Dr. Shaik Ubaid, a veteran human rights activist and the co-chair of Muslim Peace Coalition-USA, has appealed to all people of conscience in the US to call the embassies of Burma and Bangladesh in Washington DC and the US State Department, demanding that Burma stop the massacre of Rohingya Muslims and that Bangladesh open the borders to let the refugees in, as demanded by the Islamic teachings and the UN charter.
Rohingya Muslims who have lived in Burma for centuries and some of who are the descendants of the inter-marriages of Arab traders and new Muslims that took place in the early part of Islamic history have been systematically discriminated in Burma since it attained independence from Britain. They have been denied citizenship and subjected to repeated ethnic cleansings and mass rapes. Medicins San Frontieres, the respected international human rights organizations describes Rohingyas as among the world minority groups who are most in danger of extinction.
Dr. Ubaid demanded that the US and the world force Burma to stop the persecution of its minorities: “Burma is trying to reach out to the US and ASEAN countries to come out of its isolation and these countries should clearly state that unless Burma stops its decades old policy of persecution of minorities, it will not be welcomed back into the family of nations.”
“It is outrageous that Banglasdesh which owes its existence to India providing refuge to millions of its people during the Bangladesh’s war of secession from Pakistan is refusing entry to the persecuted women and children of Burma who are escaping mass killings and wholesale burning of Muslim villages,” said Dr. Ubaid
Dr. Ubaid, who has been involved in increasing awareness about the plight of Burmese Muslims in the US since 1991 has also urged the American Muslims to call the national Muslim organizations and demand that they take a stand on Burma. “If similar campaigns are launched in Europe, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia by the Muslims there in cooperation with their inter-faith and human rights allies, the Burmese Muslims can be saved from extinction,” declared Dr. Ubaid.
Seemi Ahmed, the other co-chair of the Muslim Peace Coalition, USA was earlier briefed by Ufuk Gokcen, the OIC ambassador to the UN, on his efforts on behalf of the Burmese Muslims. Seemi Ahmed and her husband Habeeb Ahmed, who is a human rights commisioner of Nassau County on Long Island, New York, were part of a delegation of area Muslim leaders meeting with ambassador Gokcen. Mrs. Ahmed used the opportunity of the meeting and publicly asked the ambassador to update the Long Island Muslim leaders of the OIC efforts to save Burma’s Muslims. The ambassador has been active on this issue earlier as a Turkish diplomat and now as the OIC ambassador at the UN. He promised Mrs. Ahmed that OIC will keep working to end the persecution of Burmese Muslims.