June 2, 2015

Obama calls on Myanmar to end Rohingya discrimination

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Tuesday 02 Jun 2015 - 12:59 Makkah mean time-15-8-1436

President Obama (Photo: Al Jazeera site)

Washington (IINA) – U.S. President Barack Obama said that Myanmar needed to take seriously the issue of how it treats the Rohingya people if it wanted to be successful in its transition to a democracy, Al Jazeera News reported.
Obama, speaking to a group of young Asians invited to the White House, said the United States was focused on making sure Rohingya, who have been subjected to human trafficking or are adrift at sea, are relocated.
Myanmar's government does not recognize the Rohingyas, who make up the majority of the migrants involved in the current crisis, as an ethnic group, arguing instead they are originally Bangladeshis. Bangladesh also does not recognize them as citizens.
According to Human Rights Watch, Rohingyas – who have lived in Myanmar for generations – are victims of an ongoing ethnic cleansing.
Earlier on Monday, Anne Richard, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for population, migration and refugees, said resettling all Rohingya refugees in the United States would entice others to leave their homeland.
"The answer to the issue is peace and stability and citizenship for the Rohingyas in Rakhine state, and that is the solution," she said at the end of a three-day visit to Malaysia.
"At the moment, there is tremendous persecution and oppression of the Rohingyas in Rakhine state. They do not have citizenship and we are concerned about their human rights," she added.
AB/IINA
 

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