Rohingya - one of the world’s most persecuted ethnic minorities

 

The European Parliament condemned Myanmar on Thursday for practices that discriminate against its minority Muslim community in western Rakhine State, home to around a million stateless Rohingya.

In a statement, the EU body expressed “deep concern about the plight of Rohingya in south-east Asia.”

The parliamentarians urged authorities through a non-legislative resolution to “ensure free and unimpeded access to Rakhine State, where some 120,000 Rohingya remain in more than 80 internal displacement camps, for humanitarian actors, the United Nations, international human rights organizations, journalists and other international observers.”

They also called for regional and international mobilization in order to provide Rohingya with urgent assistance “in their extremely vulnerable situation.

“The Myanmar government should condemn unequivocally all incitement to racial or religious hatred and implement specific measures and policies to prevent direct and indirect discrimination against the Rohingya in the future,” the resolution added.

Rohingya -- whom the United Nations consider to be one of the world’s most persecuted ethnic minorities -- have been fleeing Myanmar's Rakhine State in droves since 2012, in fear of violence that some human rights groups consider to be state sponsored.

Rohingya are not officially recognized as one of Myanmar’s 135 ethnic groups, but instead referred to as “Bengali” -- a term suggesting they are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh​.