Burma Awareness Information Session

01 Jun 2013

pittadmin

Last Summer and October, when riots broke out in Rakhine state in Burma, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims were displaced from their homes. Many fled to neighboring countries, often being killed or drowned in the process, while many more were placed into camps for Internally Displaced People. The conditions of these camps are generally very bad, and disease and starvation are frequent. Many of these camps are literally under blockade by the Burmese government.

The UN has described the Rohingya of Burma as one of the most persecuted groups of people in the entire world.

There are multiple and credible accounts of Rohingya being harassed, robbed, arrested, tortured, and in some cases killed. This past month, a very large tropical storm barely missed the areas where the Rohingya live. While there were no reports of anyone dying from the storms, there was a great deal of damage to the camps, and conditions in them have become cesspools for many diseases like Malaria

The steps that can help the Rohingya most is for the citizens of all countries to call on their governments to take some degree of action against the Burmese government, such as a possibility of return to sanctions, citizen boycotts, and to continue spreading awareness.

Event Date: 
Saturday, June 1, 2013 - 4:00pm to 6:30pm
Institution(s): 
Sponsored By: 
Islamic Center of Pittsburgh
Location: 
Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, 4100 Bigelow Blvd. Pittsburgh, PA 15213