Buddhist monks in Mandalay – for the third day – marched on Tuesday in
support of the deportation of Muslim minority Rohingya, prompting concerns of
international rights groups, some of whom have called on Aung San Suu Kyi to
speak out on the issue.
Unlike Burma’s 2007 “Saffron
Revolution” marches, the monks are now supporting remarks made by Burma’s
President Thein Sein, calling for the UN to find third countries that would
accept the Rohingyas, who largely live in Rakhine State and western Burma.
Human Rights Watch Deputy
Director for Asia Phil Robertson said the monks' moral authority raises the
stakes in the sectarian tensions, in an article published by Voice of America
(VOA) on Wednesday.
“The fact that these monks just
several years ago were protesting for democracy and human rights, and are today
now protesting for exclusion and potential deportation of a particular ethnic
group causes some concern that the government in Burma may in fact listen to
these kinds of voices,” he told VOA.
Some international groups have
called for Aung San Suu Kyi to take a strong stand on the Rohingya issue, to
help clarify the stakes. She has been criticized by some international groups
for not speaking up enough for the Rohingya, despite a campaign promise to
support reconciliation with ethnic minorities.
“I think that she should put her
weight behind the issue,” said Robertson. “You know, this is the time to do it.
This is the time to step up and demonstrate leadership. And, we hope she will
do it.”
Monk Ashin Kawmala of the
Mahamuni monastery told Radio Free Asia that Tuesday’s protest was an important
way for the monks, who are not allowed to vote, to act as a political force.
“We monks in Burma do not have
the right to vote, and it is not right that [we] do not have the right to do
anything at all,” he said. “None of the NGOs [non-governmental organizations]
in the world is larger than the Buddhist community. So we came to demonstrate
to express that.”
This week’s protests came about
three months after ethnic violence erupted between the Rohingyas and ethnic
Buddhists in western Burma’s Rakhine State that left scores of people dead and
tens of thousands displaced.
Monks who protested on Tuesday
shouted slogans and carried banners reading, “Protect Our Motherland,” “Protect
Rakhine State,” and “This is Our Land.”
Thein Sein’s call to deport the
Rohingyas, who have lived in Burma for generations, was swiftly rejected by the
UN refugee agency.
Robertson said that the
international community needs to see the Rohingya issue as the first test case
for a multi-ethnic Burma.
Burma has 135 legally recognized
minorities under a 1982 citizenship law that left out the Rohingya, who are
stateless. An estimated 800,000 live in Burma.
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