Edited by Tom Proctor
Why Is the West Turning a Blind Eye to the Muslim Genocide in Myanmar?
Published in Novoe Vostochnoe Obozrenie
(Russia) on 6 August 2010
by Yuliya Chmelenko (link to original)
(Russia) on 6 August 2010
by Yuliya Chmelenko (link to original)
Translated from
by Tavus Kuliyeva.
Edited by .
Recently, the entire Muslim world has shuddered from the news of a mass slaughter outbreak against those professing Islam in Burma. Despite the sensational figures of the death toll, dramatically increased flow of refugees and multiple addresses made by representatives of Muslim countries in the U.N. to request immediate assistance in resolving the situation, the West is acting as if it doesn’t hear the calls for help. However, upon examination of this issue, the reasons behind such “deafness” in Europe and the U.S. become quite clear.
As of today, the government of Burma refuses to recognize the Muslims of the country as a religious minority or even give the followers of Islam civil rights. At the same time, the slogan of the governing State Peace and Development Council, under the leadership of the military government, proclaims a “disciplined, prosperous democracy.”
As it has become known, the summer of the current year was marked by a new outburst of massacre of Muslims, with the connivance of Buddhist regime of Burma. The Buddhists are carrying out arbitrariness in the state of Rakhine, where approximately 1.8 million Rohingya Muslims live. According to some reports, 20 thousand Muslims have already been murdered to date, and hundreds of thousands of refugees do not get aid of any sort. It’s worth recalling that the Rohingya people, descendants of inhabitants of Southeast Asia who accepted Islam in the 8th century from Arab traders, include approximately 800 thousand people. Throughout the decades, they have been repressed by the government. In 1978, 200 thousand Muslims fled to Bangladesh, escaping a bloody military operation. From 1991 to 1992, 250 thousand more went there, and 100 thousand fled to Thailand.
Today, a majority of Muslims are concentrated in the state of Rakhine (formerly Arakan). According to official reports, the reason behind the mass slaughter of Arakan Muslims was a conflict between Muslims and Buddhists. While authorities of Burma don’t give mass media agencies any access to the region, there have been approximately 80 victims according to their reports. However, activists among the Muslims of Arakan claim that the death toll is in the thousands and that the government not only ignores the situation but also participates in violence against Muslims. According to eyewitnesses, hundreds of Muslims, among which are women and children, are being exterminated by strangulation or being burnt alive. One of the refugees from Arakan in Bangladesh spoke about the horror he has witnessed. “In Arakan, women are raped and murdered. They catch men with beards, cut their beards off and kill them, and later bury them in mass graves. They oppress scholars and try to kill them. People can’t find any food; to stay alive, they eat leaves from trees and other plants. If they are fortunate, they attempt to flee to Bangladesh, but many of them die on their way. They want to exterminate Muslims once and for good. Buddhists, special forces and the police all operate together.”
Representatives of the oppressed Muslims of Burma are trying to take feasible actions against the chaos. One of them, Muhammad Yunus, turned to the government of Turkey for aid, urging it and the rest of the world to intervene in the extermination of the Rohingya. In turn, Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the U.N., demanding a resolution to the issue in western Burma and comparing the situation there with massacres in Gaza, Ramallah and Jerusalem.
Demonstrations with thousands of participants against the genocide of Muslims in Burma have also taken place in a variety of countries: Iran, Indonesia, Palestine, Pakistan, Thailand, etc. As a protest, hundreds of Iranians have organized a sitting demonstration next to the U.N. mission in Tehran. The participants of the demonstration have declared that international organizations are responsible for the scale of tragedy, since they are not trying to stop it. They have also demanded that the U.N. end the massacres, robberies, rapes and arrests of Muslims in Burma. In a number of countries, demonstrators demanded that their governments put pressure on authorities of Burma to protect followers of Islam.
It should be noted that representatives of the Taliban movement in Pakistan, Ehsanullah Ehsan, demanded the closing of the embassy of that country and the ending of all relations, saying that if the blood spilling isn’t stopped, the Taliban will stand up for Muslims of Burma themselves.
Meanwhile, the opposition leader of Burma and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is an active fighter for human rights, as well as the Dalai Lama, who is the head of the Buddhists, and the community of Europe and the U.S. initially didn’t react in any way and did not do anything to stop the killing of innocent people. Only after a wave of demonstrations rose in the countries of the Muslim world did General Secretary of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu urge the international community not to be indifferent toward violence against Muslims of Burma. Also, he sent letters to President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi with the request that urgent measures be taken to stop the violence occurring. In her turn, Aung San Suu Kyi called on the government to create laws that will protect human rights of the multiple ethnic minorities in the country torn by conflict. However, Rohingya Muslims are not included in her words, since they are not even registered in the list of 135 ethnic minorities of Burma.
