Page 44 - A Helping Hand for Refugees

The Myanmar government, on the other hand, denied all these
reports when U.N. Human Rights Special rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quin-
tana asked for an investigation into them, and said that no Rohingya
people have died, apart from a police officer. Hla Maung Tin, Prime
Minister of the Province of Rakhine, instead accused the world media
of waging a "smear campaign." Of course, we must not forget here that
since the Rohingya are not regarded as citizens, they have no identity

documents; therefore, if they die or disappear there are no official
records to prove their existence or otherwise. So if the allegations are
true, witness statements and the presence of corpses are the main evi-
dence that can confirm the incidents. It is reported, however, that offi-
cials have covered up the evidence of the slaughter as quickly as pos-
sible, for which reason the world is unaware of that evidence of the
massacres.

Yes, the Muslim Rohingya people are in dire straits. The United
Nations needs to go into action and the necessary steps need to be taken
to guarantee all the rights to life of the Rohingya people if they are to

be saved. If the events in the Maungdaw region are to be prevented
from growing and if the truth of the slaughters is to be determined, it

42 A Helping Hand for Refugees