The Rohingya Crisis - Oct 1, 2017
Written by Munawar HaqueThe Rohingya Crisis
Talk delivered by Dr. Munawar Haque on Oct 1st at a Rally in the city of Hamtramck in support of the Rohingya Muslims
Good afternoon everyone. Peace be with you. I am Munawar Haque—Imam of ‘The American Muslim Diversity Association’ located in the city of Sterling Heights. On behalf of the United Muslim Council of Michigan, I wish to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to all those who have gathered here, especially our dignitaries: Congressman – Sander Levin, State Senator - Bart Johnson, Hamtramck city officials: Mayor Karen Majewski, the police chief, the fire chief and the council members. I also thank the Imams of numerous mosques who are here to express their concern for the injustice, persecution, and genocide taking place in Myanmar or Burma.
Today’s rally is one of the many rallies taking place around the world in support of the Rohingya people who are mostly Muslims. Across the globe, Muslims are reacting, sometimes with fury, to the persecution of the Rohingya minority in Burma. The Rohingya don’t want our anger. They want our help.
The Rohingya crisis is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made disaster plaguing our world. Just as natural disasters anywhere in the world bring back people from all backgrounds to come together and work to relieve the suffering of those affected by the disasters, the Rohingya predicament is also calling people from all backgrounds to come together and work to relieve the suffering of those affected by it.
Burma is signaling to its minority populations, who have no other place to go, that they are not welcome. Residing in a land without fear of harm or unjust expulsion is a God given right.
This humanitarian crisis had long gotten no attention from the world community, but now that’s changing, as the scope of the disaster comes into clearer focus. This calamity is impossible to ignore. In recent weeks, the enormity of the catastrophe has prompted France, the United States, and the United Nations to make strong statements condemning what has widely been called ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims at the hands of the Burmese regime. There are multiple reports and satellite imagery of security forces and local militia burning Rohingya villages, and consistent accounts of extrajudicial killings, including shooting fleeing civilians.
Since August, half of Burma’s Rohingya minority numbering about half a million has fled the country for the safety of neighboring Bangladesh. Along the border with Bangladesh, there are reports that the military has laid land mines to ensure that those fleeing won’t return. French President Emmanuel Macron has called the violence against the Rohingya—a genocide. 214 Rohingya villages, i.e., 50% of all villages, have been burned to ashes and more being burnt now.
This situation has spiraled into a fast-developing refugee emergency and a human rights nightmare. The U.S. ambassador to UN calls the actions of the Burmese authorities to be a brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority. The Rohingya Muslims, most of them women, children, and elderly are at the heart of the Rohingya crisis. They languish, desperate for food and shelter, and for the world to do more than merely condemn the government that drove them out from their homes.
Our approach to the humanitarian crisis in Burma must reflect our commitment to assist fellow human beings in need. Expressing concern alone isn't enough to make a difference on the ground. World leaders have to chalk out a comprehensive, long-term strategy to broker a permanent solution.
As a first step, we must ensure the safety of Rohingya Muslims by offering financial incentives to the government of Bangladesh, which remains the only safe haven for the persecuted minority. Moving forward, the international community must work with the government of Burma to ensure that the Rohingya Muslims are granted citizenship and that they return safely to their native land – Burma.
Humanity must not fail the Rohingya Muslims as it failed the hundreds of thousands of innocent people who perished in the genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda. The time to act is now. When it comes to the Rohingya crisis, the end goal should be "stop it now."
God bless you all.