Though children are being beheaded, the US State Department stated it does not consider the conflict as genocidal
LAHORE: The silence of the West combined with no practical measures taken to prevent the Rohingya genocide is shameful. The US and the European states have always propagated the idea of freedom, individual rights and protection of minorities; hence, their silence is heinous.
It has been over a year since the outbreak of genocidal atrocities against Rohingya Muslims. However, despite that the charter of the UN allows it for intervention on humanitarian grounds, no deployment has been put into effect till date. Minorities across Myanmar are victims of state inflicted violence. Though children are being beheaded, the US State Department in a report stated it does not consider the conflict as genocidal.
Moreover, victims fleeing to other countries, mainly Bangladesh have been forced back to Myanmar. In such a situation, it is imperative to create buffer zones along the borders of these countries where victims can be allowed to stay temporarily. A coherent collective action of the South Asian states should have been sufficient to tackle the crisis. Where regional organisations like the OIC and ASEAN hold symbolic and statutory standing, severing diplomatic and trade ties collectively could be one measure to express discontent towards Myanmar.
It is undeniably saddening to see that the Myanmar crisis, previously underreported in the media has thus far been deliberately neglected, becoming one of the longest ongoing conflicts of the history.
Sundus Zubair
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2017.
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