MPs slam persecution of Muslims in Burma

ROCHDALE’S two MPs have spoken out about the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Burma.

About 164,000 Rohingya have flooded into Bangladesh since violence erupted in Burma, also called Myanmar, on August 25, the UN’s refugee agency said.

The conflict was triggered by an attack by Rohingya militants on police posts.

This sparked a military counter-offensive that has forced a flood of Rohingya civilians from their villages.

The Rohingya are a stateless mostly Muslim ethnic minority who have faced persecution in Burma.

Many of those who have fled describe troops and Rakhine Buddhist mobs razing their villages and killing civilians in a campaign to drive them out.

Speaking in Parliament last week Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd urged the UK government to condemn the inaction of the Burmese state in the strongest possible terms.

He said: “When the Minister has finally clarified the facts, will he condemn as genocide what everybody else believes to be genocide? What is the value of having a democratic dialogue if the result is the persecution and massacre of a whole group of people?”

In a strongly worded letter to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Mr Lloyd added: “You will recall similar circumstances in the past, in Kosovo for example or before that in Bosnia, where we saw alleged military action by armed groups used to justify genocidal actions. In both cases this led to intense periods of diplomatic action and a military response by NATO. I am clearly not advocating military action in this case, but I am drawing attention to the seeming lack of international action in the case of the Rohingya.

I would be grateful to know what action you and this government have taken to bring pressure to bear on authorities within Myanmar. I wish to know what direct communication has been made with Aung San Suu Kyi, the state counsellor, as de facto head of government. I also wish to know what action you have taken at international level with the EU/UN, and whether you have demanded action from the UN Security Council on this issue.”

Heywood and Middleton MP and Shadow For- ●●MPs Tony Lloyd and Liz McInnes (inset) have spoken out about the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar that has forced them to flee into Bangladesh eign and Commonwealth Affairs Minister Liz McInnes said: “The Government must do everything they can to help to bring an end to this senseless violence. Ministers must set clear and unambiguous red lines for Myanmar’s authorities—civilian and military—when it comes to respecting human rights. If those red lines are crossed, there should be consequences. For instance, in the light of recent events, it seems wholly inappropriate that in the past three years this Government have sold weapons worth more than half a million pounds to the Government of Myanmar.”