How to stop a genocide (of the Rohingya) using social media

Recently people have been asking me via Twitter what they can do to help stop the Rohingya genocide so I recorded some tips on how you can all help.



There are also some important tips and links below:

Use of the word genocide - this is not an uprising or clashing. The Rohingya are defenceless unarmed people being picked off one by one and killed, starved and removed from the country.

Few voices - The Rohingya have very limited access to the Internet, only a few voices on social media, so we need to take those voices and amplify them. Please all follow @aungaungsitwe and @shwemaung_mp

Genocide is a huge problem, so requires a huge response. We need the whole world to act. We should be asking the following:
- Governments to pressure the Burmese government to stop this genocide.
- Media to report.
- NGOs to act.

If something is not main news headlines for a number of days the message gets lost so although the Rohingya have been reported about in the media, many people still do not know what is happening.

There is no precedent for using social media to stop a genocide - this is uncharted territory. We need to use social media to create and be the media, us, the people.

Our objectives are to:
1. disseminate information;
2. make connections;
3. encourage people to act.

We can all help. The situation is overwhelming, Rohingya are being starved in their homes and in camps, tortured, raped, driven to sea and drowning. There are terrible reports of atrocities day after day. But even in spite of this the situation is not hopeless. We can all help stop this, but we do need everyone's help.

Tweeting tips:

- Retweet items on the Rohingya, but don't just retweet since RTs don't travel very far. It is better to write your own tweets. I invite anyone to cut an paste any of my tweets that they like - I am not after self promotion, just dissemination of information to promote the Rohingya human rights.
- Follow @aungaungsittwe and ask others to do the same.
- Follow and tweet to the #Rohingya tag.
- Follow this list of tweeps who tweet news about the Rohingya.
- Translate and tweet important tweets to other languages that you may speak.
- Watch and tweet the videos in this Rohingya YouTube list.
- Tweet important to tweets to other people such as:

• media organisations
• journalists
• celebrities
• government organisations
• non government organisations (ngos)
• politicians
• your member of parliament (even if you hate your politicians, please talk to them)

 Other Social Media:

Post links to Facebook. Here are some Rohingya pages on Facebook you might post to:

http://www.facebook.com/1MillionPraysForRohingyaMuslimsInMyanmar
http://www.facebook.com/2012RohingyaMassacre?fref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/Aid4Rohingya
http://www.facebook.com/Amanu555
http://www.facebook.com/ArakanRohingyaOrganizationInBangladesh
http://www.facebook.com/BurmeseRohingyaCommunityAustraliabrca?fref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/CitizenshipForRohingya
http://www.facebook.com/Flotilla2Arakan
http://www.facebook.com/JusticeForRohingya
http://www.facebook.com/LarianKemanusiaanRohingya2012
http://www.facebook.com/RakyatMalaysiaBersamaMuslimRohingya
http://www.facebook.com/RescueRohingya
http://www.facebook.com/Rohingya
http://www.facebook.com/Rohingya.WP
http://www.facebook.com/RohingyaHumanRightsOrganizations
http://www.facebook.com/RohingyaVictimsOfViolenceRamadhanCharityDrive
http://www.facebook.com/RohingyaVideoNews
http://www.facebook.com/Rohingyapoetry
http://www.facebook.com/RohingyasPhotosExhibitionFromCanada
http://www.facebook.com/SAVE.THE.ROHINGYA.MUSLIMS
http://www.facebook.com/SOSRohingya
http://www.facebook.com/SaveRohingya2
http://www.facebook.com/SaveRohingyaID
http://www.facebook.com/SaveRohingyasMovement
http://www.facebook.com/Soutienmuslimsdumyanmar
http://www.facebook.com/TKURohingya
http://www.facebook.com/TheStateless
http://www.facebook.com/VOICEOFROHINGYASFREEDOM
http://www.facebook.com/arakanminority
http://www.facebook.com/crisis.in.burma
http://www.facebook.com/faisalrohingya
http://www.facebook.com/pages/100000-Muslim-Request-Myanmar-Goverment-To-Stop-Killing-Rohingya-Muslims/418603314842839
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arakan-Rohingya-Youth-Movement/113861712047562
http://www.facebook.com/pages/From-Unikl-With-LOve-SAVE-Rohingya/242783545843566
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kami-Mahukan-Kerajaan-Malaysia-Membantu-Umat-Islam-di-Rohingya-Myanmar/310832099011753
http://www.facebook.com/pages/List-of-Rohingya-villages/133047006731311?rf=133518443397290
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Queensland-Rohingya-Community-QRC/110377162450593
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rohingya-Community-Ireland-RCI/314851161954392
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rohingya-Genocide-Awareness/357848574297566
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rohingya-Media/123752344374805
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rohingya-MuslimA-Forgotten-Muslim-Ummah/416825691688189
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rohingya-Society-in-Malaysia/130889760255142
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rohingya-Survival-Fundation-RSF-UK/208141725995259
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rohingya-Vision/454245857961796?fref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rohingya-massacre/128481807195974
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rohingya-people/107047302663768
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Muslim-Rohingya/213819072077829
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Rohingya-Muslims-of-Myanmar-Burma/313553308735922?fref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-muslim-rohingya/508639385831729
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-European-Rohingya-Council-ERC/296724710441176
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Voice-of-Rohingya-Muslim-Womens-Association/172698826132310
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-voice-of-Rohingya/319194708122147
http://www.facebook.com/pages/معاناة-إخواننا-مسلمي-أراكان-بورما-Rohingya-Arakn-Burma/314035402017985
http://www.facebook.com/rmoarakan?fref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/rohingya.stateless
http://www.facebook.com/saving.rohingya
http://www.facebook.com/savingrohingya1
https://www.facebook.com/RBNewsEnglish
https://www.facebook.com/Rohingya

