Protest in Myanmar targets US Embassy use of term ‘Rohingya’

YANGON, Myanmar – Buddhist monks joined several hundred protesters outside the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar on Thursday to demand it stop using the term “Rohingya” to refer to a Muslim ethnic minority group.

The protesters insisted the group be called “Bengali” and be regarded as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. The families of many members of the minority have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Myanmar does not officially recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group, and denies most of them citizenship and basic rights. Conflict over land and resources in the western state of Rakhine, where most of the estimated 1 million Rohingya live, caused deadly violence between Buddhists and Muslims which later spread to other parts of the country. More than 100,000 Rohingya were forced to flee their homes and now live in poor conditions in decrepit camps.

The U.S. Embassy used the term “Rohingya” this month in a statement of concern about their situation after dozens died when a boat they were on capsized.

Police who were deployed in force to guard the embassy allowed one of the protesters to present a letter to an embassy official.

The demonstrators carried signs with slogans such as “No more use of the term ‘Rohingya.’ U.S. Embassy get out if you say more,” and “All those inventing the fake term and the fake ethnic group are our enemies, our enemies.”

A nationalist movement spearheaded by Buddhist monks has gained political influence by stirring up prejudice against Rohingya and Muslims in general. Despite international expressions of concern, Myanmar’s previous military government did nothing to ease the Rohingya’s plight.

The new government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has so far failed to take any dramatic action as well, disappointing activists around the world who supported her long struggle for democracy.