Joint Statement-Criminal Atrocities Increased Against Rohingya for Rejecting Green Card

By Joint Statement by European Rohingya organizations • August 21, 2015

European Rohingya organizations call on international community to pressure Myanmar government to stop excruciating and forcing the Rohingya community into accepting a new ID known as ‘green card’, valid for just two years, for national verification with Bengali identity. It is an ethnocide aims at making the Rohingya aliens and people of Bangladesh origin.

The Rohingya people have rejected the so-called ‘green card’ as the ID is not related to their historicity, ethnic identity and national status. On top of that, being indigenous to Arakan, they are natural born citizens of Burma/Myanmar.

Without a green card or ID now the Rohingya are barred from going to bazaars and village to village, visiting doctors and relatives, and attending congregational prayers even within the same localities and are subjected to increased criminal atrocities.

The government has disenfranchised hundreds and thousands of previously eligible Muslim Rohingya voters and excluded them from voting in crucial November elections.

The Thein Sein government continues to defy the international opinion and reject every recommendation and envoy, including the current UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Yanghee Lee.

Whereas it is crucial to support for a United Nations Commission of Inquiry into human rights violations and government policies against the Rohingya, EU says it is calling on the Myanmar Government to conduct its own investigations, even though they are aware that the Thein Sein government will not do so.

While facing a series of terrible humanitarian disasters since June 2012 genocidal massacres, including the recent flood, the current humiliating restrictions and dehumanizing treatment have further crippled the Rohingya population. Over and above, the Rohingya flood victims are discriminated against. They have very little aid access and the lives of those in remote areas are now in danger. In this connection, we express our serious concern that the response from the international community is almost silent.

We reiterate that human rights violations against Rohingya cannot be termed as internal affairs of Burma/Myanmar and urge upon the EU to review its policy on Thein Sein government to protect the defenseless Rohingya people.

In view of the above, we urge upon the European Union for the followings:

To put pressure on Thein Sein government to end all persecution and ghettoization against Rohingya, and to restore their citizenship and ethnic rights in their own homeland.
To support UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to take the lead in negotiating free and unhindered humanitarian access in Rakhine State
To support an international independent investigation in order to investigate the mass atrocity crimes against Rohingya and other Burmese people in order to publicly announce its findings and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Signatories;

Arakan Rohingya National Organisation
Bradford Rohingya Community in UK
Burmese Rohingya Community in Denmark
Burmese Rohingya Community in Netherlands
Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
Rohingya Community in Germany
Rohingya Community in Switzerland
Rohingya Organisation Norway
Rohingya Community in Finland
Rohingya Community in Italy
Rohingya Community in Sweden

For more information please contact;

Tun Khin +44 7888714866

Nay San Lwin +49 1796535213

Dated: 21^st August 2015

Tags: ASEAN, European Rohingya organizations, European Union, Human Rights, Muslim Rohingya, Rohingya, Yanghee Lee

This post is in: Press Release

Joint Statement-Criminal Atrocities Increased Against Rohingya for Rejecting Green Card

About Burma Partnership

Spotlight

Campaigns