23 March, 2017
Sittwe (Akyab) — The
Diplomats from the Turkish Embassy in Yangon visited the Rohingya IDP
(Internally Displaced People) Camps here in Sittwe Township on Tuesday (March
21).
The diplomats from
the Embassy of Turkey led by H.E. Murat Yavuz Ates and the officers from
Turkish NGO TiKA arrived at the displaced Rohingya camps at the village of
Thakkay Pyin (Sakki Fara) at around 12:00 noon of the day and looked around the
situation of the camps.
They met with the
community representatives in the camps, expressed their concerns over how
harshly the government has been handling the Rohingya plight and said that
Turkey remains in solidarity with the Rohingya people.
During the meeting
with the displaced people, H.E. Murat Yavuz Ates asked the Rohingya people to cooperate
with the government and also asked the retired Advocate U Kyaw Hla Aung why the
Rohingya community is not accept the NV Cards (the National Verification
Cards).
U Kyaw Hla Aung
explained “the NV Cards are not meant for us. They are for the foreigners that
have recently arrived in Myanmar and want to apply for Myanmar’s residency. Our
forefathers were born here, lived here and died here. We have lived here for
many generations. So, why do we need to accept the NV Cards being forced on
us?”
“The main purposes
behind forcing the NV Cards on us are to demote our ethnic rights by officially
portraying us as foreigners, to confiscate our lands and to drive us out of our
country. They are doing it intentionally.”
U Kyaw Hla Aung
continued “the NV Cards are not in accordance with any established laws of
Myanmar including 1982 Citizenship Law.”
The Turkish
Ambassador was apparently in shock after hearing the explanation about the NV
Card from the retired Rohingya lawyer.
“He could be of a
perception that the NV Card is the Green colored National Registration Card
(NRC) and falls in line with the International Citizenship Standard. After U
Kyaw Aung Hla Aung’s explanation, he understood it and seemed shocked”, said an
attendee in the meeting with the ambassador.
Regarding the
cooperation of the Rohingya people with the government, another (Rohingya)
representative in the meeting commented “how can we cooperate with the
government? We can’t understand their motives and trust them. Keeping our own
demands aside, the government needs to at least fulfil the recommendations made
by Mr. Kofi Annan’s Commission.
“If the government
fulfills his recommendations, we welcome the government moves heartily. But we
also fear that the government may not fulfill even a single recommendation of
his if the Buddhist Monks start protesting again.”
The delegation asked
the Rohingyas to wait and be hopeful; and expect the government to do something
as the Kofi Annan Commission was formed by Ms. Suu Kyi herself. They also asked
the people to tell them the important needs of the Rohingyas, not related to
the government, which they can fulfill.
The Rohingya
representatives expressed, apart from the political solutions related to the
government, the two most urgent humanitarian needs of the Rohingyas: Education
and Health.
“We need schools and
colleges with teachers and all the studying facilities. We need hospitals. Not
just the buildings but along with doctors, nurses and other medical facilities.
Else, they may not be useful to us”, said an elderly Rohingya attending the
meeting.
The Turkish
delegation not only promised to help them with the education and health
facilities but also said they would build a road for them for easier
transportations.
After extensive
discussions with the local displaced people, the delegation team left the camps
at around 1:30 pm.