U.N. Secretary General Warns Myanmar on Religious Violence By THOMAS FULLER Published: July 11, 2013 BANGKOK — The secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, warned the Myanmar government on Wednesday of “dangerous polarization” between Buddhists and Muslims and urged the leaders of the Buddhist-majority country to resolve the question of citizenship for the nearly one million stateless Muslims near the border with Bangladesh. In prepared remarks made to diplomats in New York, Mr. Ban issued what appeared to be his strongest criticism to date of Myanmar’s handling of religious violence. Over the past year, Buddhist mobs have killed about 200 Muslims and forced more than 150,000 people, mostly Muslims, from their homes. Mr. Ban said the government’s vows to protect lives and punish perpetrators needed to be “translated into concrete action.” “If it is not addressed urgently and firmly, underlying tensions could provoke more upheaval, undermining the reform process and triggering negative regional repercussions,” Mr. Ban said. The government has won accolades for moving the country toward democracy after decades of military rule, but the growing violence has raised questions about the government’s ability and willingness to promote civic harmony and defend the rights of minorities. Although the country’s leaders have moved troops into Muslim areas to tamp down violence after attacks, some of the leaders have also expressed support for a growing radical Buddhist movement, known as 969, that has fanned Muslim fears by campaigning for a boycott of Muslim products and businesses and a ban on interfaith marriages. The movement says it has not been involved in the violence, but critics say that, at the least, it is helping inspire killings through hate-filled sermons. The violence against Muslims started last year with attacks against the stateless Muslim group known as the Rohingya. Wading into what is a very controversial issue inside Myanmar, Mr. Ban appeared to call for citizenship for the group. He called on the Myanmar government “to take necessary steps to address the legitimate grievances of minority communities, including the citizenship demands of the Muslim/Rohingya.” In November, President Obama condemned the violence during a visit to Myanmar, but said defining citizenship was up to “the people of this country.” Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees are living in primitive camps after being chased from their homes last year by Buddhist mobs. Local officials in western Myanmar are seeking to carry out a decade-old rule that bans Rohingya families from having more than two children, and they are restricted from leaving the area. Myanmar, formerly Burma, is overwhelmingly Buddhist, and only 4 percent to 8 percent of the population is Muslim, but Buddhists say they fear that the Muslim population is growing fast and will threaten Buddhist culture. The root of the violence appears to be partly a legacy of colonial years when Indians, many of them Muslim, arrived in the country as civil servants, soldiers and business people, stirring resentment among Burmese Buddhists. A version of this article appeared in print on July 11, 2013, on page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: U.N. Leader Warns Myanmar About Religious ‘Polarization’.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 22:46:28 +0000
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