Image: Reuters
Faizel Patel – 26/03/2021
Rohingya activist and advocate Shabnum Mayet says the death count in Myanmar has risen to over three hundred with more than two thousand arrested including journalists and students as security forces’ crackdown on anti-coup protests.
The military crackdown has drawn outrage and prompted some sanctions from Western countries, including the United States.
The military denies using excessive force and says that its actions have met international norms in the face of a situation it says is a threat to national security.
Speaking to Radio Islam, Mayet says people in Myanmar having lived under a military dictatorship for over five decades do not want to revert back to the old form of rule.
“They are coming out into the streets in their numbers repeatedly for seven weeks, so this is an amazing feat. Another thing is the CPR8 which is just like a shadow government is now forming a parallel leadership and they are having support meetings with ethnic minority leaders, they are speaking to the international community.”
Mayet says the Azean in the region has a very much non-interventionist policy, which means they do not interfere in political issues.
“We’ve being seen that repeatedly with calls asking neighbouring countries to say something about the Rohingya. This time around, however I am not sure that it will work in the same way because their protest movement is being very supportive at some neighbouring countries. Eventually that will have to spill over because who wants a military coup regime that everyone is sanctioning right next door.”
Mayet says Rakhine state has been under one of the longest internet block outs.
“very little information gets in an out and we are talking about six hundred thousand Rohingya living under the worst conditions still subject to all of those terrible discriminatory laws.”
Mayet says Myanmar is fighting some of the longest wars with ethnic minorities along all of it borders.
Listen to the interview with Shabum Mayet
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