Rohingya
I have been writing about the Rohigyas for the last nine months. I have tried to the best of my abilities to sensitize the Mauritiian public about the quasi-genocide which is going on in Burma. Today is no longer a quasi genocide, it is a genocide.
What is a genocide?
Article 2 of the Convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (1948) defines genocide as ‘any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group, causing severe bodily or mental to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (and) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.’
From what the world has seen lately it is clear that there is a real intention to ethnically cleanse the Rohingya from Burma. Therefore, it is a genocide that is happening before all our eyes. Will we sit down and turn a blind eye?
According to ‘The Guardian’, a British newspaper, which is very respected by all human rights militants round the world, : “more than 400 people have been killed in the violence. The United Nations says 123,000 people have fled to Bangladesh…”
More than 30,000 Rohingya are estimated to have sought shelter in the refugee camps in bangladesh which are now overstretched and with no basic facilities to cater for same.
The Rohingya are reviled by many in Myanmar because:
- They are Muslims
- They have no fair complexion
- They are poor and have no proper homes
And more horrifying the Burmese government treats the Rohingya as:
- Stateless people!
- Denying them citizenship (no birth certificate – no identity card)!
- No right to school!
- No right to housing!
- No right to banking – loans or even to open a deposit account as Rohingya does not have an identity card (catch 22 situation)!
- No access to clean water!
- No access to medical assistance!
- No access to basic facilities!
Dear brothers and sisters, make an effort to see by yourself what’s going on in Burma.
Words are weak! Nay very weak to describe what the Rohingya are going through. Please also don’t bank on the Nobel peace laureate miss Aung San Sui Kyi to find a solution. She has not even criticised the violence against the Rohingya. She is prisoner of the military and the fundamentalist buddhist lobby (remember how the Tamils were treated by the Buddhist lobby in Sri Lanka). 25% of the seats in burmese parliament are allocated to the militants.
In the meantime, citizens of the world cry …cry my beloved citizens of the blue planet!
Rama Valayden
