<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Oct 7, 2017 at 9:59 AM, Claudio Schuftan <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:cschuftan@phmovement.org" target="_blank">cschuftan@phmovement.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><br><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:right" align="right"><span style="background:rgb(250,250,250) none repeat scroll 0% 0%">6 October<br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(64,64,64);background:rgb(250,250,250) none repeat scroll 0% 0%">People’s Health Movement statement on the plight
of Rohingya community:</span></u></b><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:rgb(64,64,64);background:rgb(250,250,250) none repeat scroll 0% 0%"></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10pt;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri">The People’s Health Movement expresses deep concern on
the plight of hundreds of thousands of people of the Rohingya community who
have had to flee their homes in Myanmar. Faced with state sponsored violence in
Myanmar, over 500,000 refugees have taken shelter in Bangladesh in the past
month. They join over 300,000 refugees already in Bangladesh. An additional
40,000 are in refugee camps in India. The forced migration of Rohingyas from
Myanmar has precipitated a major humanitarian crisis, which is linked to an
acute health crisis among the Rohingya refugee population.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10pt;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri">Rohingyas have been characterized as one of the most
persecuted minorities in the world. Most of them have been denied citizenship
in Myanmar in spite of having lived in the country for generations. Concerted
military operations in Rakhine district of Myanmar, where most of the Rohingya
people live, has been called a textbook example of ethnic cleansing by UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid bin Ra'ad al-Hussein. These military
operations were the government's response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya
Salvation Army, an insurgent group that is said to have links with foreign
Islamist movements.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10pt;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri">The situation in the refugee camps is dire and requires
urgent and sustained attention. Most of the refugees have walked long distances
and have been without food for several days. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF),
one of the humanitarian agencies providing relief has warned that a
"massive scale-up of humanitarian aid is needed in Bangladesh to avoid a
public health disaster". Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK), PHM’s affiliate in
Bangladesh and also involved in providing relief in the camps in the Cox’s Bazar
locality of Bangladesh, notes that makeshift settlements on the sides of roads
and in the hilly terrain do not have sanitation and little potable water.
People are forced to drink water collected from paddy field puddles or hand-dug
shallow wells often contaminated with excreta. Hunger and the threat of
epidemics stalks the camps while medicines and basic supplies are in short
supply.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10pt;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri">PHM condemns the role of the current government of
Myanmar in precipitating the current crisis. PHM also deplores the failure by
Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, <a name="m_8415953078850877506__GoBack"></a>who has herself faced
decades of persecution, to put a stop to the violence. Also to be condemned is
the role of the Indian Government which has announced plans to deport over
40,000 refugees in camps in India.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10pt;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri">The global community cannot remain silent in the face of
this unfolding human tragedy. We appeal to intergovernmental organizations,
countries, organizations, and individuals to harness donations for humanitarian
relief – an estimated $500 million is immediately needed -- and also to put
pressure on the Myanmar government to halt the ethnic cleansing, cement a
peaceful resolution of the situation and welcome back all Rohingyas who have
fled Myanmar as legitimate citizens of the country.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10pt;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri" lang="EN-GB"><span> <wbr> <wbr> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri" lang="EN-GB">David Sanders<span> <wbr> <wbr> </span>Chiara
Bodini<span> <wbr> <wbr> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri" lang="EN-GB">Co-Chair<span> <wbr> <wbr> </span>Co-Chair<span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri" lang="EN-GB">PHM Steering Council<span> <wbr> </span>PHM
Steering Council</span><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Calibri"></span></p>
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