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Solidarity Message to Our Rohingya Sisters and Brothers

 

 

On this 4th anniversary of the Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day, the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) would like to convey our message of solidarity to our Rohingya sisters and brothers. We share your sorrows, pain and demand justice in the name of all those who perished in the brutal crackdowns by the Burmese military and the survivors who remain. WLB condemns in the strongest possible terms the violence committed by the Burmese military, which forced more than 700,000 Rohingyas to flee from Rakhine State into Bangladesh.

The WLB and its member organizations have also experienced the agony of being forced to flee our homelands all as well. For decades, the Burmese military has terrorized ethnic communities with their wide-spread campaigns of violence. Sexual and gender-based violence, especially rape has been systemically utilized by the Burmese  military  junta. Women and girls in ethnic areas have long suffered under the Burmese military junta's culture of impunity. Accountability for the crimes against ethnic women and girls is long overdue.

Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have been forced to flee for their lives. This humanitarian crisis has disproportionate impact on women and children. They face great risks ranging from including malnutrition to being sexually exploited.

Since the military coup on February 1, the human rights situation in Burma is deteriorating day by day. Civilians of every gender, religion and socio-economic background have been killed and detained by the junta simply for demanding their basic fundamental rights and freedoms. The Burmese military junta perhaps think it is above the law and that there are no consequences for the atrocity crimes and human rights violations it committed in Rakhine state and continues to do so all over Burma.

Impunity has emboldened them so the world must act to ensure that the harrowing ordeals faced by our Rohingya sisters, brothers and other ethnic community over the decades must never happen to others. We must put an end to sexual violence in conflict, extrajudicial killings, arrests of peaceful protesters and inhuman treatment in detention.

WLB reinforces our repeated calls for an immediate referral of the Burmese military junta to the International Criminal Court and domestic courts with jurisdiction to bring justice for victims and survivors.

And to our Rohingya sisters and brothers, we hold your pain close to our hearts and vow to work alongside you all to break free of the reins of injustice which have kept us chained for too long.

 

In Solidarity,

The Sisters of the Women’s League of Burma