Unilever CEO Paul Polman is in Southeast Asia now, and he did tell us that he would be discussing the Rohingya situation with Myanmar authorities while he is there this week.
The announcement by the regime that the crackdown in Arakan (Rakhine) state against the Rohingyas has been suspended coincides with Polman’s visit, and yes, it is plausible that our campaign helped to raise his own concern about the issue, and that Unilever’s influence played a role in the regime’s decision. But, the decision also comes after a very critical report by the United Nations, and Human Rights Watch as well; and these surely also factored in to the decision.
Nevertheless, this does not resolve the issue. The government has trained and deployed a civilian Buddhist armed police force in Arakan, so a continuation of intimidation, violence and repression is expected.
Furthermore, there is a core cause of the crisis that has not been addressed at all, which is the revocation of Rohingya citizenship. In 1982 the military regime abolished the citizenship of the Rohingya Muslims, and classified them as “illegal immigrants”, although their families have lived in Arakan for hundreds of years. This classification has left the Rohingya without a legal status in the country. They are technically stateless. They are an officially loathed population, subjected to extreme discrimination, persecution, and abuse. Until their citizenship rights are restored, they will remain perpetually eligible for genocide. The government actually drafted an 11 point plan for their reduction, and eventual extermination, and the regime has been implementing this plan point by point.
So, we are glad the military operation has officially been suspended, but the problem has not been solved; the ethnic cleansing of the Muslims of Arakan is ongoing.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-army-idUSKBN15V0BI
External Context سياق خارجي
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-army-idUSKBN15V0BI