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Key Asian meeting fails to resolve Rohingya issue |
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Written by admin
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Tuesday, 21 April 2009 |
BANGKOK, 17 April 2009 (IRIN) - A key Asian conference in Bali, Indonesia, on people smuggling and human trafficking has failed to discuss in detail or resolve the issue of the Rohingya ethnic minority, tens of thousands of whom are holed up in various Asian countries, having fled Myanmar.
The Rohingyas, a mainly Muslim minority with a distinct culture and language, have been fleeing persecution at the hands of Myanmar's military-led government for the past two decades - mostly to Bangladesh, where there are an estimated 200,000, but also to many other Asian countries.
A few are classed as refugees, but the majority are stateless migrants without rights. The conference focused only on the Rohingya problem as it related to people smuggling and human trafficking, though some had hoped for more.
"We had high hopes the Bali meeting might try to find a comprehensive regional approach to the whole Rohingya problem, but it did not really address any proper solution," said Chris Lewa, an expert on Rohingya issues with the Arakan Project, a human rights organisation which works mainly in Bangladesh. Read more >> |
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Bangladesh raises Rohingya issue in Bali |
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Written by admin
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Monday, 20 April 2009 |
Dhaka (Mizima) - Bangladesh has urged the Burmese junta to take back 28,000 remaining Rohingya, a Muslim minority, to their homeland.
Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr Dipu Moni, during a regional meeting in Bali on Thursday, called for a multilateral approach to solve the problem Rohingya people, who have in great number influx into Bangladesh.
"Bangladesh with its limited resources had done more than enough for the refugees from Myanmar over the last three decades. Myanmar [Burma] must now take back its own people," Dr. Moni said.
The foreign minister was addressing the 3rd Regional Ministerial Conference on "People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crimes" in Bali, Indonesia, a message received in the capital, Dhaka on Thursday said.
Bangladesh’s foreign minister strongly refuted the claim of Burmese Deputy Minister for Home Affairs and Chief of Police that Rohingya are not an ethnic entity of his country.
"The Rohingya are living in Myanmar [Burma] for centuries and many Rohingya even held high posts in the government of Myanmar [Burma]," Dr. Moni said. Read more >> |
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