UN says Myanmar government should address Rohingyas’ plight

Myanmar’s government forces walk past the homes of Rohingya Muslims set on fire by Buddhist extremists in a village in Rakhine State

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has called on the authorities of the Southeast Asian country to address the “long-standing” discrimination against the Rohingya Muslims.

“If the country is to be successful in the process of democratic transition, it must be bold in addressing the human rights challenges that exist,” said Tomas Ojea Quintana in a joint statement with a group of independent experts on minority issues and the internally displaced issued on Wednesday.

“In the case of Rakhine state, this involves addressing the long-standing endemic discrimination against the Rohingya community that exists within sections of local and national government, as well as society at large.”

The statement added that the current situation in Myanmar “must not become an opportunity to permanently remove” the Rohingya community.

According to UN statistics, over 28,000 people, more than 97 percent Muslims, have been forced out of their homes as a result of escalating sectarian violence in Myanmar.

The latest bout of communal violence broke out last week after Buddhist extremists attacked Rohingya Muslims and set fire to their homes in several villages in Rakhine State.

Myanmar army forces allegedly provided the Buddhists with containers of petrol to set ablaze the houses of Muslim villagers and force them out of their houses.

The Buddhist-majority government of Myanmar refuses to recognize Rohingyas and has classified them as illegal migrants, even though the Rohingyas are said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origins, who migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.

Rohingya Muslim attacked and killed by Rakhine

MSH/HSN/HJL