Press Release: Crimes against Burmese Muslims need to stop now, says human rights organization

Crimes against Burmese Muslims need to stop now, says human rights organization 

Glasgow, UK: A recent wave of attacks and propaganda against the Muslim communities in Burma is a worrying demonstration of how the Burmese government is doing nothing to protect its minority communities from discrimination and violence, a human rights organisation is warning. 

Global Minorities Alliance (GMA), a UK-based organisation which advocates for minority rights across the world, is urging the international community to act now to stop anti-Muslim human rights violations in Burma which has so far caused the displacement of 140,000 people and nearly 250 deaths since it began in Rakhine State in June 2012. 

Last week, Buddhist mobs armed with machetes attacked villages near the coastal town of Thandwe, burning mosques and non-Buddhist homes. The Muslim minority group in the area, known as the Kaman community, had to hide in the forest to escape the violence. Five died and hundreds were displaced. 

Eyewitnesses reported that Kamans in the village of Thabyu Chai were disarmed by local police when they tried to push the extremists out of the village. Many properties in the village were later burnt down, and some of the people hiding in the forest nearby the village said they could see that the security forces aiding the attackers. 

This is the third upsurge of violence in the last three months but it is said to be the most deadly, destructive, widespread and sustained. The military has now moved in to stop the attacks but many are saying it is too late, and the government has been criticised for not acting sooner.

The government has also been criticised for not publicly denouncing the anti-Muslim group known as the 969 Movement, led by Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu, which preaches that Burma’s Muslims are trying to destroy Buddhism. He has called for Buddhists to boycott Muslim businesses and wants to bring in a law that would prohibit Buddhist women from interfaith marriage. 

It is thought that the attacks in Thandwe were caused by increased tension following Wirathu’s visit to the area, which led to a spread of anti-Muslim propaganda. Measures which could have prevented the violence – such as the imposition of an emergency curfew and the security forces acting to protect Muslims in the area – were not taken, and as such there was nothing in place to protect the community when the gangs attacked. 

The attacks are a further example of the discrimination that Muslim communities in Burma have been subject to for decades. The Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine State, which were targeted by Buddhist gangs earlier in the year, are seen as illegal immigrants in Burma by many even though they may have lived in the area for generations. 

Whereas Rohingya Muslims are not seen as citizens under the controversial 1982 Citizenship Law of Myanmar, which effectively denies them Burmese citizenship on discriminatory ethnic grounds, this week’s violence has targeted Kamans, a different Muslim minority group who are officially ‘recognised’ by the government as Burmese. This demonstrates how the violence has spread across the country, meaning that no Muslim groups are now safe. 

Dr Nora E. Rowley MD MPH, a physician and public health specialist in the US who has been a human rights advocate for Burma following relief missions to the country, highlights that the problems in Thandwe are part of a concerning anti-Muslim pattern of violence:

“Overall, Burma’s anti-Muslim violence began 16 months ago and the Burmese government still has not taken effective action to stop it. Anti-Muslim violence continues and has spread across the country of Burma because of this national government’s failure to stop it.

“Therefore the international community should immediately take action with the full and unfettered cooperation of the Government of Burma, regional and local governments and national and local security forces.”

Dr Rowley recommends the establishment of an independent international investigation in the upcoming UN General Assembly resolution on Burma, the increase of UN observers on the ground, and the creation of an independent international task force and funding to tackle prejudice and communal violence. 

She also recommends that political parties involved in spreading racist and anti-Muslim information and inciting and/or organising violence should not be eligible for participation in any capacity building or other kind of assistance being given by the international community.

The reasons why the above measures are needed are highlighted by Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist currently living in Germany: 

“In my personal view, they will put most of the Burmese Muslims into the concentration camps in the very near future and the Muslims will become refugees in their own country.”

He anticipates that Muslims in Burma will become more politically, socially and economically vulnerable in the coming months and years; for example, although the violence in Thandwe was started by Buddhist gangs, the authorities are now allegedly arresting the Kaman Muslims instead. Reportedly around a dozen have been arrested since the violence began including a Kaman woman, Daw Khin May Than. Her photo is now being circulated to highlight the Kaman’s plight. 

In response to this escalation, GMA’s International Director or Faith and Dialogue, Shahzad Khan, called for peace, tolerance and interfaith harmony, and vehemently condemned the most recent wave of violence which is putting all Muslims across Burma at risk of further attack:

“Muslim communities in Burma have been subject to direct, indirect and institutional discrimination for decades, since legislation in the 1970s and 1980s effectively rendered the Rohingya community and many other Muslim communities stateless. As well as putting barriers up in terms of accessing education, employment and healthcare, cycles of violence – perpetrated by both the authorities and the wider Burmese population – has led to thousands upon thousands of Muslims having to flee the country to save their lives. 

“The new wave of violence and the hatred being spread through anti-Muslim rhetoric and propaganda are a worrying development, and GMA calls upon the international community to act now to prevent this escalation becoming an attempt at ethnic cleansing.” 

GMA has been campaigning for the rights of Rohingya Muslims since an incident in May 2013 which saw 70 homes burned after a Muslim girl on a bicycle allegedly collided with a Buddhist monk. 

For more information, go to www.globalminorities.co.uk

About Global Minorities Alliance

Formed in 2012, the Global Minorities Alliance is a Glasgow-based human rights organisation, committed to raising the voice of marginalised minority communities around the world.

GMA advocates for the rights of persecuted minorities thorough parliamentary lobby sessions, awareness-raising projects, education, empowerment of women and interfaith work. 

As stated by GMA’s Vice-Chairperson, Shahid Khan, on the organisation’s website www.globalminorities.co.uk: 

“The absence of fairness, transparency, meritocracy and the rule of law in general in some countries leave minorities more vulnerable to abuse as the mighty and influential in these lawless lands take it as their birthright to mistreat minorities as they choose. In some parts of the world the integration of minorities into mainstream society is restricted by design due to the subjugation forced upon them.

“We call for an end to the systematic discrimination of minorities in any shape or form and urge the governments of such countries to push through reforms aimed at providing equal rights to the poor and the disadvantaged sections of their societies.

“No-one can choose where they are born or who they are born to. To be born into a minority community should not mean that you have to live a life where you suffer at the hands of your own countrymen.

“We say enough is enough and call upon the international community and like-minded organizations and individuals across the world to support us in our commitment to help the minority communities across the world.”

GMA reaches out to different faith communities in the UK and abroad to help promote tolerance and peace. Through presentations and seminars and working with likeminded organizations, GMA hopes to make sure every human being is treated with honour, dignity and respect.

The writer of this press release is Claire Fuller, Press Secretary of GMA, who can be reached at info@globalminorities.co.uk

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