The Rohingya Muslim minority in Burma have been described as one the most persecuted minorities in the world by the United Nations. There are 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims living in Burma who have had to flee for their lives due to the ill treatment from the Myanmar government under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kii.
There has been minimal international media attention of the Rohingya crisis despite the fact that if this tragedy was happening in the west it would be featured on every major news outlet as breaking news. There have been very few international leaders who have spoken out against the silent genocide apart from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has been actively calling for more action to be taken.
Having been writing on the plight of the Rohingya throughout the years, I decided to collaborate with renowned journalist and activist CJ Werleman to launch a social media campaign video for international leaders to speak up against the injustices that are occurring against the Rohingya. To remain silent is to remain indifferent to the suffering of the persecuted which is why in my capacity as a journalist and Universal Peace Federation Ambassador for Peace I decided to openly speak out with the hope that more will be done for the Rohingya community.
The reaction from pro- Aung San Suu Kii supporters were baffling denying the genocide altogether and instead launching a discriminatory backlash against the Rohingya who are not even given the basic right to citizenship in Burma.
There are unprecedented human rights violations that have been inflicted on the Rohingya Muslim minority in Burma leading to more than 500,000 Rohingya refugees seeking refuge in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Rohingya refugees have been through some of the most harrowing experiences facing mass killings, gang rapes, beheadings and watching their loved ones being killed in front of them.
Myanmar's military assault on innocent civilians has resulted in more than 400 innocent civilians men, women, elderly and even babies being driven out of the country on a mass scale, with their homes being burnt by the army. Aung San Suu Kii continues to deny the burning of homes and human rights violations against the Rohingya community despite there being increased evidence and statements from the refugees themselves.
Many refugees have walked for days through jungles and conflict zones and many of those who have made it to the border camps in Bangladesh are severely wounded and in need of urgent medical assistance. There is a growing humanitarian crisis in the overstretched border camps in Bangladesh where water, food rations and medical supplies are running out of stock. There are also increased fears that many Rohingya refugees may be stuck in conflict zones.
More harrowingly, the UN has reported that many aid agencies have been blocked from assisting Rohingya refugees in delivering food supplies, water and medical assistance. The deprivation of humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya community is a denial of their basic human rights. For the Myanmar government to deny participation in inflicting oppression against the Rohingya community is absurd when there is clear evidence of the mounting human rights violations against them.
Aung San Suu Kyi, has built an increasingly antagonistic relationship with humanitarian organisations in the country accusing aid workers helping 'terrorists' when in reality it is the government of Myanmar that is terrorising innocent civilians at the hands of their own political agenda.
Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai and Muslim-majority countries in Asia and Turkey have all spoken out against the lack of action to hold those accountable to justice for the genocide of the Rohingya. However, there is still a pressing need for more action to be taken and only when we speak up and put pressure through the use of social media and other platforms can we see a positive change in raising awareness and eventually ensuring that those responsible are held accountable in the eyes of the law.