Stand by them
A group of interfaith leaders of the US yesterday called upon the international community to stand in solidarity with the persecuted Rohingyas, saying "textbook case of genocide" was committed in Myanmar against them.
The religious leaders stressed the need for holding the world leadership accountable for the gruesome violence.
"We believe what Rohingyas are experiencing is a textbook case of genocide where an indigenous community, living in their own ancestral land, is being systematically annihilated by the military, political and religious establishment of Myanmar," they said in a joint statement.
"We call upon the world to invoke the [UN] Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide to protect Rohingyas from this genocide," they added.
The statement was issued during a press briefing at a city hotel yesterday.
The leaders of four major religions under the banner of "Faith Coalition to Stop Genocide in Burma" arrived in Bangladesh on Monday. They visited some Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar on Monday and Tuesday.
The delegation will leave Bangladesh today.
Some 700,000 Rohingyas fled violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state and have been living in Bangladesh since August last year. They joined some 300,000 Rohingyas who fled similar violence in the past.
The religious leaders said they support Bangladesh's call for restoring Rohingyas' land in Myanmar, urging the UN to defend Rohingyas and bring the perpetrators to justice.
They also called upon world leaders to impose full sanctions on Myanmar until "it stops genocide and restore citizenship of Rohingyas."
Beth Lilach, senior director at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Long Island of New York, said the persecution of Muslim Rohingyas evolved in stages similar to the progression of Nazism.
The evolution of Nazism could have been halted but no country had the political will to intervene during the 1930s and 1940s. And just as today, no nation has intervened to halt the genocide against Rohingyas, she said.
"How can anyone not have the political will to intervene when innocent Rohingya babies are being burnt alive," she added.
Mohamed Magid, executive imam of All Dulles Area Muslim Society in Sterling, Virginia, said Rohingya persecution is more harrowing than what refugees experienced in many other countries.
"Those who committed this crime should be brought to justice," added Magid, urging the world community to respond to Bangladesh's call for creating a "safe zone" for the Rohingyas.
Responding to a query, he said he would work for mobilising fellow community people back home to become more vocal about the issue.
"That would be our priority as well," said Dr Bob Roberts Jr, a senior pastor at North Wood Church in Texas.
It is time for the international community, especially diplomatic community, to grow up and realise that the world is living in the 21st century not in the 18th century, he said.
"Responding to a crisis in the world is got to be more holistic, consistence, and quicker," said Reverend Roberts, adding, if the issue is left for long, it would create opportunities for extremists to materialise agenda.
Rabbi David Saperstein, a former US ambassador at Large for religious freedom, said religious persecution was a central component of increasingly harsh oppression of Rohingya community in Myanmar over the past few decades.
Alan Senauke, a leading Buddhist American scholar, said the murder and displacement of Rohingyas in Myanmar has nothing to do with the Buddha's teachings.
"Buddhists around the world stand with the Rohingyas' cry for safety, justice, and citizenship".
Nicolee Ambrose, spokesperson of the delegation, said their mission was to personally witness atrocities the Rohingyas have experienced.
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