Arakan News Agency
Buddhist hardliners backed by monks protested in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state on Monday against help being offered to desperate migrants found adrift on boats in the Bay of Bengal.…
Tens of thousands of Rohingya – one of the world’s most persecuted minorities – have fled Rakhine in recent years, headed for Malaysia and Indonesia.
A crackdown on the people-smuggling trade in Thailand last month caused chaos as gangmasters abandoned their human cargos on land and sea. Some 4,500 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants have since washed ashore in the region while the UN estimates around 2,000 others are still trapped at sea.
After mounting pressure Myanmar’s navy rescued more than 900 migrants who were brought to Rakhine. Some 150 were taken to Bangladesh.
But the rest are being held in border camps while Bangladesh and Myanmar decide their original nationality.
The rescues have infuriated Buddhist hardliners who want the Rohingya expelled from Myanmar altogether and say the central government should not help those stranded in the Bay of Bengal.
Around 500 people, backed by dozens of monks, gathered under heavy rain in the state capital Sittwe chanting slogans, a witness said.
A protest leader said simultaneous demonstrations would take place in 10 townships across the state.
“We are protesting against Bengalis that were sent to Rakhine State,” Aung Htay, a protest leader in Sittwe, said.
Most Myanmar nationals, including the government, use the term Bengali to describe Rohingya, many of whom have lived in the region for generations.
Source : AFP
