The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan voiced its position on the current situation in Myanmar.
«The Kyrgyz Republic, guided by the charters of the UN and OIC, expresses serious concern about the current situation in Myanmar against the Muslim community and calls on all parties to the conflict to peacefully settle the conflict,» the ministry said.
The situation in Rakhine, the western state of Myanmar, located on the border with Bangladesh, has already led the Muslims of Russia to rallies in Moscow, Grozny and Makhachkala.
Myanmar (translated as «fast», «strong») is a country in South-East Asia. Until 1989, it was called Burma.
Since the country gained independence in 1948, a civil war took place in Burma, in which authorities, communist guerrillas and separatist rebels participated. If to add to this explosive «cocktail» the drug dealers of the «Golden Triangle», which includes, in addition to Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, it is obvious that the situation on Burmese land doesn’t symbolize peace and quiet.
From 1962 to 2011 the country was ruled by the military, and the head of the Democratic Democratic League, which won in 1989, the future Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was detained for house arrest.
The country was isolated from the outside world, including in connection with Western sanctions. But in recent years there have been noticeable changes in Myanmar, elections have been held. Last year, Aung San Suu Kyi became Minister of Foreign Affairs and State Counselor (de facto Prime Minister).
In a country with a population of 60 million people, there are more than one hundred nationalities: Burmese, Shan, Karen, Arakans, Chinese, Indians, Monks, Kachin. The overwhelming majority of believers are Buddhists, there are Christians, Muslims, animists.
Rohingya people are an ethnic group, compactly residing in the state of Rakhine. They profess Islam.
It is estimated that their number in Myanmar ranges from 800,000 to 1.1 million people. It is believed that most of them moved to Burma even during the time of British colonial rule.
The authorities of Myanmar call Rohingya people illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and on this basis they are denied citizenship. The law forbade them to give birth to more than two children. The UN calls them one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Many representatives of Rohingya people move to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, but a number of countries in South-East Asia — including Muslim — refuse to accept them.
During the Second World War, when Burma was occupied by Japan, in 1942 the so-called «Arakan massacre» occurred between Rakhine Muslims and local Buddhist monks supporting the Japanese. Tens of thousands of people died.
The situation in Myanmar deteriorated after dozens of people attacked three Myanmar border posts in October 2016, resulting in the death of nine border guards.
After that, troops entered Rakhine. More than 20,000 people fled to Bangladesh. In February 2017, the UN report was published, it gives shocking facts of extrajudicial killings over Rohingya people, group rape, and so on.
On August 25, 2017, rebels from the «Arakan solidarity army of Rohingya» attacked dozens of police posts and an army base in Rakhine. In subsequent clashes killed about 400 people.
Authorities accuse militants of setting fire to houses and killing civilians, human rights activists blame the same army. Last week, Turkish President Recep Erdogan called what is happening in Myanmar genocide, about which «everyone are silent».
