Burma Task Force Calls On President Obama To Raise Rohingya Plight At ASEAN Summit

On February 15-16, President Barack Obama will be hosting a summit in Sunnylands, California with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The summit is expected to result in the inking of a cooperation pact between ASEAN nations and the USA:

The result of the summit will be issued in cooperation guidelines, called the Sunnylands Principles, to be endorsed by Mr Obama and 10 Asean leaders

Under the Sunnylands principles, the US and Asean leaders affirm to deepen their cooperation, on the economy and security in particular, and support the “proper” approaches to deal with the regional disputes.

Among the leaders who will be attending the summit will be Burma’s President Thein Sein and not representatives from the National League for Democracy (NLD) or Aung San Suu Kyi. As Human Rights Watch notes,

Instead of meeting Aung San Suu Kyi or the person she nominates to lead the next government, President Obama will be giving a platform to the current president of Burma, Thein Sein, a former general put in power by the country’s military junta.

Thein Sein has presided over a state-led genocide against the Rohingya, the rise of extreme Buddhist nationalism, and the passage of discriminatory laws targeting Burma’s Muslims and other minorities. Burma Task Force, a coalition of 19 national organizations is calling on President Obama to raise the plight of the Rohingya. 

Specifically, Burma Task Force is asking that President Obama:

• Continue to use “Rohingya” when he speaks up for their rights.
• Join his fellow seven Nobel Peace Prize laureates who have described the persecution of the Rohingya as a “textbook case of genocide.’”
• Stress the fact that the Rohingya are an indigenous community living in their own historic lands.
• Burma must restore their full “citizenship rights,” and
• All world relief organizations must be provided free access to help Rohingya.

Burma Task Force will also be protesting the Burmese leadership’s presence at the ASEAN summit. Stay tuned for details on date and time.