{"id":119515,"date":"2017-09-26T02:27:12","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T06:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=119515"},"modified":"2017-09-26T02:27:12","modified_gmt":"2017-09-26T06:27:12","slug":"myanmar-says-no-ethnic-cleansing-genocide-against-muslims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/09\/26\/myanmar-says-no-ethnic-cleansing-genocide-against-muslims\/","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar says no ‘ethnic cleansing,’ genocide against Muslims"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Flag<\/a>
Flag of Rakhine State (Photo By Stefan Fussan – Own work, Public Domain<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Myanmar’s U.N. ambassador insisted Monday that there is no \u201cethnic cleansing\u201d or genocide taking place against Muslims and objected \u201cin the strongest terms\u201d to countries that used those words to describe the situation in Rakhine State.<\/p>\n

Hau Do Suan used his \u201cright of reply\u201d at the end of the six-day gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly to respond to what he called \u201cirresponsible remarks\u201d and \u201cunsubstantiated allegations\u201d repeated by countries in their speeches to the 193-member world body.<\/p>\n

He didn’t identify any of the nations, though many spoke out about the plight of more than 420,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when Rohingya insurgent attacks on security forces prompted a military crackdown and reprisals by majority Buddhists.<\/p>\n

Among those who accused Myanmar of trying to rid itself of Rohingya were Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, and a number of Islamic countries, including the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

Suan denied those claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no ethnic cleansing. There is no genocide,\u201d he said. \u201cThe leaders of Myanmar, who have long been striving for freedom and human rights, will not espouse such policies. We will do everything to prevent ethnic cleansing and genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n

He called the issue of Rakhine State \u201cextremely complex\u201d and urged U.N. member states and the\u00a0international\u00a0community \u201cto see the situation in northern Rakhine objectively and in an unbiased manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pointing to the initial attack by the insurgent Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, known as ARSA, he said: \u201cIt is the responsibility of every government to fight against terrorism and protect innocent civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ambassador said there are several reasons for the exodus and \u201cprominent among them is the fear factor.\u201d Following the Aug. 25 attacks and the security operation, he said, \u201cmost of the women and children were forced to flee\u201d while men were conscripted into ARSA to fight Myanmar’s security forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scorched earth policy employed by the terrorists is another factor,\u201d Suan said. \u201cThe terrorists planted IEDs everywhere, blew up bridges, and committed arsons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amnesty\u00a0International\u00a0has said it turned up evidence of an \u201corchestrated campaign of systematic burnings\u201d by Myanmar security forces targeting dozens of Rohingya villages. The human rights group released video, satellite photos, witness accounts and other data that found over 80 sites were torched and said as recently as Friday that fresh fires continued in Rakhine and that satellite and video images showed smoke rising from Muslim villages.<\/p>\n

The Rohingya have faced persecution and discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar for decades and are denied citizenship, even though they have lived there for generations. The government says there is no such ethnicity as Rohingya and argues they are Bengalis who illegally migrated to Myanmar from Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence last Wednesday lamented the \u201cterrible savagery\u201d of Myanmar’s security forces and warned that the violence against the Rohingya will \u201csows seeds of hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n

He called for an end to violence and a long-term solution and urged the U.N. Security Council to take \u201cstrong and swift action\u201d and \u201cto give hope and help to the Rohingya people in their hour of need.\u201d He did not specify what kind of action he was seeking.<\/p>\n

The council, the U.N.’s most powerful body, is scheduled to hold private consultations on Myanmar on Tuesday and an open meeting on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Suan said humanitarian assistance is the government’s top priority and in co-operation with the Red Cross it has started humanitarian assistance to the displaced.<\/p>\n

He said a commission led by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that called for economic development and social justice to counter deadly violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine has provided the government with \u201ca clear roadmap\u201d ahead.<\/p>\n

——<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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