| ROHINGYA DELEGATION RETURNS FROM BRUSSELS LOBBYING VISIT |
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| Written by Admin | |
| Sunday, 09 November 2008 | |
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Christian Solidarity Worldwide & the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK For Immediate Release 5 November 2008 ROHINGYA DELEGATION RETURNS FROM BRUSSELS LOBBYING VISIT A delegation of four Rohingya activists from Burma have returned from a two-day advocacy and awareness-raising visit to Brussels, in which they highlighted the political and humanitarian crisis in Burma as a whole, and the plight of the Rohingya people of Arakan State, western Burma in particular.
The delegation from the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) was facilitated and hosted by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and included BROUK’s President, Maung Tun Khin,(aka) Zeyarbul Gaffar and three other members. CSW’s Advocacy Officer for South Asia, Benedict Rogers, who visited the Rohingyas on the Bangladesh-Burma border in August, accompanied the delegation. In meetings with officials in the European Commission and Council, as well as staff in the European Parliament, the delegation called on the European Union (EU) to support UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s proposed visit to Burma next month, and to urge the UN to introduce specific benchmarks for progress in Burma, accompanied by deadlines. The first such benchmark, the delegation said, should be the release all political prisoners prior to Ban Ki-moon’s visit. The delegation also urged the EU to encourage Ban Ki-moon to raise the plight of the Rohingya during his visit, and to put pressure on Burma’s military regime to lift restrictions on marriage, movement and education for the Rohingyas. Maung Tun Khin said: “We had extremely valuable discussions with EU officials and European Parliament staff, in which we were able to raise awareness about the suffering of all the people of Burma, and particularly to spotlight the plight of the Rohingyas who receive so little international attention. Among the issues we raised, we urged the EU to encourage on the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Islamic nations to put pressure on the regime in Burma. We were also able to discuss the humanitarian situation in Arakan State and the suffering of refugees in Burma. The message we delivered was that all the people of Burma are suffering, and it is time for increased international action. The EU has a vital role to play and we were privileged to have this opportunity to discuss the crisis in Burma with EU officials.” CSW’s Advocacy Officer Benedict Rogers said: “We were delighted to be able to facilitate this opportunity for the Rohingya people. We had valuable discussions and opportunities to provide information about the brutal suppression of the Rohingyas, among the most persecuted groups in Burma, to people who were not previously aware. We also highlighted the wider suffering of all the people of Burma.” |
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