ANC calls on Myanmar to end Rohingya attacks

The ANC has called on Myanmar’s government to grant the Rohingya citizenship.

The ANC has condemned the continued discrimination and displacement of the Rohingya people in Myanmar, which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people, including women and children, being displaced.

The Rohingya people are an ethnic group comprising a Muslim majority who have lived for decades in the predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.

The group has been denied citizenship in Myanmar since 1982 and subjected to discrimination. Most Rohingya in Myanmar live in coastal Rakhine state, the poorest in the country, without basic services and opportunities.

In a statement attributed to Edna Molewa, chairperson of the ANC national executive committee subcommittee on international relations, the party called on the Myanmar government to put a stop to the constant attacks on Rohingya people and allow those who have fled to return to their places of birth.

“The ANC condemns not only the violence being perpetrated against Rohingya men, women and children by the military, but the decades-long apartheid discrimination they have faced, dating back to British colonial rule,” said Molewa.

Molewa also called on the international community to put pressure on the Myanmar government to stop “the indiscriminate attacks” on the Rohingya people.

“We further call on the Myanmar government to take the necessary steps to grant them nationality,” said Molewa.

The ANC has also called on Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to put effort into ensuring that the Rohingya people return to their country of origin and protecting their right to live and work with dignity.

Molewa has called on South African government departments, led by theDepartment of International Relations and Co-operation, and humanitarian organisations to contribute towards humanitarian relief efforts.

The US and the EU have been considering targeted sanctions against Myanmar’s military leaders, diplomats and officials.

Rohingya people are fleeing to neighbouring countries. Reports by the International Organisation for Migration has estimated that from October to July, 87 000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh.