UK govt. urged to address human rights issues in Myanmar

British MP for Bristol East has called for UK Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire to ensure human rights issues during his upcoming visit to Myanmar.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Labour MP Kerry McCarthy said that she is very concerned about human rights issues in Myanmar, as delegations of Britain’s Foreign Office have said “very little” about the situation in the Southeast Asian country during their trips to the region.

"Can the minister assure me that the plight of the Rohingyas, the fate of political prisoners and other human rights issues in the country will be very much on his agenda when he goes there?,” the Morning Star quoted her as saying.

The Myanmar government and its majority population refuse to recognize Rohingya Muslims as citizens and label the minority of about 800,000 as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, an impoverished state that has shown no willingness to help the Rohingyas.

Rohingya Muslims have been persecuted and killed by the majority Buddhists since the onset of the deadly violence against them in the western Rakhine state in June 2011.

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.

Source Press TV:

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