 |
Elmasry is a professor emeritus of computer engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada.
|
Muslims have been victims of discrimination and human rights violations in Burma for many decades.
General Aung San, father of
modern Burma, envisioned a more open nation with respect for
differences. Aung San, head of the Burma Independence Army and father
of Aung San Suu Kyi, managed to maneuver the British into agreeing to
Burmese independence, but he and much of his cabinet were murdered in
1947 in a coup d’état before independence.
Aung San was reaching out to
Burmese minorities to grant them minority rights, satisfying many but
not all. For example, the Karens, with a sizeable Christian (Methodist)
minority, undertook an armed revolt. However, with the coup all
recognition of minority rights was off, and many armed revolts erupted.
Roughly a third of the Burmese
population is made up of a large number of ethnic minorities. Muslim
Rohingyas make up around 4% of the population. Unlike other minority
groups, they are not seen as Burmese citizens but as illegal immigrants.
This is in spite of a very long history of Muslims in the Rakhine
(Arakan) sector of what is now Burma (or Myanmar).
Burma’s first Prime Minister, U
Nu, was responsible for making Buddhism the state religion. He was
overthrown in 1962 by General Ne Win, who expelled Muslims from the
army. Turning to more recent times, Burma was the scene of an
anti-Muslim riot in reaction to the Taliban destruction of the
world-famous Buddha sculptures in Afghanistan. Bigotry begets bigotry.
Another riot occurred because of damage by unknown persons to a statue
of Buddha in Mandalay.
The most recent major outburst
against the Rohingyas specifically began in June of last year. It
started in reaction to the rape and murder of a Rakhine (Arakan)
Buddhist woman by three Muslim men. Ten Muslims were hauled off a bus
and killed by a Buddhist mob and Burmese troops. Following this
atrocity, there have been killings and property destruction on the part
of both Buddhist and Muslim mobs, with people of good will on both sides
condemning the mayhem.
Homes and businesses have been
destroyed. Muslims have been tortured, raped, and murdered. Displaced
Rohingyas have been placed in concentration camps. Aid workers warn of
malnutrition, if not starvation. Buddhist monks have blocked food
transports, and aid workers have been driven out and arrested.
Looking at the situation from a longer perspective, since 1978, Amnesty International reported on the Rohingya situation:
“The Rohingyas’ freedom of
movement is severely restricted and the vast majority of them have
effectively been denied Burma citizenship.
They are also subjected to
various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation;
forced eviction and house destruction; and financial restrictions on
marriage. Rohingyas continue to be used as forced labourers on roads
and at military camps, although the amount of forced labour in northern
Rakhine State has decreased over the last decade.
“In 1978 over 200,000 Rohingyas
fled to Bangladesh, following the ‘Nagamin’ (‘Dragon King’) operation of
the Myanmar army. Officially this campaign aimed at ‘scrutinising each
individual living in the state, designating citizens and foreigners in
accordance with the law and taking action against foreigners who had
filtered into the country illegally.’
This military campaign directly
targeted civilians, and resulted in widespread killings, rape and
destruction of mosques and further religious persecution.
“During 1991-92 a new wave of
over a quarter of a million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh. They reported
widespread forced labour, as well as summary executions, torture, and
rape.”
Over the years, Rohingyas have
fled to neighbouring countries, some to Bangladesh which borders with
their section of Burma, some to Thailand. Neither country is receptive.
Bangladesh is negotiating with Burma to return Rohingyas. There have
been instances where boats of Rohingyas reaching Thailand have been
towed out to sea and allowed to sink.
Faisal, the late Saudi King,
welcomed Rohingya refugees, but with his passing the attitude has
shifted. Syed Neaz Ahmad, a British academic who found himself in a
Saudi prison for some unknown reason, reported in an article in the
Guardian in 2009 that some 3000 Rohingya families were in Saudi prisons
awaiting deportation. At the time, it was unclear who would accept
them.
Who will help the desperate
Rohingyas? Who will demand that the new “reformist” government of Burma
allow aid workers back into the camps, give Rohingyas citizenship, and
protect their rights?
Source :The Egyptian Gazette
No comments:
Post a Comment