Thursday, March 28, 2013

Rohingya Muslims in Burma


Rohingya Muslims in Burma (Myanmar) have been subjugated to violent attacks since June of 2012.  Do to this, many of them have fled the violence and have sought shelter in IDP or International Displaced Person camps that are ran by the Burmese Government.  The 15 most populous camps are in the Burmese capital of Sittwe.  Recently, the Burmese government has restricted humanitarian aid to these camps.  These people do not have enough food, adequate shelter, medical care, latrines, and other necessities or freedom.  The most troublesome part is that the camps are located in low lying places or paddy fields, which heavily flood in May.  This will make the shelters overflow with water which is quite alarming.  Also, neighborhoods of Rohingya Muslims have militia guards in front of their neighborhoods and are not allowed to leave.  They are quickly running out of food and cannot receive humanitarian aid since they are not ‘displaced’.  The European Commission and the UN have both warned Burma about their treatment of Rohingya Muslims and the fact that the Burmese government has done nothing to address these problems.  The Burmese government has refused citizenship to Rohingya Muslims, stopped them from leaving the IDF camps, restricted marriages and children, and has made them pay heavy fines for marrying and having children.  I do not think this is right at all.  These people obviously need help as they are starving and are about to get flooded by water if their camp is not moved.  The conditions they are inhabitable and they cannot make it better because they cannot leave their camp.  It is also worrisome that have very limited access to food, water, shelter, or health centers.  This is should not be happening and needs to be address.  I also think that it is horrible that humanitarian aid is not allowed their due to the Burmese government banning them.

1 comment:

  1. www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/26/burma-rohingya-muslims-face-humanitarian-crisis

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