HI THERE,
Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) is a non-profit global umbrella organization, with a mission to seek a political solution to the issues faced by the Rohingya ethnic minority in Myanmar/Burma, to reclaim their citizenship that guarantees their political and human rights, to foster relations between Rohingya and fellow ethnic groups of Myanmar, and to advance the Rohingya people through improvement of social, economic, cultural, and educational infrastructures. The Arakan Rohingya Union was formed on the agreed principles of an indivisible Arakan State within the territorial integrity of the Union of Myanmar, through seeking peaceful co-existence, democracy and human rights, and federalism. ARU has 61 signatory organizations from various regions of the world, including 5 organizations from Myanmar. ARU is registered in the United States as a non-profit NGO (Entity #xxxx-717; EIN #xx-xxx-7515), recognized by all the 57-member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
We, the Rohingya Congress the representative of political and socio-cultural organizations, attending the historic Rohingya Convention held on May 30-31, 2011, at Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Headquarters in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:
UNITED by a common desire and collective will to work together in seeking a just and lasting political solution to the long standing and deep rooted Rohingya problem through peaceful means.
RECALLING that almost half of the total Rohingya population has been forced to diaspora who have the right to return to their historical homeland of Arakan with honor and dignity and integrate with those who are left behind in Arakan;
NOTING that it is utmost necessary for preservation and growth of Islamic culture, historicity and cultural heritage of the Rohingya people without prejudice to the preservation and growth of other religious and indigenous cultures in Arakan;
INSPIRED by the initiative and appropriate steps of the Secretary General of OIC, H.E. Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in accordance with the Resolution No. 4/37 – MM issued by the 37th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) which urged the Rohingya parties to cooperate and unite their ranks under a united coordination council,
ENCOURAGED by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on June 9th, 2010 at OIC Headquarters which called for the creation of Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) at a Rohingya Convention to be held at suitable place and time;
AWARE fully of the fact that the Rohingya people have more than a millennium old historical background of establishment in Arakan; their role in the transformation of Arakan into a strong maritime power of the Bay and the present regime and its collaborators’ evil intention of erasing their contribution through distortion of historical facts and false propaganda;
COMMITTED with the principles that peaceful co-existence, democracy, human rights and an indivisible Arakan should be accepted in theory and practice by both Rohingya and Rakhine, the two major ethnic peoples of Arakan;
RECOGNISING that rapprochement and cooperation with the Rakhine community is in the interest of all peoples of Arakan and to work together with full understanding with all democratic forces and ethnic nationalities of Union Burma is a pre-requisite for the restoration of genuine democracy in Burma;
CONVINCED of the fact that without a well-planned and well-coordinated united effort and support of the Rohingya masses and the international community solution to the Rohingya problem will remain elusive;
INSPIRED by the determination and conviction that this united struggle shall continue unabated until the ongoing oppression, ethnic cleansing and extermination against the Rohingyas are stopped; their inalienable political, socio-cultural, economic, education and religious rights are restored and they are treated equally with all other ethnic nationalities and citizens of Myanmar,
DO HEREBY DECIDE to establish, through this Charter, the legal and institutional framework of Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) on this historic day of July 7th, 2013.