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April 22nd, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Burma’s
Rohingya Muslims are referred to as “Bengals” by many officials
and ordinary Burmese and are regarded as a stateless colonial leftover
despite the community’s generations-long history in the country.
The Burmese government has refused to discuss the BBC allegations, nor a
report documenting Muslim mass graves and dozens of destroyed town from
Human Rights Watch (HRW) that was also published on Monday. In the deadliest
incident, according to the rights watchdog, up to 70 Muslims, including 28
children, were reportedly killed in a village after police and soldiers
disarmed them and failed to protect them from a mob.
Ye Htut, a presidential spokesman, accused HRW of timing its report to
coincide with the EU sanctions decision. “The government will not pay
attention to such a one-sided report,” he said.
Burma will publish its own official inquiry into the outbreak of attacks,
which HRW said stretched across hundreds of townships, on Tuesday.
Campaign groups have urged democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to speak out more
forcefully on the plight of Myanmar’s minorities, in the build-up to general
elections due to take place in 2015.
“The Burmese government engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against
the Rohingya that continues today through the denial of aid and restrictions
on movement,” said Phil Robertson, HRW deputy Asia director.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader, has refused to condemn the
sectarian violence, although her party has called for an end to official
discrimination against minority Muslims.
Separately Thein Sein, the Burmese president who launched the recent wave of
reform by releasing Miss Suu Kyi from house arrest, has been granted the “In
pursuit of peace” award by the leading foreign affairs think tank, the
International Crisis Group.
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