Myanmar unrest could destabilise wider region - ASEAN
INDONESIA: ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan has warned that
sectarian bloodshed in Myanmar could radicalise minority Rohingya
Muslims there and destabilise the whole of Southeast Asia.
Surin called on the international community to help after clashes in
the western state of Rakhine between Muslims and Buddhists this month
killed at least 88 people and displaced more than 26,000.
The Rohingya in Myanmar face “tremendous pressure, pain and
suffering”, the Jakarta Post on Tuesday quoted Southeast Asia's top
diplomat as saying at a human rights dialogue in the Indonesian capital.
“If the international community, including ASEAN, are not able to
relieve that pressure and pain (the Rohingya) could become radicalised
and the entire region could be destabilised, including the Malacca
Straits,” Surin said.
The Malacca Straits are the main shipping lane between the Indian and
Pacific Oceans.
ASEAN is in a position to offer humanitarian aid to Myanmar, he said,
as it did after Cyclone Nargis hit the country in 2008, killing 138,000.
“Let's see what we can do to relieve them from poverty, shortages of
food, shelter and sanitation,” added the head of the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Myanmar.
Decades-old animosity between Buddhists and the Rohingya exploded in
June after the apparent rape and murder of an ethnic Rakhine woman
sparked a series of vicious revenge attacks.
The total death toll since June has reached 180, although rights
groups fear the actual number killed could be much higher.
Other Muslims in Rakhine have also been swept up in the latest
violence, including the Kaman, one of Myanmar's officially recognised
ethnic groups.
The unrest has prompted a growing international outcry, with the
United Nations warning it could jeopardise the country's widely praised
reforms.
AFP
|