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Rohingya leader has no hope in govt solution to Rakhine crisis

Instead international pressure is required to end military crackdown on Muslim minority
Rohingya leader has no hope in govt solution to Rakhine crisis

A Myanmar police officer by a road in Buthidaung during the arrival of the U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar who was visiting areas of northern Rakhine State on Jan. 14 to probe allegations of horrific abuse of Rohingya Muslims by security forces. (Photo by Khine Htoo Mrat/AFP)

Published: February 06, 2017 06:58 AM GMT
Updated: February 06, 2017 10:03 AM GMT

A prominent Rohingya leader has little hope in Myanmar's civilian-led government halting an ongoing military crackdown against the Muslim minority in Rakhine State.

Kyaw Min, chairman of a Rohingya political party — the Democracy and Human Rights — said that Aung San Suu Kyi-led government's handling on the Rohingya issue reveals it is unwilling to resolve the crisis.

"The government and the military seem on the same boat regarding the Rohingya issue and the military's operations have pushed thousands of people into Bangladesh. The military are targeting the Rohingya community," Kyaw Min told ucanews.com.

The killing of nine police officers at three border posts in northern Rakhine allegedly by Rohingya militants on Oct. 9 resulted in a surge of violence by Myanmar's military, which operates separately from the civilian government led by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.

More than 69,000 Rohingya have since fled to neighboring Bangladesh, according to the United Nations. Media and human rights groups have reported numerous human rights abuses against the Rohingya, including murder, rape, torture, arbitrary arrests and arson.

Preliminary results of a Myanmar government investigation released in January found no human rights violations and accused related media reports as being "fake news."

 

Kyaw Min of the Democracy and Human Rights party pictured in Yangon on Oct. 14. (ucanews.com photo)

 

Kyaw Min believes that only international pressure can resolve the situation.

"We really need help from the international community which I believe can only tackle the Rohingya issue," said the Yangon-based politician.

"International pressure on Myanmar is still needed despite the country ending more than 50 years of the military rule."

Last month the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened a special meeting in Malaysia focusing on the Rohingya's plight. Foreign ministers from predominately Muslim nations attended the meeting which called upon Myanmar to stop attacking, and discriminating against the Rohingya.

The OIC said it will send a high level delegation to visit Rakhine to investigate what is occurring there and they called upon the Myanmar government to accept the visit.

However Kyaw Min expressed little hope in the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) to address the Rohingya issue.

"I don't think that the relationship between Myanmar and ASEAN will be affected due to the plight of Rohingya. Malaysia is the only critic of the government and outside of that ASEAN has a policy of non-interference on each other's internal affairs," said Kyaw Min.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in December accused predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar of committing "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" against the Rohingya. However Malaysia has been criticized over its own treatment of some 40,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled their hoping for asylum.

In Myanmar itself there are some 140,000 Rohingya currently confined to camps in apartheid-like conditions in Rakhine after sectarian violence erupted in 2012, leaving scores dead. Many of them face severe restrictions on their freedom of movement, with limited access to health care, food and education.

There are estimated 1.1 million Rohingya in Rakhine but they were not accounted for in the 2014 census.

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