YANGON
(NNN-MIZZIMA) -- Rohingya groups from across the world have signed a statement
calling for a Global Day of Action on Nov 8 in support of human rights for the
Rohingya people of Myanmar .
“We
call upon all organisations and individuals who support human rights for the
Rohingya to unite to take action on November 8th. On this date it will be 5
months since violent attacks against the Rohingya began in Arakan (Myanmar ),” the
joint statement said. “We call [on] you for demonstrations at Myanmar Embassies
or the Foreign Ministry in your respective countries.”
The
Rohingya umbrella group, which includes Rohingya Organisation UK and similar
NGOs in Europe, Japan , Australia , Malaysia
and Thailand , claims that
since violence erupted in Rakhine
State in June, thousands
of Rohingya people have been forced to flee their homes.
In
its statement on Thursday, the group also drew attention to allegations that
many Rohingya villagers have been living under a state of siege and that many
are suffering from starvation and disease.
The
Rohingya groups also called for support for its call to the United Nations to
send UN peacekeepers and international observers into the restive region, the
unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected, and for the
establishment of a UN commission of inquiry into the violence.
They
also called on the Myanmar
government to repeal the 1982 Citizenship Law under which the Rohingya are
effectively rendered stateless.
The
Washington-based US Campaign for Burma (USCB) released a statement on Nov 1
demanding “extreme elements from both sides [Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim
Rohingya] immediately stop utilizing violence as a solution, and to end the
distribution of false and fabricated information with an aim to fuel further
violence and instigating discrimination.”
USCB
urged President Thein Sein to take action against those responsible for the
violence. It also called on the Myanmar Parliament to review the 1982
Citizenship Law and amend the law in accordance with the international standard,
thereby allowing stateless persons in the country to be granted citizenship.
“The
recent communal violence in Rakhine
State is a product of
decades-long, deep-seeded cultural distrust between the two communities,” the
USCB said. “When people are committed to the democratic principle to tolerate
and respect differences, such distrust can be overcome, which sets up the
future possibility of unity. Diversity is the destiny of Myanmar .” -- NNN-MIZZIMA
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