Obama to Myanmar: Respect rights of Rohingya Muslims.

Obama to Myanmar: Respect rights of Rohingya Muslims.(TZ).Barack Obama became the first serving US president to visit Myanmar on Monday, trying during a whirlwind six-hour trip to strike a balance between praising the government's progress in shaking off military rule and pressing for more reform.
In recent months, sectarian violence between majority Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslim minority in the western state of Rakhine has killed at least 167 people.
Many in Myanmar consider the Rohingya Muslims to be illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh and the government does not recognize them as citizens. A Reuters investigation into the wave of sectarian assaults painted a picture of organized attacks against the Muslim community.
And Obama on Monday called for lasting solution to the problem.
“For too long, the people of this state, including ethnic Rakhine, have faced crushing poverty and persecution. But there's no excuse for violence against innocent people,” Obama told a packed audience for a speech at Yangon University.
“The Rohingya ... hold within themselves the same dignity as you do, and I do. National reconciliation will take time, but for the sake of our common humanity, and for the sake of this country's future, it's necessary to stop incitement and to stop violence,” he said.
Myanmar President Thein Sein, in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week, promised to tackle the root causes of the problem, and Obama said he welcomed “the government's commitment to address the issues of injustice, and accountability, and humanitarian access and citizenship.”Read the full story here.

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