The Birmingham Interfaith Human Rights Committee (BIHRC) joined hands with two other organizations, Peace and Justice Committee of the Universalist Unitarian (UU) Church and the Institute for Human Rights (IHR), to arrange a total of four programs locally featuring Dr. Wakar Uddin in the Birmingham area to discuss the Rohingya crisis.
The first program was on Sunday, at 10 am with the children at the UU church, followed by an address to the church congregation. 
After that, 10 or so people met for a meeting for a newly formed group, called Refugee Interest Group, of which Br. Ashfaq Taufique and I are members, representing the Muslim community. Dr. Uddin also spoke there for about 30 minutes about the Rohingya crisis; a lot of questions were asked and very ably answered by him.
The third program was on Sunday, Nov. 12 at Hoover Crescent Masjid at 6 pm. Dr. Uddin made his excellent presentations via his well-prepared slides on the history of the Rohingya people, the details of the conflict, and the current desperate situation of the Rohingya people. Though many of us have seen the pictures of the dire conditions of the Rohingya people in the news and social media, his slides were painful to watch. A question/answer session followed, and pizza was served after Isha salaat. The attendance was fair, around 50 people. Since most Muslims do not want to come to other venues, HRC decided to bring the program to HCIC. We wish more people would attend these programs in the future.
The fourth of this series in two days, was done at UAB at the Edge of Chaos. This program was also attended by around 60 people, consisting of community members, and students from UAB. Again, a similar slide presentation was made after which questions from the audience were answered very well by Dr. Uddin. Light refreshments consisting of South Asian snacks and baklava were served for those who decided to stay behind and socialize.
The fourth of this series in two days, was done at UAB at the Edge of Chaos. This program was also attended by around 60 people, consisting of community members, and students from UAB. Again, a similar slide presentation was made after which questions from the audience were answered very well by Dr. Uddin. Light refreshments consisting of South Asian snacks and baklava were served for those who decided to stay behind and socialize.
Dr. Wakar Uddin is himself of Rohingya origin. After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in Burma (now Myanmar), he finished his Master’s and Ph.D degrees in USA, and has been teaching at Penn State University in Pennsylvania. He is also the director of the Arakan Rohingya Union, which comprises of over 60 Rohingya organizations located throughout the world. He travels and lectures on this topic, has connected widely with the members of UN general assembly and security council, and has met and still meets with many heads of state, foreign ministers of various European and Muslim countries. After this event, he went to the UK, Turkey and to attend a meeting of OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Lynda Wilson and Tina Kempin Reuter from These UU and IHR helped in not only arranging and facilitating the events, but also by donating substantial amounts of funds to help defray some of the expenses. They also were influential in sharing basic historical information about the Rohingya and encouraging people to help.
UU posted on their social media streams the following: “Rohingya were there in the 7th Century. Arab missionaries, spice traders arrived in the 14th Century. There was no Burma but the Arakan Kingdom was there. Burma invaded and conquered it in 1785. ‘Ethnic cleansing’ is used instead of the action-requiring ‘genocide.’ Burma basically turned Muslims in their country into undocumented people. Over 2 million of a total 3 million people have been displaced. Currently a million are in camps, half of which are children. Thousands have died. The Burmese/Myanmar army/government is conducting a ONE-SIDED ‘clean up’--totally destroying villages. Indiscriminate killing. It's all documented. International pressure has affected some minimal improvement. But people can't harvest because of extremist violence. Dr. Uddin's group and others are quietly helping to get food and non-perishables to brave people who have stayed in the country. He emphasized 'to some' people. The congregational donations today go to the UUSC, which is contributing to the effort. Contributions can also be made to Dr. Uddin's group.”
The Human Rights Committee raises its funds through the sales of BIS calendars annually and uses these funds to invite guest speakers from outside Birmingham. Over the years we have arranged several programs, such as talks on Afghanistan, Drone Wars, The White Helmets in Syria, the Zaatari Camp movie made by a local Muslim sister, Duniya Habash. These programs are arranged at different locations at UAB, and local public libraries in Hoover and Vestavia. Many of them were well attended, and a few sparsely attended. Various films have been shown also, especially those made by UPF (Unity Productions Foundation). We urge the Muslim community to help us by coming to these programs and help by spreading the word.
We have a Facebook page, called Birmingham Interfaith Human Rights. Br. Fayez (Vic) Saad has been video graphing these programs and is in the process of uploading them on the FB page. You can also go to YouTube and then put Justice Now in the Search Engine, find J marked in a circle, and subscribe and watch the programs till such time as they are completely uploaded on the BIHRC FB page. We hope you will spend some time on the FB page and YouTube site, and give us your feedback after watching some of our current and past videos.
Donations were solicited and a total amount of approximately $1700 was collected for the Rohingyas living inside Burma; Dr Uddin has a way of getting the money to them.
Prepared by Br. Farook Chandiwala
Chairperson, Birmingham Interfaith Human Rights Committee
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