Myanmar president says monks, politicians kindling hate on Rohingyas
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| Myanmar President Thein Sein |
An effort to read a message from President Thein Sein on the conflict in Rakhine State to a joint session of the Burmese Parliament was cancelled on Thursday, after objections from members of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party [RNDP].
The review of the community violence said some political parties, monks and individuals incited “extreme racial hatred” and encouraged people to “commit irrational racial attacks” against “Rohingya Muslims.”
The review also said some people did not understand that Rohingyas can qualify for citizenship under the Burmese Citizenship Law.
The review said that some Rakhine (Buddhist) businesspersons tried to take advantage of the conflict to get the upper hand on businesses owned by Rohingyas.
It said some Rakhine (Buddhist) bear grudges against the United Nations and international NGOs [INGOs] and object to their presence in the area.
It said that 75 per cent of the Rohingya population in the area of unrest lived in poverty.
To address the issue, the review listed several short-term solutions: obtain reliable figures on the number of Rohingyas and relevant immigration figures; to enhance security and establish more effective law enforcement; to cooperate with the UN and international NGOs; and to report accurate news and information from the area.
Long-term solutions included building all-weather roads along walls put up in areas of the Bangladesh-Burmese border; to improve communication between racial groups, to carry out the Sittway [Sittwe] civil project; to build a Sittway-Maungdaw bridge; and to improve the education and health of Rohingyas in order to promote and improved society.
Other specific steps mentioned included addressing the issue of land disputes between indigenous Rakhine and Rohingyas and to cooperate with India and Bangladesh business ventures to improve the area’s economy.
Also, included was the development of the Rakhine State shipbuilding project, to increase the region’s supply of electricity and to promote ecotourism projects.
Source : Mizzima
Read Full Statement of President in Burmese here
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YANGON: Buddhist monks, politicians and other ethnic Rakhine figures are kindling hatred towards Muslim Rohingya in an area plagued by sectarian violence, Myanmar’s president has warned in a report seen by AFP Friday.
In an unvarnished assessment of the role of Buddhists in unrest in Rakhine state, which has left scores dead on both sides and displaced tens of thousands of people, President Thein Sein also said ethnic Rakhine could not accept the Rohingya as fellow citizens.
Decades of discrimination have left the Rohingya stateless and Myanmar’s government considers their 800,000-strong population as foreigners, while many citizens see them as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh and view them with hostility.
“Political parties, some monks and some individuals are increasing the ethnic hatred. They even approach and lobby both the domestic and overseas Rakhine community,” Thein Sein said in a report sent to Myanmar’s union parliament – which combines the upper and lower houses – on August 17.
“Rakhine people are continuously thinking to terrorise the Bengali Muslims living across the country,” he said, using a term frequently used in Myanmar for Rohingya.
Thein Sein also said ethnic Rakhine could not envisage sharing their land with people they consider foreigners, echoing comments he made in July calling for camps or deportation of Rohingya.
“They cannot consider a situation in which the Bengali Muslims can be citizens,” the president said.
A leading Rakhine political party rejected the findings, saying it had already lodged “an objection” over the report to parliament.
“We don’t agree with their review… such a review should not be released in this current time…, it can worsen the clashes,” said Aye Maung, chairman of Rakhine Nationalities Development Party.
Myanmar’s authorities have faced heavy criticism from rights groups after clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine, which according to government figures left 87 people dead.
In response the government on August 18 announced a new 27-member investigating commission, including religious leaders, artists and former dissidents, to probe the causes of the violence and suggest ways forward.
The president’s review also found that the economy of Rakhine state had been decimated by the unrest, while both communities are suffering “mental trauma” after the clashes, which saw neighbours turn on each other and thousands of homes torched.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused Myanmar forces of opening fire on Rohingya during the June outbreak of unrest, as well as committing rape and standing by as rival mobs attacked each other.
