there no information on how a reader like myself can make a donation that would directly assist this child and this family?" Thousands of people will read this story. Thousands of us will want to do something to help. I can't magically get this child across the sea into his mother's arms, but I'd do it if I could. But surely there is some way that I, who by comparison have more than enough, can help this family get caught up with their rent? Surely none of us can look at this boy's bare feet and not want to buy him a pair of sneakers, not to mention some schoolbooks and perhaps make a monthly commitment to help him get the education he so desperately wants. Please - now that you have told us this story and shown us the urgent need for help exists, tell us how to help in a way that does not get swallowed up in "administrative costs."
153
I agree with Karen. I have heard that many publications have policies that prevent them from embedding in a story a pitch for money/assistance whenever there is a humanitarian need described. They may not want to get into the business of endorsing causes. If so, there should at least be a separate section one could cross-reference with links about how to help both directly and indirectly with a disclaimer that these may or may not have been vetted. The readers can then do the research on their own if they are so motivated.
8
Agreed! Please post info on where we might direct donations to support this family.
4
Karen, have you been able to find a way to help this family yet?
2
This is so sad. What's really sad is this is only one family of many with stories. Are there any charities, initiatives we can join with or actions we can take take to be of support.
46
Misery, misery and more misery the world over. I don't care what anyone says I'm thankful to my parents for immigrating to America. We have our issues but it's heaven on Earth compared to most of the world.
67
And to think that I was having a lovely brunch with my mother in tony Westport, CT yesterday and listening to some mother repeatedly tell her child that she would leave him behind next time if he didn't try some shrimp. Sometimes the disconnect between worlds is just painful.
104
I see, nearly daily, children whinging because they don't have the latest smart phone or gadget, or their parents won't take them for every meal to McDonald's or some other restaurant -- or take them to Disneyworld! If they don't have the newest Xbox or game, it's a tragedy. Take away their cellphone or iPad and you'd think they were being beaten in prison.
Children truly do not appreciate how good they have it. It is a defect of our corrupt education system (*run by pampered union wonks) that children are not taught how really bad other kids have it around the world, and that this is the NORM on a planet of 7 billion people -- and a norm throughout history. That THEY are the golden exceptions, and "pride goeth before a fall" -- don't appreciate what you have and you may well lose it.
Children truly do not appreciate how good they have it. It is a defect of our corrupt education system (*run by pampered union wonks) that children are not taught how really bad other kids have it around the world, and that this is the NORM on a planet of 7 billion people -- and a norm throughout history. That THEY are the golden exceptions, and "pride goeth before a fall" -- don't appreciate what you have and you may well lose it.
5
You're joking, right? The troubles in this story are actually attributable to Western children -- and the adults who pass up the chance to tell them to eat their shrimp "because children are starving in Burma"?
Thanks for the moment of levity in this otherwise heart-wrenching conversation.
Thanks for the moment of levity in this otherwise heart-wrenching conversation.
No wonder so many turn to the empty promise of religion which is also controlled by men. The hypocrisy makes me gag but is much worse for those who suffer the repression.
Ignorant, fearful, belligerent men the world over. Makes me wish for a hell so they would feel the pain they cause. There is no justice.