BUDDHIST MOB SETS FIRE TO ROHINGYA VILLAGE
Maungdaw, 28 Rabiul Awwal 1435/30 January 2014 (MINA) – Since violence erupted in Rakhine state in June 2012, hundreds have been killed, at least 145,000 Rohingya Muslims have been displaced, tens of thousands are in desperate need of humanitarian aid and similar numbers have fled the country.
A violent Buddhist mob is burning down homes in the West of Duchiradan village in Rakhine state, Myanmar, according to local reports, Rohingya News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Thursday.
On Tuesday, AA sources said that at least seven homes have been burnt down, in the same village where at least 48 Rohingya were killed last week. The police and military are reportedly at the scene and are restricting access to Rohingya people trying to return to their village.
A year and a half after the initial violence erupted, displaced Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state still lack adequate shelter, drinking water, sanitation, and health care.
Rohingya Muslims are not recognized as Myanmar citizens under the 1982 Citizenship Law. In 2013 Myanmar’s President Thein Sein visited the UK on the first official visit of a Myanmar president to the country.
“THERE IS NO RULE OF LAW”
A Burmese Buddhist Nobel Peace Prize winner lady and Myanmar’s opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to speak out strongly in their defence.
Asked how she would describe what is happening there “On Talk to Al Jazeera” program, she says, “I don’t know what is happening there, but what has always concerned me from the very beginning and I have talked about it often, but nobody seems to be really interested in it, is the lack of rule of law. I have always said that the first step we must take is to establish rule of law, that both communities may feel safe, and then we can progress towards a situation where we can talk over the problems and try to find lasting solutions. But when there is no rule of law and people are in fear of their life and their security, it is very difficult for them to be able to sit down and talk things over.”
Aung San Suu Kyi says she cannot decide what is done in the Rakhine state. “I’m not part of the government …. I cannot say why there is no rule of law, but it is not for me to establish rule of law, I don’t have the authority. People forget that even as an opposition leader I am the leader of 44 MPs in a legislature of over 600, and yet they expect me to be able to do the things that only government really has the right or authority to do … I think this is the price you pay when you have received so much support and sympathy from the world all over, that they would expect you to live up to certain expectations, but I have never claimed that I could do everything I wanted in Burma,” she says.
“I don’t think one person can be wholly responsible for change in his or her country …. I have never claimed that I could do everything I wanted in Burma,” said Aung San Suu Kyi in an interview with Al Jazeera, December 28, 2013. (T/P01/E01).
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
