Since May 29, large numbers of Muslim Rohingyas have been killed and the fate of thousands who have gone missing is unknown.

The Burmese Government does not consider Rohingya Muslims as citizens and instead regards them as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Eight Muslim pilgrims along with one escort – a Muslim lady – and one helper, were hauled off a bus and killed in Taungup on June 3 by a gang of hundreds of Buddhist Rakhines.

The murder of the Muslims was apparently in retaliation for the gang rape and murder of a Buddhist woman six days earlier, an attack they had no connection with.

Human Rights Watch said the state of emergency resulted in a concerted period of violence being used against Rohingya communities by state security forces causing many to seek safety in neighbouring Bangladesh.

At a recent visit to Myanmar, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, said discrimination against Rohingya Muslims was the cause of the violence, stressing the need for the authorities to take steps to address “long-standing issues of deprivation of citizenship, freedom of movement, and other fundamental rights” for the Rohingyas.

Even Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been an icon of human rights in Myanmar and now an MP, does not consider Muslims as citizens. Speaking at London School of Economics meeting during her visit to the UK recently, she said Rohingya Muslims should be considered as permanent residents but not as citizens. During a press conference in Downing Street she did not condemn the killings of Rohingya Muslims, instead she said, “Ethnic conflict plaguing the country” should be investigated and “dealt with wisdom.” (see The Muslim News Issue No 278)

Sadiq Khan, MP for Tooting, has written to the High Commissioner for Bangladesh asking him to respond to reports that the refugees are being turned away by Bangladeshi authorities.

Khan has written to the UK Foreign Secretary twice, and also the Secretary of State for International Development to ask what the British Government will be doing to ensure that a humanitarian crisis does not develop.

Khan said: “It is important that the British Government uses all its influence to end this savage treatment of the Rohingya community by the Burmese authorities as a matter of urgency.”

In the letter released on August 14, charities have also urged Prime Minister, David Cameron, to “ensure that British NGOs active in the area have free access to assist the suffering Rohingya population.”

The UK’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague, called on the Myanmar Government to take “lawful steps to prevent any further violence, in accordance with international human rights law. We have also called upon the communities based there to act with restraint.”

On August 15, 57-nation group, Organization of Islamic Cooperation at a summit in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, condemned “the continued recourse to violence by the Myanmar authorities against the members of this minority and their refusal to recognize their right to citizenship.”

There are 3 million Muslim Rohingyas, half of them residing in Myanmar. While 500,000 of them have taken shelter in Bangladesh, nearly 1 million others have scattered to other surrounding countries.

9 Feb 2012 Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Burma on the recruitment of child soldiers into the Burmese Army. [94435]

Mr Jeremy Browne: The use of child soldiers continues to be a problem in the Burmese military and some armed ethnic groups. Many children continue to work, largely due to poverty, and there remains no code of conduct to protect working children. There is little protection under the law for how children are treated within the Burmese police justice system.

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) visited Burma on 5-6 January 2012. During his visit the Foreign Secretary urged further reforms and emphasised the importance of an end to conflict, humanitarian access, political dialogue and national reconciliation.

We will continue to work closely with civil society organisations and UN agencies on children’s issues. We support the work of the International Labour Organization in highlighting the problems and need for action on child labour and underage recruitment in the military. We raised the use of children in armed conflict in Burma in the UN Security Council in November. We supported a reference in the resolutions on Burma at the Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly, calling on the Government to end the recruitment of child soldiers by the armed forces and other armed groups, to intensify measures to ensure the protection of children in armed conflict, and to intensify its co-peration with the UN in this area. The Department for International Development’s Operational Plan for 2011-15 aims to support more than 200,000 children

through primary school in Burma.

William Hague is to become the first British Foreign Secretary to visit Burma for more than 50 years in a move intended to bolster the country's budding reform process.

New president Thein Sein last year unexpectedly embarked on a series of liberalising measures, including opening talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, releasing more than 200 political prisoners and legalising trade unions.

Speaking ahead of his arrival in the capital Naypyitaw, Mr Hague welcomed the "encouraging" steps taken by the government and urged it to continue on the path of reform after years of hardline military rule.

Critics however cautioned that significant numbers of political prisoners remain behind bars, despite government promises to free them, while reports of abuses against ethnic minorities continue.

Mr Hague is expected to use his meetings with Thein Sein and other senior figures to press for the release of the remaining political prisoners - variously estimated to number between 590 and 1,700 - and for free and fair elections.

Aung Sang Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has now re-registered as a political party and will contest a series of 48 parliamentary by-elections due to take place on April 1, in what is being seen as an important test of the reform process.

Britain is also pushing for a process of national reconciliation to end the fighting between the government and the country's ethnic minorities, such as the Kachins, and to bring them into the mainstream political process.

"I am visiting the country to encourage the Burmese government to continue on its path of reform, and to gauge what more Britain can do to support this process," Mr Hague said.

"Further steps are needed that will have a lasting impact on human rights and political freedom in Burma.

"In particular, we hope to see the release of all remaining political prisoners, free and fair by-elections, humanitarian access to people in conflict areas, and credible steps towards national reconciliation."

Credit here

Britain's Hague announces trip to Myanmar in January 

  UK Statement on Burma

The UK Government has welcomed the meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein on 19 August.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said that comments today by Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy that she was satisfied with the meeting are encouraging:

"However, the international community is watching closely for tangible outcomes from this dialogue, such as the release of political prisoners and genuine efforts towards national reconciliation.”

British Embassy in Burma website

Foreign Office News on Burma on Facebook

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Countries of concern - Burma: read and comment on the FCO Human Rights and Democracy Report

Source : Here

Questions asked by Baroness Goudie at the House of Lords on 5th of April 2011
o ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings United Kingdom government officials have had with representatives of the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma.[HL8101]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): The Government are deeply concerned about the situation facing the Rohingya people. Foreign and Commonwealth officials in London often meet with the Burmese Rohingya Organisation and the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation-most recently on 10 March 2011. Our embassy in Rangoon meets on a regular basis with a wide range of ethnic groups. The Government remain committed to advocating fundamental freedoms and greater respect for human rights for all ethnic groups in Burma including the Rohingya.

Asked by Baroness Goudie

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the United Nations Department of Political Affairs to ensure that United Nations envoys to Burma meet and consult with ethnic Rohingya representatives.[HL8102]