Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has today written to the Burmese
Embassy in London calling for an end to the block on humanitarian aid to
internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Rakhine and Kachin
States.
Additionally, and as part of CSW’s Stop The Block on Aid campaign,
a petition signed by Paul Scully MP (Conservative), Valerie Vaz MP (Labour),
Jonathan Ashworth MP (Labour), David Burrowes MP (Conservative) and 7,000
members of the public will be sent to the Burmese mission to the United
Nations.
Valerie
Vaz, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and Labour Member of Parliament for
Walsall South said: “A
grave human tragedy is unfolding in Rakhine State, Burma, and it is imperative
that immediate action is taken to ensure emergency humanitarian aid reaches
those who need it. That is why I am delighted to support CSW's campaign and
to add my voice to this petition. Action is needed now to save
lives”
The death of nine police officers on Burma’s border with Bangladesh in
Rakhine State on 9 October, which the Burmese military claimed was an act of
terrorism by a small group of Rohingya Muslims, was used as a pretext to launch
a military offensive against civilians and has led to the worst human rights and
humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State since 2012. On 13 December, the UN reported
that out of the 150,000 people who were receiving aid before 9 October, 130,000
people no longer had access to humanitarian aid.
David
Burrowes, Conservative Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate, said: “It
is essential that the government of Burma act swiftly to prevent further loss of
life, by lifting all restrictions on humanitarian aid. It is vital that the
world act to put pressure on Burma to prevent further loss of life and allow
access to aid. It is also very important to hold an international, independent
inquiry into the causes of this current crisis. I am therefore delighted to
support CSW’s much-needed campaign and
to stand with other Members of Parliament and over 7,000 signatories to the
petition in calling for urgent action.”
Both
the letter and the petition also call on the Burmese government to initiate an
independent inquiry into grave human rights violations in Rakhine State and to
introduce policies which combat the root causes of ethnic and religious tension.
International media have been denied access to Rakhine
State.
Paul
Scully, Conservative Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam and co-chair of
the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Burma, who visited Burma with CSW in
2015, said: “We
know that there are people being killed, we know that there are people being
raped, and we know that people are being displaced, often with their villages
being burned down. And that’s why we want more transparency, more openness and
we want to allow journalists into the camps in Rakhine state and humanitarian
aid to get to those most in need. So we are calling on the government in Myanmar
to allow that access, to allow that support from international organizations and
journalists”.
At
least 30,000 Rohingya Muslims have been internally displaced, and hundreds have
died in the violence. Since 1 November, it is estimated that close to 27,000
people have fled to Bangladesh. The 1982 citizenship law does not recognise the
Rohingya as a Burmese ethnic group and is one of the root causes of the
systematic discrimination of the Rohingya in
Burma.
Jonathan Ashworth, Shadow Health Secretary and Labour Member of
Parliament for Leicester South, said: "The
Rohingyas have suffered intense persecution for too long, and this current
humanitarian crisis requires urgent action to stop ethnic cleansing and crimes
against humanity. The Burma Army’s response to the attacks on the border guard
posts has been grossly disproportionate, resulting in innocent civilians shot
dead, children killed and people at risk of death from starvation and denial of
health care. I welcome CSW’s petition and campaign to urge Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s government to lift all restrictions on
aid, and to call for an international, independent inquiry into the causes of
this current crisis. This emergency has the hallmarks of another Rwanda, Darfur,
Bosnia or Kosovo. Action is long overdue.”
In
Kachin State, more than 100,000 of the predominantly Christian ethnic Kachin
people are in IDP camps. The petition also calls for an end to military attacks
in Kachin and Northern Shan State and for immediate unrestricted access to be
granted to humanitarian aid agencies in Kachin
State.
CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, “Recent
events in Rakhine State have brought a long-running humanitarian tragedy into
the spotlight. CSW has been campaigning for an end to blocks on aid since the beginning of September and that
call is now more urgent than ever. There must also be an inquiry into alleged
crimes against humanity, and legislation such as the 1982 Citizenship Law and
Section 295 (a) of the Penal Code, which entrench religious and ethnic tension,
should be reviewed”.
