Burma Times (Mohamed Ibrahim) Thursday, Nov. 28 12:00-13:45 Room: ASP 3H1- Hosted by Jean Lambert, Green MEP for London
The exhibition Features a photographic essay on the plight of Burma’s Rohingya from award-winning photographer Greg Constantine.
The panel’s main speaker, The EU Parliament MEP Jean lambert, said despite some progress in Burma the Rohingya community continues to be persecuted and more must be done. Nevertheless, despite its commitments to the international community to prevent sectarian violence between the Rohingya and the ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, Burma’s government has yet failed to prevent another incident added to the long history of human rights violations and prosecution that follows to the Rohingyas. After the 2012 Rakhine state riots, according to estimated data, 650 Rohingyas were killed, 1200 are missing and up to 140,000 have been displaced. The European parliament has passed two resolutions in the past few months on the situation of the Rohingya people. She said she will raise the matter in the parliament again to give more attention on their resolution.
Human Right Watch E.U Director Lotte Leicht has urged to international community but unfortunately they did not do enough even after well documented proofs of all kinds of ethnic cleansing and crime against Humanity. Situation is still the same and the international communities are not doing as much as they have to.
Another speaker Mr. Tun Khin President, Burmese Rohingya Organization UK, said the situation on the ground is still the same, there is no change at all. Rohingya in Rakhine State are living in constant fear of attack. An increase in international observers on the ground will help prevent further attacks, and can act as an early warning system if new violent attacks seem imminent. The Rakhine people recently brunt Rohingya Food market in Maung daw and 200 years old Mosque was ablaze but the local authority is doing nothing to stop the violence instead they make harassment to Rohingya people.
In bringing the current situation to light, the European parliament is hosting in its turn the same photographic exhibition that is being presented at the Holocaust memorial museum in Washington. Greg Constantine, an award winning photographer, will be presenting, from the 26 November, his work in capturing the pain and suffering of these people that have been denied everything in life, their home, their family, their religion, their own existence in an effort to bring together Europe and the rest of the world so that the Rohingya people will finally be able to claim their right to live. He said he has worked on a long-term project titled Nowhere People, which documents the struggles of stateless minority group around the world.
The European Rohingya Council (ERC) secretary Mohamed Ibrahim raised the question to the parliament MEP about 300,000 unregistered refugees living in camps in Bangladesh for more than two decades now. Their sufferings are world known but European Union did not try to solve the problem with Bangladeshi government.
There are many activists attended to the conference including representatives of MSF, LSE, EBO EEAS/ECHO (TBC).They all showed their interest and they are seriously concerned.
The Rohingya, a Muslim minority from Burma, are denied basic rights as well as citizenship and United Nations has recognized them as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Communal violence in Burma started in 2012 destroyed many of Rohingya peoples and displaced over 140,000 Rohingyas in what human rights groups have described as ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
Now, one year after the initial violence, displaced Rohingya are forced to live in segregated and isolated dire IDP camps and are continually targeted.
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