9 erring body care centers shut in Riyadh    20,000 military emblems confiscated in Riyadh    Al-Samaani visits headquarters of Hague Conference on Private International Law    KSrelief provided over $7bln to support children around the world    Al-Jasser: Saudi Arabia to expand rail network to over 8,000 km    OMODA&JAECOO: Unstoppable global cumulative sales over 360,000 units    Saudi Arabia sees 73.7% rise in investment licenses in Q3 2024    Al Hilal doesn't need extra support to bring new players, CEO says    Rust premieres at low-key film festival three years after shooting    Fate of Gaetz ethics report uncertain after congressional panel deadlocked    Ukraine fires UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at Russia for first time    Netanyahu offers $5 million and safe passage out of Gaza to anyone returning a hostage    Indian billionaire Gautam Adani indicted in New York on fraud charges    Rafael Nadal: Farewell to the 'King of Clay'    Indonesia shocks Saudi Arabia with 2-0 victory in AFC Asian Qualifiers    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    Yemeni Orchestra's captivating performances in Riyadh, showcasing shared cultural legacies    Future of Ronaldo's Al Nassr contract remains undecided, says Saudi Pro League CEO    GASTAT report: 45.1% of Saudis are overweight    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya see glimmer of hope in Suu Kyi victory
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 17 - 11 - 2015

Noor Bagum would have liked to have voted for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) but, like the majority of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, she took no part in the historic election the Nobel laureate won by a landslide.
Stripped of their right to cast ballots by the current government, many Rohingya now hope that, with the NLD able to rule largely on its own, a Suu Kyi-led government will work to restore their lives and many of the rights they have lost.
"I hope that things will get a little bit better," said Noor Bagum, a 28-year-old mother-of-five, whose village was destroyed during violence between Buddhists and Muslims that swept through Myanmar's western Rakhine State in 2012.
Dealing with the Rohingya will be one of the most controversial — and unavoidable — of a long list of issues Suu Kyi will inherit from the current government.
Feted by many in the West for her role as champion of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement during long years of military rule, she has been criticized overseas, and by some in Myanmar, for saying little about the abuses faced by the group. When an NLD government takes power in March, she will come under mounting international pressure to take a definitive stance in their defence.
But speaking out for the Rohingya would carry a political cost at home. The group is widely disliked in Myanmar, where they are seen as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh — including by some in Suu Kyi's party. She risks hemorrhaging support by taking up the cause of the beleaguered minority.
The NLD also faces a powerful local rival — the Arakan National Party (ANP) — that has been accused of stoking anti-Muslim sentiment and has called for the deportation of Rohingya. The ANP won 22 of 29 national level seats in Rakhine and took 22 of the 35 elected seats in the state's regional assembly, one of the strongest showings by an ethnic party in the election.
"We'll be damned if we do, and we'll be damned if we don't," said Win Htein, a senior NLD leader, adding that standing up for the Rohingya would give the ANP "ample reason to criticize the NLD."
Although many have lived in Myanmar for generations, the Rohingya are not one of the 135 ethnic groups recognized under the country's citizenship law and are thus entitled to only limited rights.
Many Rohingya held temporary citizenship documents, known as "white cards," that allowed them to vote before they were nullified by President Thein Sein this year.
"We won't be able to solve the problem as long as the international community is supporting and standing for the Bengalis," said ANP vice-chairman Phone Minn, using the government's term for the group, which insinuates they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Phone Minn was elected to a Rakhine regional parliament seat on Sunday.
Noor Bagum, and thousands of other Rohingya are now kept as virtual prisoners outside the state capital of Sittwe in refugee camps like Thae Chaung, a dusty sprawl of listing bamboo huts covered with patchworks of tarps and relief agency rice bags.
"This time, we would have voted for the NLD," she said, a sentiment widely reflected across the camp.
So far, the NLD has offered little in the way of concrete policy that would tackle Rohingya citizenship status or their resettlement and integration back into the communities they were forced to flee.
But the first post-election comments by the party's senior leader Win Htein on the 1982 Citizenship Act that denied Rohingya full citizenship rights showed that their hope may be justified.
"It must be reviewed because it's too extreme...review that law and make necessary amendments so that we consider those people who are already in our country, maybe second generation, so they will be considered as citizens," Win Htein said.
Win Htein said that he wanted the NLD administration to allow the Rohingya to settle anywhere in the country to "lessen the burden on Rakhine State." It was not clear if Win Htein, one of the most influential politicians in the party, was speaking on behalf of the party or giving a personal view.
ANP's Phone Minn has a different view. He said that the law was "the solution."
"If they followed that law, the problem will be solved...if these Bengali people deserve citizenship according to the law, they can get it," said Phone Minn.
Suu Kyi has never visited the refugee camps that house some 140,000 people, mainly Rohingya. Still, many believe her government will be more sympathetic than the outgoing Union Solidarity and Development Party, which was created by the country's former junta and led by retired military officers.
Mohammed Solim, 32, who like many camp residents was angry at being deprived of the right to vote, said: "We hope that since the NLD won, we will get freedom." — Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.