23 August 2012
Kathmandu, Nepal
The South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE), a regional civil society network encompassing all eight countries of South Asia, absolutely condemns the sectarian violence in Burma targeting the Rohingya Muslims and calls for an immediate end to this heinous human rights violation.
The long drawn struggle of the Rohingya peoples for their rights is currently exacerbated by the state sponsored pogrom, an attempt of ethnic cleansing by the Government, of a community which comprises approximately 25 per cent of the population residing in the Rakhine State of Burma. The Rohingyas have been continuously fighting against the persecution, discrimination and marginalisation by the state who has denied them citizenship rights to date.
SAAPE calls on the Government of Burma to immediately end the on-going violence which has not only claimed countless lives of the Rohingyas but also rendered them as refugees, with women and children bearing the brunt of this grave humanitarian crisis. The Burmese Government must grant citizenship rights to the Rohingyas, truly demonstrating democratic practice and principles to its peoples.
SAAPE calls on the Government of Bangladesh to provide asylum to the Rohingyas fleeing from threat to life and freedom from their own soil. SAAPE demands an immediate stepping up of the aid efforts to the Rohingya Muslims fleeing from Burma and calls on the Government of Bangladesh to take necessary steps to provide the immediate relief with assistance of the international aid groups.
SAAPE calls on the international community to raise their voice against this brutal act and use their leverage for an immediate and just solution to the on-going crisis.
SAAPE calls on all democratic forces in Burma to come together unitedly for the promotion of peace and harmony in the country.
South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE)