United Nations Secretary General warned Myanmar to end Buddhist attacks on Rohingyas

The Secretary General of United Nations, Ban-ki-moon on 11 July 2013 warned Myanmar to end Buddhist attacks on Minority Muslims (Rohingyas). The Secretary General also asked Myanmar to take necessary steps to address legitimate grievances including citizenship. Ban-ki-moon feared that failing to do so, would bring in negative regional impacts in the country and weaken the reform process also.

Myanmar passed its Citizenship Law in 1982 in which it recognized eight races and 130 minority groups but it excluded the minority Rohingya Muslims from citizenship. Later, it passed a second law that limited the Rohingya Muslim residence to two townships in the Western State of Rakhine, which borders Bangladesh. The second law for Rohingyas also restricts them to have only two children, a restriction that does not apply to majority Buddhist population.

Numbering about 8 lakhs in a population of around 60 million, the Rohingyas are widely viewed as interlopers brought in by the British colonialists.