It’s also necessary to note the tardy and ineffective reaction of members of the U.N. In response to the calls of Muslims of the entire world, members of the organization decided to send human rights experts to Burma. Even humanitarian aid for the refugees of Burma was organized by charitable organizations, mostly by the Turkish IHH and “Charitable Stone.”
However, the reason behind such a reaction of the U.N. is actually quite clear. Burma represents a huge interest for the economy and policies of the West. The country is attractive in terms of the extraction of oil, natural gas, copper, zinc, tin, wolfram, iron ore, etc. Burma is particularly famous for producing gemstones, especially rubies, 90 percent of which are obtained exactly there. Therefore, to draw China out of there is one of the most important tasks for the U.S. economy. Today, China has already affirmed its intention to surpass the American economy and to become number one in the world with its performance, which is likely to happen by 2018, according to the predictions of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Undoubtedly, pushing China out of Burma isn’t easy. China is already the third largest buyer of Burmese exports, and it is the top importer of goods to that country, with one-third of the market-share. Furthermore, China is closely connected with Burma in terms of military and technical cooperation, supplying Burma with a wide range of conforming products varying from fighter aircrafts to frigates.
That is exactly why under the aegis of reorienting Burma from China to “western democratic values,” the U.S. and E.U. seek to get the government of the country to refuse to cooperate with China and to stop having secret ties, which are related primarily to the nuclear sector. In this regard, the West is getting ready to partially cancel its political and economic sanctions against Burma, “thanks to democratic changes conducted by its authorities.” In order to provide “technical support,” experts from the World Bank and IMF are getting ready to visit the country.
Without a doubt, these prospects are attractive for the Asian country. Today, Burma finds itself in poverty, with one-third of its 60 million people existing on less than a dollar a day. And close economic cooperation with China has not changed the situation in the country whatsoever. Meanwhile, the West is offering investment in exchange of “democratic reforms,” which will allow them to overcome the current crisis. In particular, the E.U. promises to invest in Burmese tourism. The Western press has already named Burma the third most attractive country for tourists. Moreover, by using protection from Western countries, the military junta of Burma will solidify positions in its “democratic” regime.
So, today Burma represents a huge interest for Western empires. First of all, there is the U.S., which seeks to influence the outcome of the “cold war” with China with the help of this small country. That’s why the West is doing everything possible in order to win Burma over, including turning a blind eye to the mass slaughter of the Muslim population in a country that took to the path of “democracy.” Meanwhile, a new wave of Muslim genocide in Burma has still been going on since the beginning of June. Hundreds of Muslims, including women and infants, have been killed, and no one has been punished. Approximately 100 thousand have fled to Bangladesh and live in refugee camps with inhumane conditions.
As of today, the government of Burma refuses to recognize the Muslims of the country as a religious minority or even give the followers of Islam civil rights. At the same time, the slogan of the governing State Peace and Development Council, under the leadership of the military government, proclaims a “disciplined, prosperous democracy.”
As it has become known, the summer of the current year was marked by a new outburst of massacre of Muslims, with the connivance of Buddhist regime of Burma. The Buddhists are carrying out arbitrariness in the state of Rakhine, where approximately 1.8 million Rohingya Muslims live. According to some reports, 20 thousand Muslims have already been murdered to date, and hundreds of thousands of refugees do not get aid of any sort. It’s worth recalling that the Rohingya people, descendants of inhabitants of Southeast Asia who accepted Islam in the 8th century from Arab traders, include approximately 800 thousand people. Throughout the decades, they have been repressed by the government. In 1978, 200 thousand Muslims fled to Bangladesh, escaping a bloody military operation. From 1991 to 1992, 250 thousand more went there, and 100 thousand fled to Thailand.
Today, a majority of Muslims are concentrated in the state of Rakhine (formerly Arakan). According to official reports, the reason behind the mass slaughter of Arakan Muslims was a conflict between Muslims and Buddhists. While authorities of Burma don’t give mass media agencies any access to the region, there have been approximately 80 victims according to their reports. However, activists among the Muslims of Arakan claim that the death toll is in the thousands and that the government not only ignores the situation but also participates in violence against Muslims. According to eyewitnesses, hundreds of Muslims, among which are women and children, are being exterminated by strangulation or being burnt alive. One of the refugees from Arakan in Bangladesh spoke about the horror he has witnessed. “In Arakan, women are raped and murdered. They catch men with beards, cut their beards off and kill them, and later bury them in mass graves. They oppress scholars and try to kill them. People can’t find any food; to stay alive, they eat leaves from trees and other plants. If they are fortunate, they attempt to flee to Bangladesh, but many of them die on their way. They want to exterminate Muslims once and for good. Buddhists, special forces and the police all operate together.”
