Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, center, who chairs
the recently created Rakhine State Advisory Commission, is escorted by
local authorities as he arrvies arrives at the airport in Sittwe,
Rakhine state, Myanmar. More than 1,000 Buddhists in Sittwe wracked by
religious and ethnic strife protested Tuesday’s arrival of Annan, saying
the Ghanaian is meddling in the country’s affairs by leading a
government-appointed commission to find solutions to the conflict. (AP
Photo/Esther Htusan) The Associated Press
SITTWE, Myanmar (AP) — More than 1,000 Buddhists in a Myanmar state wracked by religious and ethnic strife protested Tuesday's arrival of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, saying the Ghanaian is meddling in the country's affairs by leading a government-appointed commission to find solutions to the conflict.
The Southeast Asian country set up the commission last
month to help find solutions to "protracted issues" in western Rakhine
state, where human rights groups have documented widespread abuses by
majority Rakhine Buddhists against minority Rohingya Muslims.
The state's dominant Arakan National Party and the
Rakhine Women Network led the protest about 300 meters (yards) from the
airport in Sittwe, the Rakhine capital, where Annan and other members of
the Rakhine Advisory Commission arrived Tuesday morning. As Annan's car
passed, the crowd shouted, "Dismiss the Kofi Annan-led Rakhine Advisory
Commission now."
"We came here because we don't want that foreigner coming
to our state," said May Phyu, a local Rakhine Buddhist resident. "I
don't know exactly what this group is and what they are doing, but I
came here to protest as I don't like them to come here.
"I cannot accept them talking about the Rakhine and kalar
case in our state," said protester Soe Thein. "Kalar" is a derogatory
word used in Myanmar to refer to Muslims.
Many Buddhists in Rakhine and across Myanmar consider
Rohingya to be Bangladeshis living in the country illegally, though the
ethnic group has been in Myanmar for generations. Hundreds of Rohingya
were killed and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes in 2012
unrest in Rakhine state, and many continue to be confined to squalid
camps there.
"We are here to help provide ideas and advice," Annan said at the Rakhine state government office, where he met government and police officials, community leaders and members of nongovernmental organizations.
"To build the future, the two major communities have to
move beyond decades of mistrust and find ways to embrace, share values
of justice, fairness and equity," he said. "Ultimately, the people of
Rakhine state must charge their own way forward."
Before Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government
created the commission, her international reputation as a Nobel Peace
Prize-winning democracy icon had been diminished by what some have
viewed as her inaction on the Rohingya issue. Her government still does
not even use the word "Rohingya."
"You will see for yourself all the problems on the ground
now," Suu Kyi, officially Myanmar state counselor and foreign minister,
told Annan and other commission members at a news conference Monday.
"You will be able to assess for yourself the roots of the problems
itself, not in one day, not in one week. But I am confident that you
will get there, that you will find the answers because you are truly
intent on looking for them."
The commission is to address human rights, ensuring
humanitarian assistance, rights and reconciliation, establishing basic
infrastructure and promoting long-term development plans.
During their six-day Rakhine trip, the commission will
visit the Rohingya camps and meet members of political and religious
groups. But the Arakan National Party said it will not meet or work with
the commission.
"Rakhine state is in Myanmar and our country has its own
sovereignty and there is no way we can accept a commission that is
formed by foreigners," ANP official Aung Than Wai said Tuesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment