Former US lawmaker visits Myanmar Muslims, warns they lack health care, fear violence

WASHINGTON – A former U.S. congressman is warning that minority Rohingya (ROE-hin-gar) Muslims in Myanmar face a life-threatening lack of medical care and live in fear of attack.

Tom Andrews is president of the U.S.-based activist group United to End Genocide. He recently visited camps housing tens of thousands of people displaced by violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the Southeast Asian country.

The former Democratic lawmaker is issuing a hard-hitting report on Monday that calls for President Barack Obama to use his leverage with Myanmar’s government to demand protection for the stateless Rohingya.

Andrews says Rohingya are being targeted because of their religion and ethnicity. He contends there are troubling signs that mass violence could occur.

The Myanmar Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.