Sunday, October 28, 2018

"We want to go back but Justice and Rights are must"

Rohingya Community leader says, “We want perpetrators to be punished and return to homeland with rights”

A group of journalists from Channel 4 TV UK, Swiss TV and other Myanmar national and international media interviewed the Rohingya Community leader, Dil Mohamed at no man’s land (today) 28 October 2018 on what conditions they (Rohingya) will return to their homes in Myanmar.


Media: Do you have any identification to return to Myanmar?
Mohamed: Most of the people’s identification has already been lost. But we all had National Identification Cards. Everybody had Identification Card. We had strong documents. My parents including me had National Registration Card (NRC).

Media: Were your father and mother Myanmar citizens?
Mohamed: Yea, my parents and grandparents were citizens of Myanmar for generations. Media: But, were you not citizen of Myanmar? Mohamed: Yes, I was citizen.

Media: You mean you had Verification Card before but not now?
Mohamed: Yes. I had National Registration Card called NRC.
Mohamed: I had National Registration Card. Not temporary card and not NVC. NVC means a kind of foreigner.

Media: What ethnic group do you belong to or are you from?
Mohamed: I am from Rohingya ethnic group and the previous Myanmar government recognized the Rohingya as one of the ethnic minority group of Myanmar as well. The military regime excluded us from the ethnic groups.

Media: You said you had Nationality Card. What was the nationality and ethnicity in your card?
Mohamed: No race, community and religion were mentioned in that NRC. But the race or ethnic name Rohingya was mentioned in form no. 1. After that we applied for NRC and the government issued the NRC to us. Religion name and Community’s name including whole Bio-Data were mentioned in the form no. 1.

Media: What is the biggest reason are you afraid of coming back to Myanmar?
Mohamed: Myanmar government announced that we are members of ARSA. Actually it is baseless information. If we want peace in Myanmar, international intervention is a must. International protection is also essential for restoration of peace.

Media: You are afraid of returning to your home, right?
Mohamed: Yes, exactly.
Media: What do you want to go back to your home?
Mohamed: Firstly, the perpetrators must be brought to justice or trail. Secondly, our citizenship rights including other human rights must be restored like other ethnic minority of Myanmar. We want to live in our motherland peacefully in co-existence with other ethnic minority in Myanmar. We don’t want discrimination, black and white. Everybody is human being.
Media: Thank you very much for sharing your information to me. I am very sorry to hear your story.

Rohingya community leader Dil Mohamed says that they don’t want to live life in dire condition. They want to go back to Myanmar immediately with their citizenship rights in order that they can enjoy a peaceful life like other minority groups.

The journalists left the place after multiple questions to Dil Mohammed.
Source: AT