Burma Task Force-New York is hosting an inter-faith press conference to speak out against and spread awareness about the pogrom currently taking place against Rohingya Muslims in Burma / Myanmar. The clergy will also address the spate of shootings in the US, the most recent being the New York City shooting. Muslim Peace Coalition USA, a national alliance of Muslim organizations has welcome Mayor Blomberg’s prompt announcement that the New York shooter was a disgruntled employee and not a religious bigot. in the past even when the shooter was a nonmuslim Islamophobes had tried to incite hatred against American Muslims by falsely implying that the shooter was a Muslim extremist.
Earlier Muslim Peace Coalition was highly critical of the New York Police department for its warrantless spying of Muslim communities in the North Eastern US. Such spying actually endangers national security by taking police resources away from investigating real threats and destroys the Muslim community’s trust in the police,” said Dr. Shaik Ubaid, the New york co-chair of MPC-USA.
An inter-faith press conference that was scheduled to address the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims of Burma will now also address the New York shooting.
Since June, the Burmese army and police have led a campaign of persecution targeting Rohingya Muslims through mass arrests and arbitrary violence. Thousands of Rohingyas have been killed, raped and missing, and more than 80,000 have been displaced.
Inter-faith clergy and human rights activists will speak at the press conference.
When: Tuesday, August 28th, 2012 at 12:00 noon
Where: In front of the UN building at 43rd Street &1st Avenue, New York City, NY
Who: Burma Task Force New York leaders and inter-faith clergy members
Why:
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
SEE: Government Forces Targeting Rohingya Muslims
HRW Report: Sectarian Violence and Ensuing Abuses in Burma’s Arakan State
Even when Rohingya Muslims are able to flee to the relative safety of Bangladesh, they face hostility and rejection. Bangladeshi authorities have also ordered three international aid agencies not to help the Rohingyas fleeing to that nation.
SEE: Bangladesh Tells International Charities to Stop Aiding Rohingyas
While the persecution has escalated into mass killings and human rights abuses over the summer, the persecution has long been ongoing. Rohingyas have been stripped of their citizenship since a 1982 citizenship law. They are not allowed to travel without official permission, are banned from owning land and are required to sign a commitment to have not more than two children.
Amnesty International states:
“The Rohingyas’ freedom of movement is severely restricted and the vast majority of them have effectively been denied Burma citizenship. They are also subjected to various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation; forced eviction and house destruction; and financial restrictions on marriage. Rohingyas continue to be used as forced labourers on roads and at military camps.”
“In 1978 over 200,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh, following the ‘Nagamin’ (‘Dragon King’) operation of the Myanmar army. This military campaign directly targeted civilians, and resulted in widespread killings, rape and destruction of mosques and further religious persecution.”
In July, Burma Task Force USA called on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to take concrete steps to help stop the pogrom of Rohingya Muslims in Burma.
Burma Task Force New york is an alliance of mosques and Muslim organizations of greater New York area launched to stop the ethnic cleansing in Burma. A similar alliance- Burma Task Force-USA operates at the national level
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CONTACT:
Dr. Shaik Saad, Tel: 917-705-2393