On Tuesday, Global Citizen and Save the Children UK headed to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London — to deliver the calls of more than 45,000 of you to get justice for Rohingya children.
These children and their families were raped, burned alive, and murdered in violence sparked just over a year ago in Myanmar (also known as Burma). More than 690,000 people were forced to flee their homes for neighbouring Bangladesh.
But still, not a single person has faced consequences for their crimes.
Take action: Raped, Burned Alive, and Murdered: Rohingya Children Deserve Justice
That’s where the UK comes in. The UK has the power and influence on the global stage to help bring perpetrators of the violence to justice, and we need to act.
Hey @Jeremy_Hunt — let us introduce you to the 45,000 people who want you to deliver justice for Rohingya children. We visited the @ForeignOffice with @SaveChildrenUK today — the signatures are waiting for you! ✊
— Global Citizen UK (@GlblCtznUK) September 18, 2018
Join our campaign here: https://t.co/AcbsWEOLA5#RememberRohingyapic.twitter.com/z0IMc0HCnZ
Earlier this month, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt pledged that Britain would “take a stand” to make sure those responsible were “brought to justice.”
He told MPs, in response to questions in the House of Commons, that “ethnic cleansing in whatever shape or form, wherever it happens, should never go unpunished.”
Now, we want Hunt — who’s currently in Myanmar for “talks with leaders and to see humanitarian issues firsthand” — to act on that pledge and draft a resolution that includes text to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation.
Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have faced violence and discrimination for years, but it became significantly worse in August 2017 after an armed group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked police posts, and Myanmar troops retaliated.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians were caught up in the conflict. Since late August 2017, more than 690,000 Rohingya refugees have fled the violence, and over half of them are children.
Arrived in Burma for talks with leaders & to see humanitarian issues firsthand. If you’ve got questions about the situation in Burma, please send them in a tweet and I will do my best to answer you whilst I am here pic.twitter.com/A6rBdEgNtf
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) September 19, 2018
The United Nations (UN) has called the violence a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” and last month issued the most damning analysis of the situation so far, indicating that there was strong evidence to support a charge of genocide against the Myanmar military.
This week, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar added to the calls for the country’s top military command to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide.
It said its year-long investigation has revealed evidence that the military — with six individuals specifically named in the report — committed the most serious crimes under international law.
“The killing of civilians of all ages, including babies, cannot be argued to be a counter-terrorism measure,” said Marzuki Darusman, leader of the mission. “There can be no military imperative to rape women and girls or to burn people alive. It was a well planned, deliberate attack on a specific civilian population.”
“Democracy requires a government that accepts scrutiny,” he said. “It depends on leadership that actively combats hate speech and harmful misinformation. It requires a legal framework that guarantees these rights for all, without discrimination.”
“We have concluded that the Rohingya constitute a protected group, that the acts of the Tatmadaw and other security forces fall within four or the five categories of genocidal acts and, finally, that all the circumstances are such as to warrant an inference of genocidal intent,” Darusman said. You can read the full statement here.
By holding the perpetrators to account, we can end the violence against children in Myanmar and help give them a future to look forward to.