Burma Campaign UK urges signing a petition to stop genocide of the Rohingya people


Burma Campaign, UK has launched a campaign urging the EU members to stop the genocide of Rohingyas of Myanmar.  https://action.burmacampaign.org.uk/stop-ethnic-cleansing-rohingya-eu-must-act
I support their campaign, and my letter (modified slightly - shown in the bottom in bold font - from that of the Burma Campaign) is shared below:
===================
Dear Foreign Minister
As you are aware, Burma is currently experiencing its worst human rights crisis in decades. The United Nations has stated that what is happening is a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’ and that ‘the scale of suffering in Rakhine state in unimaginable.’
This exceptional situation requires an exceptional response, but to date the response of the European Union has been nothing more than a couple of weak statements by the EU External Action Service which didn’t even use the word Rohingya.
I am writing as a supporter of Burma Campaign UK to urge you to take action at the upcoming EU Foreign Affairs Council on October 16th. If there are no practical outcomes from this meeting, it will be interpreted by Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military in Burma, that he can continue to act with impunity.
There is no single measure that can be taken to force Min Aung Hlaing to end his campaign of ethnic cleansing, but there are many actions that can be taken which will start to apply effective pressure, all that is needed is political will.
Such measures should include:
• EU support for a UN mandated global arms embargo.
• Visa bans on military personnel, with exceptions made only for meetings specifically on human rights.
• Expanding the existing arms embargo to ban European companies from supplying any kind of equipment to the military.
• Banning new investment in and business relationships with military owned companies and members of the military and their families.
• All European countries ending any form of training and co-operation with the military in Burma.
This form of sanctions targets the military and their interests rather than the general population of the country. These sanctions will not just have short and long term impacts on the military in terms of finance and equipment. Equally powerful is the political message that they send to Min Aung Hlaing, for whom international acceptance and co-operation is clearly very important.
It is important to avoid the kind of mistakes made in the previous implementation of sanctions on Burma by the EU. Tokenistic measures in order to be seen to be doing something, in lieu of genuinely practical sanctions, should be avoided. For example, an asset freeze applied against certain individuals and entities, in the full knowledge that few if any assets exist in the EU to be frozen, should be avoided.
Nor will a decade’s long slow incremental increase in sanctions be effective. Sanctions must not simply be applied as a slap on the wrist after an atrocity. They must go hand in hand with a comprehensive diplomatic strategy to pressure the military to agree to change. This must incorporate all economic, legal, and diplomatic options.
The European Union must also make it clear to Aung San Suu Kyi and the government of Burma that future cooperation and support is conditional on an end to the policy of lying about the situation and denying human rights violations are taking place, ending policies oppressing the Rohingya, and lifting all restrictions on humanitarian aid to everyone in Rakhine State and the rest of the country.
The international community, including the European Union, has failed the Rohingya. Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them children, have paid the price. For thousands that price has been their life. On October 16th this must start to change. The European Union must use every tool at its disposal to try to pressure Min Aung Hlaing to halt this campaign of ethnic cleansing. Everything that can be done must be done.  The time is long past due for action.

The Responsibility to Protect is a political commitment unanimously adopted by all  members of the United Nations General Assembly at the 2005 World Summit. I wonder why EU cannot apply R2P in the matter of the Rohingya.

I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Habib Siddiqui

Please, consider signing the petition ASAP.
https://action.burmacampaign.org.uk/stop-ethnic-cleansing-rohingya-eu-must-act

Thanks.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Defining the Biden Doctrine

George Soros at the Davos Forum