Representatives of the oppressed Muslims of Burma are trying to take feasible actions against the chaos. One of them, Muhammad Yunus, turned to the government of Turkey for aid, urging it and the rest of the world to intervene in the extermination of the Rohingya. In turn, Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the U.N., demanding a resolution to the issue in western Burma and comparing the situation there with massacres in Gaza, Ramallah and Jerusalem.
Demonstrations with thousands of participants against the genocide of Muslims in Burma have also taken place in a variety of countries: Iran, Indonesia, Palestine, Pakistan, Thailand, etc. As a protest, hundreds of Iranians have organized a sitting demonstration next to the U.N. mission in Tehran. The participants of the demonstration have declared that international organizations are responsible for the scale of tragedy, since they are not trying to stop it. They have also demanded that the U.N. end the massacres, robberies, rapes and arrests of Muslims in Burma. In a number of countries, demonstrators demanded that their governments put pressure on authorities of Burma to protect followers of Islam.
It should be noted that representatives of the Taliban movement in Pakistan, Ehsanullah Ehsan, demanded the closing of the embassy of that country and the ending of all relations, saying that if the blood spilling isn’t stopped, the Taliban will stand up for Muslims of Burma themselves.
Meanwhile, the opposition leader of Burma and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is an active fighter for human rights, as well as the Dalai Lama, who is the head of the Buddhists, and the community of Europe and the U.S. initially didn’t react in any way and did not do anything to stop the killing of innocent people. Only after a wave of demonstrations rose in the countries of the Muslim world did General Secretary of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu urge the international community not to be indifferent toward violence against Muslims of Burma. Also, he sent letters to President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi with the request that urgent measures be taken to stop the violence occurring. In her turn, Aung San Suu Kyi called on the government to create laws that will protect human rights of the multiple ethnic minorities in the country torn by conflict. However, Rohingya Muslims are not included in her words, since they are not even registered in the list of 135 ethnic minorities of Burma.
It’s also necessary to note the tardy and ineffective reaction of members of the U.N. In response to the calls of Muslims of the entire world, members of the organization decided to send human rights experts to Burma. Even humanitarian aid for the refugees of Burma was organized by charitable organizations, mostly by the Turkish IHH and “Charitable Stone.”
However, the reason behind such a reaction of the U.N. is actually quite clear. Burma represents a huge interest for the economy and policies of the West. The country is attractive in terms of the extraction of oil, natural gas, copper, zinc, tin, wolfram, iron ore, etc. Burma is particularly famous for producing gemstones, especially rubies, 90 percent of which are obtained exactly there. Therefore, to draw China out of there is one of the most important tasks for the U.S. economy. Today, China has already affirmed its intention to surpass the American economy and to become number one in the world with its performance, which is likely to happen by 2018, according to the predictions of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Undoubtedly, pushing China out of Burma isn’t easy. China is already the third largest buyer of Burmese exports, and it is the top importer of goods to that country, with one-third of the market-share. Furthermore, China is closely connected with Burma in terms of military and technical cooperation, supplying Burma with a wide range of conforming products varying from fighter aircrafts to frigates.
That is exactly why under the aegis of reorienting Burma from China to “western democratic values,” the U.S. and E.U. seek to get the government of the country to refuse to cooperate with China and to stop having secret ties, which are related primarily to the nuclear sector. In this regard, the West is getting ready to partially cancel its political and economic sanctions against Burma, “thanks to democratic changes conducted by its authorities.” In order to provide “technical support,” experts from the World Bank and IMF are getting ready to visit the country.
Without a doubt, these prospects are attractive for the Asian country. Today, Burma finds itself in poverty, with one-third of its 60 million people existing on less than a dollar a day. And close economic cooperation with China has not changed the situation in the country whatsoever. Meanwhile, the West is offering investment in exchange of “democratic reforms,” which will allow them to overcome the current crisis. In particular, the E.U. promises to invest in Burmese tourism. The Western press has already named Burma the third most attractive country for tourists. Moreover, by using protection from Western countries, the military junta of Burma will solidify positions in its “democratic” regime.
So, today Burma represents a huge interest for Western empires. First of all, there is the U.S., which seeks to influence the outcome of the “cold war” with China with the help of this small country. That’s why the West is doing everything possible in order to win Burma over, including turning a blind eye to the mass slaughter of the Muslim population in a country that took to the path of “democracy.” Meanwhile, a new wave of Muslim genocide in Burma has still been going on since the beginning of June. Hundreds of Muslims, including women and infants, have been killed, and no one has been punished. Approximately 100 thousand have fled to Bangladesh and live in refugee camps with inhumane conditions.