This photo shows the Muslim district by the non-Muslim majority in Burma this week. The ethnicity of these people is known as Rohingya whereas the majority of the population are Rakhine. The president of that country only acknowledge this event happening after a U.S. Human Rights group released a serious of satellite images which document the destruction. Nearly 3,000 houses have been destroyed. The state of Burma has refused to let the U.N. conduct an investigation into the event.
What is genocide? Is it the duty of the international community to prevent genocide from occuring?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20110150
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ReplyDeleteThis is my weekly post:
ReplyDeleteGenocide can be summed up into violent crimes committed against groups with the intent to destroy the existence of the group. While human rights, as in the1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, concern the rights of individuals. (1)
The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority living in northern Rakhine state in Burma. Human Right Watch, a US based group released the satellite picture above. It shows the Kyaukpyu district on October 25, with few boats remaining and the 35-acre district is almost entirely empty of houses. Witness’s say the district is completely destroyed, with some buildings still smoldering. The government reports the death toll from the attacks this week has reached 82, with a further 129 people injured, and that nearly 3,000 houses have been destroyed. Some consider this to be unreliable, as the government has been avoiding releasing till now. The attack has been the first serious outburst of violence since June, when a state of emergency was declared in Rakhine. At that time fights claimed dozens of lives and thousands were forced to flee their homes, while many have yet to return.
The current violence has lead to many deaths and a destroyed district. Burmese Buddhist clashed with the Rohingya Muslim minority, as the military finally intervened. The clashes lead to numerous deaths within the Muslim community and military intervention also led to non-Muslim casualties.
Much of the violence stems from the Burmese and Myanmar history. Arakan (Rakhine) province of today’s Burma was an independent kingdom for much of its history. The first Rohingya people arrived in Burma as early as the seventh century, but the Burmese military regime maintains, to this day, that the Rohingya immigrated to Myanmar from India while under British colonial rule. This disregard for earlier settlers prohibits the Rohingya from being legally recognized as a minority group in Myanmar. The militaries denial of legal recognition for the Muslim minority in Rakhine has led to the denial of fundamental human rights and freedom for the Rohingya, and the military regime consistently perpetrates human rights violations against this vulnerable population. (2)
Genocide is something that must be taken care of by the international community. Its not something that should be taken care of solely by the country were it is occurring as it’s a matter concerning not just one country. Genocide is committed to destroy the existence of a group, usually an ethnic or cultural group. The international community needs to step in before it can happen because once it has, as has happened in Burma, a whole group of people around the world are hurt, not just the group in that country. In Burma the government has been uncooperative with the UN and that has been a major force in the hindrance of helping the country, and the people recover. (3)
(1) http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007043
(2) http://www.genocidewatch.org/myanmar.html
(3) http://www.pakistankakhudahafiz.com/2012/06/29/burma-why-such-silence-over-muslim-genocide/#.UI13wZhUshw
The “Rohingya”- an ethnic Muslim minority numbering nearly 1 million in Burma have been under siege by the local Buddhist majority- the “Rakhine”. The Rohingya are currently in a situation we would identify as genocide. Genocide is commonly referred to as the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group. (1) In 1962, the Burmese military began a programme of ethnic cleansing. They targeted the darker and closer to the South Asian race as apposed to the oriental looking majority, and being Muslims instead of Buddhist, the Rohingya became obvious targets for state sponsored ethnic cleansing. (2)
ReplyDeleteIn the summer of 2012 an outbreak of Muslim massacres committed by the Buddhist regime. This militia occupied where approximately 1.8 million Rohingya Muslims live. (3) On October 9th, 2012, hundreds of closely packed houses as well as houseboats and barges along the northern shore of Burma were burned to the ground.(4) A total of a 35-acre district was wiped clean in the attempt to wipe out this population of Muslim people. On Thursday October 11th, it was reported the area had been completely destroyed, with some buildings still smouldering. The Burmese government records the death tool from this attack to have reached 82, with a further 129 injured and nearly 3 000 houses have been destroyed. (4) These deadly attacks claim dozens of lives, thousands being forced to leave their homes with little to nothing along with them.
Neighbouring Bangladesh hosts several hundred thousand refugees from these recent attacks on this minority of people. The Bangladesh government explains that they are at their refugee capacity and are having to turn away many people in need of shelter and safety. Are these individuals unworthy of human rights? These refugees are victims to life’s hardest of hardships, and all in the name of another individuals excessive pride in their God. And all of this occurs in the most modern and evolved times in history- today- but neither the United Nations, Western democracy or Islamic countries bother to pay any attention to these killings. Up to today, 20 000 Muslims have been massacred in Burma alone due to Buddhist polytheisms.
In brief thought and of most common knowledge, religion is viewed as peaceful assembly of a group of people whom share their views on a “holy” being. The Buddhist community, of 376 million followers worldwide (5) are creating an international image of themselves that makes them out to be violent, terrifying individuals. As well as participants and those responsible for the genocide of the Muslim counter-community. The involvement, instead of the neglect from the United Nations and other Islamic countries could shed some light on the rising issues between the two different ethnic groups. Perhaps informing and educating the opposing religions about the peaceful nature of a different technique of dealing with ongoing issues could lower the amount of people loosing their lives. After all- isn’t that what this is all about?
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide
(2) http://www.restlessbeings.org/petitions/2-lobbying-the-british-government-ethnic-cleansing-of-rohingya-in-myanmar
(3) http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2012/07/14/16461.shtml
(4) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20110150
(5) http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/ataglance/glance.shtml