The government and military in Burma do not accept that the Rohingya exist. How did some EU officials respond to this? By not even using the word Rohingya.
The Burmese government does not accept the Rohingya are an ethnic minority in Burma. Instead they say the Rohingya are illegal immigrants. In their minds, this seems to justify human rights violations against the Rohingya.
“Denial of Rohingya identity is part of the genocide against us,” says Tun Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK.
Incredibly, when Burmese government officials complained about the use of the word Rohingya when talking about the Rohingya, many ambassadors and international visitors backed down to this racism and stopped using the word Rohingya.
The European Union is one of the main offenders. The EU and ambassadors from the EU often avoid using the word Rohingya when talking about Rohingya, so afraid are they of upsetting the racist government.
Last month, when the International Court of Justice made a ruling that the government of Burma had to take action to prevent violations of the genocide convention against the Rohingya, it stated that the Rohingya are a protected group.
The EU made two statements in response to the ruling. The statement issued from Brussels welcoming the ruling was surprisingly strong, and used the word Rohingya. However, the statement issued by EU heads of mission in Burma didn’t even mention the Rohingya.
You read that right. They really did make a statement about the Rohingya without mentioning the Rohingya.
If the EU won’t even use the word Rohingya when talking about them, how is it going to stand up for their rights?
