Hundreds of Buddhist monks again join people to demonstrate against the Muslim minority. Local authorities prohibit new demonstrations for fear of violence. But the marches through the streets of the city could last for up to "ten days". For the monks protest is a way to express their "political force".

Mandalay (AsiaNews) - The Burmese monks protests against the Rohingya continue, regardless of the order given by the authorities to end the protests for safety reasons. Yesterday, for the third consecutive day hundreds of Buddhist monks joined ordinary people, to express "solidarity" with President Thein Sein, who a few days ago launched a controversial proposal to deport the Muslim minority outside the borders of Myanmar ( cf. AsiaNews 04/09/2012 Buddhist monks with President Thein Sein: Chase the Rohingyas from Myanmar). The demonstrations in Mandalay, the second largest city of Myanmar, could continue - sources tell AsiaNews - "for about ten days," although local government officials are beginning to show impatience with these demonstrations which are likely to escape their control.

Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group, but considers them illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh. For the UN, the  800 thousand representatives of the Muslim minority are settled in Burma and represent one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. According to reports from Radio Free Asia (RFA), for the monks joining the protest is a way to express their "weight" as a "political force" in virtue of the fact that they are not allowed to vote.

However, tension is mounting in the streets of Mandalay following the order given by the local authorities that prohibit more protests. A signal that - despite the path of reforms promoted by the central government - how civil rights in Myanmar are still "limited" and how, in contrast, the authorities and the police still fear losing control or granting too much freedom to the people.

At least 5 thousand Burmese Buddhist monks joined the protest march - authorized by officials and police - which was held September 2 through the streets of Mandalay (pictured), the second largest city of Myanmar. The monks marched along with the population, to support Thein Sein's controversial proposal to the UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR), which calls for the "deportation" of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to reception centers in foreign countries, because "they are not part of the nation of Burma. "

It is the largest street demonstrations since the Saffron Revolution in September 2007, also led by Burmese monks - which began as a protest against the rising price of fuel - and were violently repressed by the military junta then in power.

Myanmar is composed of more than 135 ethnic groups, and has always found coexistence difficult. In the past the military junta used an iron fist against the most recalcitrant. Myanmar Muslims constitute about 4% of a population of 60 million people. The UN says there are 750 thousand Rohingyas in the country, concentrated mainly in Rakhine State, the theatre of recent violence and human rights abuses between the Buddhist majority and Muslim minority. Another million or more are scattered in other countries: Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia.

 

 

 

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