Aung
San Suu Kyi’s will wrap up her tour of Britain tomorrow with a
celebratory gathering of Britain’s Burmese community featuring
traditional music and dancing.
At
first glance it is a fitting tribute for a woman who is often
regarded as the one figure who can unite her country’s disparate
opposition groups.
But
the meeting will take place amid increasingly acrimonious internal
fighting that is threatening the very future of Burma’s
pro-democracy movement and vividly illustrates some of the
difficulties facing Suu Kyi both at home and abroad.
The
Independent has learned that a number of Burmese groups threatened to
pull out of tomorrow's gathering amid accusations that Miss Suu Kyi
is not doing enough to speak out against sectarian violence in her
homeland.
Members
of the Kachin and Rohingya communities – two groups that are
currently victim to particularly acute violence inside Burma – are
angered that the meeting is being billed as a celebration rather than
an opportunity to press their grievances.
Kachin
tribes in north-eastern Burma are currently in the midst of a brutal
civil war against the military with reports of widespread human
rights violations including kidnappings, extra-judicial killings and
systematic rape by Burmese soldiers.
Members
of Britain’s Kachin community have said they will refuse to wear
traditional dress or dance at tomorrow’s meeting because “they
have nothing to celebrate”.
“We
are very happy that Aung San Suu Kyi has achieved her freedom of
movement but she should speak up more to stop the human rights abuses
and ask donors to increase humanitarian aid for the Kachin
[refugees],” Hkun Htoi, a member of the Kachin National
Organisation, told The Independent.
Recent
sectarian rioting on Burma’s western border with Bangladesh,
meanwhile, has broken out between the Rohingya, an oppressed Muslim
minority who are refused citizenship despite residing in the area for
centuries, and their Buddhist neighbours.
Many
Burmese view the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and
prejudice towards them has spilled out into recent bloodshed that has
killed dozens and created thousands of refugees on the move.
The
recent violence in western Burma, which was sparked when a Buddhist
woman was raped last month by a gang of Muslim men and ten Rohingya
were lynched in revenge, presents Miss Suu Kyi with an acute
political problem.
Despite
a fearless reputation for standing up to human rights abusers, the
67-year-old dissident has been noticeably silent on the subject of
anti-Rohingya prejudice. That is because many of those who are most
vocal in wanting to expel them from Burmese territory are part of the
country’s pro-democracy movement. If Miss Suu Kyi speaks out in
favour of the Rohingya’s claim to Burmese citizenship, she risks
alienating some of her most erstwhile allies.
Those
inside Burma have reported significant increase in recent years in
anti-Muslim prejudice which has begun to spill out into Britain’s
Burmese population. “Even on UK soil there is anti-Rohingya,
anti-Muslim racism going on,” says Tun Khin, a prominent Rohingya
refugee who, despite having a grandfather that used to be a
parliamentary secretary, does not have Burmese citizenship. “There
have even been protests in front of Downing Street against the
Rohingya by Burmese groups saying we’re not citizens.”
Last
Tuesday night Mr Khin’s door was smashed down in what he believes
was an attack motivated by the recent sectarian violence in his
homeland. He says many Rohingya are angered that Miss Suu Kyi has
been quiescent on the violence unleashed against them and has refused
to support their citizenship claim.
“Aung
San Suu Kyi will be listened to by everyone so why doesn’t she
speak up?” he said. “She could say stop fighting about ethnic
issues, she could speak up and say these people have lived for a long
time in Burma and they are citizens.”
Rohingya
hopes that they might receive words of encouragement from Miss Suu
Kyi were dashed earlier this week when she ducked a question while
collecting an award from Amnesty International in Ireland on whether
the Muslim tribe were Burmese citizens.
Asked if the Rohingyas should
be regarded as Burmese, she replied: “I do not know.”
Burmese
Democratic Concern, which organised today’s meeting with Miss Suu
Kyi, is one of the exile groups most vehemently opposed to Rohingyas.
Its website contains numerous reports laying the blame for sectarian
conflict squarely at the door of the Rohingyas – a view which is
disputed by most human rights groups and the UN.
Myo
Thein, the group’s founder, told The Independent: “There is no
tension in Burmese community over Kachin community because we are
behind our brothers and sisters there. We fully support them. But
regarding the Rohingya issue we do have a problem.
We don’t accept
they are part of Burma or Burmese citizens. We see them as illegal
immigrants, Bengalis from Bangladesh.”
Burma’s
Muslim minority presents a political minefield for Aung San Suu Kyi
as she evolves from being an imprisoned dissident to an opposition
politician. The international community will expect her to continue
speaking out against all forms of violence but the domestic situation
has caused her to be cautious when it comes to the Rohingyas.
Mark
Farmaner, from the Free Burma Campaign, says there is little chance
anti-Muslim prejudice will go away any time soon. He recently
returned from a one month visit to Burma.
“Anti-Muslim
prejudice is endemic in Burmese society,” he said. “Derogatory
comments about Muslims are so commonplace it is quite shocking.”
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