Also you can:
- post to Google+
- write blog posts
- Follow (in addition to this blog)  RohingyaBlogger.com and Alders Ledge
- email your friends and organisations you belong to (ie. mosque or church)

Write and Promote Petitions.
 Here are some you could support:
Avaaz
       http://www.avaaz.org/en/justice_for_rohingya_muslims/    
Change.org
        http://www.change.org/petitions/us-state-department-must-stop-rohingya-ethnic-cleansing-in-burma-initiate-sending-un-peace-keeping-force
        http://www.change.org/petitions/ohchr-palais-wilson-to-help-the-muslims-in-burma-that-are-being-part-of-an-ethnic-genocide 
Ukim.org
        http://ukim.org/petition/stop-the-persecution-of-the-rohingya-muslims/Sign-Petition.pdf 
Restlessbeings.org
        http://www.restlessbeings.org/petitions/2-lobbying-the-british-government-ethnic-cleansing-of-rohingya-in-myanmar
HM e-petitions
        http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/36335
Activism.com (Canada)
        http://www.activism.com/en_CA/petition/petition-to-the-canadian-government-on-behalf-of-the-rohingya-muslims-of-burma/42370
Burma muslims (Canada)
        Burma task force canada letter& petition to Dalai Lama http://www.burmamuslims.org/resources/Petition_DalaiLamaCanada.pdf
Petition24.net (france)
        http://www.petitions24.net/tous_contre_le_massacre_de_rohingyas_en_birmanie
Endgenocide.org
        Petition to US president http://endgenocide.org/actions/protect-the-rohingya/

The above suggestions are all things you can help with, you don't need permission to act, just act! If you want to tweet me to tell me that you are acting that is great I'm on @jamilahanan chances are however if you are tweeting on the #Rohingya tag I am already following you.

Specific Projects

We do have some other things in progress:

- A #BoycottBurma campaign, targetting those business doing business with Burma to encourage them to reconsider until the genocide has stopped and human rights restored for the Rohingya;
- the building of twitter lists and communications map to help with the dissemination of information;
- a crowdmap of atrocities, soon to be launched, but we need administrators;
- a crowd funded journalist visit to the Arakan state in Burma to report on the Rohingya.

We also need your professional skills, such as legal advice and action, media skills, artistic skills. Maybe you can write a song or a poem, or create a video? Have a think about your skills and contacts and let me know if you can help. My email is jamilahanan1@gmail.com If you email me please tell me about yourself - I can keep all information in confidence but it helps a lot with trust and also in identifying skills if you can tell me a bit about your background and who you are, especially since there are spies around from the Burma regime and elsewhere looking to influence and stop our efforts to save the Rohingya.

Offline
In addition to online activity, offline activity is also really important. Here are some suggestions:
- Visit your MP. Better still visit with a few friends. Tell them about the Rohingya and ask for urgent action.
- Organise a demonstration in your locality - all it takes is a few friends and a few banners. Anywhere will do.
- Call your local radio station ask if you can talk about the Rohingya and ask people to write to their MPs to ask for action.
- Join local organisations that may be active for the Rohingya.
- Organise a talk about the Rohingya at your church, mosque, school or university. Maybe organise a screening of The Hidden Genocide documentary.
- If you are a journalist, photographer or human rights lawyer please consider visiting the Rohingya in Arakan. Contact me I can help. My email is jamilahanan1@gmail.com

Donations

We urgently need funds to help get some of our own experienced independent journalists to Burma to do some in depth reporting on the Rohingya and to gather evidence of crimes. We also want to take with our journalists cameras amd cash to give to the Rohingya in person. Please read more about this exciting project here.

If you prefer to give charity I highly recommend donating to Partner Relief, and excellent organisation doing real hands on work with the Rohingya, one of the few ngos to have access to the unofficial camps in the state of Arakan.


You can donate to Partners Relief here.

Read about disturbing evidence of an imminent third massacre of the Rohingya here.