In what the United Nations warned as bordering ethnic cleansing, South African ulema are working together to lobby the South African government to support the Rohingya Muslim minority who are fleeing persecution in Myanmar.  The horrific images streaming onto social media has plunged the Rohinyga crisis back into the spotlight, with the latest crackdown resulting in the killing of 400 people and nearly 125, 000 Muslim Rohingya fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh.

The Myanmar military, upon claims it was attacked by Rohingya terrorists, began arbitrary killings, helicopter air-strikes and the burning of thousands of Rohingya homes and businesses and the raping of Rohingya women and children.

The United Nations consider the Rohingya Muslims as “the world’s most persecuted minority” who for centuries lived in Arakan, now known as Rakhine. After Myanmar gained independence from Britain, the country’s government refused citizenship to the majority of Rohingya declaring them Bengali. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees were forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. These refugees reported cases of rape, torture, arson and murder by Myanmar security forces.

The MJC and Jamiatul Ulama have called on Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi to stop all human rights abuses directed at the Rohingya Muslims.

Lobbying for the Rohingya

There is now an intense campaign to raise public awareness on the humanitarian crisis affecting the besieged Rohingya people, who have been called “stateless”.    The Muslim Judicial Council’s (MJC) Maulana Shuaib Appleby explained that the ulama body has for years tabled its concerns relating to the treatment of the Rohingya people.

He says that the MJC had formally written to the Myanmar ambassador as far on July 31, 2012, requesting for them have an meeting to discuss the outbreak of violence at the time. Given a lack of adequate response by the Myanmar officials, in late 2016 and early 2017, when violence once again spurred, the MJC approached the Department of international Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

MJC officials, Shaykh Ebrahim Bham and advocate Shabnam Mayet met with Deputy Director General for Asia Middle East Affairs, Professor Suqlaal. The meeting focused on future methods of intervention to call attention to the conflict and engaging with Myanmar authorities.

“This showed the kind of effort that the leadership in the MJC has undertaken already in trying to deal with the plight and the struggle of the Rohingya community,” he said.

“There was indications made at the meeting with DIRCO that the leadership of the Muslim community of South Africa would like to assist and partake with government of South Africa ensuring that the Rohingya community is given their due rights, their human dignity is returned to them and that the government of Myanmar will be able to fulfil their mandate as a government, and to ensure that every citizen that lives within the borders are afforded equal opportunity and that their human rights are upheld.”

Historical context

Advocate Mayet  explains that historically the Rohingya have lived alongside other communities in Burma for some 800, with tensions sparking around World War II, where the Rohingya showed allegiance largely towards to the British.

“Many years ago there was actually no border between Burma and Bangladesh and communities lived freely between and live along the border.”

After World War II the British granted the Rohingya an autonomous area, which after Burmese independence in 1948 was reabsorbed into Burma. In 1962 Burma came under military rule.

While in the latest 1970’s tensions once again spurred by two military operations, forcing hundreds of Rohingya into Bangladesh.

“Subsequently over the years there has been violence; more recently in 2012 when there were democratic elections. Then last October there was a crackdown by the military and now again since August 25 – of course this is much brutal and much worse than we have seen before.”

Since 1982 their citizenship has been revoked, not being allowed to be politically active.

Most recently, with the election of Aung Sung Soo ki the Rohingya were unable to vote.

“They have to ask government for permission to marry, forced sterilisation, they cannot own land, they are subject to slave labour, they cannot attend tertiary education.”

Described by experts as the worst violence the area has witnessed in years, the plight of the Rohingya that span’s more than three decades, has culminated in the internal displacement of more than 200 000, 125 000 have fled, more 20 to 40 villages has been raised to the ground, 400 000 face a food crisis, 2000 and 3000 who have been killed, and the some 40 000 who are waiting the 4 kilometres waiting at the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Moulana Ebrahim Bham says that while recent footage has raised awareness around the world, the violence has questioned the silence in the treatment of Muslims within conflict zones.

Bham urges all Islamic bodies and communities to take a stand against the violence, both through prayer and action, calling attention to the atrocities currently acted out against the community of the Rakhine state.

Public support

The ulema have urged South Africans to do four practical things in support of the Rohingya people.

-Ulema to perform Qunūt during Jumuáh Ṣalāh this Friday (8 September 2017).

-Attend the protest action scheduled for 15 September 2017 at the Myanmar Embassy in Pretoria. The
protest starts at 15h00.

-South Africans to write to the Myanmar Embassy in their respective countries and voice their condemnation of human rights abuses against the Rohingya ethnic group.

-Donate generously to relief organizations assisting the Rohingya Muslims. VOC