ARU, BTF-USA, and ERC Joint Press Statement

ARU, BTF-USA, and ERC Appeals President Barak Obama to Demand Myanmar Government to Immediately End the Plights of Rohingya, and to Fully Cooperate with the International Community with Transparency

Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU), Burma Task Force USA, and The European Rohingya Council urgently appeal to President Barak Obama to address the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma. We urge him to play an active role to help reach a long-term and durable solution to the current crisis, and to bring peace, stability, security, and communal harmony in Arakan state. President Obama must use his personal as well as the influence of the US Government and demand that President Thein Sein and the Myanmar Government officials must cooperate with the international community with utmost transparency. President Obama must unequivocally demand the Burmese Government to:

1. Repeal the 1982 Citizenship Law, dismantle the color-coded citizenship scheme, and reinstate the bona fide citizenship of the Rohingya ethnic minority.

2. Not to be the party to the violence in Arakan. Immediately stop violation of all the basic human rights of the Rohingya people by the Burmese police, Nasaka, and Lon Htein forces.

3. Adhere to the principle of honesty and integrity, and honor the memorandum signed by Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC) and the Burmese Government for operation of OIC humanitarian aid office for the all affected people in Arakan.

4. Not to adopt segregation/apartheid policy in Arakan, allow the internally displaced Rohingya families to return to their homes and properties, and facilitate integration of the Rakhine and Rohingya communities for the long term and peaceful co-existence.

5. Stop collecting household data in Rohingya villages after each time violence breaks out and Rohingya families leave the village seeking refuge elsewhere. Myanmar officials must not force and physically abuse Rohingya people to use the term “Bengali” instead of Rohingya in paperwork.

6. Allow an independent international commission of inquiry, international monitoring teams and relief organizations in all townships in Arakan.

We caution the international community not to let Thein Sein's government blackmail it emotionally with the threat of reversal or derailment of democratic reform in Burma. President Thein Sein and his deputies are well aware of the consequences of the derailment. The Burmese Government and its forces with the Rakhine elements must not be allowed to use the “democratic reform” as a tool to legitimize its gruesome atrocities and serious violation of human rights against Rohingya ethnic minority in Arakan.