Myanmar govt asked to stop HR violation

Condemning the recent sectarian violence targeting Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE), a regional civil society network, yesterday called upon the Myanmar government to end “this heinous human rights violation” immediately.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW), an internationally acclaimed rights body, urged the Bangladesh government to withdraw its restrictions on some international organisations providing aid to more than 200,000 Muslim Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar and the adjacent areas.
In a press statement, SAAPE called upon the international community to raise their voices against the recent sectarian violence in Myanmar and use their diplomatic leverage for an immediate and just solution to the ongoing crisis.
The struggle of the Rohingyas for their rights is thwarted by the government attempt at ethnic cleansing of a community which makes up “approximately 25 per cent of the population” of Myanmar, said the statement.
The statement added, “The Rohingyas have been continuously fighting against the persecution, discrimination and marginalisation by the state,” which has denied them citizenship rights to date.
SAAPE called upon the Myanmar government to end the on-going violence “that has claimed countless lives of the Rohingyas”.
It urged the democratic forces in Myanmar to unite and promote peace and harmony in the country.
SAAPE also urged the Bangladesh government to provide asylum for the Rohingyas fleeing Myanmar and take necessary steps to allow international aid groups to assist them.
The New York-based HRW, in a press release published on Wednesday, called upon the Bangladesh government to open its borders to the Rohingyas.
In late July, the Bangladesh government ordered three international aid organisations -- Doctors without Borders, Action against Hunger and Muslim Aid -- to stop providing assistance to Rohingyas living in Cox's Bazar and the surrounding areas.
“This is a cruel and inhumane policy that should immediately be reversed. The government should be welcoming aid organisations that provide life-saving aid, not shutting down their programmes to assist refugees,” said HRW.
The sectarian violence in Arakan state broke out in early June between ethnic Arakan Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, displacing over 100,000 people, said the rights body, adding that Myanmarese authorities failed to protect both communities.