Burma Task Force New York has announced that the New York area Muslims and their inter-faith allies will hold a huge rally against the ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas in Burma (Myanmar) in front of the UN on Saturday, September 8th at 4 PM.
Buses will run from various locations in the greater New York City area to help in the transportation of New Yorkers dedicated to the cause of human rights.
Prominent Muslim leaders from various Muslim organizations including Burmese Muslim groups, human rights activists and inter-faith clergy will speak demanding an end to decades long ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims of Burma also known as Myanmar. They will demand that the 1982 law that deprived the Rohingyas of Burmese citizenship be repealed. They will also demand that the perpetrators of massacres and mass rapes be brought to justice. Their demands will include that Bangladesh, India and Thailand open their borders for Rohingya refugees fleeing the pogrom.
Dr. Shaik Ubaid, a founding member of Burma Task Force welcomed the US ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell’s remarks admitting for the first time that the basis of ethnic cleansing of the darker skinned Rohingyas is both religious hatred and racism. http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2012/08/the-real-culprits-behind-violence-in.html
When: Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 4:00 PM
Where: In front of the UN building at 47th Street &1st Avenue, New York City, NY
Who: Burma Task Force New York leaders
Why:
To launch 100 cities rallies on the occasion of the visit of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of democracy movement of Burma
The Burma Task Force is urging the U.S. State Department and the international community to address the suffering of the almost one million Rohingya in Myanmar (formerly Burma), as well as those who have fled to neighboring Bangladesh. It is appealing to the Dalai Lama and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the the democracy movement of Burma to help stop the ethnic cleansing by appealing to the militant Buddhist clergy and the government of Burma
Burma Task Force has urged the government of Bangladesh to open its border with Burma and offer full humanitarian assistance to those forced to flee Myanmar, in cooperation with the international community.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which released a report on the humanitarian crisis:
“Burmese security forces committed killings, rape, and mass arrests against Rohingya Muslims after failing to protect both them and Arakan Buddhists during deadly sectarian violence in western Burma in June 2012. Government restrictions on humanitarian access to the Rohingya community have left many of the over 100,000 people displaced and in dire need of food, shelter, and medical care.”
Myanmar President Thein Sein said the “only solution” to the conflict was to expel the Rohingya to other countries.
A number of Buddhist monks’ organizations that played vital role in Burma’s struggle for democracy have taken measures to block any humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya community.
There are roughly 111,000 refugees housed in 9 camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. There have been charges that groups of them have been shipped and towed out to open sea from Thailand, and left there.
The UN has described the Rohingya people as the world’s most persecuted minorities” and “among the world’s least wanted.”
Shahana Masoom Ali, a founding member of Burma Task Force New York pointed out that Doctors Without Borders has included the Rohingyas among those who are most likely to be extinct. There are already 300,000 Rohingya refugees living in refugee camps in Bangladesh for decades and many of them live in harrowing conditions. Bangladesh has now closed its borders and tens of thousands of internally displaced Rohingyas are threatened with death in Burma. She pointed out to the daily reports published on rohingyablogger.com