Burma Task Force Associate Abdullah Awarded in Geneva, But Prevented from Attending

Congratulations to our Rohingya Program Associate Abdullah Habib, who was given recognition this week for excellence as a stateless artist. Unfortunately he was not allowed to travel into Europe to pick up the award because he is stateless and the Bangladesh Government refused to provide travel documents, despite our many efforts. We thank Abdullah for acknowledging us in his online speech at the event. We hope policies towards refugees will change. Rohingya do not want to be considered stateless, and the criminal regime in Burma must change its laws.

Abdullah’s photos and poems were featured in the UN Awards Program. Burma Task Force includes two of his photos below. Thanks to Abdullah for acknowledging our connection in his speech. We also note that our other Rohingya Program Associate Sharifah Shakirah was also honored recently by the American Human Rights Council in Dearborn, Michigan.

The number of arrests of Rohingya has significantly increased in Rakhine State over the last two weeks. With the ASEAN US Summit meeting taking place this week, more robust sanctions on the Myanmar government should be discussed and implemented. The Third Committee of the UN General Assembly is currently putting together its annual resolution on Burma, though some OIC nations seem overly cautious about embracing democratic forces instead of oil companies. And the UN Secretary General has implored Elon Musk not to allow Twitter to be even more of a vehicle for hate than it already is.