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Statement​

Burma Task Force Canada calls upon International Community to Condemn Arrest of Nearly 100 Rohingya men, women and children

STATEMENT - January 19th, 2021 - Justice For All Canada condemns Myanmar’s unlawful arrest of nearly 100 ethnic Rohingya in the commercial capital of Yangon last week. 
 
We express our dismay at the release of concerning images showing barefoot women and men waiting alone in a courtyard. Unfortunately, this event would not be the first time that Myanmar has detained Rohingya, an indigenous ethnic Rakhine community in the region, on the grounds of “illegal travel.”
 
According to reports, the group of Rohingya, including children as young as five years old, were travelling to Malaysia. For years, Rohingya people and youth have faced imprisonment when being caught leaving Rakhine state. Many Rohingya often decide to endure treacherous routes to flee apartheid-like conditions in the Rakhine camps. Members of this ethnic community are also frequently arrested and persecuted simply for travelling outside Rakhine state, or between Myanmar townships. 
 
“It’s unequivocally distressing that Rohingya continue to face arrests for simply travelling in their own country,” said Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director of Justice For All Canada, concerning the recent January 8th arrests. 
 
Myanmar has withheld Rohingya citizenship rights since the 1982 Citizenship Law, leading to a longstanding denial of legal documentation necessary to travel. “We plead with the International Organization of Migration (IOM) to advocate for the unconditional release of these Rohingya, before they face criminal charges,” explained Ghayyur. 
 
Since Myanmar’s brutal 2017 genocide which led more than half of the Rohingya population to escape the region, approximately 600,000 ethnic Rohingya have remained in repressive camps and villages in central Rakhine. Described as “open-air prisons” by Human Rights Watch, the Rohingya are restricted to the area, without adequate access to food, livelihood, nor education.
​

We call upon Myanmar’s International Organization of Migration (IOM), and the United Nations and the UNHCR to promptly enforce state adherence to Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Freedom of Movement). 
 
Article 13, or Freedom of Movement, guarantees everyone the freedom to travel within and outside countries. 
 
“Under international human rights law, freedom of movement of the Rohingya should not be influenced by their statelessness or lack of official nationality. In this instant, Canada and the international community must hold Myanmar accountable for denying Rohingya their freedom of movement by using statelessness as a justification,” said Ghayyur. 
Justice For All Canada
100-4310 Sherwoodtowne Boulevard,
Mississauga, Ontario, L4Z 4C4​
Info@JusticeForAllCanada.org

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