As sectarian tensions run high in the country’s west, we ask how it will impact the government’s fragile reform plan.
Myanmar is on a very uneven and fragile road towards democracy but around 25 people have been killed and 41 others wounded in five days of riots in the country’s western region.
“We don’t have any hope because it’s happening all the time. So it will last a long time, so we need international help. We need UN intervention.“– Maung Kyaw Nu from the Myanmar Rohingya Association in Thailand
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The coastal state of Rakhine saw Buddhists once again fighting Muslims, including Rohingya migrants – most of whom are stateless. They are described by the United Nations as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.
The violence seems to have started after a Buddhist woman was raped and murdered last month.
The Rohingya were blamed and since then, more people have been killed on both sides of the religious divide.
In response, the government has imposed a state of emergency in the area and the UN is relocating its staff.
“These are all coordinated attacks … this violence, rioting has been planned well ahead of time …. This had been in works for quite some time but they were looking for a triggering point.“– Wakar Uddin, a Rohingya from Myanmar |
But for a country that has been under military control for five decades, the latest clashes could threaten some of the democratic reforms that President Thein Sein has been introducing since taking office last year.
In April, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi of the NLD party was elected to parliament in a landmark by-election. And the EU has agreed to suspend most sanctions against the country, as have the US and Australia.
But how the government handles the latest crisis will be a test of its fragile reform programme.
So what does the fighting mean for the future of Myanmar and what is behind this ethnic tension? Is it religious – Buddhist against Muslim? Or is it a case of the minority being persecuted for being stateless? Could attempts at reform be halted because of this unrest?
Inside Story, with presenter Stephen Cole, discusses with guests: Nurul Islam, the president of the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation; Nyo Myint, a spokesman and head of foreign affairs at the National League for Democracy; and Wakar Uddin, a Rohingya from Myanmar and director general of the Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) – a group supported by the Organisation of Islamic Conference. SOURCE: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2012/06/201261371729357262.html
