Several
hundred protesters in Myanmar's main city yesterday denied that boat
people arriving on Southeast Asian shores are Rohingya Muslims, a
religious minority the government and many others in the predominantly
Buddhist nation say does not exist. About 30 radical Buddhist monks led
the rally in Yangon. Myanmar has experienced a surge in Buddhist
nationalism since it began moving from dictatorship toward democracy
four years ago. Up to 280 Rohingya have been killed by machete-wielding
mobs and tens of thousands have taken to the seas in wooden trawlers,
hoping to find better lives elsewhere. In recent weeks, more than 3,000
Rohingya and Bangladeshis fleeing persecution and poverty have landed in
Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. "This is not Myanmar's problem, this
is a global issue now," insisted Thuda Nanda, a Buddhist monk. "These
boat people have made up the name 'Rohingya'. They are pretending to be
refugees so they can find a way to come to Myanmar. We cannot accept
them."
Photo: EPA
Origin
Photo: EPA
Origin
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