Daily Times

Thousands of activists held a rally in London to protest against Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya Muslims, calling on the UK Prime Minister Theresa May, to take urgent action to stop the “silent genocide”.

The past week has seen almost daily sporadic protests held across UK cities.

The largest, last weekend in London, attracted thousands from cities around the country.

Activists carried banners, depicting graphic images of the women and children subjected to brutality by Myanmar’s military. Condemning the violence, chanting “Stop Rohingya Genocide,” they deluged the streets outside the Myanmar Embassy. The unexpected high activist turnout meant organisers concerned over security and crowd control re-routed protestors towards the government offices at No 10 Downing St.

Myanmar government offensive started On August 25 after Rohingya militants killed members of the security forces in northern Rakhine state. Since then, Myanmar’s security forces and Rakhine Buddhists started attacking Rohingya Muslims and torching their villages. Myanmar denies the allegation, claiming the military is fighting against Rohingya “terrorists.” The United Nations said Tuesday, at least 290,000 Rohingya Muslims had fled the country to neighboring Bangladesh. United Nations Secretary General António Guterres told reporters on Wednesday that the Rohingya situation was “catastrophic.

Birmingham Pakistani, ‘Rohingya Solidarity group’, working with local mosques, business and philanthropists organized buses to ferry thousands of protestors from Birmingham to London. Group leader, Samaira Faruk, explained: “The UK needs to do more than just condemn the violence, we call on the government to review its relationship with Burma.”

The protesters repeatedly compared the violence in Myanmar to the genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia.

Hussain Abdul, who had travelled from Slough, London, described his anguish, not knowing if his relatives in Burma were safe. “I can’t sleep at night thinking about what I am seeing on T.V. what I am hearing, what has happened to them, does anyone know, does anyone even care?”

Many activists came to draw the UK government’s attention to the plight of the Rohingya Muslims. “We need to write to our local politicians, call, email, force them to take action against the Burmese government,” urged, local government councilor, Ansar Ali Khan, who had travelled from Birmingham.

The vast majority of activists were Muslims, but organisers said they hoped for a more diverse movement in the coming days. “This is about basic human rights and values not religion or color,” said Hazmat Khan, a member of the, ‘Rohingya Solidarity movement.’ Last week, Members of UK Parliament described the violence as “ethnic cleansing” and asked the UK prime minister and her cabinet to help end the violence.

The British Foreign Office released a statement made by the International Development, Secretary, Priti Patel, on the ongoing situation in Myanmar and allegations of abuse. However, the statement did not directly address the allegations levelled against Myanmar’s military. “The appalling violence in Rakhine must stop now. Britain urgently calls upon the security forces to de-escalate the situation in Rakhine and the government of Burma to allow immediate and full humanitarian access and support for the people and communities affected,” Patel said.

Published in Daily Times, September 15^th 2017.