In a joint statement with Jubilee Campaign at the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) yesterday, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) urged the government of Burma to repeal or amend the 1982 Citizenship Law which discriminates against the Muslim Rohingya and to promote the right to freedom of religion or belief for all.
These and other human rights concerns were echoed by a multi-religious panel at an HRC side-event on 15 March on the future for ethnic and religious groups in Burma, organised by a coalition of NGOs including CSW. The speakers included Buddhist and Muslim activists, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Professor Yanghee Lee.
Cardinal Bo said: "Whatever the perspectives - and there are, within my country, a variety of perspectives - about the origin of the Rohingya people, there cannot be doubt that those who have lived in Myanmar for generations have a right to be regarded as citizens, and that all of them deserve to be treated humanely and in accordance with international human rights."
"We desperately need to work to defend rights without discrimination, to establish equal rights for all people in Myanmar, of every ethnicity and religion," said Cardinal Bo, adding, "We have a chance - for the first time in my lifetime - of making progress towards reconciliation and freedom as a nation." (Courtesy of Independent Catholic News)
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