Rohingya need our help

By now the misery that engulfs the lives of Burma’s Rohingya people is well-documented, despite every effort by that country to prevent the world from knowing their fate.

Indeed, the United Nations now considers the Rohingya to be the most persecuted minority in the world. There’s little reason to question that.

About 645,000 Rohingya have been living in unsanitary conditions with little food in camps in Bangladesh since they began fleeing Burma on Aug. 25.

Alarmingly, they are the lucky ones. After all, they escaped with their lives from what the Burmese army euphemistically called “clearance operations” — the systematic rapes, murders and burnings of their homes and villages.

What is to be done? Condemnations are not enough, as Human Rights Watch and 80 other NGOs warned the UN Security Council in a joint appeal. Instead, they called for the Security Council to impose an arms embargo against Burma’s military and target sanctions against officers responsible for “crimes against humanity.”

Canada, too, can step up pressure on Burma. Despite Burma’s ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, Canada has no immediate plans to hold Burmese leaders to account. Instead, a government spokesman said on Tuesday Canada would simply “continue to explore all possible options at our disposal, including targeted sanctions, to contribute to ending this tragic persecution.”

That falls short. While Canada is “exploring” options, the situation for the Rohingya grows more dire.

Toronto Star