7/29/2019 88 Generation Leaders to UN Envoy - Consider Context When Tackling Arakans Woes

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88 Generation Leaders to UN Envoy: Consider Context WhenTackling Arakans WoesByLAWI WENG / THE IRRAWADDY On Thursday, August 15, 2013 @ 7:37 pm

Prominent activists from the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society have asked the UnitedNations special rapporteur for human rights in Burma to approach his job with greater emphasison understanding the countrys cultural and historical underpinnings, after the UN envoy spokecritically of conditions in Arakan State.

Pyone Cho, a leader from the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, told The Irrawaddy onThursday that his group advised Toms Ojea Quintana to consider the deep-seated nature of theregions troubles.

There have been rights abuses for a long time in this community and it is not only recently thecase. We should not speak out suddenly without an approach that understands what the maincauses of this conflict are, Pyone Cho said.

This is why we told him to understand the customary law, religion and culture of the country first.It is good to approach it this way in working on human rights issues, he said.

During a meeting on Wednesday with 88 Generation Peace and Open Society leaders including MinKo Naing, Quintana said he was displeased at being met by protesters during his trip this week toSittwe, the Arakan State capital.

About 90 ethnic Arakanese people came out to a demonstration there on Monday, with some

holding banners that described the UN envoy as a one-sided Bengali lobbyist and urging him toleave the western Burma state, which was his first stop on an 11-day visit to assess the humanrights situation in the country.

The protesters accused Quintana of bias toward the states Rohingya Muslims, who manyArakaneseand Burmas governmentrefer to as Bengali, reflecting the widespread belief thatthe Rohingya are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

Last year, the UN rapporteur drew criticism from Arakanese activists and some 24 political partiesafter submitting a report to the United Nations about communal clashes between Buddhists andMuslims in the state. Critics said the report was biased, favoring the Rohingya, and they called onthe United Nations to remove Quintana from his post.

During this trip, some Rangoon-based daily newspapers and Burmese Facebook users postedphotos claiming to show that Quintana had behaved differently in his interactions with the twocommunities leaders. They noted that while he paid respect by kneeling down in front of Muslimleaders, he sat without showing similar deference in discussions with some Arakanese Buddhistmonks.

The BBC Burmese service reported on Wednesday that Quintana told the Arakan State governmentthat he was concerned by the continued divides that exist between the two religious communities.

Ko Ko Gyi, an 88 Generation Peace and Open Society leader, told the BBC that the situation on theground at present required the separation.

At the moment, there is only one solution: to let them stay divided in order to avoid [further]conflict. If violence results from letting them stay together in the community, will they [theinternational community] come to help with security?

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7/29/2019 88 Generation Leaders to UN Envoy - Consider Context When Tackling Arakans Woes

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He has to look at both sides, the politics and human rights, when solving this conflict. Quintanashould not look only at human rights, Ko Ko Gyi said.

The Arakan State government has allowed the two communities to stay divided after Buddhists andMuslims clashed in 2012. A commission tasked with investigating the violence released a report inApril that said a lack of trust between the two groups was a major problem preventing inter-

communal harmony.

The commission, which Ko Ko Gyi was a member of, recommended that reintegration of thecommunities be postponed until further reconciliation efforts could be undertaken. It alsosuggested voluntary family planning programs be implemented for Rohingya Muslims, whose rapidpopulation growth was cited as one element fueling tensions. The commission proposal was widelycondemned by the human rights community, and a two-child limit for Rohingya was later imposedin one Arakan district.

The violence last year displaced 140,000 people, most of whom were Rohingya Muslims. Theinternally displaced persons (IDPs) remain in 76 camps and other temporary shelters, withgovernment restrictions imposed on their movements.

Movement restrictions on Rohingya Muslims have also left as many as 36,000 people isolated incommunities in several townships, including Minbya, Myebon, Pauktaw, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw andSittwe, according to the United Nations. These communities have been affected socially andeconomically, with limited or no access to basic services including markets, education and healthcare.

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