INDONESIAN MUSLIMS URGES MYANMAR TO STOP GENOCIDE IN ROHINGYA

Jakarta, 24 Jumadil Akhir 1434 / 4 May 2013 (MINA) – An Indonesian Muslims who are joined in National Committee for the Advocacy of Arakan-Rohingya (Komite Nasional Advokasi untuk Muslim Arakan-Rohingya/ Kamra) urged Myanmar government to immediately stop the genocide of Muslims in Arakan.

Kamra General Secretary, Bernard Abdul Jabbar requested for opening of dialogue with Myanmar government. “If Myanmar government did not open dialogue as well, then we will deploy a larger mass again”, he said when received by the representatives of Myanmar’s ambassador to Indonesia at the office of the Embassy of Myanmar, in Jakarta, Friday (3/5).

Kamra also demanded Myanmar’s government to immediately halt all forms of oppression and return on the Rohingya citizenship immediately.

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“Rohingya naturally come from Myanmar territory. They have been living there since centuriest ago. So, they have the right to live normally like other Myanmar citizens,” Abdul Jabbar added.

Kamra is also expressed, the president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on behalf of the government of Indonesia has been pressing Myanmar government to solve Rohingya issues, but, for twice of SBY’s speech, they ignored it. “It was indeed a stubborn Myanmar government, still they do not bother” said Kamra.

Bernad stated that the embassy of Myanmar has promised to hold a piece dialogue by inviting Islamic organizations to find solutions to solve the issues in Rohingya.

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“The results of our meeting is, they promised to open a piece dialogue by inviting Muslim organizations on two days ahead,” said Bernard.

The Rohingya are an ethnic group who practice Islam. They speak Rohingya, an Indo-European language of the Eastern Indic branch, closely related to Chittagonian and more distantly to Bengali. The origin of this group of people is disputed with some saying they are indigenous to the state of Rakhine (also known as Arakan, or Rohang in the Rohingya language) in Burma and others contending that they are Muslim migrants who originated in Bengal, latterly Bangladesh, and migrated to Burma during the period of British rule.

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The Rohingya are linguistically related to the Indo-Aryan peoples of India and Bangladesh (as opposed to the mainly Sino-Tibetan languages of Burma). According to the United Nations, they are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Many Rohingya have fled to ghettos and refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, and to areas along the Thai-Burma border. The Rohingya have been in the news in the wake of the 2012 Rakhine State riots. (L /P015/ P04)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)