News / Interviews

Helping Rohingyas of no strategic benefit to world: Activist

Sunday, 27 November 2016 6:17 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 27 November 2016 6:19 PM ]

Myanmar Rohingya refugees look on in a refugee camp in Teknaf, in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, on November 26, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Myanmar authorities have stepped up persecution of Rohingya Muslims in the Southeast Asian country and are actually conducting a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against members of the community, according to a high-ranking United Nations official. However, there is close to nothing being done for the situation of the Muslim minorities in Myanmar.

Raza Nadim, from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK, believes helping the Rohingya Muslims that are being persecuted in Myanmar is of no “strategic benefit” to the international community.

“It is not about ethics, it is not about ideals, it is about what matters to those in power and right now helping the persecuted community is of no strategic benefit and that is the reason why we see very little coverage and very little condemnation even of what is taking place and of the despicable behavior of [Myanmar's civilian leader] Aung San Suu Kyi with her silence,” the activist told Press TV in an interview on Sunday.

He stated that Muslims in Myanmar were an “inconvenience” to Suu Kyi even before she got into power, adding that she talks about peace and having open democracy for all but the Rohingya minority group does not “come into play” for that.

Nadim further noted there is also an “ongoing diatribe” against the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh where many of the countries’ ills are blamed on them.

“The Rohingyas are stateless people, no state takes them and even when Bangladesh does take them, it takes them so it can get some UN funding, but then it has so much propaganda against them that many people dislike them to the extent that they attack refugee camps,” he said.

The activist further argued that Myanmar’s government should be put under pressure that if it continues persecuting the Muslims, there will be “repercussions”.

He also expressed hope that by taking political actions against Myanmar, there will be a change in the condition of Rohingya Muslims.

The Rohingya community, which the government brands as “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh, has been suffering widely-reported systematic aggression for years on end. The violence has been interpreted as an attempt to force them out of the country’s demographic configuration.

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