23 global leaders write to UNSC to end Rohingya crisis
Twenty-three Nobel laureates and global leaders yesterday wrote an open letter to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to immediately intervene to end the human crisis of Rohingyas and stop their persecution. The 23 global dignitaries noted that a human tragedy amounting to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity is unfolding in Myanmar and that the situation has all the hallmarks of recent past tragedies - Rwanda, Darfur, Bosnia, Kosovo, according to a press release of Yunus Centre. The global leaders, including 13 Nobel laureates and 10 internally famed leaders in different fields, also insisted that it is time for the international community as a whole to speak out much more strongly.
The dignitaries, who have made the call jointly for the Rohingyas include the likes of Professor Muhammad Yunus, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Malala Yousafzai, and Shirin Ebadi.
They urged the United Nations to do everything possible to encourage the Myanmar government to lift all restrictions on humanitarian aid so that people receive emergency assistance.
Access for journalists and human rights monitors should also be permitted, and an independent, international inquiry to establish the truth about the current situation should be established, they said.
Their fervent plea came at a time when a human tragedy amounting to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity is unfolding in Myanmar.
Over the past two months, a military offensive by the Myanmar Army in Rakhine State has led to the killing of hundreds of Rohingya people. Over 30,000 people have been displaced, the letter read.
Houses have been burned, women raped, many civilians arbitrarily arrested, and children killed. Crucially, access for humanitarian aid organisations has been almost completely denied, creating an appalling humanitarian crisis in an area already extremely poor, it read.
The letter alos said that thousands (of Rohingyas) have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, only to be sent back, adding that some international experts have warned of the potential for genocide.
The dignitaries expressed frustration at Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyis non-initiative in ensuring rights of the Rohingyas.
In the letter, they said, Despite repeated appeals to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, we are frustrated that she has not taken any initiative to ensure full and equal citizenship rights of the Rohingyas. Daw Suu Kyi is the leader and is the one with the primary responsibility to lead, and lead with courage, humanity and compassion.
They said, It is time for the international community as a whole to speak out much more strongly. After Rwanda, world leaders said never again. If we fail to take action, people may starve to death if they are not killed with bullets, and we may end up being the passive observers of crimes against humanity which will lead us once again to wring our hands belatedly and say never again all over again.
The Nobel laureates observed that the Rohingyas are among the worlds most persecuted minorities, who for decades have been subjected to a campaign of marginalisation and dehumanisation.
In 1982, their rights to citizenship were removed, and they were rendered stateless, despite living in the country for generations. They have endured severe restrictions on movement, marriage, education and religious freedom. Yet despite the claims by government and military, and many in society, that they are in fact illegal Bengali immigrants who have crossed the border, Bangladesh does not recognise them either, they stated.
They further noted that Rohingyas plight intensified dramatically in 2012 when two severe outbreaks of violence resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands and a new apartheid between Rohingya Muslims and their Rakhine Buddhist neighbours. Since then they have existed in ever more dire conditions.
The letter also mentioned a witness describing how her two sons were arbitrarily arrested: It was early in the morning, the military surrounded our house, while some came in and forced me and my children to go outside. They tied my two sons up. They tied their hands behind their backs, and they were beaten badly.
The military kicked them in the chest. I saw it myself. I was crying so loudly. When I cried, they (the military) pointed a gun at me. My children were begging the military not to hit them. They were beaten for around 30 minutes before being taken away, the witness said.
The signatories of the letter also observed that the latest crisis was sparked by an attack on Myanmar border police posts on October 9, in which nine Myanmar police officers were killed.
The truth about who carried out the attack, how and why, is yet to be established, but the Myanmar military accuse a group of Rohingyas. Even if that is true, the militarys response has been grossly disproportionate. It would be one thing to round up suspects, interrogate them and put them on trial. It is quite another to unleash helicopter gunships on thousands of ordinary civilians and to rape women and throw babies into a fire, they said.
The signatories include 11 Nobel laureates in Peace: Professor Muhammad Yunus (2006), Jos Ramos-Horta (1996), Miread Maguire (1976), Betty Williams (1976), Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1984), Oscar Arias (1987), Jody Williams (1997), Shirin Ebadi (2003), Tawakkol Karman (2011), Leymah Gbowee (2011), and Malala Yousafzai (2014), and two Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine Sir Richard J Roberts (1993) and Elizabeth Blackburn (2009).
The other signatories are ex-Italian prime minister and foreign minister Romano Prodi and Emma Bonino; The Huffington Post Founder and Editor Arianna Huffington; business leaders and philanthropists Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz; business leader Paul Polman; entrepreneur and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim; SDG advocate and film director Richard Curtis; SDG advocate and fellow of the Voice of Libyan Women Alaa Murabit; and human rights activist Kerry Kennedy.
