MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
28 November, 2016
“Carlow Rohingya conference calls on international community to help Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya”
Carlow, Ireland: The European Rohingya Council, Rohingya Community Ireland and Burma Action Ireland jointly held a conference on November 26 to hear about the current human rights situation in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state.
The conference titled ‘Break the Cycle of Oppression’ refers to the decades of human rights violations Rohingya community has suffered in Myanmar. Since October 9, the world has witnessed a series of horrendous atrocities against Rohingya by Myanmar armed forces, what the United Nations has lately described as “Ethnic Cleansing.”
The European Rohingya Council, Rohingya Community Ireland and Burma Action Ireland have called on the United Nations and the EU to take immediate steps to show that international community will not allow ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the Rohingya in Myanmar.
The conference calls on the United Nation to:
⦁ Send the UN peace keeping forces into the affected areas
⦁ Mobilize humanitarian assistance in Rakhine state
⦁ Conduct a UN-led investigation into the allegations of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Myanmar
⦁ Urge Bangladesh government to give the temporary shelter to those Rohingya, who have fled the atrocities
⦁ Appeal to the government of Myanmar to bring concerned parties of Rohingya and Rakhine community to the negotiation table
“For decades, the Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar has been denied of human rights by Myanmar’s authorities and in recent times a military crackdown has come with allegations of military abuses of the civilian population” said Dr. Anita Schug from the European Council.
“Credible sources report that the military is engaged in extra-judicial killings, arbitrary detentions, rapes, and the burning of villages.”
“The area has been completely locked down; independent media and humanitarian aids have been denied. More than 40, 000 people have been driven away from their houses and they are desperately in need of food, medicine and shelter; more than 130 women were raped; more than 500 Rohingya were killed; and more than 1,600 houses were completely burnt down.”
“Myanmar’s Rohingya community urgently needs international intervention to safeguard human rights and to make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches northern Rakhine state” she said.
Available for interview:
Dr. Hla Kyaw (European Rohingya Council) + 31 652358202
http://www.theerc.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/MEDIA-RELEASE.pdf
