The UN has described the Rohingya Muslim community in Burma as the Palestine of Asia and one of the most-persecuted minorities in the world.
Countries around the world have been urged to intervene to stop the brutal massacre of Muslims in Myanmar on the grounds of human rights and killing of innocent civilians. However, despite the countless calls for intervention the massacre of Muslims remains to continue without successful intervention from human rights organisations or government officials.
It is heart-wrenching to see innocent civilians, babies and children losing their lives and facing extreme violations of their basic human rights. In Burma, Rohingya Muslims are not even considered to be worth of citizenship. In addition Burma's 1982 Citizenship Act does not even bother to recognize them as one of the country's national races.
Rohingya Muslims are essentially stateless people who are not even allowed to attend educational institutions. The government in Burma continue to restrict the Rohingya community from living a normal life and restricts their movement within Rakhine state and beyond its borders. The injustices do not stop with just restrictions but move on to severe violence, killings, physical and verbal abuse and oppression. Rohingya Muslims are also forced into unpaid labour to help government-run projects, like breaking stones to build roads. Human Rights Watch reports some children had been forced into labour work as early as the age of seven.
The violation of human rights is clearly evident due to the continued bloodshed of the Rohingya people over the years. Despite the prevalence of human right violations there needs to be more action implemented to held those accountable and bring them to justice. In addition, governments need to work together to implement strategies to help the Rohingya community, to give them a safe place to live and enable them to rebuild and rehabilitate their lives.
There are many obstacles that we need to overcome in order to expose the intolerances of governments and the many accounts of human rights violations that remain in the world today. Powerful states continually manipulate the law and try their best to conceal their crimes from international criticism for their own political advantage, however when crimes are being done openly leaders need to take action to make those accountable be brought to justice.
Ensuring accountability is important because, first and foremost, those who have suffered harm have a right to truth and justice. institutions. Efficient and effective mechanisms for accountability can The atrocities taking place in Burma have heightened due to the fact that there is no one being brought to justice and stopped from carrying out this brutal form of genocide.
Ironically, hundreds of demonstrators in Myanmar have decided to protest against what they call "bullying" by the international community. I think the real bullies need to take a good hard look at themselves and facilitate better living conditions so that this community would never of had to resort to migrating or being stranded at sea.
Asia director of Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams, said neighbouring ASEAN countries needed to do more for the Rohingya, who had fallen prey to human traffickers because of their desperate situation in Myanmar.
"Just as important, there will be no long-term solution unless [Myanmar] ends its rights-abusing and discriminatory policies toward the Rohinga and joins other countries in taking action against smugglers and traffickers who abuse and prey on them," he added.
There has been a call for the mainstream media to highlight the plight of the Rohingya Muslims plight in Burma and a call for government officials to step in and help in the plight. Human rights organisations need to help provide the much needed support and intervention that the Rohingya community so desperately need.