Obama visit to Myanmar legitimized ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas: Analyst
Press TV
December 6, 2012
An analyst says the UN and international community only looks at the refugee status, not the root issue that is moving toward an ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya.
In the background of this for decades the Rohingya Muslims have been persecuted by the majority Buddhist community in Myanmar who, due to their different religion and ethnic identity, attack the minority group with rapes, arson, bombings and shootings to drive them out and into a refugee status to the point where now these refugees are contracting diseases like pneumonia and cholera. The Myanmar government in its support to the ethnic cleansing has stripped the Rohingya of their citizenship despite centuries-old roots.
Press TV has interviewed Mr. Massoud Shadjareh, Head of the Human Rights Commission, London about this issue. The following is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Press TV: How come there is no hard and tangible action being done to find a solution for the Rohingyas?
Shadjareh: There is really no political will. Even what we are seeing with the recent statement of the UN is dealing with the plight of the refugees and is not addressing the real issue.
The real issue here is the fact that the Rohingya Muslims are being denied their citizenship. And therefore by denying them citizenship and saying that they do not belong, they are really being prepared for ethnic cleansing and genocide.
All the international community is doing is addressing the issue of the refugees - for many, many years. Refugees are the result of this policy. This policy needs to be attacked.
Even when we had Obama going into Myanmar his statement, all one could say was that it was so mellow that it actually legitimized ethnic cleansing. He just talked about that people should live next to one another happily with one another.
Shadjareh: There is really no political will. Even what we are seeing with the recent statement of the UN is dealing with the plight of the refugees and is not addressing the real issue.
The real issue here is the fact that the Rohingya Muslims are being denied their citizenship. And therefore by denying them citizenship and saying that they do not belong, they are really being prepared for ethnic cleansing and genocide.
All the international community is doing is addressing the issue of the refugees - for many, many years. Refugees are the result of this policy. This policy needs to be attacked.
Even when we had Obama going into Myanmar his statement, all one could say was that it was so mellow that it actually legitimized ethnic cleansing. He just talked about that people should live next to one another happily with one another.
The reality is that both juntas and the pro-democracy movement have identified these Rohingya Muslims as not citizens and therefore need to be removed from Myanmar.
And the only way you could remove that many people is either by ethnic cleansing or genocide and we are seeing the preparation and indeed we have seen the consequences of those acts of genocide and cleansing and until the international community wakes up and admits what is going on they are not going to be able to address the issue and the problem.
