BROUK President Tun Khin Addressed Rohingya Genocide at British Parliament Along with Other Human Rights Campaigners

RB News

November 4, 2015

London -- BROUK President, Tun Khin addressed the Rohingya genocide at the event “Burmese Elections and Persecution of Rohingya” hosted by Speaker of British Parliament, John Bercow, at the speaker’s house yesterday. The event was organised by the Speaker in association with the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Burma Campaign UK. The speakers of the event were Speaker John Bercow, Rushnara Ali MP, Tun Khin, President of BROUK, Ben Rogers East Asia Team Leader from Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Mark Farmaner from Burma Campaign UK. All the speakers addressed key issues of the Rohingya, religious intolerance, international law and the upcoming elections. More than 10 British Parliament members including Shadow Ministers, the Foreign Common Wealth Office, and many NGOs attended the event. John Bercow mentioned his long time support for the Burmese democratic movement, his serious concern about the Rohingya issue and his visit to Burma in 2013. Rushanara Ali MP, Co-Chair of the Burma APPG and Shadow Development Minister 2010-2013, spoke of her visit in 2013 and the deteriorating situation of Rohingya in Rakhine State. 

BROUK President, Tun Khin mentioned how when the people of Burma go to the polling stations on November 8th, for the first time since independence the majority of Rohingya will not be allowed to vote. In another first all Rohingya candidates for the national parliament were rejected by the Union Election Commission (UEC), there will be no Rohingya MPs in Parliament. The international organisations, governments, foundations and charities which helped fund the UEC and the election should review their decision to do so. The international community should not be funding any Burmese government bodies of any kind which apply discriminatory policies against the Rohingya. If they do, they are complicit in that discrimination. As such, they are also complicit in the government's broader policy to eliminate the Rohingya from Burma. Tun Khin also said at the meeting “The recent International State Crime Initiative report from Queen Mary University, Al Jazeera's Genocide Agenda Report, Yale Law School and Fortify Rights report, says it found strong evidence that genocide is occurring against the Rohingya in Burma. It is time UK government and other international community should support UN commission of Inquiry to assess the situation of Rohingya people of Burma".

Ben Rogers spoke on two major reports, one by Yale Law School and another by Queen Mary University of London, and a series of news items on Al-Jazeera, which claim there is strong evidence of genocide against the Rohingya. The elections on Sunday disenfranchise the Rohingyas and whoever wins the elections, the plight of the Rohingyas will not, in the short-term, change unless the international community acts. Ban Ki-moon should take charge of the situation and demand unrestricted access for international NGOs to all parts of Rakhine state.

Mark Farmaner states that the elections offer no hope for an improvement for the situation of the Rohingya in Burma. Most Rohingya cannot vote, and Rohingya cannot stand as candidates in the national parliament. As far as human rights violations are concerned, both the USDP and NLD reject clear evidence of multiple violations of international law against the Rohingya. The only way these most serious human rights violations will be addressed is if the international community acts. A UN Commission of Inquiry must be formed to investigate these human rights violations. Neither a NLD led government or an USDP led government will likely deliver any significant improvement for the situation for the Rohingya. The international community cannot continue to stand by as the situation for our people deteriorates to a level where experts say genocide may be happening, and yet still do nothing.