The Allied Coordinating Committee of Islamic NGOs, Malaysia (ACCIN) views with alarm the continuing crime against humanity in Myanmar, despite efforts by different parties including ASEAN, OIC and the United Nations to find a lasting solution to this tragedy of the Rohingyas. The recent violence perpetrated by the Myanmar army and extremist Buddhist monks led violence, indicate that all past peace making efforts have failed. An estimated 3000 Rohingyas have been killed and 300,000 driven out of their homes in despair to neighbouring Bangladesh in fresh recent violence.
With the recalcitrant Myanmar State involved in perpetrating this genocide, the Rohingyas have nowhere to turn to for protection, safety and basic necessities. They are systemically subjected to ethnic cleansing, torture, rape and put in concentration camps with their human rights violated to the extreme. There is overwhelming recognition of the fact that “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingyas – A Genocide is taking place in Rakhine, Myanmar. This is a continuation of the persecution of the Rohingyas, which significantly escalated since 1978 under the military junta of General U Ne Win. That year, national identification card holders of Rohingya descent were duped into surrendering their cards to the government who promised to reissue new identity cards. The promise was never kept. Without any new cards, they were declared stateless and therefore illegal immigrants.
ACCIN applauds the fast action of the Turkish Government to take over the management and financing of the Rohingya refugees that are crossing over in large numbers to safety in Bangladesh. The Malaysian Government has also sent a humanitarian team with supplies to assist in these efforts. So has other concerned nations, NGOs and groups that view this on going saga “David vs Goliath” with alarm.
No less than seven Nobel Peace laureates have stepped forward to condemn the massacre and have urged that it be described and designated as no less a genocide. They are Maired Maguire – Northern Ireland, Jody Williams – USA, Tawakkol Karman – Yemen, Shirin Ebadi – Iran, Leymah Gbouree – Liberia, Adolfo Perez Esquivel – Argentina and Bishop Desmond Tutu – South Africa. According to these laureates, the Rohingyas face a textbook case of genocide where entire indigenous communities are being systematically wiped out by elements of the Burmese government.
ACCIN urges an immediate and total stop to this crime against humanity. It is our demand for action for ASEAN, OIC and especially for the UN to act decisively. It is time to stop the genocide NOW! ACCIN proposes the following:
- To provide the Rohingyas with a safety zone from the marauding Myanmar Army and extremist Buddhist mobs.
- United Nations sanctioned troops to provide the safety zone.
- Convene an urgent International effort to produce a lasting and just, peaceful solution for the plight of the Rohingyas.
- Force the Myanmar Government to the negotiating table with threat of sanctions by the UN.
- Accord the rights of citizenship to the Rohingyas.
ACCIN urges the Myanmar government which helms a religious society to halt immediately state sponsored aggression against the Rohingyas and practice the “spirit of inclusiveness” and justice that will lead to inevitably, peace and prosperity. History is testimony, that subjugation and alienation of minorities will not succeed. Instead, it will result in more chaos and disharmony. The recent case of Bosnia Herzegovina where the Serbian extremists attempted an evil design to ethnically cleanse the state of Croats and Muslims to form a Greater Serbia ended in total failure with its leaders now facing trial in the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Let history be a lesson to all of us.
Ir Hj Mohd Jamaludin Shamsudin
Chairman,
ACCIN
15th September 2017
