Chechen Muslims Take To The Streets In Solidarity With Burma's Rohingyas
07 September 2017Chechen leader
Ramzan Kadyrov accused Russian media of concealing a 'genocide' against Muslim
minority
Rachael Revesz
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the capital of
Chechnya to protest the "genocide of Muslims" by Burmese authorities.
More than 400 people have been killed in the last week alone during clashes
between the Rohingya Muslim minority and Burma's military, and both sides have
accused each other of committing atrocities.
Pictures from the protest in the capital city of Grozny showed up to 30,000
people on the streets, one day after hundreds more appeared at the Burmese
embassy in Moscow and other protests were held in Dagestan. On Sunday a small
petrol bomb was thrown at the Burmese embassy in Jakarta.
The protests follow criticism from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov against the
inaction of world governments to stop the violence against Muslims in Burma.
Burma's de factor leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is facing calls from United
Nations officials to "step in" as she tries to re-establish amicable relations
with the country's military that once kept her under house arrest.
Most of the protest activity was ignored by Russian state-owned television
channels.
On 25 August the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed support for the Burmese
authorities.
During a speech in Grozny, Mr Kadyrov said he would "go against Russia" if the
Russian government supported Burma's military, and he compared the violence to
the Holocaust.
Violence against the one million-strong Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority,
re-emerged in Burma's western Rakhine state last October as the country's
military continued to wield its power in response to Rohingya insurgents
allegedly attacking police posts.
Nobel Peace Laureate Ms Suu Kyi has been accused of downplaying the issue, and
the violence has dampened expectations of democratic progress under the new
government.
Other Muslim nations in South East Asia have recently voiced concern as they
face an influx of refugees, including Malaysia and Indonesia. Dozens of
Rohingya people have died trying to cross the Naf river which forms part of
the Burmese north border.
UN estimates show that around 87,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh.
Survivors have described a crackdown including burning villages and attacking
civilians.
Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai said in a statement that Ms Suu Kyi
should condemn the "tragic and shameful treatment" of the Rohingya.
"If their home is not Myanmar, where they have lived for generations, then
where is it?" she said. "Rohingya people should be given citizenship in
Myanmar, the country where they were born."
Agencies contributed to this report
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