In June 2012, over 2000 people were displaced in sectarian violence in Myanmar, in which most victims were Muslims. The government promised a full investigation. Representatives from different religions and minorities condemned the atrocities inflicted on the Rohingya Muslims which is a serious human rights violation that the United Nations should stop immediately.
In June 2012, 11 innocent Muslims were killed by the Burmese Army and the Buddhist mobs after bringing them down from a bus. A vehement protest was carried out in the Muslim majority province of Arakan, but the protesters fell victims to the tyranny of the mob and the army. People were reported killed and millions of homes destroyed in fires as Rohingyas and Buddhist-ethnic Arakanese clashed in western Myanmar.
Myanmar has a Buddhist majority. The Muslim minority in Myanmar are mostly the Rohingyas and the descendants of Muslim immigrants from India (including what is now Bangladesh) and China, as well as descendants of earlier Arab and Persian settlers. Indian Muslim were brought to Burma by the British to aid them in clerical work and business. After independence, many Muslims remained in the country.
Over the years, thousands of Rohingyas have fled to Thailand. According to reports, there are roughly 111,000 refugees housed in 9 camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. In February 2009, there was evidence of refugees being towed to sea and abandoned and other reports of brutality by the Thai military in which Thailand's then prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that there were "some instances" in which Rohingyas were pushed out to sea.
Will the present generation see the light of day? They are part of mankind, why then are we responding apathetically towards them? Asean must respond immediately to solve their issues. Please be sympathetic and empathetic towards the Rohingyas.
K.T. Maran
Seremban
Seremban
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