Pro-Rohingya rally urges Ottawa to help end persecution in Burma
JACQUES GALLANT/TORONTO STAR
About 100 people attend a rally in Queen's Park Saturday
that urged Ottawa to press Burma to end persecution of the Rohingya
Muslim minority in the Southeast Asian country.
Ottawa should be far more vocal in
urging Burma to end the persecution of the Rohingya people in the
Southeast Asian country, said demonstrators at Queen’s Park on Saturday.
In an article published Thursday in the Star, a group of Rohingyas resettled in Kitchener told of the harsh conditions faced by the Muslim minority in Burma, where they must request permission to marry, sign pledges to have no more than two children and are forced into labour projects.
Many Rohingyas have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they live in refugee camps.
About 100 people took part in Saturday’s rally, sharing tales of rape, beatings and house-burnings at the hands of Burma’s Buddhist majority. They lamented the lack of western media coverage of their plight. One called the Star’s front-page story this week “an anomaly.”
Tabasum Hussain, a rally participant who learned of the plight of the Rohingyas only a few weeks ago, said the silence on the issue is frightening.
“This place, Burma, is it of no geopolitical interest to the major global parties that are involved in the Middle East? Why is it just the Middle East attracting attention?” Hussain asked. “Thousands of people are being massacred in Burma: where is the condemnation? Where are the sanctions? Where are the calls for NATO troops to be flown in? Don’t these lives have any value?”
The demonstrators want Canada to press Burma to repeal a 1982 law that stripped Rohingyas of citizenship rights. They also want an independent investigation into the violence, a call echoed earlier this month by Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN’s special envoy on human rights in Burma.
In a statement emailed to the Star this week, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s media secretary Rick Roth said Baird has expressed his concerns to his Burmese counterpart, and Canada continues to monitor the situation.
Dozens of Burmese in Toronto demonstrated in front of the Toronto Star newspaper on Saturday to voice their concern over an article published on Aug. 25 about a pro-Rohingya rally that urged the Canadian government to help end the unrest in western Burma.
In an open letter sent to the newspaper, the Canadian Friends of Burma said the article “offended the Burmese community in Toronto and across Canada. Especially, the article's paragraph four: "People… sharing tales of rape, beating and house-burning at the hands of Burma's Buddhist majority."
The article focused on one group in the conflict in Burma’s western state, it said.
“Members of Burmese community are shocked by false allegations, fake pictures and insulting slogans in recent pro-Rohingya protests in Toronto, for such careless, random and inconsiderate attempts willy-nilly tarnish the image of Burmese community in general and Buddhist Burmese community in particular,” said the letter.
The protesters called on the media to carefully examine information, materials and stories distributed by some special interest groups.
Burmese leaders met with a representative of the newspaper and had a chance to raise the issue. Afterwards, they marched to a nearby legislative building and delivered speeches. Jim Karygiannis, a federal Liberal MP and interim chairman of Parliamentary Friends of Burma (PFOB), also spoke.
“We don’t want to side with any group in the conflict,” said protest organizers. “We don’t want the conflict to extend further, and we want all parties involved to find a viable solution.”
In an article published Thursday in the Star, a group of Rohingyas resettled in Kitchener told of the harsh conditions faced by the Muslim minority in Burma, where they must request permission to marry, sign pledges to have no more than two children and are forced into labour projects.
Many Rohingyas have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they live in refugee camps.
About 100 people took part in Saturday’s rally, sharing tales of rape, beatings and house-burnings at the hands of Burma’s Buddhist majority. They lamented the lack of western media coverage of their plight. One called the Star’s front-page story this week “an anomaly.”
Tabasum Hussain, a rally participant who learned of the plight of the Rohingyas only a few weeks ago, said the silence on the issue is frightening.
“This place, Burma, is it of no geopolitical interest to the major global parties that are involved in the Middle East? Why is it just the Middle East attracting attention?” Hussain asked. “Thousands of people are being massacred in Burma: where is the condemnation? Where are the sanctions? Where are the calls for NATO troops to be flown in? Don’t these lives have any value?”
The demonstrators want Canada to press Burma to repeal a 1982 law that stripped Rohingyas of citizenship rights. They also want an independent investigation into the violence, a call echoed earlier this month by Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN’s special envoy on human rights in Burma.
In a statement emailed to the Star this week, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s media secretary Rick Roth said Baird has expressed his concerns to his Burmese counterpart, and Canada continues to monitor the situation.
( Remark: : Please continue reading to relative Burmese news, below.
Blogger )Burmese natives demonstrate in Toronto
Dozens of Burmese in Toronto demonstrated in front of the Toronto Star newspaper on Saturday to voice their concern over an article published on Aug. 25 about a pro-Rohingya rally that urged the Canadian government to help end the unrest in western Burma.
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In an open letter sent to the newspaper, the Canadian Friends of Burma said the article “offended the Burmese community in Toronto and across Canada. Especially, the article's paragraph four: "People… sharing tales of rape, beating and house-burning at the hands of Burma's Buddhist majority."
The article focused on one group in the conflict in Burma’s western state, it said.
“Members of Burmese community are shocked by false allegations, fake pictures and insulting slogans in recent pro-Rohingya protests in Toronto, for such careless, random and inconsiderate attempts willy-nilly tarnish the image of Burmese community in general and Buddhist Burmese community in particular,” said the letter.
The protesters called on the media to carefully examine information, materials and stories distributed by some special interest groups.
Burmese leaders met with a representative of the newspaper and had a chance to raise the issue. Afterwards, they marched to a nearby legislative building and delivered speeches. Jim Karygiannis, a federal Liberal MP and interim chairman of Parliamentary Friends of Burma (PFOB), also spoke.
“We don’t want to side with any group in the conflict,” said protest organizers. “We don’t want the conflict to extend further, and we want all parties involved to find a viable solution.”
Burmese in Toronto Protest Media ‘Misinformation Campaign’
Members of the Burmese community protest outside the Toronto Star office on Saturday. PHOTO: Lwan Thu
The protesters urged the national media to carefully examine information, materials and stories distributed by some interest groups which, they said, are trying to tarnish the image of the Burmese community in general and the Buddhist Burmese community in particular.
“We don’t want the conflict extended further and want all parties concerned to find a viable solution here both in Canada and Burma,” said Tin Maung Htoo of the Canadian Friends of Burma NGO following the protest in front of the Toronto Star office.
He told The Irrawaddy that the media play a large role in the understanding of the conflict and the issue, and that they should be careful before taking information to the the public.
He added that the protest was addressed to, among others, Jim Karygiannis, a Canadian Liberal MP and interim chairman of the Parliamentary Friends of Burma.
“Members of the Burmese community are shocked by false allegations, fake pictures and insulting slogans in recent pro-Rohingya protests in Toronto, for such careless, random and inconsiderate attempts willy-nilly tarnish the image of Burmese community in general and Buddhist Burmese community in particular,” said a letter submitted by the Burmese Community in Toronto to the Toronto Star.
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