REMEMBERING ROHINGYA GENOCIDE ON 25 AUGUST 2018
Free Rohingya Coalition, a global network of Rohingya and non-Rohingya activists and advocates, are planning to commemorate 25 August 2018 as the “Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day”.
On this day one year ago, Myanmar Tatmadaw or the Armed Forces launched the largest scale mass killing, rape and arson to date. Over 300 predominantly Rohingya villages and a few towns in Western Myanmar were targeted. The official pretext for this operation was the existence of a small band of desperate, young and militant Rohingyas. Rohingya rights activists and researchers have documented the premeditated and systematic nature of these genocidal killings which destroys communities from their foundations. Subsequent research findings by international human rights organizations corroborate earlier Rohingya testimonies and analyses as to its genocidal character.
UN Human Rights Commission, US State Department, international human rights organizations including Physicians for Human Rights, Fortify Rights. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and academic researchers have documented irrefutable evidence and testimonies from thousands of Rohingya survivors who witnessed and/or experienced various waves of premeditated violent attacks on their families, friends, and communities.
On 25 August, Rohingyas in diaspora and refugee camps in various countries will hold candle light vigils, interfaith public prayers, recite poetry, share oral histories, hold refugee art and photography exhibits, watch documentaries of Myanmar genocide and engage in communal activities designed to remember and honor the memories of countless Rohingya victims of crimes against humanity and genocide perpetrated by Myanmar political, military and police authorities over the last 40 years.
The UN Secretary General is reportedly planning to observe Rohingya Remembrance Day at the next Security Council meeting scheduled to be held on 28 August 2018.We at Free Rohingya Coalition consider every single Rohingya woman and girl who has survived Myanmar’s “rape by command” as heroes and martyrs for the Rohingya national community. The Free Rohingya Coalition therefore calls on all Rohingya people, whether in their Myanmar homeland or in their places of refuge, to honor their dignity, resilience, and the will to live, and accordingly provide them with support.
The coalition believe that the Rohingyas need urgent international protection for voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation, rehabilitation, reintegration and rebuilding of their lives in their original places, in their homeland of Northern Arakan/Rakhine State, as free and equal citizens of Myanmar.
We urge all solidarity groups worldwide to adopt this declaration https://freerohingyacoalition.