UN was urged to resolve repression against Rohingya muslims in Myanmar
More than a dozen Nobel Prize winners on Thursday, December 29, urged the United Nations to "put an end to the humanitarian crisis" in regard to residing in Myanmar Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh in order to avoid the bloody repression.
In an open letter, addressed to the UN Security Council, 23 Nobel Prize winners, politicians, philanthropists and activists said that "a humanitarian disaster in the form of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity are unfolding in Myanmar." They also criticized the country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi - which is itself a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize - for the lack of initiatives to protect innocent people.
“We are frustrated that she has not taken any initiative to ensure full and equal citizenship rights of the Rohingyas,” the group wrote. In recent weeks, more than 27,000 people belonging to the persecuted Muslim minority – a group loathed by many of Myanmar's Buddhist majority – have fled a Burmese military operation in Rakhine state launched in response to the attack of border posts by armed groups.
Rohingya survivors say they suffered rape, murder and arson at the hands of soldiers -- accounts that have raised global alarm and galvanized protests around Southeast Asia. Bangladesh’s government has been under pressure to open its border to the fleeing refugees, but it has reinforced its border posts and deployed coastguard ships to prevent fresh arrivals.
“The Rohingyas are among the world's most persecuted minorities, who for decades have been subjected to a campaign of marginalization and dehumanization,” said the authors -- among them peace prize winners Desmond Tutu, Shirin Ebadi and Jose Ramos-Horta.
They asked the 15-member Security Council to add the “crisis” to its agenda “as a matter of urgency, and to call upon the secretary-general to visit Myanmar in the coming weeks” -- either current UN chief Ban Ki-moon, or his successor Antonio Guterres, who will take over the post next month.
“If we fail to take action, people may starve to death if they are not killed with bullets, and we may end up being the passive observers of crimes against humanity which will lead us once again to wring our hands belatedly and say ‘never again’ all over again,” the letter said.
Source: Al Arabiya.
