On
Rohingya,
Myanmar
Rejects Talks
with UN &
ASEAN, UN
Silent for 5
Days
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 30 --
In the last
five days in
Myanmar there
has
been a surge
of violence
against the
Muslim
Rohingya in
Rakhine
State.
The issue
arose Tuesday
morning in the
UK House of
Commons,
where question
after question
concerned
whether
Foreign
Secretary
William Hague
and his team
are doing
enough. Among
the responses
was
that the "Burmese
government" is
doing its best
to combat
the violence,
a claim many
find dubious.
But
at least the
UK has tried
meet with
Myanmar
diplomats. A
statement
issued later
Tuesday quotes
"Minister for
Burma, the Rt
Hon Hugo
Swire MP" that
"Yesterday
I
called in the
Burmese
Chargé
d’Affaires to
the Foreign
Office to
discuss our
serious
concerns about
the violence
in Rakhine
State and
the casualties
and
displacement
among Rohingya
people. This
follows
My Right
Honourable
Friend the
Foreign
Secretary’s
meeting with
Burma’s
Foreign
Minister in
New York in
September, and
my own
meetings
during the UN
General
Assembly."
But
what of the UN
Secretariat
itself? Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
Spokesperson's
office for
"anything on
the recently
worsening
plight of the
Rohingya in
Myanmar and
any UN
response."
The
response? "On
Thursday we
issued a
statement on
Myanmar. That
continues to
stand."
That
statement was
now five days
ago. Nothing
since?
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon has
been in his
native South
Korea for the
past four
days;
his office has
issued speech
after speech,
to the
parliament and
other grounds
there, but
nothing on
this.
Ban
has a special
envoy devote
full time to
Myanmar, Vijay
Nambiar. But
nothing has
issued from
him. In the
interim, ASEAN
has called for
tripartite
talks among
it, the
Myanmar
semi-civilian
government and
the UN.
The
UN said
nothing;
Myanmar's
government has
rejected the
talks. Is this
due
to Hurricane
Sandy in New
York? If at
all, only in
part. Watch
this site.
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