As president of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), I feel it is important to express my deep regret for the failure of the world to react appropriately to the killing and persecution of Muslim ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine State, Myanmar.
It is also regrettable that the recent visit of US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton to Southeast Asia occupied the attention of most
international media while neglecting and thus tolerating grave crimes
against humanity in Myanmar.
The AIPMC is deeply troubled by the sectarian strife in Rakhine and
concerned by the solution to the violence proposed by President Thein
Sein. His solution to decades of sectarian violence and unrest does not
express a willingness to promote national reconciliation, which the
president campaigned under as part of his democratisation agenda.
Despite the flow of some of new migrants from Bangladesh, many people
of the Rohingya minority have lived in areas of Western Myanmar for more
than three generations. The AIPMC therefore urges the government of
Myanmar to find a fair and just solution to the current unrest, which
includes a permanent solution for the hundreds of thousands of stateless
Rohingya who live in western Myanmar and in makeshift refugee camps in
neighbouring Bangladesh.
The Rohingya who have lived in Myanmar for generations must be
recognised and granted citizenship. The government has a duty to protect
and provide for these people. Seeking to unload responsibility onto the
UN is not an acceptable solution and the suggestion from the country's
president betrays the systematic persecution of the Rohingya population
for generations.
The AIPMC also urges Asean and the United Nations to urgently respond
to this latest outbreak of the crisis and take immediate action to
protect people, including women and children, from violence and
persecution. It must provide emergency assistance to thousands of
refugees displaced from their homes by recent violence. Asean must work
with the Myanmar government to find a lasting solution to the problems
of Rakhine and stand up against any persecution of individuals on ethnic
and/or religious grounds, especially if it comes from state
authorities.
The AIPMC finds it difficult to accept the US government's decision to
ease economic sanctions in Myanmar due to supposed reforms in the Asean
member state, while a blind eye is turned to the clear violations of
international law in the persecution of the Rohingya by neighbouring
Arakanese, as well as the Myanmar government's refusal, on ethnic and
religious grounds, to grant them citizenship.
A serious and concerted effort is urgently needed to avert further
violence and find a lasting solution to these problems. A failure of the
international community to act is reprehensible and could threaten the
long-term success of Myanmar's nascent reform process. Immediate action
is necessary to end the suffering of the Rohingya people.
Eva Kusuma Sundari
Jakarta
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