Myanmar Muslims May Face Segregation: HRW
The government's Rakhine State Action Plan could force Rohingya Muslims to adopt a new ethnicity, and permanently segregates them to closed camps, HRW said on Friday.
It added that the plan would entrench discriminatory policies that deprive Rohingya Muslims of citizenship and lead to the forced resettlement of over 130,000 displaced people.
"It is nothing less than a blueprint for permanent segregation and statelessness that appears designed to strip the Rohingya of hope and force them to flee the country," Phil Robertson, HRW’s deputy director for Asia, said.
HRW also criticized the references made in the plan to the Rohingyas as inaccurate and derogatory.
Reports say hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas in Myanmar are suffering from a severe shortage of food and drinking water.
Humanitarian aid deliveries have slowed down in Rakhine due to an escalation of violence.
The United Nations recognizes Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims as one of the world's most persecuted communities.
Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have been persecuted and faced torture, neglect, and repression since the country's independence in 1948.
The Myanmar government has been repeatedly criticized by human rights groups for failing to protect the Rohingya Muslims.
Source: Press TV
