The ASEAN Ulama & NGOs Declaration on the Myanmar Genocide of Rohingya
ASIA--PACIFIC, 5 Dec 2016
Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organization - TRANSCEND Media Service
29 Nov 2016 – We the delegates in the emergency meeting of Muslims scholars and NGO activists in the ASEAN region and beyond, on the 29th November 2016, after deliberating the issues and plight of the oppressed Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar conclude the following decisions:
- In light of the past and current and continuation of oppression against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar that has persisted, beginning as far back as from the British rule of 1824 to 1948, the meeting stresses its affirmation that the root cause of the plight of the Rohingya stems from the denial of their historical roots as the sons and daughters of the land known before as Arakan .
- Affirming that the reinstatement of the rights of the Rohingya as citizens of Myanmar which was denied in 1982, under the Citizenship Act, who are subsequently denied of all socio economic, religious, political and cultural rights is the very fundamental solution to the plight of the Rohingya Muslims,
- Condemning the continuous violent oppression against the Rohingya Muslims, the inhuman and barbaric treatment on the innocent women and children, their imprisonment, torture and extra judicial murders by the security and militias targeting them, destruction of villages and properties and ultimately denial of the human rights through forced eviction and persecution,
- Affirming that there is enough evidences of a recognizable cases of a full genocide operation executed by the security forces against the Rohingya Muslims, leading to their massive extermination and depopulation, featured by thousands of them presently forced to live in IDP camps in the Rakhine state, massive exodus by sea to neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia,
- Strongly opposing the policy of condoning religious hatred and intimidation, targeting Rohingya Muslims in particular and Burma Muslims in general with the intention of creating perpetual animosity amongst the dominant Buddhist community towards Muslims and Islam in Myanmar,
- Taking cognizance on the extremist religious Rakhine leaders that have become the perpetrators and the driving force to execute mass killings, burning of homes and mosques, depriving human rights, violating international law on the rights of minorities in a country, inflicting pain and endless sufferings on the Rohingya, which is condoned by the government of Myanmar,
- Reiterating the condemnation issued in the OIC Mecca Summit of 2012 on the policy of violence exercised by the Government of the Union of Myanmar against Rohingya Muslim which are in violation with the principles of human rights and values and the international laws, and had adopted in this regard the recommendations of the Executive Committee meeting at the level of permanent representatives which was held at the Organization of Islamic cooperation on 5th August 2012,
- Taking serious note on the additional sufferings of the victims of suppression on the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, when their exodus has been exploited by human trafficking syndicates as they try to take refuge for safety in neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia.
We thus declare:
Base on the Quranic verse of Surah Al Hajj : 39. “To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight) for they have been oppressed, and verily Allah is well able to assist them.”
- We call on all Muslims worldwide to answer the call of protecting and the defense of the oppressed Rohingya Muslims and the dignity of Islam as a legitimate religion within the Union of Myanmar,
- We remind the Muslim ummah to strengthen their unity and show of strong solidarity and brotherhood amongst them, and to reflect the bond by extending every possible assistance to the victims of genocide in Myanmar.
- We demand that all Muslim leaders unite with a forceful voice to prevail upon the Myanmar government to stop the injustices and the barbaric genocidal treatment on the Rohingya Muslim minority,
- We urge that, based on the Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Genocide, that the Myanmar government, must be prosecuted through the International Criminal Court for crime against humanity.
- We call on all organizations; religious, human rights, legal and political, to mobilize the public and governmental organizations , humanitarian agencies; national, regional and international, to organize an international campaign to pressure the Myanmar government to concede to the demands of the people to halt the atrocities on the Rohingya and reinstate their citizens right as people of Arakan,
- We urge that all Muslims in the world must take heed of the gravity of the plight of the oppressed Rohingya and to bear witness to the annihilation of a group of community and therefore duty bound to render support both at the humanitarian level and advocacy and the political level.
- We call on Muslim leaders to play a role in all international forums to pressure Myanmar to stop the oppression.
- We urge the UN and ASEAN and the international community for urgent intervention. The world cannot bow to the non intervention policy since the problems of the injustice against the Rohingya is spilling over to the neighboring countries and creating a regional instability .
- We call all ulama dan ulama movements at national, regional and national to urge their government to deploy peace troops to protect the security and lives of the Rohingya Muslims.
- Call on the Human Rights Committee of the OIC to activate initiatives to protect the rights of the Rohingya through the mechanism within OIC.
- We urge prominent political figures in ASEAN to voice the plight of the Rohingya with a view to raise the rights of them to get citizenship rights as a fundamental rights.
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