Worldwide protests against ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Myanmar

THOUSANDS of people demonstrated at Myanmar embassies across the world yesterday demanding that Aung San Suu Kyi’s government stops the “ethnic cleansing” of Muslim Rohingya in western Rakhine State.
Human rights groups protested in front of Myanmar embassies in 16 countries around the world yesterday, including Bangkok and Islamic countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia, calling for the government in Nay Pyi Taw to stop suppressing the Rohingya. 
Around 5,000 Bangladeshi Muslims demonstrated in the capital Dhaka after Friday prayers, according to AFP.
Malaysia’s Muslim-majority Cabinet also issued a statement condemning the violence, an unusually strong criticism against a fellow member of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
“Malaysia calls on all parties involved in the recent violence to refrain from taking any actions which would aggravate the situation further, and Malaysia also calls on the government of Myanmar to address the alleged ethnic cleansing in the northern Rakhine State,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Malaysia said the Myanmar ambassador would be summoned over the crisis and that Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman would meet with de facto leader Suu Kyi and other top Myanmar officials “at the earliest possible date”.
Thousands of the Muslim Rohingya have fled the conflict and crackdown in Myanmar to seek shelter in Bangladesh over the past few days.  
Hundreds of human rights defenders in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia simultaneously staged the protests at 2pm (Bangkok time) as a gesture of “political pressure” in a bid to urge Myanmar and the Asean community to seriously tackle the issue.
“We think no concrete result would occur after this movement. However, we want to raise the public awareness and call for the Asean and global communities to develop mechanisms to mutually resolve this matter,” said Zakee Phithakkunpul, a member of Council for Humanitarian Networking (CHN) of Sheikhul Islam Office, the Bangkok-based non-government organisation that organised the assembly. 
The campaign called “World Day of Rage – Stop Killing Rohingya” was joined by 150 people in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok yesterday.
Indonesian Muslims also held a rally outside the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta against the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.
In Bangkok, Zakee called on the Suu Kyi government to take action against ongoing abusive military movements against Rohingyas.
“The Muslim-minority state should respect people, without race and religion discrimination, which is the essence of democracy to which Myanmar aims to move forward,” he stressed.
He said that CHN would file the same petition to the United Nations local office and other international organisations.
The rally was ignited by the escalated tension in Rakhine following a coordinated attack on three border posts on October 9 which killed nine police, according to Siwawong Sooktawee, a coordinator of Coalition for the Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons.
“The state military has flocked to areas along Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh and seems to rampage, causing innocent residents to be in a dilemma,” he said.
The violence has reportedly displaced thousands this week with at least 86 people killed. Rohingya Muslims have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, which has tried to send the Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar.
Siwawong said: “If the government does not control the refugees and carelessly lets them flee, the problem will be forwarded to Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, that they will flee to by boats. This issue needs to be solved by mechanism of the Asean.”
Maung Kyaw Nu, head of Thailand’s Rohingya Association, who also joined the rally, said he hoped the international community would look into this problem and protect the minority Rohingya.
“We cannot rely on our government to protect us. We need the world’s help to protect us,” he said.
Maung had to be pushed off the stage by the event’s organisers during the rally because of his “unpeaceful” manner when he shouted “Stop the genocide immediately!” before the crowd.
“I can’t control my emotions because I miss my home and my relatives there [in Myanmar],” he said later.