Massacre of Arakan Muslims in Myanmar - 70-year-old promise not fulfilled - COMMENT

Baku. 7 September. REPORT.AZ/ While the world is too busy with ISIS, with those who split up the territories of independent states and build new ones in their place and with various armed groups allegedly operating under the name of Islam, in past few days 146,000 people in Myanmar have been expelled from their homelands just because they are Muslims.

However, as usual no sanctions have been imposed on Myanmar (formerly Burma) which was former British colony.

The UN report said that over thousands of Muslims killed as a result of inhumane crimes in Myanmar.

At the end of August, authorities in Myanmar acknowledged that 400 Muslims were killed by the army in the western part of the country. Refugees say thousands of people were killed by the authorities.

On September 7, official Naypyitaw, capital of Myanmar stated that it does not count Rohingya Muslims as their own citizens. Myanmar authorities considering them as Bengali say that these Muslims have entered the country illegally. Citizens must have a document confirming that they live in Myanmar. Those who do not have this document are not considered to be citizens of Myanmar”, - national security adviser of Myanmar’s government, U Thaung Tun said.

Myanmar has reportedly been planting landmines across an area of its border with Bangladesh to prevent the return of the Rohingya Muslims who have already fled to Bangladesh.

In October last year, over 223,000 ethnic minorities (muslims) living in Myanmar's Rakhine (Arakan) state of Myanmar fled to Bangladesh.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called the attacks in northern areas of Rakhine state, “unacceptable” expressing concern about escalating tensions in the region and said he hoped those responsible would be brought to justice.

Mr. Guterres “reiterates the importance of addressing the root causes of violence, in particular issues related to identity and citizenship, and reducing inter-communal tensions,” his spokesperson said. “He strongly urges all the communities in Rakhine state to choose the path of peace.”

U.N. officials have raised their estimate of the total expected refugees from 120,000 to 300,000, said Dipayan Bhattacharyya, who is Bangladesh spokesman for the World Food Programme.

Based on the prediction that 300,000 could arrive, the WFP calculated that it would need $13.3 million in additional funding to provide high-energy biscuits and basic rice rations for four months.

On 4 January 1948, the nation became an independent republic, named the Union of Burma. By 1962, the country was ruled by the military. The country's third and current constitution, was published in September 2008 after a referendum. The basic principle of this law is "regular, prosperous democracy." According to the Constitution, 1/4 of the seats in the parliament are belong to military servicemen. The current president, Htin Kyaw, serves from March 30, 2016.

Last year, he abolished the emergency regime in force for more than 60 years. Until 1989, the official name of the country was the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma, since 2010 replaced with the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.This country borders on India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. The area of Myanmar is 678 thousand square km.

On the territory of the country there were different states.One of them is the Arakan kingdom. The Arakans ruled the country for about 7 centuries.In addition, the Mongols took lands of this state for some time under control.Myanmar Buddhists are influenced by the Indian Buddhist civilization.

Myanmar consists of 7 administrative provinces, 7 states and 5 self-government zones.According to the current constitution, these subjects of the Federation are prohibited from leaving the country. There are more than 100 ethnic groups in the country. The population exceeds 60 million people. Arakans make up 4% of the country's population. Buddhists are the largest part of population. 4% are Muslims, 4% are Christians.

The country has such natural resources as oil, natural gas, coal, copper, zinc, tungsten, lead, gold, silver, precious stones, etc.

The conflict between Rohingya and the central government lasts for decades. The main reason is the promise to the state of Arakan independence. In the 1940s, after Burma got independence, Rakhine was also promised independence. However, later this promise was forgotten.

Arakani people continue struggle for independence.

The central authority of Naypyitaw, instead of granting independence promised to Muslims and finding ways out of the situation, prefers to completely clear their territory of the Arakans and exterminate them.

As can be seen from the statements of the authorities of Myanmar and the development of events, for this they also found “justification”: "Arakan Muslims are Islamic extremists " and allegedly there are illegal armed persons in Rakhine State. Rohindji accepted Islam in the tenth century. Considered as indigenous population of Myanmar, this ethnic group adheres to a different culture rather than other citizens of the country. For their joint living, there is a significant obstacle from authorities.

The Arakans who fought the Great Britain for the independence of Myanmar, demand the independence promised 70 years ago. The authorities, however, stain their legitimate right that promised to them, excruciate civilian population.

Therefore, in connection with the events in Myanmar, it can be assumed that “English hand” that has been here for hundreds of years continues to be preserved. Unfortunately, the leading forces of the world do not fulfill the commitments made to the Muslims of Myanmar, and do not take measures to prevent their extermination.