American Jewish groups call out to end genocide against the Rohingya
19 American Jewish groups collectively called on the U.S. government to step in to end atrocities against the Rohingya people.
By HAGAY HACOHENMujan Begum, a 8-year-old Rohingya refugee, who arrived one month ago with her family poses outside her makeshift tent at a refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh October 11, 2017.(photo credit: REUTERS)
In a call to take a united Jewish stand against the “ongoing genocide of the Rohingya people by the Burmese military,” The Jewish Rohingya Justice Network (JRJN) stressed on Tuesday that Jewish values and history compel the community to call on the US government to step in and end theses crimes.The recent clash between the Myanmar Army and the Muslim Rohingya community began in the summer of 2017 when more than half a million Rohingya fled the country to Bangladesh and other countries, reducing their numbers by half in the mostly Buddhist nation.The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in August 2018 that the Myanmar armed forces should be charged with crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court for their acts against the Rohingya people.Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has largely remained silent on the issue.“The Myanmar military has been slowly erasing the Rohingya for quite some time," explained Ann Strimov Durbin, director of advocacy and grant making at JRJN member Jewish World Watch, "fanning the flames of hate and dehumanization.” Those who support the military actions against the Rohingya claim they support militant radical Islamic factions seeking to break away from Myanmar like the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).
